Intro– I have to tell you, the Christian life is a very interesting journey.  In fact, we are on a corporate journey together because God has placed us together in the same covenant family.  Recently, the elders have been seeking the Lord together about the direction of the church, especially in an area of stewardship.  As we have walked this journey together, the Lord has spoken two Words through two different sources, which have brought me to a place of conviction.  The first of these words came from the mouth of an elder as we were discussing what the Lord would have us do.  As we were looking at some financial figures and praying through what our next step is to be in terms of facilities, he said something to this effect: “the Lord will not continue to bless us if we as a body, continue to be disobedient in our stewardship.”  Let me set the context  of this quote for you.  We were looking at financial figures from 2005, not with any names associated with these figures.  It was very clear to us that some people in the church are very faithful in giving offerings as the Lord prompts their hearts.  It was just as obvious to us that many people in the body either do not give faithfully or at least do not give to their church faithfully.  You may have had this experience before yourself, when a person speaks something that is from the heart of God, it feels like a knife stabbed into your own heart.  That is what happened in my heart when the elder spoke that word.  The Lord will not continue to bless us if we continue, as a church, to be disobedient in our giving.  We don’t know what anyone makes or gives so I am using generic terms here, realizing that some of you tithe and beyond!  This is the truth– God is merciful and full of grace; but He does not  bless disobedience.  And look around you at the blessings of God upon us over the last 5 ½ years!!  This campus and $660,000 in the building fund and clear vision about where we are going, when 5 ½ years ago we were over at Beltline, didn’t own this 30 acres, and we had no vision for where we were going.  God has blessed us tremendously!  How do we continue to receive God’s blessings?  Obey!

The second Word which struck me to the core as we were in the process of seeking the Lord, came from the book, “The Treasure Principal.”  Near the end of the book, Randy Alcorn made this statement:  “Most churches practice the don’t ask, don’t tell policy when it comes to giving.”  He goes on to talk about the two problems with this policy.  It is not biblical; and how are young Christians supposed to learn how to become good stewards if they have no teaching and no models to follow.  They will simply follow the ways of the world which they have been taught.  As I read this, I realized that I was guilty of believing and following the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, as I have led this church.  I have already repented before the Lord for my wrong beliefs and received His forgiveness, but I feel like I need to ask you to forgive me also, because of how I have led the church in this area of stewardship.  Please forgive me for anything I might have done which may have wrongly influenced your thinking about stewardship.  My heart’s desire is to lead the body at Trinity into biblical thinking and action so that Jesus Christ is glorified in all we do.

This brought me and I believe your session to place where we needed a plan as to how the Lord would have us address stewardship in the church.  We wanted to be able to interact face-to-face with the family, to be able to share things that are on our heart and to be able to answer questions which you may have about the finances in our church.  This is why we have set up our elder group meetings, which began yesterday and will go on to the rest of the week.  We’ve asked every one of you to attend one specific elder group meeting, so that we can have this kind of interaction.  We believe this will please the Lord, and it will move us out of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” mentality which we have embraced.  I have specifically asked each of the elders in the elder group meetings to share part of their testimony about stewardship.  We seek to do this with humility but we think it is important for the church family to hear how God has worked to provide as people have stepped forward in faith.

With all of this in mind, I want to share a little bit of my own story in the whole area of stewardship this morning.  When Ann and I first got married, my salary was $11,000 a year, as I worked in a para-church campus ministry.  Ann could not initially get a job as a paralegal in Chapel Hill because there were so many law students willing to work for free, for the experience.  We ate a lot of beans in those days.  Even at that point in our marriage, God gave us grace to tithe.  I honestly do not know how we made ends meet, but the Lord seemed to make things come out fine in the end.  This is one of those times when our gas went further and our clothes did not wear out as quickly.  In those days we divided our tithe between the church where we attended and other missionaries we personally knew.  It wasn’t until many years later that we were convicted that we need to bring the minimum standard of the tithe to the church and then give offerings above the tithe to other missionaries God led us to support.  I still remember one time my car broke down and we were tight financially, so I complained out loud to the Lord, “If You want to waste your money to fix your car, I guess that is alright with me, but it doesn’t seem too bright!”  Of course, the Lord had a better way to provide than I had figured out.

Even over the last four and a half years, as we were challenged to pray and ask the Lord what he would have us give to the stewardship campaigns which we undertook as a church, we gave by faith beyond what we thought we were able to give.  It isn’t about logic.  God never asked us to pay for expenses and what we wanted and give what was left over to His Kingdom work.  He simply promises to provide for those who give by faith.  Ann and I have repeatedly found God to be utterly faithful in our lives as we have obeyed Him.  I figured it out in 2005 that the Lord had us give 29% of our income to ministries.   You all know what I make since you vote on my salary each year– $56,000 was my housing and salary in 2005.  Yet in the same time period, we’ve moved into a nicer house than I ever thought I’d be able to afford.  I simply want to testify to you this morning that this is God’s doing.  Yes we budget very carefully as a family.  Yes we are very careful about how much we spend on presents and eating out and vacations.  Largely because my dad taught me well about finances, we are very frugal in how we live.  But the blessings we now enjoy are completely a result of God pouring out grace in our lives beyond what we ever dreamed He would.

II. The story of the rich young ruler and the parable of the treasure found in a field.

For the second half of the sermon this morning, I would like to remind you of two stories in the Scriptures which are contrasts in terms of how they handle material possessions and what they experienced as a result.  I want to compare 2 men whose stories are told by Jesus.  The first guy is in Matthew 19:16-22.  Let me read this with you...
“16 Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
17 "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments." 
18 "Which ones?" the man inquired.
Jesus replied, "'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'" 
20 "All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"
21 Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." 
22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.”
Let’s see what we can glean from this story Jesus told.

How much wealth did this man have?  We are told he had great wealth– many material possessions.  What questions did he ask of Jesus?  What was he after?  He wanted eternal life, or at least to be reassured that he had eternal life.  It seems like he thought he was okay, because he had tried to keep the O.T. law.  He still wasn’t sure, so he asked Jesus which laws he should keep, and Jesus listed 5 of the 10 commandments that he was already doing, and even added the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself, which the man thought he had done.  He must have detected hesitation in Jesus’ voice, because he asks another question– what do I still lack?  Then Jesus got to the real issue.  The man was committing idolatry and didn’t know it.  His god was his money– material possessions were keeping him from experiencing salvation.  Jesus consistently taught that anything which inhibits you from following the Lord, must be cut off or given away or thrown away.  If your fixation on shopping is hindering your walk with Christ, stop shopping altogether.  If internet pornography is what is keeping you from following Christ whole heartedly, shut it off, or find accountability.  If the drive for more wealth is causing you to stumble, give it away!  This is what he told the man– your idol is your wealth.  Give it away to the poor, and you will not only inherit eternal life, but you will have treasure in heaven!  This is  a promise by Jesus to the man– eternal life and treasure in heaven!  How could a person pass this up?

Part of the reason we struggle with material things is because the standard we use to measure wealth is not a Biblical standard.  We measure ourselves against Bill Gates and conclude we are far from rich.  This is the wrong standard.  Last year, we took our kids who are teenagers with us to Mexico for a short term mission.  One of the things I wanted them to see and experience for themselves was the standard of living of most of the rest of the world.  We stayed in a small hotel in a nearby village where each small room had a bed, one light bulb, a cement floor and a chair and table.  There actually was a shower in the toilet room, which had a very small hot water heater– a huge luxury for those in that village.  The village where we did our ministry had none of these luxuries.  When people came up to respond to the gospel message, they knelt down on the dirt floor in the church.  What my kids experienced on this short term mission is the reality of life for many people, even in 2007.  What we have come to expect and even demand for our comfort was considered luxury even a generation ago.  The truth is that we are a spoiled people.  This creates in us the same stumbling block that this rich man faced.
Now compare this rich man with the man in the parable in Matthew 13:44.  Let me read this for you...
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”

What did this man have after he bought the field?  Nothing but the field, because he sold all that he had.  Do you feel sorry for this man because he has given up everything he had?  No!  You are supposed to be glad for him because he has found something so valuable.  Compare his possessions with the man in the first story.  But the main thing I want you to notice between these 2 stories is the attitude of each man.  In the first story, the man went away sad.  Literally, the word here means he was thrown into deep grief.  Why was he so sad?  He had many possessions and would not give them up to inherit eternal life.  Overwhelming grief will be the result of the person who clings to material possessions.  If you think about it, the more stuff you have, the more stuff you have to keep up with and fix.  I have seen it too many times, when a person dies and leaves a fair amount of wealth to those still here, there is hurt feelings, anger and broken relationships.  Notice 2 other things: he went away and Jesus did not run after him begging him to come back. The man went away and didn’t pursue Jesus any further, because he was not willing to give up his possessions.  I believe most Christians in America– I include myself in this statement– will be judged by God for this same sin–idolatry with material possessions, and failure to give what the Lord asked us to give.  Jesus did not run after him, because the man had made the decision about who his God was going to be– his possessions. 

Contrast this man’s attitude with the man in the parable.  The second man had exceeding joy!  He went, full of joy and sold all he had.  Why was he so joyful?  Because he had found something so much more valuable than what he had.  Clearly, it was worth it to him to sell his material possessions in order to receive the hidden treasure.  What is the hidden treasure?  Becoming a member of the Kingdom of God, his new life in Christ or his salvation was the hidden treasure.  Why do you give up all you have to become a member in the Kingdom of God?  When you give your life to Christ, to be a part of His Kingdom, you give all of your life to Him.  As someone once said, “When I got saved, my wallet got saved too!”  Everything I have as a follower of Christ, I recognize as belonging to Him.  It isn’t that 10% of my income is His, but that everything I am and everything I have belongs to Him.  I am simply a temporary steward of everything He has given to me. 

There are tremendous implications to what I have just said.  If everything currently in my possession belongs to Jesus and I am a temporary steward of these material possessions, then the question is this: how does my Lord, my Master and the Owner want me to manage what He has entrusted to me for this short period of time?  The only way to know this for sure is to study what the Bible says about material possessions, which includes tons of verses, and then act in light of this teaching; and to pray, and then act in light of what I hear the Lord speaking as I pray in faith.  We believe the Bible teaches that the tithe, meaning 10% of income the Lord gives to you is the minimum standard of biblical giving.  In the O.T., the people of God paid the tithe up front, and then also gave offerings of many different kinds for religious and civil purposes.  Jesus never rescinded the tithe, but in fact seems to expect us to give much more for His Kingdom work.  How do I know what to give?  I go to my Master all the time, every pay check period, and ask Him what He wants me to do with His money!  When I sense that the Lord would have me give away some of the money entrusted to me for something which will build His Kingdom, then my responsibility is to obey.  We don’t obey grudgingly, but we rejoice that God has provided for us so that He might use us to further His Kingdom.  I have long believed that the reason that the Lord has so abundantly blessed America financially is so that we would finance the completion of the Great Commission– planting churches where there is a need for a church is the means to complete the Great Commission.  These are some of the things which will be discussed in the elder group meetings.

All of this reminds me of the story of the little boy who had 2 dollars in his pocket on the way to church, one for him and one for the Lord.  He was fiddling with the money as he walked to the church and dropped one of the bills and it fell into the drain gutter.  The little boy looked at the one in the gutter he couldn’t reach and the one in his hand and said, “There goes your dollar Lord!”  It seems like it is always the Lord’s money that gets lost, doesn’t it.  Another small boy had a dog named, “Wally”.  One day at dinner, the boy’s father noticed that he took the best of the portion of roast beef which had been given to him and placed it on another plate.  When his father asked him about it, he learned that this choice piece of meat was for the dog.  His father said, “Son, it would be better if you ate the choice piece of meat yourself and gave Wally the leftover scraps.  The boy protested, but the father would not budge.  At the conclusion of the meal, the boy took the scraps out to his dog.  “Here you go Wally.  I wanted to make you an offering, but here is only the scraps that are left over after we have had all we wanted.”  That is honestly the way many Christians treat the Lord.  No wonder they have not experienced much of His joy!