How to store treasures in heaven

2 Cor 8:1-15, 9:1-15

So, last week we were challenged in our view of money. Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:19-34 challenged us to store our treasures in heaven, where they are safe, not on earth, where moth and rust destroy. We were challenged to store treasures in heaven, serving GOD, not serving money (living for eternal rewards instead of living for the dump). And we were reminded that we can do this – store treasures in heaven by giving freely because our Father is in control. Don’t worry, says Jesus.

I used the illustration of a hotel room in London. If you had to live in London for three months, a year – but you could take NOTHING back home with you – but you could send your money back home. How would you live? Colleen said that was her exact situation when she lived in Japan for a while. She could take nothing back – so she lived like she was camping! Why – so that she had lots of money when she got back home! And she did. That’s our situation. This world is a hotel room. It is temporary. Let’s stop decorating our hotel room with junk that will be thrown away, and send our money home.

It’s quite a shift in perspective, isn’t it? And how does that work itself out practically? What does it look like to obey Jesus’ word on money? What will we do differently? What will our church look like?

This week we’re turning to God’s Word in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Corinthians for some answers. Because the church in Corinth is in some ways a church like ours – particularly when it comes to money.
We will discover that

1. Generosity is a heart issue, not a money issue

2. Our heart follows our money, so decide to be generous, and you will be generous!

3. How to give

4. Practical matters

1. Generosity is a heart issue, not a money issue

Corinth was a wealthy town, and the church in Corinth was therefore a wealthy church. They’d enthusiastically promised to send a gift to the church in Jerusalem which was poor and suffering a shortage of food. But since making the promise with all eagerness, their enthusiasm had faded. Paul writes to set them right, to remind them of their privilege, and how much they have been blessed – blessed in order to share, to give, not to hoard. In fact, that was a standard problem in the Corinthian church – selfishness.

So he writes to them about their sister church in Macedonia. They were extremely poor – but gave generously. See, generosity – giving – is not a matter of how much you have, but a matter of our hearts.

Because 8:7-8 challenges us with this: we may excel in many ways – but if we do not excel in generosity is our love really genuine? Or are we excelling for show. 7 Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us—I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving. 8 I am not commanding you to do this. But I am testing how genuine your love is by comparing it with the eagerness of the other churches.

Giving – or lack of giving – exposes our hearts. Do we trust God? Do we live for the dump or for heaven? Where is our treasure? Do we really trust God to provide for us?

And it seems that the more we have, the LESS likely we are to give. So if you’re sitting there thinking “oh, it’s all right for HIM to give or HER to give – they’re much richer than us, we’ve only got so much. If I had as much as them I’d give loads and loads” – if you’re thinking that you are lying to yourself. It’s not true. If you’re not giving now, you won’t give when you have more. Why? Because it is an attitude of the heart, not of circumstances.

After all, if your income suddenly went down by 10%, would you die? No! You’ve still got 90% of your income to live on! You might have to cut back here and there but probably all of us would be ok. So if we can survive on 10% less – why aren’t we giving it back to God?

We can all give. If we’re not giving, it exposes our hearts. Our hearts are here – on earth, living for the rubbish dump. Our hearts do not trust. We are greedy money-worshippers and we don’t trust God. When I look at myself, that’s what I see. Guilty. Praise God that our salvation is not dependant on how we fail with our money, but on JESUS and his perfect life. As I said last week, remember as we go through this that if you are in Christ you are already saved, you are secure, his blood has covered your failures and sins. He has taken your guilt and shame! We will all be guilty. We will all be ashamed as we see how much we love money. We have all fallen short. But that’s why Jesus came. For people like us! So we can be set free from the misery of obeying the law – there I’m giving - and in joy GIVE because we want to be more like Jesus.

Paul, I think, could be writing to us. We are wealthy. We are blessed. Are we going to follow Corinth, or follow Macedonia? May we be known as a church that gives!

Why? Because this is what JESUS is like. Generosity is the heart of our God. 9 You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.

To be generous – to give – is to have the heart of Christ. May God soften our hearts and change us!

2. Our heart follows our money, so decide to be generous, and you will be generous!

Because it is a heart issue, it does not matter how much we give. We’re not giving because God needs the money! It matters that we give, and give in proportion to how much he’s given us. Giving is a blessing for us, not a help for God, or even a help for the church. So a child giving kr10 is as important as one of us giving kr10 000. His work does not depend on us. It is a privilege, a joy to be part of. But if we want to sit on the sidelines like a disobedient child – WON’T – we can. But we miss out on the fun.

9:6 Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.

How often have I disobeyed, not shared, --- missed out on joy of seeing someone come to Christ, missed out on the joy of witnessing to someone because I was afraid to trust. How often have I chosen to sin instead of to obey – and reaped misery instead of joy. We know these things. And the same applies to giving. When I hold on to my money I am holding back blessings from myself! I am the one who suffers!

What seeds am I planting? Where am I planting? For wherever I am planting, that’s where I’ll get a harvest. If I’m planting in greed and selfishness, that’s the harvest I’ll reap. My heart follows my money. Where I sow, I will reap.

It’s very popular to say “follow your heart” – but actually our heart goes where our money goes. Take out your receipts and bank statements – what you’ve bought over the past month, where and how you’ve spent your money. What does that say about what you value? What does that say about your heart? Where have you sown?

Your heart will follow your money. If you want a heart for the church, send your money there. If you want a heart for missions, send your money there. Money first then heart. If you want a heart for Statoil, send your money there. You know if you invest in Statoil shares, suddenly you’re reading about Statoil, listening for news about Statoil, etc. Why? Because your heart follows you money. You’re invested. Invest in things that matter. If I give my money to gospel work… I’m interested in gospel work. My heart follows my money. So decide where your heart will be.

9:6 Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.

Oh you can manipulate people in to giving. The prosperity “gospel” is all about that. Give now and you’ll get so much more. What’s the motivation? The heart of Christ? Heavenly treasures? No! It’s earthly treasures. More. I give so I can get. And that’s not giving! Remember, giving is a heart issue. 7 And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”

It is a heart issue. Decide to give. Decide to give cheerfully. Then give. Your heart will follow your money. And don’t worry – trust God. Look how the passage continues: 8 And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. 9 As the Scriptures say, “They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.”

Note God will provide for all our need – not all our greed (wants). But what joy to give away what we have been given – that our good deeds will be remembered forever. Wow.
10 For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. 11 Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.

You will find that the more you give, the more you will have. Because he who is faithful in little, will be faithful in plenty. But look at WHY we will be enriched in every way: so that you can be generous. When we get more money it is so we can give more away. And look also what happens when we give: we are enriched, not just with money, but in every way. Decide to give. And then give. And you will find that your heart will change, and you will start to become just a little more generous, a little more like Christ. Our hearts follow our money – where is your heart?

3. How much do we give?

8:12 Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. 13 Of course, I don’t mean your giving should make life easy for others and hard for yourselves. I only mean that there should be some equality. 14 Right now you have plenty and can help those who are in need. Later, they will have plenty and can share with you when you need it. In this way, things will be equal.

This doesn’t mean wait until you feel cheerful, eager to give – you won’t. But as you give you will be filled with joy. And if you’re not filled with joy because you’re looking at your bank account and saying “oh, I can’t afford to give”, or “oh, I wish I hadn’t given so much this month” – then you’re spending too much!
That credit card is a constant temptation. Swipe it, it’ll be fun! And it never is! See, right now we have plenty. But we have plenty in order to v14 help those in need.
We have been given a lot, so we need to give according to what we have. Don’t go take out a loan in order to give – that’s giving what you don’t have! But give what you have. 14 Right now you have plenty and can help those who are in need. And don’t worry about storing up money for tomorrow – a rainy day – what if I need money in 10 years. Building bigger barns to stroe ever more grain. Then your turst will be in money. Trust God. As v14 continues Later, they will have plenty and can share with you when you need it. So give now, and trust God.

We are to look after our brothers and sisters in Christ who are in need first. Then we must also look to the poor and needy who do not know Christ. As we give, we store up treasures for ourselves in heaven. It’s as if you have an account in heaven, and every time you give to gospel work, that account goes up. Every time you give to someone in need because of the love of Christ, that account goes up. Every time you share what you have, that account goes up. Every time you open your home and welcome people in, that account goes up. To God’s praise and glory.

And as that account goes up, we will become more heavenly-minded, more like Christ. Because our heart, our minds follows our money.

Whatever we have sent on ahead of us into eternity will last forever. It is secure. It will bring us pleasure and joy for all time. It will be celebrated for all eternity. It will be indestructible.

Giving is the way we convert our money to heavenly money. I want Real Treasure! Spending our money here, on shiny new things, is a bad investment. It will fail, will rot, will rust, and be thrown away. Investing in heaven… will never fail, will never rot, and will last forever.

God provides more financially not to raise our standard of living (spend more on us) but to raise our standard of giving.

When God provides more money we often thing “this is a blessing”. That’s true and Biblically – but it is equally true and Biblical to say “this is a test”.

People are giving sacrificially to this church. Each time we give we are part of what this church does. Every person encouraged to keep going in the faith. Every person who hears the gospel. Every life turned around. Every heart awoken to Jesus. That’s what we invest in, that’s our eternal rewards being stored up. It’s not just to cover salaries, and paper and electricity and a place to meet ho hum how boring. We invest in future glory! We’re sending our treasures on ahead of us – home! And each day brings us closer to heaven, closer to our treasures.

4. Practical matters

How much do I give? In the Old Testament, under the law, they gave a minimum of 10% of their income – but also could give a lot more with freewill offerings, thank offerings, etc. If you don’t know where to start, 10% is a good starting point. It is not a law 9:7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. You will not go to hell if you give less than 10% of you income. But… should we give less because we are now under grace and not law? Surely we should give at least that, if not more.

That still means we’re keeping 90% of the money God has given us! We need to ask ourselves the question “How much of God’s money should I keep to furnish this temporary “hotel room” – and how much should I send on ahead to my real home.”

But you might be saying 10%?! I can’t give 10%! I barely have enough as it is. Well, then we can think about managing our money better. This is where we come to words like “budgeting” and many people’s eyes roll over… but it’s just asking the question “What do I spend money on?” When you know that you can ask “Do I need to? Can I cut back? Can I save?”

You can get a rough idea from your bank – they often have a tool in the internet banking for visualising how much you spend. But get your bank statement and divide everything into categories. Some people find it helpful to visualise with monopoly money how much you spend on various things. Or take out your whole salary in cash and divide it up into everything you spend money on. This pile is house, this is food, this is electricity, entertainment, insurance. See what you spend money on.
Write down everything you spend – you may be surprised at how much you waste on quick meals or hotdogs or coffee to go or whatever.

Another area is fixed expenses like telephones, insurance, electricity, even bank fees. Those can all be reduced. Telephones – try Telipol Medium – it’s kr99 per month and should be enough for most people unless they’re really heavy users. Don’t use your mobile phone for long-distance calls. Use an internet call provider like Skype or Rebtel. With Rebtel you call a local land line and then it reroutes the call internationally. Saves a fortune.
Electricity – Gudbrandsdal Energi is one of the cheapest. Our local Rallarkraft is not bad either, and you support the local economy.
Food – write a list. Stick to it. Shop ONCE a week. You’ll save a fortune. Buy no-name products like First price. And shop at Kiwi or Rema : Meny Coop Spar Joker, even Bunnpris are all more expensive.

We can share tips like that with each other. But your money needs managing. You’ve been given that responsibility by God.

We can share things with each other. We can share/swap clothes – I know the ladies already do that a lot. Kids clothes and shoes especially! But for us guys – well, we normally wear clothes until they wear out – but we can share tools. Not every one of us needs every power tool known to man. I’ve got some tools I’d be happy to share: jigsaw, circular saw, a table saw, a nail gun. Wooo!
See where you can borrow instead of buy. Check finn.no for second-hand stuff instead of new. Even for Christmas presents!
I mean we can even share living areas. Share houses. Maybe you can put a brother or sister up in a room in your house or a flatlet (hybel). Think creatively!

As the old saying goes: A penny saved is a penny earned. Maybe we’ll change that to A penny saved is a penny that can be given away!

If we manage our money well we can spend less on our temporary hotel room here – and send more on ahead to our real home in the new Creation. Our heart will follow our money, so let’s look to send our heart to the right place. And remember that God has blessed us, enriched us in every way, so that we can be generous.

May God in His grace greant us hearts that are generous. Hearts that are like our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. May we praise him and give Him glory with our money as in every other area of our lives. And we will be filled with joy. The joy of giving. The joy of living Like Jesus. Amen!