Sermon Cloud

        One of the few lessons that should be learned from the economic crisis of 2008 is that the line between those in financial need and those that are not is pretty blurry. 

·        As home after home are foreclosed on, it is time to be honest with ourselves. 

o       Just because a person can afford to live in a $300,000 home, does not mean that they are either doing well financially or that they have made good financial decisions. 

o       In fact, the person living in a $500 a month apartment struggling to make ends meet might actually be better off financially than many in upscale suburban neighborhoods. 

o       The main difference between the two is that the folks in the more expensive communities get to walk the fine line of financial ruin in nicer accommodations.

·        Unfortunately, it is easy to dismiss folks who file for bankruptcy or are mired in credit card debt because the temptation is to think they are just getting what they deserved.  It is very easy to think, “If they had made smarter decisions with their money, they wouldn’t be in this crisis.”

·        There is a sense of justice in many people’s thoughts and speech that says, “Well, that’s what you get if you aren’t smart with your money.”

·        Now, our temptation if we are no where close to losing our house and if we don’t have any credit card debt (or if we are even some where in between) is to look down on folks who make poor financial decisions.  And I would say if that is the case, we need to be very careful of falling into the sin of self-righteousness. 

·        Yes, we need to obey and be fiscally responsible, but let me remind you that God always judges us on the heart behind our obedience.  So, even though we are doing fine financially, we need to ask the question, “What is your heart motive?” 

o       Are you financially conservative and responsible because you want to be generous towards God and His kingdom?

o       Or is that just the smartest way to live the lifestyle that you want to live and the added bonus is getting to feel spiritually AND financially superior?

·        Scripture is clear that with every act of obedience, God evaluates those acts in two ways:  the outward obedience and the obedience of the heart…and we are called to obey in both ways.  We make a mistake if we think outward obedience alone is the obedience God is satisfied with.  For example,

o       Jesus says you can never touch another woman aside from your wife and commit adultery if you indulge in lustful thoughts.

o       You can never hurt a fly but commit murder if you are angry with someone.

o       You can have 0 in credit card debt, money in the bank for 3 months worth of overhead and all the other things that Suze Orman or Dave Ramsey recommend and still be guilty of being selfish and greedy if you aren’t generous towards God and generously merciful towards others.

·        When it comes to finances, it is possible to be honest and dealing with integrity on the outside while also being selfish and greedy in our heart.

·        The question we need to ask is this:  what does God think about honest and even virtuous handling of material passions outward that do not reflect and inward heart of mercy and justice towards those in need?  Basically, what happens when we are smart financially but greedy?  Let’s find out.

·        We are almost at the end of our Love Mercy Justice series from the book of Micah, and in case you don’t remember what’s happened over the past few weeks, this has been the timeline.

o       God brought a court case against His children declaring that though they remembered Him in events like Passover and circumcision, they actually had forgotten Him.  The reason that they were guilty of forgetting God was that though they remembered him ceremonies and ritual, they forgot Him in their day to day lives.  The people were emphasizing ritual over relationship.

o       Well, they got frustrated…so frustrated that they ask God, well what do you want us to do then?  God’s answer was that they should return to what God has always wanted them to do.  Yes, obey the personal do’s and don’ts but don’t forget to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly before your God.

o       Now in the last Micah sermon, we spent time in application examining what it would like for us to do those things in our community.  What would doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly look like in our community?  We talked about loving areas of our community that need consistent, gospel filled love like battered women shelters, rest homes and even the public high school which is overrun with gang activity and children living in below the poverty line conditions.

·        Now along those lines, I was doing some reading this week.  The author was talking about folks who go over to orphanages in Africa and come back burdened for the children there.  He asks the question, “You want to know why they are burdened for the children in Africa?”  It’s because they spent time with the children in Africa.  If we wonder why we are burdened to demonstrate love, mercy, and justice in the hurting areas of our community, it is because we don’t spend time in the hurting areas of our community.  Micah would seem to say we don’t have that option.

·        Being merciful and doing justice is by definition who we are.  Let’s look Micah 6.

Micah 6:9-16 - The Judge

9 The voice of the Lord cries to the city—and it is sound wisdom to fear your name:
“Hear of the rod and of him who appointed it! 

·        Well, it looks like the people of God have found themselves back in court as we will see court language used over and over again. 

·        God as judge cries out with His voice to His city.  And the voice says this, “If you want to be wise, fear the name of God because He is bringing a rod or staff of correction.”

·        Now the concept of fearing the name of something doesn’t go real far for us.  We don’t live in a society of dictators or rulers whose very name insights fear in our hearts. 

·        I don’t know, maybe the closest we can get is when we were children or now if you are parent, either one.  It’s like if you have left a babysitter in charge of your children, and the children are disobeying.  You try to wrangle them in, but if they get out of hand, and you say, “If you don’t stop, I’m going to tell you Father.”  Now if the kid respects His parents, and His parents are consistent with disciple, they might stop doing what they are doing.”  If the kid doesn’t care, and the parents don’t do a consistent job discipline, then the name of their Father or Mother strikes no fear in their heart.”

·        That’s what we have here.  The people of God are being told, “Fear the name of your God.”  Let’s look at why they should.

The Problem - 10 Can I forget any longer the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is accursed?  11 Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales and with a bag of deceitful weights?  12 Your rich men are full of violence; your inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

·        Well, here is what God accuses His people of.

o       His people have obviously gained their money by less than upstanding ways, built up wonderful houses out of those patterns and no one is accusing them or prosecuting them for their wickedness.  In fact, the lack of prosecution would imply that everyone wishes they were like them and therefore condone their actions.

o       His people are dealing dishonestly with each other and charging too much for what they are selling or price gouging as we like to call it. 

o       The rich people among God’s people got that way because they are violent.

o       The people are dishonest and tell lies and their mouths speak of only deceitful things.

·        Now all of this sounds like things that are so far from us.  None of us are like that right?  If I asked for a show of hands of how many of you were violent in your workplace this week, I doubt we would have many hands.  But let’s not be so quick to exonerate ourselves.

·        You see the people of that day would not have said that they were violent or had dishonest scales.  They were charging the rate that the market would bear, and you had every right by law to take the land of a widow.  Single women didn’t have the right to own land.  It wasn’t their fault that widows had no rights.  They were doing business honestly within the realms of the law.

·        The people bearing God’s rebuke were basically upright according to the laws of the land when it comes to their finances, and yet God still rebukes them.  Why?

·        Remember, this rebuke is in light of the fact that God has told them that they know what they should be doing.  They should be loving mercy, doing justice, and walking humbly before their God. 

·        Just because you aren’t overtly stealing, that doesn’t make your approach to your material wealth is virtuous.  Your material wealth must be a servant of mercy and justice and done as an act or worship to God.  The stewardship of your material wealth must cause you to act in faith and trust instead of trusting your material wealth.

·        What is God going to do to these people because they were not merciful and generous with their finances?  Look in verse 13.

The Solution - 13 Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow, making you desolate because of your sins.  14 You shall eat, but not be satisfied, and there shall be hunger within you; you shall put away, but not preserve, and what you preserve I will give to the sword.  15 You shall sow, but not reap; you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil; you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine.

·        God promises judgment and discipline to these seemingly upright yet greedy folks.  He hands them over to their desires where they lose contentment and continually search for satisfaction yet are never satisfied. 

·        In fact, He even says he is going to take their banking account.  He says, “You’ll put some money away but I’ll take it by the sword.”  It will be taken from them since that is the idol that they trust.

·        If you are greedy, your efforts will become futile.  Your work hard but not reap any benefit from it.  You’ll hope to be blessed by oil and wine, and God will have none of it because you have trusted in your material wealth instead of your God.

·        I would say this is a warning to any of us as we grow weary or dissatisfied in the workplace.  Sometimes we just work and work and find no satisfaction at all and that is because our work has no eternal value if it is just for the building up of our own personal kingdoms.

The Justification
16 For you have kept the statutes of Omri, and all the works of the house of Ahab; and you have walked in their counsels, that I may make you a desolation, and our inhabitants a hissing; so you shall bear the scorn of my people.”

·        This verse speaks specifically to the people of Micah’s time.  They were worshiping other gods and serving the rulers of the day trusting their so called wisdom and counsel instead of God’s.  Because of that, God is going to take all of their wealth away to the point that others will recognize that God’s judgment is on them.

·        Now remember, he is not speaking to people who live lives of wanton negligence with their finances.  He is speaking of people who outwardly we might all respect.  They have kept their money wisely, made good investments in real estate.  These are the guys who would tell you how to make money flipping houses or would be a part of lending institution.  The problem is that they only listened to the wisdom surrounding financial gain and security and not the call to be merciful and do justice. 

·        I guess we should take a moment and ask, “How does scripture determine generosity towards God and towards others?”  And I can tell you right now that it does not all have to do with money. 

·        We often divide up our service and giving to God into the categories of “our time, our talent, and our time,” or giving time to the service of God, using our gifts and abilities to His work and contributing money to the work of the Kingdom.  This is an application of various commands about working for the Kingdom of God.

·        Now we often face the temptation that once we have given a great deal in one of those categories that we can sorta take another one off.  For example, we might say, “Hey I’ve given a lot of money lately, so I’m not really going to participate in this activity at church.”  Or we make the opposite assumption.  We think, “Well, I’ve given a lot of my time and talent lately, so I don’t have to contribute financially.”

·        Can you imagine taking that attitude in your marriage? 

o       “Hey honey, I paid all the bills this month, so I’m just going to go spend time with this other woman okay?”

o       “Hey honey, I’ve spent a lot of time with you lately.  I mean I’ve really paid attention to you, so I’m just not going to pay the bills this week?”

·        That of course is hyperbole, but we do need to ask, what do we give to the work of God?  How much of our time, how much of our ability, and how much of our money does God require?  The answer is not 10%.  If you follow the OT guidelines, they were actually somewhere around 33%.  The answer is that God requires…everything.  God wants every hour of your day.  He wants every talent you have, and He wants every penny in you bank account.

·        This application is not just your pastor trying to sway you towards an attitude of putting more in the plate.  It comes from one of the shortest parables in all of scripture Matthew 13:45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

·        We have been called by God to surrender everything for Kingdom work.  In light of that, I think we can see more clearly the problem facing the folks of Micah’s time. 

·        Micah specifically rebuked them for neglecting mercy and justice and walking humbly before their God and apparently, one of the causes for their neglect was that they were too concerned with taking land, building personal empires, and gaining as much comfort in this world as they could.

·        The problem there is not just greed.  The problem there is that that is a lifestyle that has no eternal perspective.  A lifestyle that says, “My time is my own.  My abilities are my own, and my money is my own,” means that as scripture your God is your stomach. 

o       It is incredibly hard to sacrifice time, talent, and tithe if we can’t see the eternal perspective that God is working in the church or in mercy extended to those in need.

·        We cannot be those people.  We cannot be the folks who build personal empires and give God tiny portions of it and think that God is okay with it. 

o       Do you have a nice house?  Great.  That house is God’s and it is for His use. 

o       Do you make a decent salary?  Great.  That salary is God’s and it is for His use.

o       Are you talented?  Are you good at doing certain things?  Great.  That talent is God’s and it is for His use.

·        Any one of those things that we pursue for our own end instead of God’s glory and the advancement of His kingdom squarely places us in the shadow of Micah’s rebuke.

·        And don’t make this mistake.  This isn’t a sermon entirely about giving.  It contains that but God is asking so much more.  

·        We are called to spend our lives in the effort of the Kingdom.  The Rich Young Ruler asked Jesus how much was enough to give and Jesus said, “Everything.”  But Jesus promised in Matthew 19 that if you give it all to the Kingdom, your homes, your family, your lives, that inheritance that you will receive from God is so much greater than any value we can number here on Earth.

·        Honestly, folks, we may hear that and think, “That is just too hard.  Life is difficult.  I don’t have any extra time, talent, or tithe.  I cannot give any more of me in any way right now.  My needs are barely met.  How can I serve the church and be merciful to those in need when I’m barely making it?

·        I would say I hear that and that we need to be comforted by these words of Jesus.   

The Hope - Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

·        If you believe in Jesus it is because God has not hidden those truths from you but revealed them you.  No one will ever understand God unless He unbinds them.  No one will know Jesus unless Jesus chooses to reveal Himself to them.  And as He reveals Himself to you, He demands all of you.  He promises that the yoke or the burden that He places on you is light.

·        Now you might wonder, “How is demanding everything of me light?  That sounds like a pretty hefty price tag.”  Jesus says, “I am humble and meek.  Your soul runs around chasing everything from a dollar to prestige to self-gratification.  We want the world to see us as smart, skilled, and successful.  Jesus says He will cure you of that nihilism and finally give your soul rest. 

·        You can gain everything by giving it all to Jesus.  The heavy burden your carry is your reserving any part of your self or your life for your personal kingdom.  Micah actually calls that violence.

·        Can you imagine what God would do with us if we surrendered our whole lives over to Him and the work of His kingdom?  Can you imagine the many people that would be served and brought into mercy and salvation if we could only give up the pursuit of ourselves?

·        Folks, we never graduate in service.  We have never given enough time to serve Jesus to take a break. 

o       We have never used our talents and abilities to such an extent that we can take a break.

o       We can never give enough financially or materially to say that we have given enough.

o       Jesus demands my life my all because that is exactly what the all powerful, all-sufficient, God of all treasures gave on our behalf.  He left the glories of Heaven and the perfect harmony of His relationship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit on your behalf.  And His disciples are those that follow His example. 

·        For some of you that means you need to give more financially.  For some of you that means you need spend more time with and worshipping your God.  For some of you that means you need to apply your talents more the work of the kingdom. 

·        We pour ourselves out in service to God, walking humbly before Him, extending mercy to those that need it and demanding justice where it is absent.  That is our call and that is who we must be.

o       Did you know that the average Christian in America gives financially to the church and ministry related efforts 2.9% of their income?

o       Do you know what the average non-believer gives to charities each year?  2.8%.