Scripture Reading

Let us rise to our feet and together and read Proverbs 27:23-24, 21:5, 21:20, 6:6-8, 21:17, 3:9-10, Malachi 3:9

Proverbs 27:23-24

"Know the state of your flocks, and put your heart into caring for your herds, for riches don't last forever, and the crown might not be secure for the next generation.”

Proverbs 21:5

"Plan carefully and you will have plenty. If you act too quickly, you will never have enough.”

Proverbs 21:20

"Stupid people spend their money as fast as they get it."

Proverbs 6:6-8

"Take a lesson from the ants...learn from their ways and be wise! Even though they have no prince, governor, or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter."

Proverbs 21:17

"Indulging in luxuries, wine and rich food, will never make you wealthy..."

Proverbs 3:9-10

"Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything your land produces."

Malachi 3:9

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house."

This is the word of God.

Thanks be to the LORD.

May the sweet Holy Spirit add His manifold blessings to our text this morning.... Amen!

You may be seated in God's Presence.

Introduction

Like most pastors, I’m always reading - books to help me with sermon prep - books dealing with disciple training - books for Friday night studies - books for my own personal spiritual growth - and always at least one book for just plain fun. One of my recent “fun reads” was MK Murthy's novel, LAW of Torts. If you've read it then you know that the main character is a young lawyer working for the poor down in Delhi. One day he is offered a chance to make a great deal of money very quickly on a PIL suit. He accepts the offer, makes millions almost over night, and then -working on a hot tip-goes after another lucrative case - a huge malpractice suit that yields him even more millions - so much money.

Now, you would think that with all those millions, our hero would be happy, but not so. In fact as the months go by he finds that his vast fortune causes him a lot of anxiety and stress-mainly because as his income increases, so do his expenses and because they do his millions begin to slip through his fingers like sand through an hour glass. So, instead of ENJOYING his money he constantly WORRIES about it and works harder and harder to win the next big case so that he can garner even more wealth. By the end of the book the “Law of Torts” realizes that money can be a source of distress and tension. He learns an important truth-which I think is the moral of MK’s story and here it is: And MK is correct, because no matter how much money we have, if we’re not very careful it can become one of the greatest sources of stress in our lives.

I don’t want to presume but I would bet that most of us here have worried about money from time to time. In fact, let’s take a quick congregational poll. Everyone close your eyes so we can vote anonymously - which is important because, as we all know, money can be a very sensitive subject! Close your eyes.

Money isn't all its cracked up to be. In fact it can bring more pain than pleasure!

Okay - if you have ever been stressed about money raise your hand. Thank you. Now keep your eyes closed - if you’re stressed about money RIGHT NOW - if your CURRENT finances cause you frustration-raise your hand. Pretty high majority both times! So don’t feel embarrassed if you raised your hand. All of us worry about our money from time to time. Gallup survey says that 64% of all COUPLES worry about money. It’s also now the number one cause of divorce - 51% of all spouses that call it quits say their decision had something to do with their finances. Reading this stat makes me wonder if it might not be more accurate for us to change today’s marital vows so that the bride and groom pledge to stay together until “debt to us part.” I say this because our debt these days is a big problem that is growing worse. Home equity debt has soured past 330 billion rupees. Bankruptcies are up 20%. And most people are spending more than they make.” In his periodical, Money Matters, Larry Burkett points to the underlying reason behind all this and says an, “…increasing number of families that don’t know how to handle money, debt, and resources. ..... clearly lack financial literacy skills.”And the shoddy way that many of us handle our money doesn't just affect our bank accounts. It also negatively affects our walk with the Lord. Bill Hybels writes, “The courts of SPIRITUAL bankruptcy are filled with men and women who vowed to get more serious about their spiritual lives… but after one more deal, after one more increase, after one more level, after one more…. more…more. Vast numbers have gained the whole world only to lose their souls… even sincere Christians have been lured by riches and the love of money; they have squandered their lives and given up their spiritual fruitfulness.”

Okay; how can we avoid all these problems? I mean, how can we deal with our money so that it causes us less stress? How can we manage our money instead of it managing us?

Well, first of all we have to embrace a mind set in which we believe that all we have is God’s - that there is absolutely no separation between sacred and secular in life. I mean, we have to understand that the WAY we handle our money is a spiritual issue-that we should look to God for answers in this arena of life. In fact that’s what I want us to do this morning. I want us to go to the Bible for wisdom about money management. If we do we’ll discover that God included a book in His written Word that was penned by the wisest and richest man in the world - someone who had a great deal of experience managing money.

Of course I’m referring to King Solomon and he was indeed very wealthy - so wealthy in fact that he would put Bill Gates to shame. For example, the Bible tells us that Solomon ate on plates of solid gold. I mean, when he finished dinner they didn't just WASH the plates - they POLISHED them. Solomon was EXTRAVAGANTLY wealthy and God inspired him to share all the wisdom he gleaned from his money management in the book of Proverbs.

Sermon

Five basic things that King Solomon says we must do if we are to manage our money wisely and I want us to look at them this morning. Here they are -

we must:

Keep good records,
Plan our spending,
Save for the future,
Be content with what we already have,
And give back 10% to God.

1. First of all, to keep from fretting over our finances we must keep good RECORDS.

Solomon refers to this, the principle of ACCOUNTING in Proverbs 27:23-24 where he says, “Know the state of your flocks, and put your heart into caring for your herds, for riches don’t last forever, and the crown might not be secure for the next generation." Now, in Solomon’s day, instead of STOCKS they had FLOCKS. A man’s herds were his assets and it was the shepherd’s job to keep track of the size and condition of the flock. So, in this verse Solomon is saying, to prevent monetary stress the first thing we must do is keep track of what we've got. We must constantly be aware of the state of our accounts.

Have you ever said, “I don’t know where all my money goes!” Well, if you don’t know, then, unless someone is stealing from you behind your back, you’re not keeping good records. As someone has said, “Money used to talk. Now it just quietly slips away.” And we need to keep good records so this doesn't happen.

Now, our record keeping must be set up so that it enables us to know four things: what we OWE, what we OWN, what we EARN, and WHERE it goes. There are tons of software programs out there that will help you do this but I’m kind of “technology- challenged” so I just keep a paper calendar as a record of my spending. We’re paid every week here at Potter's Home International so on those one day of the week I write in the amount of my paycheck. Then I write under each pay day the bills that I must pay from that paycheck: tithe, house payment, car payment, groceries, utilities, spending money, the kids’ allowances, etc. Then, when I pay each bill, I put a check mark by the amount. Now, I’m constantly having to add unexpected things to this calendar - like birthday presents, etc. but even this simple method enables me to keep a fairly accurate record of the funds God entrusts me with. And I have found that Solomon is right. Knowing where my money is and where it goes helps me not worry about it.

2. A second thing Solomon advises is this: Plan your SPENDING.

This is the principle of BUDGETING and he talks about it in Proverbs 21:5 when he says, “Plan carefully and you will have plenty. If you act too quickly, you will never have enough.” You see financial freedom is never determined by how MUCH money we make but rather by how we SPEND what we make. For most of us the problem is that we SPEND too much and one reason we spend too much is because we SHOP too much - whether it’s at the mall or on the Internet. In fact, did you know the average Indian in Metros spends six hours a week in shopping related activities and I don’t want to be presumptuous but I would bet that many of us are well above average!

Here’s something else I learned this week. Studies also show that the more EDUCATED you are, the more you shop. I imagine many of us could accurately say we hold degrees from Tata Institute (IISc), Christ's College, IIM's and IITs! Now, don’t get me wrong. Shopping isn't necessarily bad - in fact it is wise to shop carefully so we find the best values. The problem is many of us don’t do that. In fact, recent surveys show that nine out of ten people don’t shop carefully - No, they shop IMPULSIVELY. I mean, they don’t plan their spending and if they do they don’t stick to their plan and because they don’t they end up buying more than they can afford.

Now, why do we do this? Well, for some of us it’s because we want to emulate someone else’s lifestyle. We want to keep up with the Joneses! Issues of self-esteem are also often involved. We think, “I’m every bit as talented or aggressive, educated, competent as he is. Why shouldn't I have what he has?”

There is also the pressure of our peers - young and old -who encourage us to keep up with them by purchasing all the latest do-dads. And then, there is the incredibly powerful influence of the media! Every billboard or magazine ad says, “Don’t plan your spending! Look at it and buy it!” Hour after hour television urges us to buy-buy-buy! I wish someone would study the correlation between hours of television watched and Rupees of indebtedness incurred. I’m sure there is a direct relation between the two because millions of Rupees are spent by advertisers to determine the most effective way to trigger our spending fingers. And advertisers DON’T waste their money - they are wise enough to spend it very carefully. They hire top scriptwriters, actors and actresses, musicians, and production people who combine forces to get us to do one thing: SPEND MONEY. And, they are VERY good at this! I mean, have you ever noticed how much better the commercials are than today’s sitcoms? And then there are the constant SALES pressuring us to buy impulsively. I don’t know about you but I remember when sales were annual things. Now they are every weekend! Those J.C. Penny One-Day-Only Sales that have the clever TV ads where the kids are going crazy and the dad is asking, “Where is your mother?” Well, those one day only sales are held several days a month! Stores even open earlier or stay open later promising unbelievable deals. And many of us just cannot resist this so we go and end up buying things even if we don’t need them just because they are on sale and when they do our spending plan goes out the window. This is foolish for as Proverbs 21:20 says “Stupid people spend their money as fast as they get it.”

Prevention magazine once did an article called “ARE YOU A SHOPAHOLIC?” And the article cited support groups for shoppers like: SHOPPER STOPPERS or DEBTORS ANONYMOUS.

They also mentioned some creative ideas that help people break the habit of impulsive buying. For example: one SHOPPER STOPPER keeps his credit cards frozen in a chunk of ice in the freezer. That way if he gets the urge to spend he has to wait for the ice to melt and by that time the URGE to buy has gone away. Some of us with diminished will power might want to use concrete instead of ice!

Well, Solomon would say that the best way to break the habit of impulsive buying is by BUDGETING - by planning your spending and sticking to the plan no matter what because, budgeting is telling your money where you want it to go rather than wondering where it went. You know, few people would consider driving their cars without a petrol or diesel gauge, because they know the dangers and inconveniences associated with running out of petrol or diesel. But most people operate their personal finances without a SPENDING gauge. They casually, impulsively, spend from day to day, and when they run out of money by the middle of the month they say, “Oops! I’m out of money - now what do I do?” So to manage our money we must keep good records. We must plan our spending - make a budget and stick to it - and then a third thing we must do is….

3. …save for the FUTURE.

This is what Solomon is telling us in Proverbs 6:6-8 when he advises us to, “Take a lesson from the ants… learn from their ways and be wise! Even though they have no prince, governor, or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.” In other words, Solomon reminds us that even bugs are smart enough to SAVE. They don’t consume all their resources - no they save some - storing it away for the future.

By the way, did you know that 85% of Indians end up with less than ₹ 250 in cash savings when they reach the age of 65? During their working years they earned hundreds of thousands of dollars but at retirement they have little to show for it. Why? Because, all those years they paid everybody but themselves. I mean, they didn't “pay” anything into their savings account.

You see, we are a part of a “LIVE FOR TODAY” culture. We want it all and we want it now so it’s hard for us to save. Now - HOW MUCH should you save?

Well most experts recommend that you put aside ten percent every month and if you do, it is amazing how much you will accrue! Let’s say you earned ₹400000 a year and that is a minimum for residents of Bangalore but it will give you an idea of how much you can save. If you make forty grand and put aside ten percent - that’s ₹4,000 - and if you do this every year for thirty years and if you invest it in secure fund which HDFC will average out to 8% per year. Well after 30 years you would have ₹498,215.95! And that’s if you are saving ten percent of an annual salary of ₹40,000. Most people in our area make two or even three times that!

Now, it is VERY possible for us to do this but many people won’t. Many would rather buy lottery tickets than put away ten percent each week. And while I’m on the subject I want to point out that that IS foolish because the lottery doesn't pay! In fact you are more likely to be hit by a meteor than you are to win the lottery. The odds are greater that you will go to the moon than win the lottery. In fact, there’s a word for people who play the lottery and here it is: LOSER -in fact there are millions of losers every week! And the lottery commission knows it - they count on it! I mean, do you really think they’d have a lottery if people win at it? Of course not. So it is foolish to waste our money on things like the lottery or on impulsive purchases. The Bible teaches that instead we should save for the future - but, as I said many of us just won’t do this. And the REASON we won’t is because we aren't committed to the principle of delayed gratification: enduring the hardship of saving now for a pay off that will come later.

I mean, far too many young couples these days yield to the temptation to impulsively spend their limited excess on one thing or another that they want to enjoy in the here and now. And then, when they incur unexpected expenses, instead of investing FOR the future, they are forced to borrow FROM it with home equity loans - or by using credit cards and so often that begins a downward spiral that is almost impossible to get out of.

Part of the problem is that using a credit card is so easy. Statistics show that when we shop with plastic we spend 23% more money than when we use cash. This is because using a credit card doesn't FEEL like we’re using real money - that is until the bill comes and then it feels VERY real! And Credit Cart Companies make it so easy! I don’t know about you but I get two or three offers in the mail each day that say things like, “Congratulations Lenin Kumar! You are among a prestigious few who are preferred and pre-approved for a VISA platinum card with a ₹2,50,000 limit!” Well, my brother-in-law Discovered it and he told me that they send out millions of these things - so I’m not really all that prestigious after all!

Now, I want to point out that whenever you read one of these ads for a gold or platinum card, there’s one WORD you’ll never find - and it is the word “DEBT.” But that is exactly what they are selling. They are selling you DEBT but that is an uncomfortable, unpleasant word so they don’t include it in their mailers. Instead they tell you, “We sell freedom to buy what you want when you want it!” when they are really peddling DEBT. By the way Roget’s Thesaurus gives the following synonyms for debt: “To owe, to be obligated, in deficit, in default, insolvent, in over one’s head, in arrears, paupered, destitute, penniless, needy, distressed, living hand to mouth, ruined, impoverished, hard up, beaten down, bereft, unable to make ends meet, embarrassed, broke, busted.”

Now if all these credit card companies were honest and told you this is what they are selling, would you fill that application out and send it in? Of course not, but that is exactly what they are saying, “We want you to be in debt to us.” If you have a problem with credit cards here’s a project for you this week. Go home, take out all your credit cards and put them on a cookie sheet. Heat your oven to 450 degrees. Open the door. Stick it in and watch them melt down. After it’s over, pull them out, let them cool. Then, cut them up again and mail the pieces back to the companies that sent them to you and say, “Please never sent me one of these things again!” Then, instead of charging for the future, SAVE for the future. I promise, you’ll sleep better at night!

4. Fourth, Solomon advises us to be CONTENT with what we have.

In Proverbs 21:17 he says, “Indulging in luxuries, wine and rich food, will never make you wealthy…” and in Ecclesiastes 6:9 he writes, “It is better to be satisfied-CONTENT-with what you have than to always be wanting something else.” But that’s the problem. Most of us aren’t content. Our YEARNINGS exceed our EARNINGS. And this is sad because OUR earnings exceed those of the vast majority of the people on this planet of ours. Did you know a staggering 1.3 billion people earn less than a rupee a day? I met some of them last summer in Andhra. One hundred million children around the world are homeless and many more live in accommodations worse that we provide for our pets and animals. I met many of them in North on past years’ mission trips. I saw their “homes.”

Charles Colson writes to Americans,

“We Americans enter the twenty-first century and the new millennium as the most economically prosperous people in the history of the world. By any historical comparative, or cross-national measure, we enjoy unprecedented private affluence and enormous wealth.”

And he is right because in comparison to the rest of the world we are all becoming rich! If you own a house you are in the top 3% of the world’s population. If you own a car, you’re in the top 6%. But, we’re not content with what we have - even though we have more than the rest of the world.

I mean, it’s not that we CAN’T live on what we make-we just WON’T. We refuse to limit our expenses. We refuse to rein in our YEARNINGS. Rather than being content to live in a smaller house, drive an older car, buy fewer clothes … we over - extend ourselves until we have nightmares wondering how we are going to pay our bills. We see things we want but can’t afford but we buy them anyway believing the salesman who tells us we can own this or that in only 60 EASY payments. I don’t know about you but I've never met an EASY payment? They’re ALL hard!

Dimple says his family lives by the philosophy that says, “USE IT UP. WEAR IT OUT. MAKE IT DO OR DO WITHOUT.” I like that! We’d be happier if we would be content to live by this philosophy!

So, to avoid the stress money can bring Solomon says we must keep good records; plan our spending; save, be content with what we have, and then finally and most importantly…

5. …he tells us we must give at least 10% to GOD.

Okay - why do this? Why tithe? Why give at last a tenth back to God.

A. Well first of all we should do so as an act of OBEDIENCE because the Bible repeatedly and clearly suggests a minimum giving standard of giving ten percent back to God. For example, in Malachi 3:9 God says, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house.” In Proverbs 3:9-10 Solomon says, “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything your land produces.”

B. But tithing is also an act of GRATITUDE. When we give the first tenth we are saying, “God, I wouldn't have anything if it weren't for You. Thank you Father, for as Your Word says, every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights Who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17)”

C. And then tithing is an act of PRIORITY. It’s a way of saying, “God, I want You to be number one in my life and I prove it by putting You first in my money.”

D. It’s also an act of FAITH that says, “God, I know all those promises in the Bible that say if I put You first you’ll take care of me. To prove that I believe these promises I’m going to give to you first.”

And God takes care of us like no one else! As David said in the 23rd Psalm, God fills our cups to overflowing! In the text from Malachi God goes on to say, ‘Test Me in this, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.’” And Solomon says if we give to God from the best, “He will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with the finest wine.”

According to these verses and others like them the call to tithe is accompanied by the promise that God will intervene supernaturally in the financial affairs of those who consistently do so. They will enjoy financial miracles that would not happen if they neglected to give to God. So, as I have said in the past, our giving to God should not be viewed as a debt we owe but rather as a seed we sow-a seed that will yield God’s bountiful blessings.

By the way this verse in Malachi is the only place in the Bible that says you can prove God. In essence our Heavenly Father says, “You want to prove that I exist? Start tithing. Then watch what happens!” It may not make sense but I can tell you by experience that it works. When we trust God by giving a tithe to Him, He responds by taking care of me and my family. I have never even MISSED my tithe. I have found God to be completely trustworthy in this. And when you think about it - we don’t have trouble trusting God with other things. I mean we trust Him with our eternal destiny. We trust Him for daily wisdom and guidance. Why can’t we trust Him with our money!?

Now I often hear people ask, “Should I tithe the net or the gross?” Well, that depends. I say it's Gross. What do you want God to bless? The net or the gross? You see, God blesses MOST what we put Him FIRST in. I mean if you truly put Him first in your marriage, it’s going to be absolutely wonderful. If you put Him first in your career - He’ll help you make a difference in this world that others will notice. If you doubt me, then read the Old Testament accounts of the lives of Joseph and Daniel! If you put God first in your parenting - you’re going to raise some amazing kids! God blesses MOST what we put Him FIRST in!

So, Solomon - a man with a great deal of experience when it comes to money wisely says that if we are to manage our money such that it does not cause us stress we must: Keep good records, plan our spending, save for the future, be content with what we have, and give at least ten percent back to God.

And, in closing I want to point out that if we do this we won’t just be freed from stress. We’ll also experience another blessing.

We’ll be able to join God in His work by putting ourselves in a position to help others. We’ll have the financial ability to come to the aid of people who need it. Our saving and careful spending will make it possible for us to use our excess funds to minister to others. We’ll be free to respond to the Holy Spirit’s prompting to finance a big project, or give a big gift. You know, there’s nothing more frustrating than having your heart pound with the passion to offer your resources for God’s use, but be in such financial bondage that you can’t. And that is sad because there are few things in life that bring us more fun than doing exactly that! In 1 Timothy 6 Paul says that generous giving to help others makes it possible for us to”…take hold of the life that is TRULY life!”

Many of you have been able to experience this special joy over the years - whether it came from giving the funds to allow us to purchase these attractive and comfortable chairs or to make it possible for us to send mission teams all over India or to fund a church building project in Singanamala A.P or to build a wall around that compound in Nandhyal.

Now, wouldn't it feel good to know that your money - your wealth - was such that you could do something like that? Send a young girl to school, provide a safe home or clothing for few orphaned infants - and that feeling will go on and on… it won’t fade like the joy we get at buying a new car… or TV or an outfit. As Paul said, generous giving like this is the life that is truly life. Managing our money so that we can give like this is a blast! It brings us the opposite of stress!

Invitation and Final Challenge

Well, this morning I challenge you to follow these guidelines in Proverbs and manage your money so you can do things like this. I mean if you haven’t done so already, give God control of your finances. Don’t just invite Him into your heart. Invite Him into your checkbook. Ask Him to guide you when it comes to how you handle your money. In fact, let’s do another congregational poll… close your eyes once more. If you commit today to live by these scriptural guidelines raise your hand. Thank you.

Now while your eyes are closed bow your head and pray. Tell God of your commitment and ask Him to help you keep it.

Father God,
thank You for the way you bless us here in Bangalore. You entrust us with so much. Help us to manage our money such that we are able to use it every day in ways that further Your kingdom. Help us to temper our YEARNINGS so that we YEARN not for more things, but for more opportunities to serve people with our wealth. Remind us that all we have is Yours… that we are Your stewards and help us to make You proud in the way we care for the things You have given us. I ask all this in Jesus’ name.
AMEN”

Some of us may have public decisions that we need to make today - to commit to follow Jesus as Lord and Savior… to join this church and serve God here. I invite you to share those decisions by coming forward now as we stand and sing and share those decisions with me. Won’t you come now as God leads?

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