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October 21, 2007

Managing God's gift of Treasure

Preacher: Pastor Braun Campbell Category: Biblical

Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost
Acts 4:51 - 5:11 (and Luke 18:18-30)

"Managing God's Gift of Treasure"

Treasure! "Arrrr! Where there be treasure, there be pirates." When thinking about this thing called "treasure," images of a pirate's ill-gotten stash of loot can jump into the mind's eye: huge chests, full of Spanish doubloons and exotic jewels. But pirates didn't seem to just leave these chests lying around. Such treasures were usually to be found on some sandy beach, so far off the shipping lanes that you'd need a map to hunt them down, and a good number of shovels to dig them up where "X marked the spot." (I've never really understood why pirates always seemed to bury their treasure instead of spending it, but maybe that's just me.) That's what treasure is, right? But if pirates don't know treasure, maybe Scrooge McDuck does. Scrooge is Donald Duck's exorbitantly wealthy, Scottish uncle - on his mother's side - the richest duck in the world. In fact, Scrooge is so rich that he keeps a portion of his treasure in his Money Bin, a building so large that can contain a small lake of gold coins and jewels. One of Scrooge's favorite pastimes is diving into his gold, swimming around in it like a pool. Now that's treasure!

Or is it? Is that how God's Word defines treasure? Treasure could be, in part, gold. Gold, along with our bank accounts and the cash in our wallets, is a financial asset. It's a part of our treasure. From the Biblical perspective, however, there's much more to treasure than finances. House, books, car, clothing - treasure includes all that we have and all that we possess, and these are all gifts from God's hand. God gives us a holistic view of what "treasure" really is: financial resources and material things fall under this category, to a greater degree than we would have realized.

So how are we to manage God's gift of treasure? Today marks the close of our congregation's three-week focus on the concept of stewardship, managing the gifts that God has freely given to us to support our lives. Two weeks ago, we began by looking at God's gift of time, and then turned to reflect on His gift of talent and ability. Now we consider the gift of treasure: what would God have us do with the treasure that He has entrusted to our care and use? Our reading today from the book of Acts presents two contrasting models of how to manage treasure. This text doesn't often get used in the regular preaching cycle of the church, probably because it can be kind of scary. But know this now: this is not a fundraising text! God has not decreed that He will strike you dead if you do not give to the work of His Church. (Sometimes, that doesn't come across when this text is preached.)

Our first model of stewardship comes from Barnabas and those early Christians like him. During this starting-out time of the nascent Church, those who had wealth and resources gave a portion of what was theirs, selling property. They freely put their treasure to use, caring for those Christians who were poor, hungry, or in need. Their giving did not come out of fear, thinking that God would smite them if they didn't give; rather, these Christians gave out of generosity prompted by the working of the Holy Spirit, in thanksgiving for the gift that God had given to them in Jesus Christ.

The other model that confronts us in this episode is that of Ananias and his wife Sapphira. What really was going on here? We know that these two planned together to hold back a portion of what they'd gotten from the sale of their land; however, that's not the problem. All the people in the assembly, Ananias and Sapphira included, were free to retain some of what they earned from selling property: the giving, again, was not mandatory, but free. The real issue here is deception. Ananias and Sapphira set about trying to deceive their fellow believers and, ultimately, God. But why would they do this, what would be gained? Though they did not have to give the total purchase price of their property, they decided to make a show of it. By saying that they giving a greater portion of their treasure than they truly are, Ananias and Sapphira may be hoping to win some honor, prestige within the fellowship of believers. In their giving, they deceive themselves into thinking they're earning a greater honor. But even though they succeed in deceiving themselves, God will not be deceived. Ananias and Sapphira learn this at the cost of their lives.

In our Gospel text, Luke records Jesus' encounter with a rich ruler who is not all that different from the unfortunate couple in Acts. When Luke uses this word "ruler," he's not writing of an affluent prince from a far-off land, but of someone much closer to home. This man is one of the Pharisees, one of the wealthier ones. These were people who, by all outward appearance, seemed to do well at keeping the Law. They made a great show of their righteousness, as this ruler himself demonstrated in telling Jesus that he has kept all the Commandments since his youth. But Jesus knows this man better than the man knows himself. Jesus confronts the ruler with one command that would be a stumbling block in his life, because the man loves his treasure more than he does God's treasure. And so, he goes away exceedingly saddened. Jesus hit at the root of the ruler's hypocrisy: though the man claimed to observe God's law for caring for those around him (e.g., the "Second Table" of the Decalogue), he cared more for himself.

Though Jesus has not commanded us to give away all the wealth that we possess, he confronts us with our own self-deception. Do we live as people who put God before treasure? The giver, before the gifts? We struggle with these issues, how we are to be stewards of our material and financial treasure. Especially as Christians in a materially prosperous nation, we struggle with the choices we're faced with on a daily basis. What are we to do, how are we to manage God's gift of treasure?

Our treasure can't be used to earn eternal life. That is God's gift to us, nothing that we can purchase. He bought it Himself, and though He gives it freely to us it was not free to Him. The Father gave His Son on the cross, a cost beyond imagining, so that we might inherit a treasure beyond measure. We should not deceive ourselves by looking to or our material and financial wealth for salvation, for as the psalmist sang, "Our help comes from the Lord."

Because the Lord has freely given us eternal life through His treasure, we may manage God's gift of treasure in our lives by using it to care for those around us. We work together as the Body of Christ to build one another up in faith. We freely return to God a portion of what He has entrusted to our care, to our stewardship. As part of our service today, you will have the opportunity to place your completed "covenant cards" for your time and talents and your treasure upon the Lord's altar. This is your pledge to Him as to how you are committing to use His gifts in the year ahead. If you would do this out of compulsion, feeling reluctant to do so, or that you might earn honor before God and men by giving, then do not do it. Freely give that which has been freely given. Like the rich ruler, we cannot earn God's gift of eternal life, and we must not deceive ourselves into thinking we can.

So how can we go about living life "Barnabas style?" Are we the pirate, who buries his treasure, hiding it away? Are we Scrooge McDuck, who swims through his vast stores of wealth? Or do we put treasure to use, serving as stewards - managers of that which is not our own - using it in faithful service. In managing God's gift of treasure, consider giving a percentage of your income back to God. Though a tithe of ten percent might be a bit much if you're just looking to start this practice, try a deliberate giving-back to God. Not out of fear that God will strike you down when He looks at your bank account, but in joy and thanksgiving for what God has given to you. Give, and learn from what God is doing in your life: not that God will bless you with greater finances or material wealth than before; but that you will begin to see what is truly important, truly valuable. Treasure!

Managing God's gifts of time, talent, and treasure, may we live our lives "Barnabas style."

Amen.