SERMON: TOMORROW MATTERS

MAKING CHANGE SERMON SERIES #4

2 April 2017

I.  Introduction

            -- in his book, “The Stewardship of Life,” Kirk Nowery tells the story of a tragic occurrence that happened in Alaska several years ago -- just after lunch one day, a mayday call came through the speakers at the Flight Service Station on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula -- The desperate pilot of a Piper A22, a small single-engine plane, was reporting that he had run out of fuel and was preparing to ditch the aircraft in the waters of Cook Inlet

            -- there were four people on board the plane that day -- two adults and two young girls -- they had departed two hours earlier from Port Alsworth, a small community about 150 miles away -- under normal conditions, it would have been a routine flight -- but the pilot had been complacent -- he had not topped off the fuel tank for the short flight and he hadn’t bothered to check the weather -- it was just another routine journey that he had made many times before -- and under normal conditions, that would have been the case -- but the weather had turned, and fierce headwinds buffeted the little plane and it had difficulty making much headway on its journey
            -- the air traffic controller did everything he could to assist the pilot; but suddenly the transmission was cut off -- the plane had crashed into the icy waters -- four helicopters operating nearby began searching the area within minutes of the emergency call, but they found no evidence of the plane and no survivors -- the aircraft had been traveling without water survival gear, leaving its four passengers with even less of a chance to make it through the ordeal -- Cook Inlet is considered among the most dangerous waters in the world -- it is extremely cold with strong glacial currents -- it can claim a life in minutes, and that day it claimed four.
            -- Nowery adds these thoughts to the story: For reasons we will never know, the pilot of that doomed aircraft chose not to use the resources that were at his disposal -- he did not have enough fuel -- he did not have the proper survival equipment -- perhaps he had not taken the time to get the day’s weather report -- whatever the case, he did not use the resources that were available; and in this instance the consequences were fatal.
            -- this story should give us pause -- how many other people have died needlessly like these four people did because someone did not manage and or use the resources they had at their disposal? -- how many have died without Jesus because someone was a poor steward of the resources God has placed them in charge of?
            -- Nowery states, "The stewardship of resources is a serious business; and God’s will is that we give it serious attention. This demands that we have the right perspective on our resources, and that is possible only if we have the right focus on our source."¹

            -- tonight we are finishing up our sermon series on biblical finances called “Making Change”

            -- just to remind you, in this series we have focused on four things to remember when we’re looking at being good stewards of God’s resources: Less is More, Stress is Bad, Giving is Good, and Tomorrow Matters.

            -- in week 1 we talked about the concept of Less is More -- about living with less -- living below our means so we could enjoy our lives more -- about not getting caught up in the world’s concept of needing the newest and the fastest and the biggest and the most but being content with having our needs met and taking charge of our financial lives rather than letting our stuff control us -- to stop chasing after the wind, as Solomon put it, by accumulating possessions that have no eternal value

            -- then we talked about “Stress is Bad” -- looking at the problem of debt in the life of the Christian and in the life of the church -- how debt causes stress in our lives and in our relationships and how debt hampers our ability to minister in God’s name because debt makes you a slave to the lender -- rather than being able to serve God freely with your time and your resources, your first obligation becomes to the lender and not to God, as it should be -- and we talked about coming up with a plan to get out of debt so we could improve our relationship with God and with others and we would start to experience the freedom that comes from debt-free living

            -- last week we talked about generosity -- about how Giving is Good -- and how God wants us to give and to share with others from the resources He has given -- not only our money, but our time and our possessions and our very lives -- God gave it all to us in the first place so that we might share it with others

            -- which brings us to tonight’s message that sums it all up -- “Tomorrow Matters” -- how do we maximize the resources God has given us so that we might live our lives as blessings to other people?

II.  Thinking Ahead

            -- if you were to look at the previous messages and ask what they all had in common -- what is it that makes us spend beyond our means and go into debt and not give freely -- you could make a case it is because we’re only living for today -- as Craig Groeschel puts it, it is because we have a “today-centered mindset”

            -- we have been taught by this world that it is better to get our rewards now rather than to wait for them -- we want instant gratification and happiness -- we want instant results -- and we’re not willing to wait and think long-term

            -- you can really see this right now -- when the new year started, the gym at work was packed -- all those people who had made a new year’s resolution to get in shape and lose weight showed up at the gym in full force -- they were all ready to get it done -- but now we’re in April and the gym’s empty -- why? -- because the majority of those people were not satisfied with the result they gotten so far -- rather than accepting it would take months, if not years, to get back into shape, they wanted to get in shape immediately -- they had a today-centered mindset -- they wanted to have beach-ready bodies before spring break -- and when that didn’t happen, they quit -- they just gave up

            -- a today-centered mindset runs counter to what we are taught in the Bible -- especially when it comes to the resources God has given us and that He expects us to use to bring glory to His name on earth

            -- this series has focused on financial issues because this is an area that a lot of people struggle with -- this is an area where we see that “today-centered mindsets” lead us into problems with our resources -- thinking short-term gets us in trouble and causes us to get into significant debt or into financial problems or to the point where we’re living paycheck to paycheck like most of the country

            -- so what’s the answer? -- exchanging a today-centered mindset for the realization that tomorrow matters -- look at Proverbs 21:20  

           "The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down." [NIV]

 

            -- those who are wise stored up choice food and oil -- they looked ahead -- they realized that tomorrow matters so they set back food and oil for the future -- and they had food when they needed it -- but the foolish man had a today-centered mindset -- he devoured it all immediately and he had nothing left for tomorrow

            -- when you realize that tomorrow matters, it changes the way you live -- it changes the way you interact with other people -- it changes the way you handle money -- it changes the way you look at life

            -- tomorrow matters -- and God expects us to prepare for tomorrow so that we might be an even greater blessing to others

III.  Scripture Lesson -- Matthew 25:14-30

      -- I want us to look now at a familiar parable from Jesus -- the parable of the talents -- turn with me over to Matthew 25:14-30

      -- while you are doing that, let me clear up something that a lot of people miss in this parable -- when Jesus talks here about talents, He’s not talking about talents in the same way we normally think of them -- when we talk about somebody’s talent, we’re talking about their skill or their ability to do something -- Jesus is not talking about our skills -- He’s talking money

      -- a talent was a measure of money in Jesus’ day -- about $1,000 -- which some commentators say would correspond to about six month’s salary in our day -- so we’re talking about a lot of money that is being given to the servants in this story

      -- so, keep that in mind -- first and foremost, this is instruction on being a wise steward of God’s money -- of the resources He has given -- of how He wants us to handle His money

      -- now, we can take the principles that we learn from this parable and apply that to other areas, including our spiritual gifts and our innate skills -- but don’t make that jump in your mind immediately -- when you read “talent” here, think about your own wallet -- about money -- about cold, hard cash

      -- look with me at verse 14

  

14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. [Matthew 25:14-18, NIV]

  -- here we see the Master getting ready to go on a journey -- the passage said that he called his servants in and entrusted his property to them -- he entrusted it to them -- he trusted them to be faithful with what he gave them -- to be good stewards of the resources that He was giving them

      -- to each of the servants he gave a different amount of money -- to one he gave five talents -- which was about $5 thousand dollars -- to another two talents -- about $2 thousand dollars -- and to the third one talent -- about $1 thousand dollars

      -- the amount he gave them was based on their individual abilities -- but while the proportion of the amounts was different -- the same commitment was required of all of them

      -- God has given each of us a different amount of money -- a different amount of resources -- to begin with -- we’re not supposed to compare what we have to somebody else -- we’re only to be concerned with what He gave us

      -- I love the story of Louis C.K. getting breakfast ready for his two daughters -- one of them looked in the other’s bowl and complained, “she has more than I do” -- and he told her, “The only time you look in your neighbor's bowl is to make sure that they have enough. You don't look in your neighbor's bowl to see if you have as much as them.”

      -- it doesn’t matter how much God has given you -- the call is the same -- they were called to be fruitful with the resources He has given -- Luke’s account of a similar parable says they were to “put this money to work” -- God blessed them with this money so that they might multiply it for kingdom work

            -- immediately, the servants who had been given the five talents and the two talents went out and put their money to work and gained a good return on their investment -- but the servant who received only one talent did nothing with his money, but buried it to keep it safe

      -- verse 19  

19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ [Matthew 25:19-30 NIV]

 

      -- these verses point out the difference in mindset between the servants -- between a today-centered mindset and someone who knows that tomorrow matters

      -- the first two servants were called "good and faithful" -- in the Bible, when you see two adjectives separated like this, the first adjective applies to the second adjective -- in other words, the first two servants were good because they were faithful -- being faithful was the criteria on which their goodness was measured

      -- similarly, the third servant was called wicked and lazy -- he was not faithful with the talents that had been entrusted to him -- he had not done what the master asked him to do -- he had not put the money to work for the good of the kingdom -- so he was called wicked by the master

      -- now there's several things in this passage that I want to point out to you that contrasts the good and faithful servants to the wicked and lazy servant

      A.  Good and Faithful Servants

            1) good and faithful servants were committed to doing what their Master called them to do -- they knew what was expected and did it even during His absence

            2)  good and faithful servants worked as part of the Master's kingdom -- they didn't take the money and go out and earn a reward for themselves -- they worked to get results for the overall good of the kingdom

            3)  good and faithful servants recognized that their resources and skills came from their master and used those resources and skills to multiply the talents that were given to them

            4)  the good and faithful servants looked to the future -- they invested the money so that they would have more available in the future to bless even more people

      B.  Wicked and Lazy Servant

            1) wicked and lazy servant didn't do a thing while the master was gone -- buried his money and went on his way

            2) wicked and lazy servant didn't work with the others or work to further his master's kingdom

            3) wicked and lazy servant wasn't prepared to work -- he hadn’t gotten himself trained and ready for kingdom work

            4)  the wicked and lazy servant was just thinking short-term -- he was today-focused and didn’t think about the future

      -- why didn’t he do anything with the resources entrusted to him? -- he didn't know the master like the first two servants -- the good and faithful servants obviously knew the master and knew what he required and what he was really like -- they strived to serve him to the best of their ability -- but this servant didn't seem to know what the master was truly like -- he was scared of the master and didn't do anything with the money that was entrusted to him -- his only concern was himself and staying out of trouble -- he never once thought of others or of the future

IV.  Application and Closing

      -- there’s two important concepts in this parable that we need to consider as we recognize that tomorrow matters for God’s kingdom

      -- the first is the concept of stewardship -- it’s recognizing that we don’t own anything -- everything we have -- everything we are -- is given to us by God to be used for His kingdom

      -- that means our money -- the things we have -- our relationships -- our abilities -- our spiritual gifts -- all of it is given to us by God

      -- stewardship is the wise use of these resources -- and the key words there are “wise” and “use” -- we are to invest the resources God has given us so that we might use them for His kingdom and to bring glory to His name

      -- that’s what the first two servants did -- they invested their resources and produced a return on that investment -- the kingdom was increased and multiplied through their stewardship

      -- the second concept here is that we are not to hoard what we have been given -- we’re not supposed to keep resources to ourselves -- we’re supposed to share with others and use what God gave us

      -- a few years ago, a church in our area had a problem with their air conditioning -- it just wouldn’t keep the sanctuary cold -- in the summertime, they would sit in there and swelter -- it was just unbearable -- and nobody would do anything about it -- they didn’t want to use the money they had to fix the AC

      -- a friend of mine got appointed to the financial committee and made it is his first order of business to find out what they needed to do to fix the problem -- he found out the church had been gifted shares of stock in Coca-Cola back in the 50’s and that it was worth millions of dollars now -- but rather than taking that money and putting it to use, they just sat on it and kept it for a rainy day -- they would rather swelter in the heat than use God’s resources for good

      -- the issue wasn’t so much the AC, but the condition of their hearts -- and I believe God allowed the AC to break like it did to reveal their today-centered mindset and to show them they needed to use and invest the resources He had given them to magnify His kingdom

            -- investing in the future and planning for tomorrow doesn’t mean hoarding wealth like the lazy and wicked servant -- what good is it to hoard wealth that never makes a difference? 

            -- we need to realize that being a good steward of God’s resources means we don’t spend all our money right now, just as soon as we get it, and likewise, it means that we don’t just put our money under our mattresses and hide it for a rainy day

            -- being a good steward of God’s resources means we put His resources to work -- we look long-term and use His resources so that they will provide a return on investment

            -- thinking about our personal finances, this means that we reorder our finances with an eye to the future

            -- the first thing we should do is prepare a budget -- not a spend plan -- but a budget -- there is a difference -- a spend plan is what most people have -- it just looks at the amount of money coming in each week, and then is a plan on how to spend every penny with no thought for the future

            -- a budget looks ahead to the future and prepares you for lean times -- for instance, we all know the electric bill is going to go up in the summer time, right? -- so, to prepare for the future, we should set back a little bit of money from our paychecks now to cover the increase in the electric bill during the summer months -- that’s what I did

            -- I added up how much electricity we spend over the course of a year, and I divided that by 12 to come up with a monthly budget -- during the winter time, when the electric bill isn’t as high, I take the extra money and set it back until summer rolls around -- and when summer gets here and the bill is higher than what I have available in this week’s paycheck, I just add the money I set back to it so I can pay it

            -- that’s what a budget does -- a budget looks ahead and considers future needs -- things you know that you are going to have to pay for in the future -- clothes, appliances breaking or wearing out, car repairs, tires, etc. -- a budget is future-oriented while a spend-plan is just for today

            -- the next thing we should do is consider how we can invest in people -- you know the old adage, “Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day.  Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime”

            -- consider how to best use and invest the resources God has given you for the good of the other person -- even though you have the resources to completely take care of someone’s needs, perhaps it would be better to just take care of part of it now so that they will learn how to work on their own to meet their needs and so that you will have available resources in the future in case others need help -- teach someone to fish rather than just giving them a fish

            -- that’s part of the knock on the Government entitlement programs -- there’s no incentive for people to get off of assistance -- the goal should not be to just meet their needs, but to empower people to meet their own needs through God’s help

            -- the final thing we should do is to diversify our investments -- spread your resources around -- and that not only goes for your money, but for your time and your prayers and your other gifts and abilities -- do the most good you can for the most people

            -- I’ve spent time discipling multiple people at the same time -- some did well and grew in grace and in their knowledge of the Lord -- others did not -- but because I diversified my investments -- I spread God’s resources around -- God’s kingdom grew

           

            -- here’s the take-home message -- “We’re not all equal in terms of talents, gifts and opportunity. But we all have the same chance to do something with what we’ve been given. The question is not, “What have I been given?” but rather, “What will I do with what I’ve been given?”” [Ray Pritchard]

            -- the purpose of this series was to encourage you to be a good steward of God’s money and resources -- to not be selfish -- to not live above your means -- to live on less so you can bless more -- to not get burdened down by debt so it affects what you can do in God’s kingdom -- to live an others-centered life by giving freely as you have been given -- and to plan for the future so you can multiply God’s blessings

            -- My prayer for you as we end this series is that you become an incredible investor in the Kingdom of God -- that you get rich in every way -- I pray that you invest in your marriage and your relationships and that you are richly blessed through those relationships

            -- I pray that you invest in your children or your grandchildren or your neighbor’s children and you are blessed by seeing them grow up and walk with God and serve Him with their lives

            -- I pray that you invest in the lives of others through discipleship -- that through you they would learn how a Christian is to live in this world -- so that they might disciple others and their disciples spread the message and so on and so forth -- and that you would be blessed by seeing the kingdom of God magnified because of your efforts

            -- I pray you invest in your church and suddenly you realize you don't just go to church but you are the church, and as you pour your gifts and your resources into the church you recognize the church is making a difference all over the world

            -- I pray that you will be a faithful steward of all that God has given you -- that is my prayer for you as we end this series

            -- let’s close together in prayer that this might be so

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1 Illustration modified from a sermon by Michael McCartney, “12 Dollars a Changed Life, 6/20/2012) [Story from Kirk Nowery: “The Stewardship of Life,” Page 118] [https://www.sermoncentral.com/illustrations/sermon-illustration-sermon-central-staff-stories-grace-82213?ref=AllSermonPrep]