“
Philippians 2:1-18
First United
Dr. John E. Harnish, Senior Pastor
Marsha Low, of the Detroit Free
Press writes: “All day they called
him just the Fan, or the sorry soul, or the idiot…but no one was more upset
Wednesday than Steve Bartman.” (Detroit Free Press,
The theme of this sermon is simple:
“It’s
easier to behave your way into a new way of thinking than it is to think your
way into a new way of behaving.”
What we do either moves us toward what we say we believe, or it gets in the
way. Actions matter and sometimes it’s the actions which come first.
Last year my good wife bought me a
subscription to Men’s Health…you know, that would-be exercise and health
magazine which always has a shirtless, hunky guy on the cover. Well, I have
been reading that magazine for a year and I think about it all the time, but
quite frankly, I don’t LOOK anymore like that guy on the cover now than I did a
year ago. I finally figured out that reading the magazine, believing in it,
thinking about it isn’t enough….it’s about behavior, about what I actually do,
about getting out there on the pavement every morning to try to get myself in
shape.
Believing isn’t enough. Often the
behaving has to come first, and our behavior shapes us into the persons we
believe we want to be.
In the church we call it “spiritual discipline” — those patterns
of behavior which shape and mold us in the image of Christ….worship, prayer,
Bible reading, service. In fact, the
United Methodist book of constitution and covenant, the one thing that binds
all United Methodists together is called “The
Book of Discipline”. It is all about getting my actions in line with what I
say I believe. And sometime the
actions come first….it’s easier to behave
your way into a new way of believing than to believe your way into a new way of
behaving.
In this second chapter he shares
this eloquent statement about the coming of Christ, this great hymn of the
incarnation, one of the most beautiful passages of poetry in the New Testament:
Have this mind among you which was in Christ
Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God did not consider equality with God
a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being
born in the likeness of men, humbled himself and became obedient until death
upon the cross.
Therefore God has highly exalted him and
given him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory
of God the father.
It’s a powerful, eloquent witness
to Christ, but look what follows — one of Paul’s great “therefores”:
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always
obeyed…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for God is at work
in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
- Do the loving
thing, whether you feel like it or not, until loving becomes the motivation for
your actions.
- Do the caring,
compassionate thing until caring becomes a way of life.
- Do the
generous, gracious thing until generosity dictates your priorities.
- Do the work of
Christ while God works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
And of course that brings us the
spiritual discipline of stewardship, particularly the stewardship of our
wealth. Stewardship is always more than just money — prayers, presence, gifts
and service — but it is never less
than money, since money is the primary God of our contemporary lives. And until
we discipline our lives in the area of money, our love of money will always get
in the way of our love for God.
About one third of Jesus’
teachings have to do with our relationship with material things, because for
good or for ill, wealth, or the lack of it, plays such a powerful, potent, pervasive
role in our lives. Jesus knew that until we allow God to have sway in our
relationship with material things, until we allow God to be the master of our
checkbooks as well as our hearts, until we put God first in our finances we
will never have dealt with the greatest idol in our lives. Jesus could have coined
the
That’s why I believe in tithing
as a spiritual discipline, the biblical pattern of setting aside the
first 10% as an act of gratitude for God’s generous gifts, a spiritual
discipline which puts God first in my life. But this year, go a step further
and suggest a pattern of spiritual discipline for all of our finances, not just
what we give to God. It comes from Bill Hybels at
10% for God
10% for the future
80% to live on with joy and
gratitude
1. FIRST, 10% FOR GOD
The Bible says that the “first
fruits”, the first 10% already belongs to God and that if we keep it for ourselves,
we are in fact, robbing God. The tithe is the act of giving back to God the
first fruits of the field, the first born of the flocks, the first and best of
our lives in gratitude and thanksgiving for all God has entrusted to us.
Another preacher friend put it
this way: “The tithe is the rent we pay
for the space we take up in the universe.” Hopefully, it is more than that…it
is an act of joyful thanks and grateful living, participation in work of
Christ, partnership in the Gospel of Christ. But essentially it is the act of
putting God first, returning to God that which already belongs to him.
The fact is that on average,
Methodists along with the rest of Americans, give about 2-3% of their income to
charity…a far cry from the Biblical standard. It is, however, interesting to
note that:
…those with incomes over $100,000 gave about
3.4% of their income to charity in 1995, but that dropped to 2.2% in 1998. Those
with incomes under $10,000 per year gave 4.3% of their incomes to charity in 1995, but that increased to 5.5% in 1998...
(Julianne Malveaux, Detroit Free Press,
It’s ironic, but it seems the more
we have, the less we give, and the less we have, the more we give.
Bill Hybels figures that if every
member at Willow Creek was living at the poverty level ($15,000 per year) and
tithed, they would double their support for God’s work in the world. My math
isn’t very good, but on the same formula I would guess that if all of us at
But as important as that is, I
want to challenge you to prayerfully consider tithing, not just because the
world needs to know the love of Christ, not just because our children need to
be nurtured in faith, not just because there are hurting people who need our
care, but because you need to give…as an act of spiritual discipline.
-
to put God first
-
to return to God that which belongs to him
-
to begin to behave your way toward a new and deeper belief.
10% for God.
Now let’s be honest…many of us
aren’t there yet. As I said, most American Methodists are giving about 2-3%. I simply
would invite you to begin where you are. Consider your current giving as a
percentage of your income, then move toward the tithe one step at a time as a
spiritual discipline in response to God’s love until you get to where you want
to be…behaving your way toward your believing.
2. ...AND 10% FOR THE FUTURE
Jesus told a parable about a
farmer who went on a long journey. He left his treasure with three servants…one
had five talents, one three talents, and the last had one talent. The five- and
three-talent guys invested their money and when the master came back said,
“Look what we did!” It seems the market was good, wise investments paid off,
and they returned to the master double of what he had entrusted to them. The
third servant took his share, buried it in the ground in order to keep it safe,
and when his master returned he brought it back to him safe and sound. And
Jesus’ words of judgment fell on the third man, not because of the amount he
had, but because he failed to do the best he could with what he had been given:
“You wicked and lazy servant…” He had
failed to invest and plan for the future.
One of the great crises of our
nation today is that we are living off our children’s future. Spending like
crazy, chalking up a national debt which will be a burden for generations to
come. Individually, credit card debt is killing us and for Christians it is a
spiritual problem. The fact is, we are living high today and billing it to
tomorrow, rather than using today to prepare for tomorrow as wise stewards of
God’s gifts. Part of Christian stewardship is to look ahead and set aside a
portion for the future.
No one has ever said it better
than our father in the faith, John Wesley:
Make all you can
Save all you can
Give all you can
Faithful stewardship of God’s
gifts include setting aside 10% for God, 10% for the future,
3. AND 80% TO LIVE ON WITH JOY
AND CELEBRATION
In all the news reports about
Arnold Schwarzenegger and the
The invitation is to take the
other 80% and live life with abundance, to enjoy the wonders of this world, to
celebrate every good gift. We are not called to reject material things, but to
learn their true worth, to value all the bounties we enjoy, to make the most of
all God has given us and to understand the true worth of all things. When we
put God first in our finances we discover the joy of using everything we have
in a spirit of thanksgiving and gratitude, until even the smallest gift has
meaning and value and worth.
The great preacher William Sloan
Coffin,
The goal of Christianity is not detachment
from material wealth, but the loving use of it. The beauty of money depends
entirely on how it is used. We are not asked to handle well our material wealth
on behalf of charity, but rather to handle well God’s wealth on behalf of God. (quoted by James Harnish in “Hyde Park
Online”,
You see, Christian stewardship is not just about what we give away, but about how we handle what we keep; not just about our pledge to give to God, but it’s about a pledge to carefully manage of all that we have; it’s not just about giving for our partnership in the Gospel, but it’s about the spiritual discipline of shaping and molding our living after the mind of Christ.
As a way of behaving our way into
a new way of believing, I submit this simple formula:
10% for God
10% for the future
80% to live with joy and
thanksgiving.
Do nothing from selfishness.
Look not only to your own interests, but to
the interests of others.
Work out your own salvation in fear and
trembling; for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good
pleasure.
In the midst of this crooked and perverse
generation, shine like stars in the world.
Have this mind among you which is yours in
Christ Jesus
Frankly, I feel for Steve Bartman.
I was rooting for the Cubs too. He was there for the right reasons, he believed
in his team. The problem was not his believing, it was his behavior that made
all the difference.
Honestly, I would love to look
like that guy on the cover of Men’s Health, to have rock hard abs, and
taunt, toned muscles. I’ve read the magazine and I believe in what it says. The
problem is not with my belief, it’s with my behavior.
And in our heart of hearts, I really believe all of us would like to have the mind of Christ. We would like to have our lives reflect his love, to live as partners in the Gospel and to shine like stars in the world.
The problem is not with our
believing, it’s our behavior.