Dr. Scott McKee: Good morning everybody! Today we conclude a two part series about stuff. We watch stuff, we buy stuff, we store stuff, we compare our stuff, we let our stuff define us, and it's just stuff. Last week the primary question about stuff was this, who is the owner ultimately? Who is it that owns everything?
Who is it? God. God owns everything, we are the stewards, the managers. God is the owner. We're entrusted with some stuff to manage and to enjoy for a little while and then that stuff will get passed on to somebody else to enjoy and manage and then to somebody else and somebody else.
God is the owner. We are the stewards. That was last week's lesson. And before we move on to part two, I want to punctuate last week's lesson with a little illustration. And for this illustration, need somebody to give me $50 right now?
Anybody willing to do that? Oh, thank you. That was fast, thank you. My pleasure. Let's move on now.
I think some others would have been willing to part with $50 likely, but you shot out of your seat so quickly, to do that. Why do you think she was able to part with $50 so readily this morning? Maybe she's rich, has a lot of extra money, maybe she's a good mood today, or maybe, maybe I gave her the $50 right before the service, I had to pick somebody trustworthy looking. Maybe I gave it to her and said, I'm going to ask you to bring this back to me. So when she brought the $50 she was not giving me $50 of her own, she was simply returning to me something that already belonged to me.
And what do we give to God? We are not giving God our money, we are simply returning to God something that already belongs to Him. And once you grasp that, it will change the way you think about your stuff, You will live more open handedly, more joyfully. Who is the owner of all things? God is the owner, we are the managers or stewards.
Today's question is: what do we get when we give? What do we get when we give? I tell you last week that Jesus talked about stuff more than any other topic except for the kingdom of God, which was his favorite topic of all. Today we're going look at one of the many teachings of Jesus about stuff. You heard it read a few moments ago from Luke 13.
It's commonly referred to as the parable of the shrewd manager. And of all the parables that Jesus told, this is widely regarded as one of the most difficult to understand and interpret. So let's look at this parable of Jesus today. A wealthy guy discovers that one of his managers has been losing money by the fistful. Maybe he's embezzling, maybe it's his poor management, we're not told, but he's losing money and the owner goes to the manager and says literally, What is this I'm hearing about you?
The implication is he's getting a steady stream of information and the information is not good. Now the manager is going to wonder, how much does the owner actually know? So he's not going want to answer this question. It's like your child after parent teacher conferences and you say, tell me what happened on the playground yesterday, and your child freezes up, he doesn't want to offer too much because he doesn't know how much you know. So he stares at you blankly hoping you'll reveal your knowledge base.
And that's what's going on in this story, the manager does not want to answer the question, he's hoping the awkward moment will go away, but eventually the axe falls and the owner says, You cannot be my manager anymore. You're fired. Give me an accounting of your management, surrender the books, there's going to be an audit, there's going to be a reckoning. Now the audit hasn't happened yet, there's this little bit of time, this is crucial to the story, there is this little bit of time where the employees and the community does not know that the manager has been fired. He is in real deep trouble, he knows he has to figure out something quickly, and he has this little window of opportunity and he begins to think through what do I do if my master takes my position away.
He doesn't drift along just hoping things will work out, he begins to think about other employment opportunities. I could dig, he thinks. I get a job digging, but I'm not very good at digging. I'm an accountant, my muscles have atrophied, my back is bad. He may come up with other things, I can't dig.
I could beg, but I'm not very good at groveling either. He keeps thinking and he comes up with his plan, and he says, I know what I'll do. And he calls in his master's creditors one at a time, one at a time so that each creditor will not know what he's up to and he is up to something here. He's got no time for greetings and that day you would have small talk ahead of time, but he says to them quickly, Take your bill, sit down quickly. Quickly before the owner figures out what's going on.
And with a few strokes of a pen, he saves them tens of thousands of dollars. He does the same thing with the next one, and with the next one, and with the next one. He's building up a stack of favors owed. This will come very handy for him when he loses his job. They'll owe him a favor.
And then Jesus says, the master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. Now, is Jesus advocating dishonest business practices? What do you think? No. This is Jesus Christ we are talking about?
Is Jesus advocating dishonest business practices? No, He is telling a parable. A parable is a little different than an allegory, this is not an allegory. In allegory, each thing in the story stands for something else. For an allegory, we'd be asking, Who does the manager represent?
Who does the owner represent? What does the oil stand for? But parables are a little bit different. Parables are generally about one point, and in Jesus' day, rabbis would sometimes use parables to teach, and certain parables involved a principle called teaching from light to dark. They would tell a story, it might be a funny story, extract one essential principle from it, and then apply that principle in a powerful way.
The phrase would always be involved in this kind of parable, they would always use the phrase, how much more? How much more? For example, you may remember that Jesus told a story about a persistent widow and an unjust corrupt judge. And the persistent widow keeps coming back to this unjust corrupt judge until she gets what she needs. Now the point of the story is not that God is like the unjust corrupt judge, God is not like the unjust corrupt judge.
The point is, if this persistent widow was willing to persist with a judge that was corrupt, a judge that didn't care about her, a lick, how much more should we persist when the judge is our heavenly Father who loves us and wants the best for us? How much more? And this is another one of those how much more kind of stories. This is a man who has a little bit of time, a little bit of money, he doesn't have good purposes in his life, he doesn't even have an honest character, but he does one thing right, he doesn't go into drift mode, he goes into action mode. He comes up with a plan and he executes it.
And Jesus says in this world, when people get fired up about a dream, even if it's a selfish dream, even if it's not quite honest, even if it's all about their lifestyle and success, in this world people will become incredibly determined and creative about how to finance it. But often the children of light, the children of God, people who know God, people who have good purposes, people who want to make a difference in the world, they become oddly passive. They kind of drift. There is no planning or execution, and Jesus says this is strange. I think everybody in this room wants to be a generous person, I think everybody here today thinks of themselves as a generous person.
However, want to warn you that our self perception is not always reliable. The human capacity for self deception is extraordinarily high, and if you need evidence of this, watch American Idol. There's that contestant where you wonder how could they have possibly thought to enter a singing contest? They had to know that was terrible. The only thing I can assume is that this person loves music and they interpret that feeling of love for music that they have, they mistakenly interpret that as talent.
And it works this way with generosity too. I hear a story about poverty, I hear about children who have got a walk to get fresh drinking water, and it generates strong feelings in me, and I interpret those feelings as generosity even though I haven't done anything about it. I see a picture of a hungry child and I feel really sad about it and I think to myself, I'm not callous like some people. I have deep feelings when it comes to this. I must be a generous person.
I can read about the extravagant lifestyle of a billionaire and I think I don't approve of that. If I were rich, I would be generous. Of course I'm not rich and I need to spend all my resources on myself, but if I were rich, I would be a really generous person. And Jesus is saying don't listen to these parables and say to yourself, that's right, I agree with that, and do nothing, and deceive yourself into thinking you're a really generous person because you have these certain thoughts and feelings. You have a little bit of time, you've got a window of opportunity, and if this guy in the story, who isn't even an honest person, has just piled up stuff for himself, can be so energetic, creative, and strategic, then how much more should God's people be energetic, creative, and strategic in managing their stuff?
The way we manage our stuff can really make a difference in the world. We have all the more reason to be determined and deliberate. Here is the idea behind this. Nobody in this world just drifts into a life of generosity. Nobody in this world wakes up and discovers they have suddenly, surprisingly, conquered the monster of more and more and more.
Nobody in this world backs in declaring how much is enough. You must get deliberate. You must come up with a plan and execute. You must get creative. People with selfish motives do this, and they are just stockpiling for themselves.
How much more important is it that God's people do this, where the return on investment can really make a difference? In the time that remains, I want to suggest a plan. This is not original with me, this has been taught by Christian financial counselors for years. It's not the only plan for handling stuff, and by all means, if you've got a better plan, go with that. But this plan, I think, is consistent with Scripture.
It's embarrassingly simple and very concrete, and it's sometimes called the ten-ten-eighty plan. And it goes like this: The first 10% of your income, you give back to God. Before you're tempted to spend it on your own, on anything else, 10% is designated to go to God and to God's purposes. And this comes from the Old Testament book of Malachi, where God says through His prophet, Bring the whole tithe, and that word tithe means 10%, Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the flood gates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
I don't know of any other place in the Bible where God uses this kind of language. God knows how stuff gets a hold of us and it's kind of like He issues here a dare. Giving doesn't make much sense until you actually do it and so God says, I dare you, test me in this. Just try it and see if you don't end up receiving blessing after blessing more than you could possibly measure. This is not a legalistic deal, this tithing.
Some of you have a lot of debt in your life and you're not able to tithe at this time. Many of us in this room can go well beyond the 10% tithe. But this model has served the followers of God as a concrete benchmark or a challenge or a starting point for a very long time now. People of God would bring their tithes into the storehouse, and from the storehouse the poor got served, and missionaries got sent out, and children got educated in the scriptures, and a lot of great things happened because of the discipline of tithing. I want to say a word especially to those of you that are just starting out maybe in life, maybe you're a high school student or a college student, maybe you're a newlywed, you're just getting started and you're going to be tempted to think, I don't have enough money to tithe right now, but when I'm established later in life, then I will start to tithe.
Anybody here over 30, tell me if you think that's a good idea. That works about 0% of the time. There is this illusion that says, when I get more money, when I have more money, I will be more generous. But the scriptures and a lot of research shows, this is not the way generosity works, this is not the way the human heart works. So Jesus says right now you've got a little bit of time, you've got this window of opportunity to act.
So be like the guy in Jesus' story. Be shrewd. Start now. Way easier to start when your resources are small than to try to start when your resources are much larger. That's the first 10%.
The second 10% is for long term savings. Pay yourself essentially the second 10%. This is not for things like a car or a vacation, this is retirement. The Bible actually has a lot to say about this kind of savings as well. This is an example from the book of Proverbs, Proverbs twenty-one 20, The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets.
Do you think this would be a good thing for our whole nation to memorize this verse? Since 1972, while affluence in America has grown, saving rates have diminished. Twenty percent of college students today have credit card debt of $10,000 or more. CNN reported two cases of college students committing suicide, and they left notes saying their crushing debts were the reason they had for killing themselves. We don't need to put that kind of pressure on ourselves.
First 10% to God's purposes, second 10% for long term savings, and the remaining 80% you are free to manage together with God in a way that will bring joy and delight to God and to your own life and to the people around you. In other words, you don't have to feel guilty about every purchase that you make. Jesus says God is like a Father, a loving Father, who delights in giving gifts to His children. So it's okay to enjoy stuff, in fact, it delights God that we enjoy stuff. The question is, can you live on 80%?
And most of us had to live on 80% at some point. Can you live at 80%? Yes. That's the ten-ten-eighty plan. Angie and I were introduced to this plan as newlyweds by our pastor and we have lived pretty much according to this plan for the thirty four years of our marriage.
We've had to redefine it at certain times, but for the most part, the skeletal plan has served us very well. And again, if you have another plan that works for you, by all means, use it. I want to tell you about one more dimension of what happens when you give. There are many places in the Bible where Scripture writers talk about this dynamic that gets set in motion when you give. The kind of blessing that you'll receive.
This is one example from Luke's Gospel, Luke six: Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. It's the law of the kingdom. When you give, you receive.
Now this does not mean that giving is a selfish way to get more and more stuff. It's often taught that way, but that is a misinterpretation. It does mean that authentic, God honoring givers step into a kind of life that takers will never know. It means that when you give, you begin to receive something that you cannot receive any other way. You get to go on a kind of adventure with God.
Ken Davis writes this in one of his books. He said, A friend of mine, Joel Morgan, planned on visiting missionaries in Eastern Europe. He asked friends who had traveled to that area what he should pack. There were many helpful suggestions, but everybody agreed you ought to bring some extra food. Stay in rural villages with no electricity, they might be forced to go without meals, and this could tide them over.
One missionary warned Joel to bring more than he would need, because some of the stuff might get confiscated by customs. So Joel asked himself questions as he walked through the grocery store. What should I take that won't spoil and that will serve as an energy boost? He also whispered this prayer, Lord, you know the things I'm going to need and the things that will make it through customs, so I'm just going to walk down these aisles trusting you to prompt me to select the right things. Instantly, his eyes fell on a display of Reese's peanut butter cups.
He put a king-size pack of them in his cart. Further down the aisle, was drawn to an arrangement of tapioca pudding packs. From my perspective, when anyone is drawn to tapioca pudding, it's already a miraculous sign. Finally he scooped up some small cans of fruit cocktail, some gum, and some hard candy. This will tide me over, he thought.
On the fourth day of his trip he arrived in Romania. He would spend several days with a couple who had labored over a year there, sent by a national organization, but for all practical purposes, they had been forgotten. They faced hard conditions, heat and electricity would be turned off for days. Joel and his team were the first English speaking people they had seen in six months. Just the chance to talk was cause for celebration, and their two teenage daughters were starved for anything American.
Joel spent some time chatting and praying with them, and as they were about to leave, he thought about the survival goodies he had purchased for himself. He had this idea it was only October, but why not use these snacks to celebrate an early Christmas? Just give them! Giving away his supplies would mean relying on God for the rest of his trip, but somehow he knew that's just what God wanted. He retrieved his backpack with all of his goodies inside, sat the family down in their living room, and took the role of Santa Claus and played it to the hilt.
He asked the two teenage girls, If you could have any one thing from The US, one thing, what would it be? And in unison, they said, Candy. What kind? Joel asked confident that they would love anything that he had, and the mother chimed in, The girls love Reese's peanut butter cups. But they are not available in this part of the world.
With a lump in his throat, Joel reached through his backpack, pulled out the king-size pack he had smuggled into the country, and the girls jumped up and down joyfully, laughing as they held their treasure between them. Wiping a tear from his eye, Joel asked the mother, What item from back home would brighten your day? This is a risk, what if she had said a side of beef? But with one miracle already in the bag, what could go wrong? I miss fruit, the mother replied sheepishly, especially citrus.
Reaching into Santa's bag, Joel took out a can of fruit cocktail and a tin of canned mandarin oranges. Now everybody was laughing and wiping away tears. After a time of celebration, Joel turned to the father. The backpack was nearly empty, and he considered removing a few items and asking the father to make a selection. Two out of three miracles ain't bad, why press his luck?
But something deep in Joel's soul shouted, Go for it! And before he could argue with God, he heard himself ask, Gary, what's your favorite dessert? And this wonderful servant of God smiled and said, It's something nobody else in the world likes, tapioca pudding. Joel nearly injured himself pulling the pudding from the pack and racing it across the room to show him the Super Four snack pack of tapioca pudding that God had prompted him to buy seven days earlier and 4,000 miles away. What followed was praise and worship in its truest form.
Nine people crowded into a little room in Romania, weeping and singing praises to God. That day they gained a new appreciation for what Paul wrote in Philippians, and my God shall supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. What do you get when you give? You get to go on an adventure with God. You become alive to the Kingdom.
You become less focused on yourself. You are less depressed. You are more in tune with others. You become more capable of empathy. You have a greater sense of community.
You have a decreased sense of loneliness when you get to the end of your life. You will look back on this pile of fabulous memories of the people whose lives were changed because you used your stuff to bless them. What do you get when you give? You get a new heart, and you get an adventure with God. You want to be a difference maker?
Want to be filled with joy and generosity and meaning and eternal significance? Then be shrewd. Be wise, be diligent, and be blessed. Let's pray. Oh God, give to us a new heart.
Free us from the hole that stuff has on our lives. May mammon never be our God. May stuff never be our master, may we be shrewd and wise and joyful to the glory of God through Christ our Lord. And everybody agreed and said, amen. Amen.