Talking about money always makes people uncomfortable. Whatever else a non-churchgoer may not know, what they do think they know is that they should to bring money for the collection plate. It is the policy here not to pass or rattle the collection plate. It is left for you to make your offering without pressure.

My message today is for Christians; if you have decided to follow Jesus, this message is for you.

Each of us is different, and our financial position is equally different, of course. I am not speaking to those who have huge debts, but I am speaking to those of you who struggle with your finances. I cannot force anyone to give what they cannot or will not, but I am, unapologetically, going to challenge you from Scripture.

 

During our harvest all-age service I told the fictional story of the old woman who was so poor that she had no food, no home and very shabby clothes. She prayed that God would help. She was given ten apples. She ate three, she exchanged another three for a modest room so that she could be safe and warm, and another three were swapped for some new, smarter clothes. She was then left with one extra apple. “What”, she asked God, “what is this last apple for?” God replied, “This apple is a reminder that I give in abundance, and so that you have something to give back to me.”

It is good to give back to God. It recognizes that He is the ultimate source of all good things. After all, He initiates and we respond. But there is, in this story, a misleading thought: that we need a surplus from which to give to God. Literally, that we give Him what is left once we are satisfied and sorted.

This view is seriously at odds with the biblical model of giving. The Bible makes it clear: before anything else is apportioned, God gets the first and the best. So, to take just one example, the writer of Proverbs says, “Honour the LORD with your wealth, with the first-fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.” (Prov. 3:9-10) And Malachi’s prophetic message does not contradict this, and is, in fact, stronger in its tone: not giving God His due is robbing Him. And this has consequences for you and for others in the community around you. We are in this together; if one of us holds back in giving back to God, we are all deprived of God’s full blessing. If we manage our finances with our own needs and wants first we shall miss out on God’s bigger and better plan for our lives, both as individuals and as a community of faith.

I am categorically not advocating a prosperity gospel view; a kind of bless-me-with-bling-now-and-forever view. I am saying that God has the best for us, and that may or may not include personal wealth. What is certain is that to those to whom much is given much is required. We are not given gifts of money and other resources in order to make ourselves comfortable and ignore the needs of others, or forget God the Gift-Giver. The context of the blessing in Malachi is a collective one: one is blessed and the entire nation is blessed. Our attitude towards God and money has a corporate impact.

A selfish attitude towards wealth so often springs from fear and mistrust: a fear that we shall be defence-less without our own, personal reserve, and a mistrust that God will provide. Holding on to our money and possessions can feel like safety, but Jesus makes it plain that this supposed independence is a mistake with eternal consequences. Storing up treasure here robs us of lasting treasure with God forever. But for some of us, our possessions have a greater hold on us than God does. Money endangers our spiritual health.

I don’t want to be over-spiritual here and lose sight of the fact that we all need money to live in 21^st century Britain, but I do think that many of us are so fearful of being without financial security that we fail to trust God, and fail to trust God with our money.

There are many people and many churches which fail to give, and have the attitude of poverty when, in reality, they have the resources at their disposal; they just don’t know how much God has given to them. So, they respond to God’s generosity with a mean heart. There are people and churches, too, who experience genuine financial constraints, which prevent a greater gift being given. What is certain is that from God’s perspective, the heart-attitude is what counts. Money endangers our spiritual health.

Jesus says that where your treasure is your heart is, too. What you invest time and money in shows what you value. So, where does your money go? How is your time spent? You can do a quick mental audit now, but I want to challenge you to look carefully at your bank statement and your diary and be honest before God. What do they tell you and God about your life? Money endangers our spiritual health.

We are in a fortunate position in having recently wiped out the last of the Vision for Mission debt. It was a most fitting parting gift in memory of Chris and Sandra, and I want to acknowledge real generosity here at St James’s. But some of us are either struggling to come to terms with generous giving, or are ignoring it all together. Money is endangering our spiritual health.

But Jesus won’t let us get away with not looking seriously at this topic. He talked unashamedly about money and possessions, and how they ought to be used. Did you know that one-sixth of the gospels deals with money and stewardship? One in every seven verses of the first three gospels speaks about money and possessions. Nearly half of all Jesus’ parables focus on money. Jesus talked five times more often about money than he did about prayer. [1] In short, our attitude towards money matters. Jesus knows that money endangers our spiritual health.

Perhaps we have difficulty believing that God will meet our needs? If in doubt, Scripture gives encouragement, and countless others in our church can bear witness to God’s provision when we sort out our giving to Him first. 

Take me as an example, I have been blessed by faithful Christians who have listened to God on my behalf. While I was at Oxford, a couple, who were already giving me a sum of money each month, wrote to me to say that they wondered whether they were hearing God right. They asked if I needed a new car. I had grown quite used to my beaten up and rusting old Clio, and was aware that her days on the road could be numbered. I couldn’t say I needed a new car at that point, but God knew that in order for me to be travelling widely a more reliable car was good for me. So, I was sent a cheque and was able to get my new car. The blessing grew as a mate’s brother who is a car dealer gave me a £2,000 discount and a further cheque came in. The couple gave above what they already gave me monthly; they gave above what they gave to their local church monthly. God knows what I need; He knows what you need.

So, how much should you give? Well, I don’t want to limit you. The Old Testament model of giving 10% may not be enough for you. After all, God doesn’t just give us 10%; He is extravagantly lavish in His giving to us. 

God wants us to hold our money lightly, and when we do, amazing things happen. God knows that money endangers our spiritual health, which is why He wants us to trust Him with our money.

Our reading from Acts shows the importance of communal living. The believers - the ones who had put all their hope and trust in the Risen Jesus – did not claim that their possessions were their own, but shared everything they had. My friends, following Jesus looks far more radical than how most of us are doing it.

The believers brought money and gave it to the apostles. In other words, the leaders of the Early Church were entrusted with everyone’s funds for the benefit of all. People gave to the Church. Giving to the Church is a fundamental New Testament principle. And for those who abuse the trust given to them there is great danger. As the account in the Book of Acts goes on to show, money endangered the spiritual health of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11).

You may feel reluctant to give to the Church, into a common pot. You may say that you prefer to give to individual projects outside. But I think we should be looking to do both, and what is more, we are called to be a local church with local concern. Our motto is to be God’s heart for our community. If our giving of ourselves and our money were more consistent and generous here we could expand our reach into the community of which we are a part. Praying on the streets, supporting more marriages, more young families and the bereaved, and providing for youngsters so they don't need to meet by the Public Loos on The Green.

God longs for hearts and lives to be changed for the better in Devizes. I dream of God’s better plan for Devizes. I dream to see us, and God, at the heart of our community. Not as an emergency service, as a last resort, as a sidelined part of life. God is not peripheral to life; He is central, vital for each person, and the Church should be at the heart of this town.

I dream of mission stations on Eastleigh Road and elsewhere; where followers of Jesus pray in the Kingdom; where the presence of God the Maker and Lover of the World is declared and shown powerfully. I dream of a time where the broken and hurting, the abused and abusers, will be restored to the good and loving purpose that God has intended all along. I want to dream big dreams with God for this place.
For the dream to become reality, God needs us to step up. I alone do not feel adequate for such work. It is not a comfortable dream as we all need to put in time and effort behind the money for God’s heart to be seen in our community.
God is looking for individual commitment, and collective action. We cannot claim to love God and then not love the strangers on our doorstep, or our brothers and sisters, and not give financially to, and serve, the Church. We show our commitment to Him in how we spend our money and our time.

Every follower of Jesus is called to give up everything and follow Him. If we fail to give lovingly we deny Jesus. In effect, we say, “What did Jesus ever do for me?” Money endangers our spiritual health.

Perhaps you don’t think this applies to you, as you are not weighed down by great wealth. Well, let’s be honest: everyone here is rich. For we know that if we could shrink all the globe’s population to a village of 100 people, with the same global human ratios, then 6 people of the 100 would have 60% of the world’s wealth; 80 of the 100 would live in poor housing, 70 would be unable to read, 50 would suffer from malnutrition, and 1 (only 1) would own a computer. If you have a meal in the fridge, some shoes on your feet, and a bed to sleep on, you will be part of only 25 who do. And if you have a bank account and some money in your wallet, you will be part of only 8 who do.[2]

We are rich, and money endangers our spiritual health. It is interesting to see how the Kingdom of God, the good news of Jesus, is spreading in countries, which we can justifiably call poor, where the benefits, and the attendant danger, of money are absent. Whatever your level of wealth, you have been given more resources than most of the world’s population. 

In my time at a very wealthy South Carolinan church, I would go from there to downtown Charleston, a world away from the genteel seafront houses, a world away from here. There, the African-American church, gave great wealth out of their great poverty to even poorer members of their community. The love shown was humbling. God was being honoured, and it was a beautiful glimpse of heaven as social justice and loving mercy came together. Jesus tells us that a widow’s offering of two small copper coins was greater than the rich person’s supposed generosity. After all, she gave everything she had.

 

Wherever we are on the subject of giving, we have an opportunity to review our attitude and/or giving level. If we are committed to following Jesus our giving, financially and of ourselves, is of eternal importance. Where your treasure is - your money and your time spent - your heart is, too. 

To end with, a story… Many of you will have seen the film Schindler’s List, which tells the true story of a German industrialist, Oskar Schindler. When Schindler found out about the systematic killing of the Jews, he started to save as many Jews as he could. For money, he would buy Jews to work in his factory and, through his relentless activities, over a thousand Jews on the trains to Auschwitz were saved. He entered the war as a wealthy man; by the end of the war, he was basically bankrupt. When the war was over, Schindler met with his workers and told them that at midnight they were all free to go. And the climax of the film comes when Schindler said good-bye to the manager of the plant, a Jew and his good and trusted friend. And as he embraced his friend, Schindler broke down in tears and said, “I could have done more.” He looked at his car and asked, “Why did I save this? I could have bought 10 Jews with this.” Taking another small possession he cried, “This would have saved another two. Why didn’t I do more?”[3]

One day we shall each stand before God and give account for our lives. It will not matter then how much money we have in the bank, or whether we have the latest gadget. Only our heart’s position and what we have done for the Kingdom’s cause will matter. And will we cry in eternal regret: I could have given more. Why did I hold on to this? Why didn’t I do more?

God knows that money endangers your life. But he is more interested in your heart’s position than He is in your money. Your heart is threatened by your money, and your heart needs to choose where to put this temporary treasure.

How does what you do with your money and time tell God what you think of, and feel for, Him?

God doesn’t want what’s left, the scraps of our time and money; He’s worth our first and best gifts. It’s time to review our diary and bank statements; to see what our spiritual health looks like, as individuals and as a church family…. Our personal and corporate spiritual life depends on our attitude.

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