Zero Balance

In 1922, a British archaeologist named Howard Carter located the tomb of King Tutankhamun. His homies called him King Tut. Right. But King Tutankhamun ruled Egypt during the 14th century BC and Egyptian kings were traditionally buried alongside these huge stockpiles of treasure that were theirs to use during the afterlife. So in most cases, robbers would later crack open those tombs and steal anything of value.

But what made King Tut's tomb famous was that it had somehow remained hidden and undisturbed for over 3000 years. So when Howard Carter and his team finally found it and opened it, most of King Tut's treasure was intact. It was still there. It was an amazing archaeological find. And it was a reminder that when we die, we leave all of our possessions behind.

Our money and our homes and our cars and our clothing and our toys and our collectibles. All of it. No matter what or how much we accumulate, it does not go with us. So I want us to consider a couple of questions together this morning. Question number one is this.

When you give somebody a gift, be honest here. Would you rather watch them open it or just mail it to them and not get to see their reaction? Now, I don't know about you, but I love seeing people react when they receive that gift. We send care packages to our daughter at college, but it's more fun watching her open her Christmas gifts. And therein lies my second question.

What if, rather than stockpiling as much as we can, only to suddenly one day leave it all behind, what if we decided to bless others generously while we're still here to see the impact of that gift? Now, like many of you, Alison and I use a budget, and our goal is a zero balance. Now, when I say zero balance, that doesn't mean that we spend every dollar as soon as we get it. What it means is we plan for what we're going to do with every dollar every time we get paid, we make our planned contributions to Greenwood Christian Church to Operation Care and some other ministries. Every time we get paid, we auto transfer funds into savings in preparation for things like taxes and insurance bills and car repairs and veterinary expenses and birthdays and Christmas and vacations.

Every time we get paid, I immediately schedule payment of any bills that come due in the next couple of weeks. And we leave some funds in our checking account for groceries and gas. What that means is within 48 hours, every paycheck is 100% spoken for. Now, it's not all spent, but it's all allocated. We try to take control of our finances by giving and saving and paying our bills right up front.

And our church actually operates very similarly. Each year, we project a budget based on the prior year's giving patterns. We we just approved that budget together in September. We budget for local and global outreach. We budget for ministry programming, things like what we're experiencing together right now.

We budget for facilities costs and for personnel. And if our collective giving falls short of those projections, then, just like at home, we have to make some adjustments. Now, this series is, as I've said before, this is really not a series about fundraising. It's a series about honoring Jesus in every part of our lives, including the way we use money. Our church's mission is to love God through a life of worship.

That means to obediently surrender everything to him. Our mission is to grow together as disciples of Christ, to imitate Jesus who modeled sacrificial giving for us. Our mission is to inspire others to follow Jesus. We want to live and love and give in a way that makes others curious about our Savior. Fully devoted followers of Jesus submit to his leadership in every aspect of our lives, including our finances.

So today I want to challenge all of us to think about money not just on a weekly or on a monthly basis, but in a whole life way. And the principle I want to share with you comes from the New Testament book that we call one Timothy. If you want to open your Bibles with me to First Timothy, chapter six, we're going to look at this text together. And as we do, there's a big idea I want you to keep in mind. It goes like this.

Contentment with less leaves more margin to bless. I want to take that statement, I want to chop it in half. And I want to begin by unpacking the first half of it. Let's talk for a minute about contentment with less. The apostle Paul mentored a number of people, including a young man by the name of Timothy.

Timothy led a church in the city of Ephesus. So Paul wrote to him in First Timothy, chapter 6, verse 6. Paul said, Godliness with contentment is great gain. Paul said, the greatest gain, the most profitable objective, is not to get rich. It's to be godly.

That means to be in a right relationship with God and to be content. That means to be at peace with. With our circumstances. Not necessarily to have everything we want, but to appreciate what we have. And that state of mind actually begins with living in light of what King Tut discovered.

For we brought nothing into the world and we could take nothing out of it. The Only two births that I've ever personally witnessed were those of my sons, Colin and Brendan. But I've visited plenty of other hospital rooms shortly after new babies were born. And I've yet to meet a child that was born fully clothed and carrying a box of toys and an iPhone and the keys to a car and a college diploma and the deed to a home and a fully funded ira. Right?

We don't arrive in this world in a U Haul truck, and we don't live in one either. That reality is echoed for us in Psalm 49, which says, do not be overawed when others grow rich, when the splendor of their houses increases, for they will take nothing with them when they die. Since we can't take our stuff with us, we need to have a different goal than simply accumulating a lot of it. And that's why in First Timothy, Chapter 6, Paul shared this observation. Paul said to Timothy, but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

What do you think about that? If we had only our basic needs, like the clothes on our backs and groceries in the pantry, could we be satisfied? Could we be grateful for that? I mean, I'm thankful for food and clothing. You're probably thankful.

I'm wearing clothing this morning too, right?

But I also like indoor plumbing and central heat and air conditioning and hot showers and fast wi fi and iPhones and iPads and Tempur Pedic mattresses and streaming music and movies and lots of other things. My life doesn't depend on any of that stuff. But since I know about that stuff, I want it. Anybody else? Yeah.

Now I've also had the opportunity to visit some villages in places like Mexico and Panama and Haiti and Cuba and Ghana, where entire families live in homes that are smaller than my bedroom. No running water, no windows, no doors, no microwaves, no TVs, very little furniture. Life is not easy in those places, but it sure is simple. No one worries about slow Internet. Nobody cares about what's trending on social media.

Contentment revolves around basic needs. Now, when we live in a consumer culture, and believe you me, we do, one word we find really, really, really hard to say is the word enough. I mean, we need food and clothing. We don't need 85 inch TVs, although you can get a great deal on one at Costco.

We don't need gaming consoles, we don't need extra vehicles. We don't need second homes. It's not even inherently wrong to have these things, but we can totally live without them. And that realization is why Paul wrote in another of his letters, the Book of Philippians, chapter four. Paul said, I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

I know what it is to be in need, to not have enough. And. And I know what it is to have plenty, to have more than enough. Paul went on to say, I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. And here is that secret.

I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Contentment can never come from having everything we want, because there will always be something else to want. Have you noticed that as soon as you get the new iPhone, there's a newer version? As soon as you get that new car, there's a new next model year. It's always something else.

But Jesus can help us to be at peace in any situation. Paul went on in First Timothy six to say this. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that, that plunge man into ruin and destruction. Now, the Greek word that's translated rich in that verse comes from a root that means to be filled. It has to do with accumulating, with stockpiling, with hoarding.

Notice that Paul didn't just speak to those who are rich, he spoke to those who want to get rich. And did you notice the words that Paul used to describe this constant pursuit of more temptation, trap, foolish, harmful, ruin, destruction. That's not the neighborhood I want to live in. I mean, having a lot can take our eyes off of Jesus and so can wanting a lot of things that we don't have. Paul went on to say this.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. Now, that's a verse that often gets misunderstood. It certainly gets frequently misquoted. Paul did not say that money is evil.

Money is actually morally neutral. Money is a necessary thing. What Paul said is that the love of money is a root, meaning there are others kinds of evil. That phrase love of money literally means having affection for silver, having a warm place in our hearts for cash. And the desire for money can take us all sorts of places that we really don't want to go.

See, people who have lots of money are not the only people who are preoccupied with it. People who struggle to make ends meet can be just as consumed with thoughts about money as anybody else. And our desire for money can easily replace God as our object of affection and worship. See, Paul didn't warn about the love of money because money is bad. His point was to ask, what are you willing to do for money?

Would you work a schedule that eliminates most of your time with your spouse and your family if it meant more money, would you take a job that makes it impossible for you to be involved in the church if it paid better, would you put yourself in questionable situations or corrupt environments? Would you stretch the truth or break the law if it put more money in your bank account? See, having money is not wrong, but how consumed are we with getting it? Is our happiness tied to our bank balance? Does our sentence of satisfaction with life rise and fall with the stock market?

Do we see getting and having money as the most important thing? Well, in another of his letters, the Book of Colossians, chapter three, Paul wrote these words. Paul said, put to death. That's a pretty strong word. Put to death.

Whatever belongs to your earthly nature, the way that we lived before Jesus got ahold of us. Sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. See, greed is simply a discontented obsession with always having more. And it is a spiritual cancer that keeps company with other attitudes and behaviors that have absolutely no place in the life of a Christ follower. If we want money more than we want God himself, we are worshiping an idol.

But when we learn to be at peace without having every single thing we might ever want, that's actually when we're in the best position not only to be generous, but to be at peace. Now, let's go back to 1 Timothy, chapter 6, because I want us to see that Paul didn't write just to those who want to be rich. He also had some challenging words for those of us who are already very financially blessed. Remember that big idea. Contentment with less.

Let's look at the second half of that. Leaves more margin to bless you. And I live in one of the richest, most prosperous parts of the world. And when we have a lot, it's easy for us to assume that we've earned it, that we deserve it, that we're entitled to that, to see our money as the barometer of our success and the measure of our worth, and as the source of our security. And that isn't unique to America.

That was actually the case in ancient Ephesus, where Timothy ministered. So Paul urged Timothy. He said, timothy, command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant, nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain. Like many of you, Allison and I are saving for some eventual version of rich retirement. No specific plans around that at all.

It'll be a long time down the road if we have anything to say about that. But one of the questions that we discuss with our financial advisor is how much do we need to save in order to be prepared for the future? Anybody else ask that question? Yeah, it's a wise question to ask. Saving for the future is actually a wise, healthy biblical practice.

But wealth provides only limited security because so much can change so quickly. And the longer we live, the more we experience that when the stock market takes a nosedive, so does the value of our investments and the security we attach to that. A real estate crash can quickly devalue our homes and other property. Speaking of which, even when they appreciate in value, dream homes sometimes burn to the ground in a split second. That beautiful, expensive car can be mangled beyond recognition.

How many of us have ever pulled into the Salvation army or Goodwill or the Impact center or the Restore and given away a truckload of unneeded, unwanted stuff that at one time seemed really important to buy and to have been there? Yeah, it's a cycle. For all these reasons, we have to learn to find our hope and our security in something more lasting than see, after Paul wrote command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, he went on to say this. But to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. We can't take our money with us.

Our homes will one day collapse. Our cars will eventually rust out, we'll eventually die. And when we do, we're going to leave our bank accounts behind. But we can trust in God because He richly meaning, abundantly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. And that's really important for us to understand.

God is a kind and loving provider, and he gives us good things. And part of his intention in giving those to us is that we would enjoy them. It's good to enjoy your home, enjoy your food and your car and your recliner and your books and your tools and your fire pit and your golf clubs. Have fun with those things. God blesses us with good things to enjoy.

But God doesn't bless us with good things only for our enjoyment. See, Paul went on to say, command them, meaning those who are rich in this present world to be rich in good deeds and to be generous and willing to share. Now, I want you to notice the force of Paul's words here. He didn't tell Timothy to hint or suggest or recommend that those with financial resources consider sharing. He used the word command and he made it an imperative, grammatically speaking.

So Paul literally commanded Timothy to command the wealthy, meaning those of us who have more than just our basic needs to be rich, meaning abundant and liberal in good deeds, to be generous and willing to share, to intentionally, consistently, compassionately use the resources that God entrusts to us to bless others. Paul challenged the financially blessed not to let wealth comfort blind us to the needs of others. There's something I've noticed, and that is that gated communities and private clubs and exclusive resorts have a way of insulating those who can't afford them. Those with the greatest capacity for generosity, by the way, from the very needs that God has called us as his church to address. Now, we're not going to eliminate poverty just by giving money away.

It's not as simple as that. But those of us God blesses with resources and connections and financial skill are often also uniquely qualified to create jobs, to teach employment skills and money management principles, and to provide startup resources to those who are seeking a more sustainable living for themselves and others. See, here's what happens when we use our God given resources to bless others. Paul said to Timothy in this way, meaning by being generous with what we have, they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. However much or however little we have, when we choose to live on less so that we can give and share more, it's a win for God's kingdom.

That's what Jesus was getting at when he himself said, do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal. Instead, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moths and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. We can't take our wealth with us, Jesus said, but when we give generously, we actually send it ahead. We know we're in tune with God's heart when we willingly give away earthly possessions that we can't keep anyway in order to pursue something even greater. That life that is truly life that Paul talked about, that's eternity with Jesus.

My friend Jay Link says this. You can live on less when you have more to live for. Which is really just another way of saying contentment with less leaves more margin to bless. Like I said before, financial budgeting is really about having a plan for every dollar. And being invested in God's kingdom means viewing all of our resources, not Just in a paycheck to paycheck way, but in a whole life holistic way.

Generous giving and wise saving and responsible spending require a plan. And the ultimate goal of a biblical financial plan is to invest in ways that will have the greatest impact for God's kingdom. And in light of that reality, there are three challenges I want to share with you this morning. Challenge number one is a hard one because of the culture we live in. But it's a challenge to live contently.

Our job is to faithfully manage God's resources, not to keep up with the lifestyles of everybody else. And we do that in a number of ways. We do that when we choose to live more simply. Now, that might mean shopping less, or it might mean just shopping more frugally. It might mean eating a few more meals at home.

It might mean not buying the most expensive car or the most expensive home, even if we can afford. Might mean taking fewer or less extravagant vacations. Living contentedly means that we think before we spend we should buy what we need, but not necessarily everything we see or everything we want. Again, even if we have the money to do that. Learning to say no to ourselves actually gives us more bandwidth and more resources to share.

We also live more contently when we refuse to look away from others needs. I'm convinced that often we don't see how blessed we are until we serve the homeless, until we help with our Monday community meal, until we take a mission trip to a third world country, until we adopt a family for Operation Christmas. See, serving those whose needs outweigh our own reminds us to be thankful. It reminds us to be generous. And it reminds us how truly capable we are of giving, sharing.

So we need to live contently. But here's challenge number two. I want to challenge all of us to think futuristically. I don't have the date on my calendar, but one of these days I'm going to die. I suspect you might too.

And when we leave this earth, our money and our stuff is not going to go with us. We're going to leave it all behind. And at that point, with or without a plan, everything we have is going to pass to somebody else and they're going to do something with it. So what if we planned now to make sure that our earthly wealth as much as possible, gets invested in kingdom purposes? Suppose that after today's services, as I walk out to my car, I am instantly decapitated by a falling meteor.

Not likely. But you never know what could fall out of the sky in Indiana, right? Especially this Time of year. If that were to happen, then per a little notation on my driver's license, my organs, not my head, but the rest of my organs, could be donated to others. Now, organ donors save lives.

How many of you are organ donors? Yeah, it's a great practice. When I die, I'm not going to need this body anymore anyway. But even though organ donors save a lot of lives, they never get to see that, do they? But when we give to ministry, we get to see the impact of that.

This past week we sent a team to Pikeville, Kentucky to help a community there with flood relief. We're able to do that because of our giving. Every Sunday we minister to multiple kids and families with special needs and our giving makes that possible. Two weeks ago, we replaced the failing 25 year old speaker system here in this room and our giving made that possible. About seven years ago, my friend Nikki Karras registered her then 10 year old son Derek for our soccer league.

They weren't attending church at the time, weren't really thinking about it, but we were close to their home so she signed him up. A couple of years later, Derek played in our kids basketball league. And a couple years after that, Nikki wanted to be supportive when Derek got invited by some friends to go with them to another church. So she went along. But she didn't feel at home there.

And at that point in time, since Greenwood Christian Church was already a somewhat familiar place, she suggested that they come here and they've been attending ever since. Nikki told me recently, the first couple of months I would get emotional during worship every single Sunday, feeling God pulling me back to him. Nikki was baptized this June. She's now participating in Women's Bible Studies and she's loving it. She recently sent me an email and I share all of this with her permission.

She said we we've been going to Greenwood Christian Church for almost two years now and it has been life changing. From the very first time we walked in the door, we have felt nothing but love, acceptance and genuine love for Jesus Christ and sharing that with the community. Sundays are what I look forward to every single week. I feel like I found a family I never knew I was missing. This church has been such a blessing.

See the programs and the environments that help people to connect and to grow. People like Nikki are made possible by our giving. So think about that. If you're a giver to gcc, if you're already invested in our ministry, then Nikki's story is also your story now. If you're keeping track, you know that there's one more challenge, and before I share it, I just need to acknowledge something.

Okay. We believe, as we've said before, that our giving is God's design for funding the work of ministry. I believe that that's exactly what the word of God teaches. We also fully understand that at this present moment, with our government currently shut down with SNAP benefits delayed or on hold for a number of different families for people who are actually working in essential capacities without pay, that finances are extra tight right now. We recognize that there may be some of us who are accustomed to being the ones who give who are suddenly on the other side of that fence, and we're finding ourselves in need of help from others.

So if you are currently in need, I want you to know that a series like this one, which we planned 14 or 15 months ago, is not designed to hit you up at a time when you're already struggling. If you're in need, we have ministries here and we want to help you. We'd love to talk to you more about those. But the challenge I want to offer number three to those of us who are able, is this. It's a challenge to give consistently.

See, last Sunday at the end of the message, I challenged all of us who consider Greenwood Christian Church home to commit to giving, whether that means giving for the very first time or renewing a commitment we've already made to support what God is doing here. God calls all of us to strive for generosity in whatever ways we're capable of. And when it comes to supporting Greenwood Christian, you can give in a number of different ways. You can give through our website or our mobile app. Allison and I do nearly all of our giving through our mobile app.

It's so quick, it's so simple. We do that on a regular basis. You can drop cash or checks in that black generosity box that you'll find just outside of this room. As you leave after the service, you can set up recurring ACH transfer so your giving always happens whether or not you're able to be here in person. Many of us do auto pay on a number of our other expenses.

You can easily do that here if that's something you'd like to do. See, our general fund giving is mission critical to our church's ministries, but we also recognize there's a lot of need and a lot of hurt in the world around us. So we also have a number of regular opportunities to give above and beyond what we give to support our church's work, to help those in need. Our gifts to Operation Care, assist Hundreds of local families every year with rent and utilities and gas and other basic needs. And there's a tab on our website, on our mobile app to allow you to give to that if you so choose.

Adrienne mentioned earlier our Operation Christmas. We do this initiative every year. Our goal this year is to sponsor 100 families and provide gifts for them and their children. And we, we still need about 40 more sponsors to be a part of that. So if you or your family or your life group would like to be a part of that, we would love to have your partnership in that way.

Our Christmas offering that Adrian also talked about earlier will provide needed medical care to people in Ghana. Generosity happens in a lot of different ways. There is always need, but our giving makes a huge difference both in our local church ministries and around the world. Every time we give, we make ministry possible to someone. So here's the bottom line.

We arrive on this earth with nothing and we leave it exactly the same way. Zero balance. So the best time, I'm convinced, to invest in God's kingdom is while we're still here to see the impact of our giving. The more intentionally we live, the more generously we can give. Contentment with less leaves us more margin to bless.

Would you pray with me, Father? God, I'm grateful for this place.

Every time we gather as a church family, Lord, it's the highlight of my week. And I'm grateful, God, for these people. I'm grateful for generations, generations and generations of people who have gone before us, who have served diligently, who've given generously to lay the groundwork and to build the infrastructure that we continue to enjoy and use and build on. We're thankful, God, that we have the opportunity to gather in a specified place and to have well equipped facilities and to have staff who are able to lead us and to have the capacity, Lord, to make a difference in the lives of people here. Here in our community.

We're thankful for networking relationships we have in other parts of the world that allow us to funnel resources in that direction and make a vital difference in people's lives. But God, we recognize that all that begins with your faithful provision for us, that every good thing we have is your gift, something that you provide us as a blessing. And we're so grateful for that. God, we ask that you would help us to never forget that every good thing we enjoy is not. It's not our doing, it's your faithfulness in providing it to us that makes it possible.

And so, Lord, we ask that you'd help us as we go through our lives to manage the funds that you entrust to us. Wisely help us to take care of the things that we and that our families need. But Father, help us to also live with a really open eye, with a really open heart toward those all around us who are struggling and the ways that you may have entrusted us with more than what we actually need, so that we can share the surplus with others in a way that will make an incredible difference in their lives. We're thankful for the example of Jesus who gave everything for us. And we ask that you would help us, God, to live with that same generous spirit.

Thank you for this time. Thank you for this place and for these people. We pray that collectively, God, you would use everything that you've given us in a way that is paid forward and in a way that allows many, many more people to not only have their physical needs met, but to come to know you in a personal way as the good God and Savior who makes this life an eternity with you possible. Father, we love you and we thank you for all these things. In Jesus name.