Today we are talking about doing what Jesus says with the resources that are given to us. This is the second message that is designed to inspire and guide us as we individually decide what our gift should be for the "Building Tomorrow…Today" special stewardship emphasis. Last week we took a more "big picture" view and talked about our need to see what Jesus sees regarding the needs in people’s lives. What we said was that when we see people in the way he sees them then there is a desire to put our resources in his hands, believing that he will use them in ways we never dreamed possible. Today’s message is more practical, calling on us to simply do what Jesus says we are to do about our relationship to our money.

As I begin this morning I want to help clarify just a few things. If you are here for the first time or have been coming and are concerned about hearing a message about fundraising, then please relax. I am unapologetic in needing to talk about this to our church family. The value of your hearing this message today is that these are things that Jesus says for us to do with our resources regardless if you are trying to raise money for a building project. These are things that we should do because they are what Jesus said we are to do. So understand there is no pressure on you for anything other than your personal obedience to Jesus’ commands.

Another thing that I want to help all of us understand is exactly what I am asking those who are part of the First Baptist family to do. I am asking that each family that considers themselves to be part of First Baptist Church to make a sacrificial pledge over three years toward our "Building Tomorrow…Today!" Campaign. Our goal is to raise from our congregation pledges that will total over $4 million dollars. Every dollar we give ourselves prevents us from having a long-term debt that could hinder our effectiveness for ministry. Some have already received and responded with their pledge card. The rest of our church will receive their pledge card Wednesday night at our Reunion dinner. Again, what you are being asked to do is prayerfully consider making a sacrificial pledge to be completed in three years to help us have $4 million toward our "Building Tomorrow…Today!" campaign.

The next thing that I want to share with you is something that I have always said to you and that is I am not asking you to do anything that I am not doing myself. When I ask you to tithe your income to the church, then I want you to know that Kathy and I give 10% or more of our gross income to First Baptist Church. I do that out of a heart of gratitude, obedience and faith to the Lord Jesus Christ and to you as First Baptist Church.

The same thing is true as far as our family’s commitment to "Building Tomorrow…Today!" I am not asking you to sacrifice if I am not willing to sacrifice. I am not asking you to have faith if I am not willing to have faith. I am not asking you to lead if I am not willing to lead myself. Therefore, I am going to tell you what Kathy and I will pledge. No one else has been asked to do this but me. No one else will do this but me. The reason I am telling you is because you are the resource for all my income. So there is an accountability to you that since what I have is because of you, then you should know my sense of commitment and sacrifice.

I would like to tell you that Kathy and I had some miraculous spiritual moment that revealed this but that’s not what happened. We had prayed for several weeks about what we should give individually and sat down at the kitchen table with our budget and calculator. We looked at where we are now and what we felt would honor God, show gratitude to you and create sacrifice for our lives. We still have one daughter with two years left to finish a private college. We have a two-year-old car and an eleven-year-old car. So with some realities in mind, we are believing that God would be most honored with our making a pledge of $25,000 to the "Building Tomorrow…Today!" campaign. We do this out of a spirit and heart of gratitude to God and to you because all of our needs have always been supplied and we believe will be supplied. I am not asking you to make an equal gift but I am asking you to make an equal sacrifice.

What is the basis for my making such a request of you? Am I trying to manipulate you to do something you would not do on your own? No, I am being honest with you. Honesty motivates people to follow and respond while manipulation forces people into reacting to a motive of guilt. The words of Jesus found in our text for this morning are just the simple truth about the relationship that you and I should have with our resources. These are things that the Bible says we are to do with our resources. I had a wise church member point out to me this week that if we all followed consistently the biblical directives for our resources then we wouldn’t have a need to raise money because the money would already have been given! Essentially, if we all did what Jesus said then we would not be having this conversation!

So what does Jesus say about our relationship to our resources? Overall, what he says is that resources, money or possessions have the ability to enhance or harm our spiritual future if they are not kept in the proper balance or perspective. What he says in these verses is an encouragement for us to use our resources in such a way that we will make the biggest impact possible now and in eternity. Specifically Jesus says five things that we are to do about our relationship to our resources.

First, he says that we are to invest our resources where they will last (Matt. 6:19-21). In verse 19 he gives a clear command that we are not to spend our life securing resources that won’t last. He said this because he knows that the greatest threat to our effectiveness as a Christian is the tyranny of the material in our lives. So, in verse 20 he explains the reason for putting our resources into what will last. Any wealth you and I might have that is in any way material can be lost. No matter how wisely, genuinely, honestly or patiently they were secured, they can be lost. The way to prevent your resources from being lost or losing their potential impact is to invest them in what lasts. The hard issue is the one Jesus addresses in verse 21 and that is that our heart, our passion, will follow what we value most. The Message says, "It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being." So if you want your resources to be invested in what will last, then you have to make the decision to do that.

You say, "Bruce, you and I both know that this building we want to build won’t last. It is not eternal. Someday it will fall apart so how can you say that giving to the "Building Tomorrow…Today!" Campaign will last?" My answer is that the buildings won’t last but the lives that fill those buildings do last, they last for all eternity. If you will prayerfully ask, "Lord, what do you want to do through me?" and make a commitment based on that, then you will suddenly discover that you have an interest in the lives of people who will last for all eternity. So the first thing Jesus says for us to do is to invest our resources where they will last—forever!

The next thing he says is really impacted by this first idea. You see you can’t invest your resources where they will last unless you have made a decision about who is controlling your resources (Matt. 6:22-24). Jesus tells us some very wise things in these verses about our resources. He uses the analogy of vision and says that if you can’t see clearly then you can’t function as effectively as you could if you could see. His point is that the goals we set for ourselves will determine our success or failure at fulfilling God’s purpose for our life.

This is especially true when it comes to money. A passion for God and a passion for the material are mutually exclusive. A focus of our life on money, resources or possessions prevents us from having the focus that God intends. If the passion of our life is on the material, then it has a blinding effect on the rest of our life. We simply can’t understand what God wants us to see. On the other hand, if the passion of your life is directed toward what is spiritual, then you can see what God wants us to see. But it is all a result of who is controlling your resources!

Investing your resources where they will last requires a decision to allow God to control your resources. The third thing Jesus says we should do regarding our relationship to our resources is to stop worrying about your resources. (Matt. 6:25-32a) In these verses Jesus gives a strong, definite command that worry over the needs of everyday life is not to control us. He is saying that giving my resources where they will last puts my everyday life needs into focus. It is to believe so strongly that if I will invest in what matters most to God then he can be trusted to provide what I need the most!

In verses 25-32 Jesus tells us several basic things about worry over our resources and about God’s ability to be trusted to take care of us. One thing he says is that there is more to life than the material (v. 25). Now that’s hard for us to see because worry blinds us to the obvious truth that God will provide what we need. Worry blinds us to God’s provision in nature (v. 26, 28). Jesus tells us to take a look at the birds and the flowers. He feeds the birds and adorns the flowers and neither one of them worries. Worry also blinds us to our value to God (v. 23, 30). Jesus says that we are of more value to God than any other part of his creation. So, if he takes care of lesser demonstrations of his creation, he will provide for us who are the greatest display of his creative power! Worry blinds us to the reality that it is absolutely useless—it has no ability to change the givens of life (v. 27). Finally, worry blinds us to the distinctive difference between those who follow Christ and those who do not (v. 32). Persons who are without a personal faith in Jesus Christ are consumed with anxiety over their material possessions but the truth is—so are we! There’s no distinct difference because worry/anxiety over resources has blinded us to God’s provision for our life!

For four hours he held the cylinder, waiting for rescue or an immediate death. After digging up what appeared to be an unexploded WWI bomb, David Page held on to it, afraid that letting go would detonate the device. While holding the bomb, the terrified 40-year-old from Norfolk, England, called an emergency operator on his mobile phone. He even used the call to issue his last words for his family. "The woman police operator kept saying it would be okay," said Page, "but I kept saying to her, ‘You’re not the one holding the bomb.’"

First responders rushed to the work-yard in eastern England, and army bomb disposal experts finally arrived. But the drama came to an abrupt end when the "bomb" was identified. It was part of the hydraulic suspension system from a Citroen, a popular European car. There are times we find ourselves frozen with worry over our resources. We know God can be trusted to provide for us but we forget that because worry has blinded us. Let go. It’s not a bomb, and you’re going to be okay! So just stop worrying about your resources! ("’Bomb’ of a Car Has Man Worried" Reuters,9-16-04)

IV. Okay, if I invest my resources where they will last, make the choice to allow God to be in control and stop worrying, what am I to do with my life and energies? Well, what Jesus says is to make his concerns our primary concerns. (Matt. 6:32b-33). Choosing to trust that God can be counted on to supply what I need is based on the truth that he already knows all I need. Jesus said, "Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs." He knows about your children going to college. He knows that gas prices are out of sight. He knows that your business isn’t as good as it has been. He knows! So if he knows, isn’t he capable of supplying, sustaining or meeting my needs? The answer is yes!

However, there is one condition and it is this: He will take care of what I need from day to day if I choose to make what concerns him most what concerns me most! What concerns him most are the hearts and lives of people that he has yet to rule Jesus describes them as unconquered kingdoms! Jesus is passionate about lost people, hurting people, lonely people, oppressed people and broken people! That is what most concerns Him! The hard question that we have to ask ourselves individually and as a church is this: Am I, are we, making his concerns our primary concerns? The honest, hard answer for the majority of us is no!

I have personally been inspired by our university students who went to Boston on Spring Break. The reason is that since coming back they have sought to implement the tools they used to reach out to persons without Christ on the BU campus on the ASU campus. They have said, "If we did it there, we can do it here!" They have taken missions and made it local. They have made God’s concern their primary concern and it has changed them. That same thing has happened with our ministry on Huntington and Celebrate Recovery. The thing is can we get as passionate about the people in our neighborhoods, our offices, and schools? Will we be convinced that we are not building a $4 million building for just ourselves but for the future of our church? We cannot afford to imagine that lost people are going to fill a new building just because we build it! Just because we build it, they won’t come! They will only come when we do what it takes to reach them and that starts with, "Would you like to go to church with me Sunday?" They might just say "yes"! I am convinced of this that if we make his concerns our primary concerns and invest our resources in the lives of people, then God will take care of what we need!

V. Jesus said to invest our resources where they will last, decide who is in control of them, stop worrying about them and make his concerns primary. The last thing he says is for us to trust our future to him (Matt. 6:34). Earlier Jesus said we shouldn’t worry about the needs of today because God can be trusted to take care of them. But what about the future? Jesus said that God can be trusted to take care of that also. He assures us we will have what we need today. So, if he assures us that each day will be provided for then when the next day comes he will take care of that as well. Whatever the battles, troubles, struggles or problems that we face, all will require new strength. My worrying about my future needs wastes my resources for today.

Dallas Willard tells in his book Hearing God about Robert C. McFarlane, a well-known businessman in the Los Angeles area. He moved to California from Oklahoma in 1970, and within just a few days of his arrival—due to a disastrous misunderstanding with a close friend—he had to take control of an insurance agency. He did not want it, but he had to make it succeed in order to save the large amount of money he had invested in it. By the spring of 1973, he was in the third straight year of constant strain and stress in the operation of the business. He had recently been converted through the ministry of the Rolling Hills Covenant Church in Southern California in answer to the prayers of his wife, Betty, and her many Christian friends.

One day that spring, the continual danger of defeat, the dark hours of effort, the frustration at every turn, and the hardened memories of the cause of his financial difficulties came upon him with special force. As he drove toward his office, he suddenly was filled with a frantic urge to turn left onto the road out of town and just disappear. But into the midst of his inner turmoil there came a command: "Pull over to the curb." As he relates it, it was as if the words were written on the windshield. After he pulled over, there came to him, as though from someone with him in the car, these words: "My Son had strains that you will never know, and when he had those strains, he turned to me, and that’s what you should do."

After hearing these words, Robert sat at the wheel for a long time, sobbing aloud. He then drove on to his Long Beach office, where he faced 22 major, outstanding problems. All the most significant problems—whether they concerned company disagreements, clients deciding to remain with his agency, payments by clients of late premiums, or whatever—were substantially resolved by that day’s end. (Dallas Willard, Hearing God (InterVarsity Press, 1999)

Today you may be overwhelmed not by just today but by torrow. The strains of your job, your family, your health, your circumstances seem more than you can bear. You are frustrated that already you have more "month" than you have "check." Your financial picture is not at all what pleases you or pleases God and you don’t really appreciate being asked to contribute money from the future that you can’t even count on today. I understand. But here’s what I need you to understand: Everything I have said this morning would still be true if our church wasn’t in a building campaign! These are things that Jesus says to do about our relationship to our resources whether or not you are supportive of "Building Tomorrow…Today!" Don’t make a pledge to "Building Tomorrow…Today!" because of me or anyone else. I want you to make a pledge to "Building Tomorrow…Today!" because you have stopped long enough to listen to the voice of Jesus in your heart. If you do then I ask you to have the faith to do what he tells you to do! Don’t pledge if you don’t believe this is the right direction for the future of the church! All I ask you is do not let a lack of personal faith be the reason for not participating!

The Message says, "Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes." (Matt. 6: 33-34)

Let’s start today building tomorrow by investing our resources in the lives of people who will last forever!

Sunday, April 10, 2005

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org