April 18, 2010
Proverbs 21:5, 29; Luke 15:11-16
Last week, we heard how the American Dream contrasts with God’s vision, and how God’s vision brings joy that the American Dream never can. This week, as we continue our series Enough: Discovering Joy Through Simplicity and Generosity, we look at the biblical principles of money management and discover how they apply to our daily life. We will look at three things: 1) where our money goes, 2) our relationship with money and possessions, and 3) the discipline necessary to manage our money.
Have you ever asked at the end of the month, or the end of the week, “Where Did All Our Money Go?” I imagine most of us have – unless we have tree producing twenty-dollar bills year ‘round. So, why is it so many people ask that question? Could it be…
Many of us today are living as “prodigals.” Jesus described the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-16) as a young man with a habit of squandering his money. As the word prodigal means, he literally “wasted his money.” Many of us struggle with that habit as well. Wanting something today, we don’t think about what we are going to do tomorrow. Then when the “famine” comes, we have no money, and charge things on our credit cards. We go a little into debt, and then a little more, until we can’t see our way out.
The more we make, the more we waste. It seems the more financially secure we become the less we worry about spending money here and there. We waste a dollar on this or that, and we forget where it went. Money just seems to flow through our fingers. We are probably not as careful as we should be with our money and we waste it in a lot of ways, with the top two ways being our impulse buying and eating out.
A good thing for all of us to do, although it would be impossible to eliminate it altogether, would be to avoid impulse buying and to reduce our eating out. We’ve heard it before:
• Never go grocery shopping when you are hungry.
• Shop only for what you need.
• Make a list and stick to it; buy what you need and get out of the store!
• Wait twenty-four hours before buying anything on impulse.
It works! And concerning eating out, the issue is frequency. The average American eats out an average of four times a week. By eating out less frequently, we would have more money to save, to spend on something maybe more important, or to give away.
Clarifying Our Relationship With Money and Possessions We do not exist simply to consume as much as we can and get as much pleasure as we can while we are here on this earth. We have a higher purpose. We need to know and understand our life purpose—our vision or mission or calling—and then spend our money in ways that are consistent with this purpose or calling.
This will require us to be clear about our purpose and calling. Our society tells us we are here to consume—to make and spend as much money as possible. The Bible says we were created to care for God’s creation… to love God and to love our neighbors… to care for our families and those in need… to glorify God, seek justice, and do mercy. Our money and possessions should be devoted to helping us fulfill this calling of caring for our families and others and of serving Christ and the world through the church, missions, and everyday opportunities. We have a life purpose that is greater than our own self-interests, and how we spend our God-given resources reflects our understanding and commitment to this life purpose or mission.
This will also require us to set worthy goals. Being able to accomplish the greater purposes God has for our lives requires a little planning. Taking the time to set goals related to our lives and our finances is crucial if we are to become wise stewards of our God-given resources. We should think about our purpose and goals in life and then identify two short-term financial goals, two mid-range financial goals, and two long-term financial goals that are aimed at helping us to accomplish our broader life goals. At least one goal in each category should relate specifically to our faith. (To do this, use the insert “My Life and Financial Goals Worksheet” provided in today’s bulletin)
The Discipline of Managing Your Money is the final piece to our puzzle. It is not always easy and requires a way of doing things that are not a lot of fun.
Yet a budget and spending plan is necessary. First we set our goals and then must develop a plan to meet them. A budget is a spending plan that helps us meet those goals. Some people use an envelope system, or a number of different approaches, to help them manage their saving and spending to stay on budget. Many find it helpful to seek the advice of a financial advisor. For those in the midst of a financial crisis, a financial counselor can help to work out terms with creditors and develop a workable financial plan. Whatever approach you choose, the important thing is simply to have a plan. (Suggestion: Use the bulletin insert “My Life and Financial Goals Worksheet.”)
Six Financial Planning Principles The following financial planning principles can help us to manage our money with wisdom and faith:
1. Pay your tithe and offering first. Put God first in your living and your giving. Give your tithe and offering from the “top” of your paycheck, and then live on whatever remains.
2. Create a budget and track your expenses. Creating a budget is simply developing a plan for what you want your money to do. Tracking your expenses with a budget is like getting on the scales: It allows you to see how you are doing and motivates you to be more careful with your spending. (“Basic Budget Worksheet.”)
3. Simplify your lifestyle (live below your means). Because this discipline is critical to the success of any financial plan, next Sunday’s sermon will be devoted to this topic.
4. Establish an emergency fund. This is an account set aside specifically for emergencies separate from checking or long-term savings. Dave Ramsey recommends starting with $1,000 and building that to three months’ worth of income.
5. Pay off credit cards, use only cash/check/debit card for purchases, and use credit wisely. To begin paying off your credit card debt, either start with the card with the highest interest rate or pay down the smallest debt first. Then apply the payments from the first card to the next, and so on, until all are paid off. Cut up your cards as you pay them down. If you must use a credit card, pay off the debt monthly.
6. Practice long-term savings and investing habits. Saving money is the number-one wise money management principle everyone should practice. It should never be for the sake of hoarding – something frowned upon in the Bible as the practice of fools - but is meant to be purposeful, for things like: 1) emergencies, 2) specific wants and goals, and 3) retirement.
Proverbs 21:5 says, “Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run; rushing around without knowing where you are going puts you further behind.” Good advice for all of us.
I invite everyone to take time this week to begin some careful planning concerning your financial future, if it’s something you have not already done. Take the bulletin inserts home and fill them out. Start today toward discovering the joy that can be yours.
Join us next week for as we address head-on our human tendency to accumulate possessions and wealth and learn how to consciously change our ways.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
When Dreams Become Nightmares
April 11, 2010
Timothy 6:6-10; Matthew 16:24-26
Economically, this is a scary time. We wonder whether the economic crisis is over or will get worse. We no longer trust government or financial institutions or big banks. Our cynicism and lack of trust has made us fearful of what will happen in the future. Things are depressing. Investments, homes, and jobs have been lost – and the dream of a better day has been put on hold. We wonder if things will ever get better?
We have all been affected by this crisis differently. Some have felt the crunch first hand, while others have hardly been affected at all. What we have in common though is what the Bible promises and what we believe – during times like this, we can trust God to be our strength and refuge. Our hope doesn’t lie in more money “but rather on God.” Timothy says wanting more money IS the problem: “Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith, and pierced themselves with much grief.” (1Tim. 6:10b) The wisdom of Ecclesiastes says, “The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain. This also is vanity.” (5:10) And Matthew says, “For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? (16:26)
Adam Hamilton, pastor at Church of the Resurrection and author of this series, suggests that the church is to be a beacon of light in the midst of life’s storms inviting people to find deliverance, redemption, hope, and a new way of life. Hopefully over the next few weeks this series will not only illumine our lives, but will also enable us, as the body of Christ, to become a beacon for others in our community as together we discover joy through simplicity and generosity.
The American Dream characterizes the greatest hopes, desires, and dreams of most Americans. For most people, this “dream” is about an inner desire for becoming successful at what they do and satisfying a desire for accumulating material possessions. This “dream” is the opportunity to pursue and get more than what we have, to achieve success, and all its rewards. And along the way, we tend to measure our success by the stuff that we possess.
As a country, we have become people in the pursuit of instant gratification. The love of money and the things money can buy drives most Americans to do what they do. We want to consume, acquire, and buy our way to happiness—and we want “our happiness” now. But the American Dream has become an American Nightmare due to two distinct yet related illnesses that impact us both socially and spiritually – affluenza and credit-itis.
Affluenza is the constant need for more and bigger and better stuff—as well as the effect this need has on us. It is the desire to acquire things, a virus most of us have been infected with to some degree. Consider that the average American home went from about 1,600 square feet in 1973 to 2,400 square feet in 2004 and that today there is estimated to be 1.9 billion square feet of self-storage space in America. 1
Credit-itis is an illness that is brought on by the opportunity to buy now and pay later, and it feeds on our desire for instant gratification. Our economy today is built on the concept of credit-itis. Unfortunately, it has exploited our lack of self-discipline and allowed us to feed our affluenza, wreaking havoc in our personal and national finances. The average credit card debt in America in 1990 was around $3,000. Today it’s over $9,000. The average sale is around 125 percent higher if we use a credit card than if we pay cash, because it doesn’t feel real when we use plastic instead of cash.
Credit-itis is not limited to purchases made with credit cards; it extends to car loans, mortgages, and other loans. The life of the average car loan and home mortgage continues to increase, while the average American’s savings rate continues to decline. Yet there is a deeper problem within.
There is a spiritual issue beneath the surface of affluenza and credit-itis.
Our souls were created in the image of God, but they have been distorted. We were meant to desire God, but we have turned that desire toward possessions. We were meant to find our security in God, but we find it in amassing wealth. We were meant to love people, but instead we compete with them. We were meant to enjoy the simple pleasures of life, but we busy ourselves with pursuing money and things. We were meant to be generous and to share with those in need, but we selfishly hoard our resources for ourselves. All of this turns us away and separates us from God.
Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Lives are ruined everyday by drugs, by stealing, by extramarital affairs or by other things. But lives are also destroyed in the pursuit of the American Dream — keeping up with the Joneses, borrowing against our futures, enjoying more than we can afford, and indulging ourselves. This pursuit often robs us of our joy, makes us slaves, and keeps us from doing God’s will.
Jesus told his followers, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” (Matthew 4:10); “good seeds are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life and their fruit does not mature.” (Luke 8:14); “what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?” (Mark 8:36); and, “in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith.” (1 Timothy 6:10)
The Bible’s solution is simple: we need a change of heart. Although we receive a changed heart when we accept Christ, in a sense we need a change of heart every morning. Each morning, before we get out of bed, we should pray, “Lord, help me to be the person you want me to be today. Take away the desires that shouldn’t be there, and help me be single-minded in my focus and pursuit of you.” Doing this would invite God to cleanse us from the inside out, purifying our hearts.
Hearts are changed when we allow Christ to work in us. It happens as we seek first his kingdom and strive to do his will. As this happens, we start to sense a higher calling – a calling to simplicity and faithfulness and generosity. We begin to look at ways we can make a difference with our time and talents and resources. By pursuing good financial practices, we free ourselves from debt so that we are able to be in mission to the world. A key part of finding financial and spiritual freedom is found in simplicity and in exercising restraint. With the help of God, we can:
• simplify our lives and silence the voices constantly telling us we need more
• live counter-culturally by living below, not above, our means
• build into our budgets the money to buy with cash instead of credit
• build into our budgets what we need to be able to live generously and faithfully
Next week we will continue as we consider “Wisdom and Finance.”
1 “Self-storage Nation: Americans Are Storing More Stuff Than Ever,” by Tom Vanderbilt, July 18, 2005; http://www.slate.com/id/2122832/.
2 “Credit Card Debt Statistics,” by Mark Brinker, August 2008; www.hoffmanbrinker.com/credit-card-debt-statistics.html.
Timothy 6:6-10; Matthew 16:24-26
Economically, this is a scary time. We wonder whether the economic crisis is over or will get worse. We no longer trust government or financial institutions or big banks. Our cynicism and lack of trust has made us fearful of what will happen in the future. Things are depressing. Investments, homes, and jobs have been lost – and the dream of a better day has been put on hold. We wonder if things will ever get better?
We have all been affected by this crisis differently. Some have felt the crunch first hand, while others have hardly been affected at all. What we have in common though is what the Bible promises and what we believe – during times like this, we can trust God to be our strength and refuge. Our hope doesn’t lie in more money “but rather on God.” Timothy says wanting more money IS the problem: “Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith, and pierced themselves with much grief.” (1Tim. 6:10b) The wisdom of Ecclesiastes says, “The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain. This also is vanity.” (5:10) And Matthew says, “For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? (16:26)
Adam Hamilton, pastor at Church of the Resurrection and author of this series, suggests that the church is to be a beacon of light in the midst of life’s storms inviting people to find deliverance, redemption, hope, and a new way of life. Hopefully over the next few weeks this series will not only illumine our lives, but will also enable us, as the body of Christ, to become a beacon for others in our community as together we discover joy through simplicity and generosity.
The American Dream characterizes the greatest hopes, desires, and dreams of most Americans. For most people, this “dream” is about an inner desire for becoming successful at what they do and satisfying a desire for accumulating material possessions. This “dream” is the opportunity to pursue and get more than what we have, to achieve success, and all its rewards. And along the way, we tend to measure our success by the stuff that we possess.
As a country, we have become people in the pursuit of instant gratification. The love of money and the things money can buy drives most Americans to do what they do. We want to consume, acquire, and buy our way to happiness—and we want “our happiness” now. But the American Dream has become an American Nightmare due to two distinct yet related illnesses that impact us both socially and spiritually – affluenza and credit-itis.
Affluenza is the constant need for more and bigger and better stuff—as well as the effect this need has on us. It is the desire to acquire things, a virus most of us have been infected with to some degree. Consider that the average American home went from about 1,600 square feet in 1973 to 2,400 square feet in 2004 and that today there is estimated to be 1.9 billion square feet of self-storage space in America. 1
Credit-itis is an illness that is brought on by the opportunity to buy now and pay later, and it feeds on our desire for instant gratification. Our economy today is built on the concept of credit-itis. Unfortunately, it has exploited our lack of self-discipline and allowed us to feed our affluenza, wreaking havoc in our personal and national finances. The average credit card debt in America in 1990 was around $3,000. Today it’s over $9,000. The average sale is around 125 percent higher if we use a credit card than if we pay cash, because it doesn’t feel real when we use plastic instead of cash.
Credit-itis is not limited to purchases made with credit cards; it extends to car loans, mortgages, and other loans. The life of the average car loan and home mortgage continues to increase, while the average American’s savings rate continues to decline. Yet there is a deeper problem within.
There is a spiritual issue beneath the surface of affluenza and credit-itis.
Our souls were created in the image of God, but they have been distorted. We were meant to desire God, but we have turned that desire toward possessions. We were meant to find our security in God, but we find it in amassing wealth. We were meant to love people, but instead we compete with them. We were meant to enjoy the simple pleasures of life, but we busy ourselves with pursuing money and things. We were meant to be generous and to share with those in need, but we selfishly hoard our resources for ourselves. All of this turns us away and separates us from God.
Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Lives are ruined everyday by drugs, by stealing, by extramarital affairs or by other things. But lives are also destroyed in the pursuit of the American Dream — keeping up with the Joneses, borrowing against our futures, enjoying more than we can afford, and indulging ourselves. This pursuit often robs us of our joy, makes us slaves, and keeps us from doing God’s will.
Jesus told his followers, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” (Matthew 4:10); “good seeds are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life and their fruit does not mature.” (Luke 8:14); “what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?” (Mark 8:36); and, “in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith.” (1 Timothy 6:10)
The Bible’s solution is simple: we need a change of heart. Although we receive a changed heart when we accept Christ, in a sense we need a change of heart every morning. Each morning, before we get out of bed, we should pray, “Lord, help me to be the person you want me to be today. Take away the desires that shouldn’t be there, and help me be single-minded in my focus and pursuit of you.” Doing this would invite God to cleanse us from the inside out, purifying our hearts.
Hearts are changed when we allow Christ to work in us. It happens as we seek first his kingdom and strive to do his will. As this happens, we start to sense a higher calling – a calling to simplicity and faithfulness and generosity. We begin to look at ways we can make a difference with our time and talents and resources. By pursuing good financial practices, we free ourselves from debt so that we are able to be in mission to the world. A key part of finding financial and spiritual freedom is found in simplicity and in exercising restraint. With the help of God, we can:
• simplify our lives and silence the voices constantly telling us we need more
• live counter-culturally by living below, not above, our means
• build into our budgets the money to buy with cash instead of credit
• build into our budgets what we need to be able to live generously and faithfully
Next week we will continue as we consider “Wisdom and Finance.”
1 “Self-storage Nation: Americans Are Storing More Stuff Than Ever,” by Tom Vanderbilt, July 18, 2005; http://www.slate.com/id/2122832/.
2 “Credit Card Debt Statistics,” by Mark Brinker, August 2008; www.hoffmanbrinker.com/credit-card-debt-statistics.html.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
April 4, 2010
Acts 10: 34-43; John 20: 1-18
“Resurrection”
An untitled poem by Thom M. Shuman
early in the day,
through the mourning mist,
we walk . . .
having left our hopes
at the Skull
we come to our friend:
hands full of fragrances,
hearts empty of life.
and
at the very edge
of the mystery:
the hollowness of our world
is filled with the emptiness
of the tomb;
our hearts of stone
are rolled away
that you may enter;
the grave clothes
of our morning
are turned into
garments of praise;
the Gardener tills
the ashes of our hopes,
planting the seeds
of new life,
sprinkled with living water.
and we run . . .
into the silence of fear.
Lutheran pastor Harvey Mozolak invites us into today’ resurrection event, saying:
“Creep close to the dawn's dew
stop in the stillness
look into the emptiness
kneel in this hard place
where you have cried and died before.
Here toss back and forth alleluias
beyond the sun and stars
toss back and forth alleluias
with the angels who stand
veiled before the countenance of God
up-lifted and shining in blessing.”
Jesus’ resurrection is huge. Imagine how his followers must have felt? With his death, everything – especially their hope – was crushed. Imagine their shock, their disbelief, and their inability to comprehend what was happening. For them, the resurrection meant essentially that Jesus could never be restricted by the limits of this world, even death, or by our worn out imagination or an ability to recognize his presence in our lives. With an empty tomb and the resurrection, there IS someone to follow.
Yet, how do we follow a Lord, who fills the world with something as radical as love – really too much for the world to take, a Savior claiming to be the truth that sets us free? As the Risen Christ, he goes ahead of us into the world to comfort and heal, to bring joy and justice, to bring peace and wholeness, to breathe new life into dead places. But how do we follow a God we may not have ever met?
We follow, I think, as best we can. We trust. As God poured God's Self out for us, in turn, we strive to pour ourselves out for God, and to “do for others as we would have them do for us.” To be like Christ is our deepest yearning, it’s what we want most, and yet, at the same time, it’s what many of us fear the most – the loss of ‘me.’ Christ has taught us that only in losing ‘this life’ (and following his way) will we live." This is a resurrection experience.
In the empty tomb and resurrection, life IS full and complete. God IS real. Jesus makes sense. Following his way of living for God brings new life. Our call, and our journey is one wrapped around the promise of the resurrection. God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead has promised that, in the fullness of time, to raise us up as well. We believe that. Resurrection is who we are as Christians.
The Good News today, for all of us – not just those being confirmed – is that, the promise of Easter is about freedom and a new life. It is a promise of resurrected life, of everlasting life – of a life full and complete, a ‘kingdom life’ in the here and now. Jesus had turned his followers’ world upside down with his stories of the long awaited Kingdom of God, where even the wolf would lie down with the lamb. And now, he does it again as his resurrection turns death upside down.
Take time, all of you, to reflect on your baptism today – your death to this life – and, your resurrection into new life. What does this new resurrected life in Christ look like? What might it look like? Jesus taught compassion, to value all other people the same as we value ourselves. No one is more valuable than us. We are not more worthy than they. No one has more rights than others. Nor are we more important than anyone else. Jesus modeled it for us all.
“Resurrection”
An untitled poem by Thom M. Shuman
early in the day,
through the mourning mist,
we walk . . .
having left our hopes
at the Skull
we come to our friend:
hands full of fragrances,
hearts empty of life.
and
at the very edge
of the mystery:
the hollowness of our world
is filled with the emptiness
of the tomb;
our hearts of stone
are rolled away
that you may enter;
the grave clothes
of our morning
are turned into
garments of praise;
the Gardener tills
the ashes of our hopes,
planting the seeds
of new life,
sprinkled with living water.
and we run . . .
into the silence of fear.
Lutheran pastor Harvey Mozolak invites us into today’ resurrection event, saying:
“Creep close to the dawn's dew
stop in the stillness
look into the emptiness
kneel in this hard place
where you have cried and died before.
Here toss back and forth alleluias
beyond the sun and stars
toss back and forth alleluias
with the angels who stand
veiled before the countenance of God
up-lifted and shining in blessing.”
Jesus’ resurrection is huge. Imagine how his followers must have felt? With his death, everything – especially their hope – was crushed. Imagine their shock, their disbelief, and their inability to comprehend what was happening. For them, the resurrection meant essentially that Jesus could never be restricted by the limits of this world, even death, or by our worn out imagination or an ability to recognize his presence in our lives. With an empty tomb and the resurrection, there IS someone to follow.
Yet, how do we follow a Lord, who fills the world with something as radical as love – really too much for the world to take, a Savior claiming to be the truth that sets us free? As the Risen Christ, he goes ahead of us into the world to comfort and heal, to bring joy and justice, to bring peace and wholeness, to breathe new life into dead places. But how do we follow a God we may not have ever met?
We follow, I think, as best we can. We trust. As God poured God's Self out for us, in turn, we strive to pour ourselves out for God, and to “do for others as we would have them do for us.” To be like Christ is our deepest yearning, it’s what we want most, and yet, at the same time, it’s what many of us fear the most – the loss of ‘me.’ Christ has taught us that only in losing ‘this life’ (and following his way) will we live." This is a resurrection experience.
In the empty tomb and resurrection, life IS full and complete. God IS real. Jesus makes sense. Following his way of living for God brings new life. Our call, and our journey is one wrapped around the promise of the resurrection. God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead has promised that, in the fullness of time, to raise us up as well. We believe that. Resurrection is who we are as Christians.
The Good News today, for all of us – not just those being confirmed – is that, the promise of Easter is about freedom and a new life. It is a promise of resurrected life, of everlasting life – of a life full and complete, a ‘kingdom life’ in the here and now. Jesus had turned his followers’ world upside down with his stories of the long awaited Kingdom of God, where even the wolf would lie down with the lamb. And now, he does it again as his resurrection turns death upside down.
Take time, all of you, to reflect on your baptism today – your death to this life – and, your resurrection into new life. What does this new resurrected life in Christ look like? What might it look like? Jesus taught compassion, to value all other people the same as we value ourselves. No one is more valuable than us. We are not more worthy than they. No one has more rights than others. Nor are we more important than anyone else. Jesus modeled it for us all.
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