Seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. (St. Luke 12:29-31)
They say you’re not supposed to discuss politics or religion in polite company. Whoever devised that maxim might have come up with a related one: Never preach about tithing. Fair enough. This isn’t a sermon about tithing. It’s a sermon about the one, true God – and how you relate (or not) to Him. This sermon just happens to involve money, because your approach to your possessions reveals what you think of the Lord.
In our primary text this morning, St. Luke 12:13-34, the Lord Jesus Christ contrasts two ways of understanding this life: that of the pagan and that of the Christian. Jesus teaches us, first, that pagans seek after gods that rot, and they therefore live a life that is no life at all. In the context of today’s passage, Jesus had been calling down woes on the Pharisees, who were interested only in externalities – in having people praise them for their apparent “religiosity.” Christ exhorted his hearers to focus on eternal realities, not on men’s opinions of them, and to make sure their hearts were right with the Lord God. A man from the audience, however, blurted out, “Master, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Now this was a question that a Jew would have asked a teacher of the law; but Jesus used it as a springboard to teach on weightier matters of theology and incarnation. Jesus warned his hearers to be on guard against greed, which also is a fierce temptation for you and me in light of our “embodied-ness” in this physical world. To enlighten believers (and to baffle pagans further), our Lord told a parable about a rich man who had gotten richer thanks to a bumper crop. The man’s problem, though, was he didn’t have enough storage space for the extra crops, so he decided to waste his present barn and build a bigger one. This man’s answer to his “problem” manifested his real problem: the idolatry of material possessions and the view that life is to be lived for one’s pleasure and for nothing, or no One, else. The rich man literally told himself, “Rest comfortably in your possessions – you’ll be taken care of for a long time.” But this foolish man was confounded eternally, because he had no answer for the righteous judgment of God that very night. Jesus went on to teach that worry, like greed, reflected a warped theology and consequently a skewed understanding of incarnation, embodiment and the purpose of life. This is because pagans seek after “stuff” for security, their thoughts never rising above the level of physical need. As with all idols, the idol of worldly pleasure found through possessions inevitably disappoints its adherents. Food can fill your belly, but it cannot fill your soul – nor can it deal with your sin and guilt or appeal for your deliverance before the one, true God, who made all things. Pagans, who reject the knowledge of the Creator, continually run in fear of deprivation, sometimes working years at a time without one day’s rest because they are feeding a god that cannot feed them. Why do you go to work Monday morning? Do you rest on Sunday? Your excess income – that which is left after paying necessary bills and saving some for a rainy day – where does it go? Your answer to these questions, which confront you every day, tell unmistakably whom – or what – you truly worship.
Christians, meanwhile, are to have a deeper, enduring perspective: we are to seek first the glory and dominion of the Living God. Jesus says if you and I seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, then our daily needs – which preoccupy pagans – will be “added to” us. Our Lord employs provocative language, for in saying that physical needs “will be added” to us, Jesus suggests that the things of this world are not to be central in our thinking because they are not central to life. He is. But what does it mean to “seek the Kingdom of God?” Many liberals (sitting in their plush leather chairs!) wrongly have interpreted Jesus to condemn wealth and to equate the Kingdom of God with relieving the needy. Note, though, that Jesus never condemns wealth; and while seeking the increase of Christ’s Kingdom certainly involves deeds of love and mercy, such works are not the sum of seeking His Kingdom. According to Jesus’ parable in St. Luke 12, to seek God’s Kingdom – to make is dominion and glory your priority – means that you know who is God. You see beyond the creation to its Creator. You look past temporal circumstances to consider the eternal God. You recall that at the end of your life, whether tonight or 70 years from now, your “soul shall be required of you,” for the Lord will judge you according to His holy law. Seeking Jesus’ Kingdom also means you know who God is. You know God as your Father. You trust from your heart that Jesus lived and died the life and death you could not live so as to pay for your sins against God and earn Heaven for you. God the Father, therefore, has adopted you as His child in His true Son, Jesus; and you are assured that He loves and provides for your every need as only your perfect Father could. You know His covenantal love is unchanging, so you offer your tithe in confidence that He will continue to provide for you. You rest in Him to provide your needs – unlike the rich fool in our parable. You know His love is personal. And you know He alone deserves all glory, so you gladly sow the seeds of generosity so that preachers may be sent out to declare His knowledge until it fills the earth as “the waters cover the sea.” Seeking God’s Kingdom also means you know who you are to be. When you pray, “Thy Kingdom come,” your prayer is not only for Jesus to come and usher in the New Heavens and New Earth; yours is a prayer for the here and now – for the Lord to hold total sway over your mind, will and emotions. Seeking His Kingdom means you desire to see yourself, and those around you, brought under Christ’s holy rule. Thus you freely give of your goods to the poor, and support the work of the church (including missions and seminaries), so that all the elect may be brought into the Kingdom. You support your teaching pastor so that he may teach you more of Christ’s blessed law. Correct theology promotes a correct approach to this world’s goods. The more you know who the Lord is, and how greatly He has lavished love on you in Christ, and how all of your possessions are His anyway and should be employed to His glory, the more fruitful you will be as a servant of the one, true God.
Does the Lord care about your giving? Absolutely, because stewardship is primarily a spiritual matter. While you and I no longer are under the ceremonial and civil laws of the Old Testament (because Christ has fulfilled them for us), we see from Abraham’s gift to Melchizedek in Genesis 14 that tithing was a practice before the Lord gave the law to Moses. And if the Old Covenant saints, who knew Jesus only by types and shadows, offered a tenth to God, how much more should you and I, who enjoy the fullness of Christ’s redeeming work? Your giving to Christ’s work and Kingdom reflects your understanding of who God is and of how you value the work of Jesus for you. Consider two biblical cases that well illustrate the Lord’s interest in your stewardship of His blessings. On the negative side, think of Judah during the time of Haggai the prophet. Do you recall how the Lord punished His people’s idolatry with years of exile, only to allow them back into the land graciously? And how did they respond to His mercy? By allowing His temple – the place where His glory shone, and where He met with His people – to lie in shambles as they enjoyed their exquisite homes and iPods and flat screens. The Lord therefore brought curses on His people: hunger, thirst and poverty despite their best efforts. Clearly, God does not bless His people when they despise His glory and goodness. On the other hand, consider the early church during the apostolic era. Dr. Luke informs us in The Acts that the church had all things common: not that Christians didn’t have private property, for they did; but that they freely and gladly sold their goods to meet the needs of others in the church. They sowed Gospel seeds of generosity, and as a result the Word of God abounded as Christ blessed his church with growth and conversions.
Fast forward to the present. The question everyone is asking you and me these days is, “Can Leakesville Presbyterian get a new minister?” Certainly the answer to that question lies in the perfect providence of our Sovereign Lord. But in the outworking of His providence and of His eternal counsel, God uses the choices you and I make (we call them “secondary means” of accomplishing His will). You have a choice, even in this depressed economy (isn’t Leakesville’s economy always depressed?): you can seek God’s rule and the advancement of His church on earth, or you can seek myriad false gods. Look at your own life, and at your own stewardship of money, resources, time and energy, to discern the substance of your theology. Who is your God? Who is God to you? Do you value Christ? Elders who rule well, especially those who labor in the Word and in doctrine, are worthy of double honor – and of rightful wages. Their work helps you do the work of proclaiming Jesus’ incomparable love and victory to a world crushed by its sin. You need teaching elders, and that means you need to support teaching elders with your income as well.
Haggai or Acts? Cursing or blessing? The choice is yours. Answering that question begins by answering this one: Who will be my God? |