Introduction: Joe Temeczko was 86 years old when he died this past October 4 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was an immigrant from Poland, arriving in 1950 at New York City. He was somewhat of a recluse who had worked as a self-employed carpenter and laborer in construction. He was also a former POW held by the Nazi’s in World War II. He lived, it seemed, as a pauper, scavenging the streets for what he could gather that others had thrown away. He had no relatives but in September shortly before he died he contacted a lawyer to prepare a will.

A neighbor of Joe’s found his body in Joe’s yard. It seems he died of a heart attack. William Wagensteen, Joe’s lawyer, filed the contents of Temeczko’s will two weeks later. The entire estate, all that he owned was to go to New York City and to be used at the discretion of Mayor Rudy Giuliani and the City Council. What was his estate? What could a pauper give? The answer is all he had – over one million dollars!

That simple story is but one example of the principle that it is not how much you have but how you use what you have that gives you financial security. How did Temeczko do it? Five simple ways: 1) He knew what he had, 2) He planned how to spend it, 3) He put some of it away, 4) He was content with what he had, and 5) He invested it to use for something bigger than himself. Those simple steps are the same ones you and I can use today to achieve financial security. These days are ones where we long for financial security. Our economy has been officially declared in recession. The stock markets fluctuate in extremes almost daily. The fears of other attacks both in bioterrorism and "conventional" terrorism and the ongoing war with Afghanistan cause us to be uncertain. Not knowing what 2002 will bring for us can traumatize us, if we let it.

For these reasons, my words to you are the most basic and responsible we can find about how to gain financial security for 2002. They are five steps that have worked for people for the decades, years and months prior to September 11. They are the ones that are supported by the wisdom of the Book of Proverbs. It is our responsibility to encourage you to give. It is also our responsibility to provide sound, practical guidance to help you manage your resources so you can give. The one thing that stands so often in the way of you doing what you want to do in giving is because these steps have not been applied. You can’t give because you are not seeing your resources spiritually.

When you look at managing money you have to look at the book of Proverbs. Proverbs is the most practical book in the Bible. It explains to us how to handle the problems of life. There is nothing that causes more problems, more worries, more stress, and more financial difficulties than being under financial tension. We're going to look at it today because if you don't learn to manage your money it will manage you.

Solomon, who wrote the book of Proverbs, was the wisest man who ever lived. He was also the wealthiest man who ever lived. When Solomon talks about money, you'd better listen. Solomon gives us five steps for financial security.

1. KEEP GOOD RECORDS (Proverbs 27:23-24)

Proverbs 27:23-24, 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. (NLT) The TEV says, "Riches can disappear fast so watch your business interests closely. Know the state of your flocks." In those days most people were tied to the raising of sheep in some manner. They saw themselves as shepherds, so their assets were tied up in herds or sheep. He's saying, "You've got to know your assets." We would say that you've got to know where your money's going. You've got to keep good records. This is the principle of accounting. The starting point is being aware of what you have.

Have you ever said this: "I don't know where all my money goes!" Then you're in real trouble. People say money talks. It doesn't talk it just leaves real quietly -- kind of sneaks away. Proverbs 23:23 says, "Get the facts at any price." We are to be realistic. How well am I doing? If you don't know where you're going with your money, ignorance plus easy credit equals disaster. You've got to know where it's going. You need to write things down and keep good records. "Get the facts at any price."

There are four "facts" you need to know to start being secure in this next year: (1) I need to know what I own, (2) I need to know what I owe, (3) I need to know what I earn, (4) I need to know where it goes. These are things you must write down and record. There are extremes to this and it depends on the degree of your problem. Some say that you should write down every cent that comes into or goes out of your life. Others are a bit more relaxed. Some of you say, "I don't have time to write it down. I don't have time to keep good records." Do you have time to worry about your money? If you used the time worrying about the money, keeping good records, you'd have a lot less to worry about.

This is a spiritual issue of stewardship. Do you remember the story Jesus told about the master who was going away and gave specific amounts of money to his servants? Two used their share wisely the other just stuck it back and did nothing with it. When he returned the master commended those who did well with what they were given. Then he said, " But from those who are unfaithful even what little they have will be taken away."(Matt.25:29 NLT) The resources God has given us are matters of trust. He entrusts us to use his money wisely. It is an issue of being faithful. Does it honor God to be negligent with his resources? So the first step is real simply. Keep good records.

2. PLAN MY SPENDING (Proverbs 21:5)

Proverbs 21:5 says, "Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty." The TEV says, "Plan carefully and you will have plenty. If you act too quickly, you will never have enough." Circle the word: "planning". If you are going achieve financial security you have to set financial goals and stick with them. You have to know where you're going. You need to set some financial goals this year. Goals tell you where you are going, cause you to think clearly, motivate you and help you understand what God’s will is for you and your money. A goal is an objective toward which I believe God wants me to move. It is an act of disobedience for us to just go through the year by the seat of our pants when God’s word says for us to plan. Financial freedom is not determined by how much you make but how you spend it. If you're going to be out of debt, you need to learn to plan your spending. Every spending decision is a spiritual decision.

Notice it says, "Hasty shortcuts lead to poverty" "…If you act too quickly, you will never have enough." Circle "hasty shortcuts". He's talking about acting on impulse -- acting too quickly. In other words, I see it so I want it right now. I've got to have it right now. Our consumer culture is based on haste or impulse. Every commercial, every advertisement is geared to get you to do impulse buying -- that means to buy without thinking about it. It's all geared to make you do it quickly.

There is a word that retailers use to get you to do impulse buying -- it's called "sale". When I was a stock boy at Piggly Wiggly in Arkadelphia I had the cereal aisle. When I needed to get a product off the shelf to make room for more I put an orange sign on it that said "Everyday low price". In no time it was gone! Many people cannot resist this word. If it's on sale then I'd better buy it now -- I've got to have it right now. Look how much I'm "saving". It doesn't matter if you don't need it; just look how much you're saving! The myth goes like this "If I don't buy it now, it will cost more later." Proverbs 21:20 is God's IQ test. It says, "Stupid people spend their money as fast as they get it!"

How do you break this habit of impulse buying? One shopaholic website advises to put your credit card in water and freeze it so it will have to thaw out before you use it. People are spending billions of dollars to get you to do impulse buying -- where you act too quickly before planning it. How do you resist that? How do you spell relief? You spell it B-U-D-G-E-T. Budget is simply a word for planned spending. You ought to have a budget. If you don't, you're headed for chaos. Budget is telling your money where you want it to go, rather than wonder where it went. As you look at the year ahead this area is very practical. The Bible is very practical. Keep good records and plan your spending. Write out a budget. It ought to be a mutual decision if you're married. You ought to pray about it and ask God about it. Ask for wisdom. And plan your spending.

"The wise have wealth and luxury, but fools spend whatever they get." This is the principle of saving. "The wise man saves for the future." That's the opposite of the foolish man who spends everything he gets. The average American saves less than 5% of his income. Also the average American household with at least one credit card has $8,523 in credit debt. We have allowed our debt to chain and enslave our future! We spend our money on everything we want right now. "I want it now! I'm going to live within my means even if I have to charge it!"

Proverbs 13:11,"Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows." "He grows rich who accumulates little by little." He's talking about savings. Proverbs 6 talks about the ant. "Consider the ant how industrious he is. He stores up little by little in the summer so that when the winter comes he's not devastated." (Prov. 6:6-8) This same principle is the one I spoke of earlier from the ministry of Jesus. The master told the servants to whom he had given bags of gold to use it wisely. Two of them doubled their investment. He said to them, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you more responsibilities." (Matt.25: 21). You need to set some saving goals. It is a matter of spiritual stewardship.

American Demographics magazine has said most Baby Boomers, my generation, are going to be flat broke in retirement. They're going to live in poverty. They will live far worse off in retirement than their parents did. Why? Because we're not saving anything. We're spending it all right now. My generation fails to accept the principle of compounding interest- the fact that small amounts of money, properly invested over long periods of time, can grow into a significant sum. To take a trivial example, suppose you put aside only the cost of a single candy bar -- about 65 cents -- each day. Invested in a tax-deferred account paying 5 percent a year, that string of savings would grow to $3,079 in just 10 years and to $16,521 in 30 years.

Or suppose there are two siblings, a sister and a brother, who both invest in Individual Retirement Accounts earning a conservative 8 percent a year. The sister starts saving at age 20, and for the next 10 years she stuffs the maximum $2,000 a year into her IRA. At age 30, though, she stops altogether and never adds another penny to the account. Her brother waits until age 30 to get started, but then he dutifully salts away $2,000 a year for the rest of his life. Which sibling do you think will be better off at retirement age, the one who saved for only 10 years or the one who started later but saved continuously? In this case, the "ant" that put it away little by little will always be ahead. She'll reach age 65 with over $428,000 in her IRA account, while her brother will have a little under $345,000 -- about 20% less. Of course, if both siblings had been wise enough to start saving at age 20 and keep it up all their lives, they'd both have an even larger sum -- nearly three-quarters of a million dollars ($773,000), before taxes. Enough said about the power of disciplined saving and investing. (Source: www.money.cnn.com)

Solomon says in Proverbs to do just that! That’s not just modern personal finance it’s applying God’s word! You need to learn to save for the future. In order to learn to save for the future -- Step 3 -- you have to follow Step 4, which is...

4. ENJOY WHAT I ALREADY HAVE (Proverbs 21:17)

"Those who love pleasure become poor; wine and luxury are not the way to riches." That's the principle of contentment. The jet set is the debt set. We're constantly faced with choices and we spend money on here and now pleasures rather than saving it for the future. Why do we spend it now? Why aren't we satisfied with what we have? Because we buy into this myth that's taught in our culture that says having more will make me more happy. We know that's not true. If having more made you more happy then the person who had the most would be the most happy and obviously that's not true. We expect that that money will be able to let me do the things we want. We think that it has the power to make me who I want to be. We imagine that it can give me security and that if we have enough of it we can really take it easy.

Suze Orman author of many books on finances tells the story of when she learned how money was the all-consuming passion for life. She was 13; her dad owned his own business—a tiny shack where he sold chicken, ribs, hamburgers, hot dogs, and fries. One day the oil that the chicken was fried in caught fire. In a few minutes the whole place exploded in flames. Her dad bolted from the store before the flames could engulf him. Then she and her mom arrived on the scene, and stood outside watching the fire burn away her dad's business. All of a sudden, her dad realized he had left his money in the metal cash register inside the building. She watched in disbelief as he ran back into the inferno before anyone could stop him.

Knowing that every penny he had was locked in front of him about to go up into flames, he picked up the scalding metal box and carried it outside. When he threw the register on the ground, the skin on his arms and chest came with it. He had escaped the fire safely once, untouched. Then he voluntarily risked his life and was severely injured. The money was that important. He tried to open the metal register, but the intense heat had already sealed the drawer shut. She writes, "That was when I learned that money is obviously more important than life itself. From that point on, earning money—lots of money—not only became what drove me professionally, but also became my emotional priority." But years later, when Orman became a wealthy broker with a huge investment firm, she was profoundly unhappy. What went wrong? Orman discovered that no matter how much she had she wasn’t free to be content. (Suze Orman, 9 Steps to Financial Freedom , Random House, 2000, p. 3)

Things never permanently satisfy. They bring happiness for a while when you first get them, but it wears off. You need to learn to be content with what you have. Having more will not make you more happy. How do we get caught in this trap? What happens is, we rationalize it with this phrase. "It's only temporary." "I know we're really hustling right now and we're trying to make the mortgage payment but all of this is temporary. One day things are going to settle down." Who are you kidding? A temporary habit becomes a permanent lifestyle. Your yearnings will always exceed your earnings. Your yearning power will always be greater than your earning power so you’re always going to be wanting to get to this next level. It is not a temporary situation. You're setting yourself up for a permanent lifestyle of a hectic life. Step four is to enjoy what I have. Learn contentment.

Proverbs 21:26 says, "…the godly love to give." What are we to give? Our verse, Proverbs 3:9-10, from last week told us, "Honor the Lord by giving Him the first part of all your income, and He will fill your barns to overflow…" The first part is your tithe. Tithing is the principle of giving our first ten percent back to God. Why ten percent? I don't know. That's what God said. He could have said fifty percent. He could have said eighty, ninety. But obviously He doesn't need my money; He doesn't need your money. God doesn't need money. Why does He say give ten percent back to Him? He wants what it represents. It represents your heart.

Whatever you want God to bless in your life put Him first in it. If you want God to bless your family, put Him first in your family. If you want God to bless your career, put Him first in your career. If you want God to bless your finances, put Him first in your finances. If you want God to bless your time, you put Him first in your time. Whatever you put God first in, God has promised to bless. That makes sense. He's God. He wants to be first. He says if I honor Him with the first part of my income out of gratitude for what He's already given me and in faith saying, I believe You're going to take care of me in the future, it's really an act of trust, saying, "God, I trust You." If I don't tithe I'm saying I really don't trust God -- I don't think He can help me make it on the ninety percent and make that go further than if it were a hundred percent. I challenge you to do what God says. Trust Him. It's a matter of your trust.

Conclusion: If you're going through financial difficulty right now, it might be because you're not following these steps. All five of them are important. You can't leave out any of them. They're all important. God says when you do it My way, I'll pour out blessing on your life. I challenge you to try these. I don't know why but God has chosen finances to be the acid test of our faith. He says in Luke 16, if you're not faithful in handling worldly wealth, God will not trust you with spiritual blessings. So God looks at you and me and asks how am I using my finances. Am I saving? Am I spending? Am I giving? Or am I doing all these things in the right way so that my life has balance? I challenge you to ask God to take over this area of your life.

With God and our money we are never secure until we let it go. In Run with the Horses, Eugene Peterson tells how he saw a family of birds teaching their young to fly. Three young swallows were perched on a dead branch that stretched out over a lake. One adult swallow got alongside the chicks and started shoving them out toward the end of the branch--pushing, pushing, pushing. The end one fell off. Somewhere between the branch and the water four feet below, the wings started working, and the fledgling was off on his own. Then the second one. The third was not to be bullied. At the last possible moment his grip on the branch loosened just enough so that he swung downward, then tightened again, bulldog tenacious. The parent was without sentiment. He pecked at the desperately clinging talons until it was more painful for the poor chick to hang on than risk the insecurities of flying. The grip was released, and the inexperienced wings began pumping. The mature swallow knew what the chick did not--that it would fly--that there was no danger in making it do what it was perfectly designed to do. Birds have feet and can walk. Birds have talons and can grasp a branch securely. They can walk; they can cling. But flying is their characteristic action, and not until they fly are they living at their best, gracefully and beautifully.

Peterson says, "Giving is what we do best. It is the air into which we were born. It is the action that was designed into us before our birth. ... Some of us try desperately to hold on to ourselves, to live for ourselves. We look so bedraggled and pathetic doing it, hanging on to the dead branch of a bank account for dear life, afraid to risk ourselves on the untried wings of giving. We don't think we can live generously because we have never tried. But the sooner we start, the better, for we are going to have to give up our lives finally, and the longer we wait, the less time we have for the soaring and swooping life of grace." (David B. Jackson, Jackson, Mississippi. Leadership, Vol. 16, no. 2.) By letting go we become secure.

Sunday, November 11, 2001

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org