WEBVTT 00:00:01.390 --> 00:00:03.990 Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:04.370 --> 00:00:07.009 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:07.769 --> 00:00:09.390 This fall, we're studying the book of Second 00:00:09.390 --> 00:00:12.429 Corinthians. Second Corinthians is a heartfelt 00:00:12.429 --> 00:00:15.330 and practical book calling us back to the life 00:00:15.330 --> 00:00:18.870 of the cross. We, like the Corinthians, so often 00:00:18.870 --> 00:00:22.350 pursue glory, admire eloquence, shun suffering, 00:00:22.670 --> 00:00:26.230 hide hurt, and hoard our goods. And yet the gospel 00:00:26.230 --> 00:00:29.230 of Jesus tells us that resurrection comes after 00:00:29.230 --> 00:00:33.140 a cross. that comfort comes after being crushed, 00:00:33.820 --> 00:00:36.079 that the way up is the way down, that the way 00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:39.240 to glory is through suffering, that his strength 00:00:39.240 --> 00:00:44.119 is made perfect in our weakness. We'd love to 00:00:44.119 --> 00:00:46.079 meet you and we hope you'll consider coming and 00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:48.380 joining with us each Sunday morning at 10 a .m. 00:00:48.420 --> 00:00:50.960 in the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find 00:00:50.960 --> 00:00:53.880 us online at secondcitychurch .org and on Facebook, 00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:57.119 Instagram, and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this 00:00:57.119 --> 00:01:02.840 sermon. God bless. Oh Lord God, we confess that 00:01:02.840 --> 00:01:08.120 you are God and we are not. In your light, we 00:01:08.120 --> 00:01:12.819 see light. Please grant us your grace, illumine 00:01:12.819 --> 00:01:15.640 this text for us, help us to know you and love 00:01:15.640 --> 00:01:19.099 you better. We pray these things in the name 00:01:19.099 --> 00:01:25.959 of Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen. This is a famous 00:01:27.500 --> 00:01:30.560 Quote here try to remember if you have heard 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:33.219 this before and if so where and then come and 00:01:33.219 --> 00:01:37.060 talk to me about it later, okay? Good name in 00:01:37.060 --> 00:01:40.900 man and woman dear my lord is the immediate jewel 00:01:40.900 --> 00:01:46.219 of their souls Who steals my purse? steals trash 00:01:46.219 --> 00:01:50.329 to something nothing twas mine Tis his and has 00:01:50.329 --> 00:01:53.730 been slave to thousands, but he that filches 00:01:53.730 --> 00:01:58.310 from me my good name robs me of that which not 00:01:58.310 --> 00:02:04.170 enriches him and makes me poor indeed. That's 00:02:04.170 --> 00:02:06.890 a pretty great quote, right? It's a kind of a 00:02:06.890 --> 00:02:09.449 beautiful sentiment. My money is not as important 00:02:09.449 --> 00:02:11.909 as my honor. That's something we can get behind. 00:02:12.360 --> 00:02:15.460 So here's what I think happens. People, when 00:02:15.460 --> 00:02:18.280 they want to talk about money, they Google famous 00:02:18.280 --> 00:02:20.180 quotes about money. And they see that one, and 00:02:20.180 --> 00:02:23.740 they say, Shakespeare, that guy's smart. Score. 00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:26.199 And so they put it into their speech or into 00:02:26.199 --> 00:02:31.099 their book or whatever. Well, here's a public 00:02:31.099 --> 00:02:34.699 service announcement. Beware quoting Shakespeare 00:02:34.699 --> 00:02:38.949 if you don't know the plays. Because, as many 00:02:38.949 --> 00:02:41.870 of you I imagine know already, those lines that 00:02:41.870 --> 00:02:46.490 I quoted for you are from the play Othello, and 00:02:46.490 --> 00:02:49.949 particularly from the character Iago, and Iago 00:02:49.949 --> 00:02:52.909 is high on the list of wickedest people in all 00:02:52.909 --> 00:02:57.250 of fiction. He is cruel and deceptive, without 00:02:57.250 --> 00:03:00.490 reason. He causes the catastrophe of the tragedy 00:03:00.490 --> 00:03:04.289 of Othello just because he's grumpy. He's a liar. 00:03:04.849 --> 00:03:08.389 In the section that I quoted for you, He's lying 00:03:08.389 --> 00:03:12.030 about not caring about money. The play actually 00:03:12.030 --> 00:03:14.270 opens with a different character, sort of a fool 00:03:14.270 --> 00:03:17.949 named Rodrigo, who's complaining that Iago keeps 00:03:17.949 --> 00:03:21.210 spending all of Rodrigo's money. Later on in 00:03:21.210 --> 00:03:25.310 the play, Iago will tell Rodrigo not to worry 00:03:25.310 --> 00:03:28.849 about a girl, Desimona, that he can't get, but 00:03:28.849 --> 00:03:31.129 rather just to put money in my purse. Money will 00:03:31.129 --> 00:03:34.810 comfort you, right? So the phrase who steals 00:03:34.810 --> 00:03:37.610 my purse steals trash it sounds really good But 00:03:37.610 --> 00:03:39.909 it's missing important context if you don't know 00:03:39.909 --> 00:03:43.129 its origin, right? Shakespeare knows that the 00:03:43.129 --> 00:03:45.310 guy who tells you that he doesn't care about 00:03:45.310 --> 00:03:48.550 money is Probably the same guy getting trying 00:03:48.550 --> 00:03:52.990 to get you to hand over you money to him He doth 00:03:52.990 --> 00:03:56.009 protest too much to borrow from another play. 00:03:56.449 --> 00:04:00.669 So Let's keep that dynamic in mind as we go to 00:04:00.669 --> 00:04:06.060 talk about The Bible. 2 Corinthians 8 is a text 00:04:06.060 --> 00:04:09.439 about money and what we do with it, and more 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:12.439 than that, it's a text that's encouraging a church 00:04:12.439 --> 00:04:16.600 to give generously. Many of us were raised to 00:04:16.600 --> 00:04:18.759 think that you shouldn't talk about money socially 00:04:18.759 --> 00:04:22.060 because that's not polite, but the Bible is often 00:04:22.060 --> 00:04:25.959 not a polite book. It says impolite things like 00:04:25.959 --> 00:04:28.199 that whoever does not believe in the name of 00:04:28.199 --> 00:04:31.889 Jesus is condemned already. John 3, 18. It also 00:04:31.889 --> 00:04:34.310 says that you, like the Corinthians, should be 00:04:34.310 --> 00:04:37.250 willing to give your money. This is uncomfortable. 00:04:38.610 --> 00:04:42.029 Now, I want to take a moment and put in a plug 00:04:42.029 --> 00:04:45.410 for the kind of preaching that we do here in 00:04:45.410 --> 00:04:48.290 this church and in the PCA more generally, and 00:04:48.290 --> 00:04:50.449 that is just to preach straight through books. 00:04:51.569 --> 00:04:54.589 There's an ancient practice called lectio continua, 00:04:55.170 --> 00:04:57.149 which is a Latin phrase which just means read 00:04:57.149 --> 00:05:00.860 without stopping. So we'll just choose a book 00:05:00.860 --> 00:05:02.980 of the Bible and then preach through the entire 00:05:02.980 --> 00:05:06.259 thing without jumping around. Why? Well, it's 00:05:06.259 --> 00:05:08.459 the mission of this church to give the whole 00:05:08.459 --> 00:05:12.259 counsel of God, as Paul says. And one of the 00:05:12.259 --> 00:05:14.199 ways that we do that is just preaching what's 00:05:14.199 --> 00:05:17.720 in front of us, not dodging passages that we 00:05:17.720 --> 00:05:20.160 don't like, even if they make us uncomfortable. 00:05:21.540 --> 00:05:24.759 We believe God put what he wanted his people 00:05:24.759 --> 00:05:28.730 to hear in the Bible. So we make a point. of 00:05:28.730 --> 00:05:30.389 preaching through it straight to make sure we 00:05:30.389 --> 00:05:33.209 get a balanced diet of what he wants to say. 00:05:35.269 --> 00:05:37.970 What I'm saying is I did not sign up to say like, 00:05:38.170 --> 00:05:40.610 oh, please let me preach about money today, right? 00:05:41.829 --> 00:05:45.050 So I say all this to you. And also you guys, 00:05:45.089 --> 00:05:46.589 if you're sitting out there and you're a regular 00:05:46.589 --> 00:05:48.110 attender, you're thinking to yourself, wait, 00:05:48.529 --> 00:05:50.850 but why is he skipping chapter seven? Didn't 00:05:50.850 --> 00:05:54.600 we just finish chapter six last week? Yes, we 00:05:54.600 --> 00:05:57.199 did finish the end of chapter six last week and 00:05:57.199 --> 00:06:00.120 according to Lectio Continua We should do chapter 00:06:00.120 --> 00:06:03.000 seven this week, but Peter and I got confused 00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:05.240 a couple of weeks ago And so I planned for eight 00:06:05.240 --> 00:06:07.420 so that's what we're doing so deal with it all 00:06:07.420 --> 00:06:11.819 right, so it's Lectio Mostly Continua Peter's 00:06:11.819 --> 00:06:14.060 gonna do seven next week deal with it all right 00:06:14.060 --> 00:06:18.060 our text today is about money Let's do an overview 00:06:18.060 --> 00:06:21.180 of the chapter. So Paul is asking the Corinthians 00:06:21.180 --> 00:06:24.819 to contribute to a big donation to go to care 00:06:24.819 --> 00:06:27.399 for the poor people in the Church of Jerusalem, 00:06:27.819 --> 00:06:31.180 and he wants to do it in such a way, quote, that 00:06:31.180 --> 00:06:34.379 no one should blame us about this generous gift. 00:06:34.459 --> 00:06:37.829 That's verse 20. This collection is one of the 00:06:37.829 --> 00:06:41.490 big goals of all of Paul's ministry, so in addition 00:06:41.490 --> 00:06:43.829 to a reference to it in 1st Corinthians and then 00:06:43.829 --> 00:06:46.310 this reference in 2nd Corinthians and chapter 00:06:46.310 --> 00:06:50.029 9, so look out for that one too, it also shows 00:06:50.029 --> 00:06:52.949 up as part of a fundraising effort in Romans 00:06:52.949 --> 00:06:57.110 chapter 15 and then we see in Acts chapter 24 00:06:57.110 --> 00:06:59.990 as Paul is defending himself against the governor 00:06:59.990 --> 00:07:03.529 Felix, he mentions that he did in fact go and 00:07:03.529 --> 00:07:07.810 give this gift to Jerusalem. So he got it done. 00:07:09.509 --> 00:07:11.550 So Paul notes at the beginning of this chapter 00:07:11.550 --> 00:07:14.490 that the Macedonian churches, which if you are 00:07:14.490 --> 00:07:16.949 uninformed about Middle East geography, like 00:07:16.949 --> 00:07:21.430 myself, means the churches of Philippi, Thessalonica 00:07:21.430 --> 00:07:26.589 and Berea, even though they were poor and persecuted, 00:07:26.649 --> 00:07:29.730 just like the Jerusalem church, they really wanted 00:07:29.730 --> 00:07:33.310 to give. And so they gave from extreme poverty. 00:07:33.370 --> 00:07:36.480 That's verse two. They gave beyond their means. 00:07:36.620 --> 00:07:40.819 That's verse 3. And Paul has been bragging to 00:07:40.819 --> 00:07:43.180 people about how great the Corinthians have been 00:07:43.180 --> 00:07:46.199 doing. That is at the end of our text in verse 00:07:46.199 --> 00:07:54.529 24. the Corinthians themselves should give. That's 00:07:54.529 --> 00:07:56.870 the sense of the passage. And, since this is 00:07:56.870 --> 00:07:58.810 the Bible and we believe it's relevant to our 00:07:58.810 --> 00:08:02.290 lives today, I think we can learn good things 00:08:02.290 --> 00:08:04.529 from this chapter about how to think about our 00:08:04.529 --> 00:08:07.430 own possessions and how we are to worship the 00:08:07.430 --> 00:08:10.110 Lord with our substance, as it says in Proverbs 00:08:10.110 --> 00:08:13.430 3. Okay, so what I want to say this morning, 00:08:13.930 --> 00:08:16.529 in its most general form, is this. If we are 00:08:16.529 --> 00:08:19.889 Bible -believing Christians, the Bible should 00:08:19.889 --> 00:08:24.399 inform our interactions with money. Money is 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:27.660 not some morally neutral area that's beyond the 00:08:27.660 --> 00:08:30.699 scope of the Bible's teachings. So I hijacked 00:08:30.699 --> 00:08:33.980 a great verse from the hymn, Be Thou My Vision, 00:08:34.559 --> 00:08:36.940 one of my all -time favorites, for my title. 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:39.379 If you remember the verse, it says, riches I 00:08:39.379 --> 00:08:42.440 heed not, nor man's empty praise. Well, I think 00:08:42.440 --> 00:08:44.360 in this chapter, Paul is saying we have to heed 00:08:44.360 --> 00:08:46.840 riches a little bit, in part because we need 00:08:46.840 --> 00:08:49.299 to be aware of what other people are saying. 00:08:49.909 --> 00:08:53.090 rich as I heed, but not too much. That's not 00:08:53.090 --> 00:08:58.009 a knock on the hymn. So here is my argument this 00:08:58.009 --> 00:09:03.110 morning. I think in the specifics of this text 00:09:03.110 --> 00:09:06.490 itself, where Paul is building his argument that 00:09:06.490 --> 00:09:10.149 the Corinthians should give money, we can see 00:09:10.149 --> 00:09:14.269 three good principles we can use when we think 00:09:14.269 --> 00:09:18.009 about the complex issues associated with money 00:09:18.009 --> 00:09:22.269 and faith. So here they are. Here's my three 00:09:22.269 --> 00:09:26.090 points. First, most importantly, Jesus is never 00:09:26.090 --> 00:09:31.470 irrelevant. Secondly, money is a good, but it 00:09:31.470 --> 00:09:35.529 is not an eternal good. And third, people are 00:09:35.529 --> 00:09:38.850 more important than money. Okay? Jesus is never 00:09:38.850 --> 00:09:41.690 irrelevant. Money is good, but not eternally. 00:09:41.809 --> 00:09:43.970 Three people are more important than money. Let's 00:09:43.970 --> 00:09:46.309 take a look. At the beginning of the chapter, 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:50.799 We see five verses praising the Macedonians and 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:53.860 interestingly, it's praising God that he's given 00:09:53.860 --> 00:09:56.559 the Macedonians their generosity. Then there's 00:09:56.559 --> 00:10:00.179 a three verse transition into how the Corinthians 00:10:00.179 --> 00:10:04.120 should be generous like the Macedonians. That's 00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:07.320 verses six through eight. Then you get this startling 00:10:07.320 --> 00:10:11.580 rationale for this claim or this call to generosity. 00:10:12.740 --> 00:10:15.299 This is the verse we've already seen today, verse 00:10:15.299 --> 00:10:33.000 nine. This is a wild argument. Consider this 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:36.059 as an explanation for your behavior. You should 00:10:36.059 --> 00:10:40.419 be generous. Why? Because Jesus died. You should 00:10:40.419 --> 00:10:43.539 show your love to be genuine. Why? Because Jesus 00:10:43.539 --> 00:10:48.360 died. Let's note what Paul is not saying. He's 00:10:48.360 --> 00:10:52.700 not saying, Jesus gives away his very life, so 00:10:52.700 --> 00:10:55.039 you should be willing to give me all of your 00:10:55.039 --> 00:10:58.659 stuff. That's not what Paul is asking the Corinthians. 00:10:59.019 --> 00:11:03.120 It's not what he's asking us. Look at verse 13 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:13.440 in our text. He says, But that's exactly what 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:15.639 happens in Jesus' death. He is burdened and we 00:11:15.639 --> 00:11:18.580 are eased. That's how that worked, right? So 00:11:18.580 --> 00:11:21.559 Jesus' kind of giving is not the kind of giving 00:11:21.559 --> 00:11:25.799 that Paul wants from the Corinthians. Paul is 00:11:25.799 --> 00:11:30.580 asking for something far less radical. We're 00:11:30.580 --> 00:11:34.399 not being called to die that others might live, 00:11:34.559 --> 00:11:38.899 even economically. Look at the rhetorical gentleness 00:11:38.899 --> 00:11:42.429 of what Paul is asking for us here, right? Excel 00:11:42.429 --> 00:11:47.610 in this act of grace, it says. Verse 7, not as 00:11:47.610 --> 00:11:52.009 a command. Verse 8, because you desire to. Verse 00:11:52.009 --> 00:11:56.330 10, out of what you have. Verse 11, your abundance 00:11:56.330 --> 00:11:59.129 should supply their need. Verse 14, there are 00:11:59.129 --> 00:12:01.850 so many qualifiers here. He's simply not asking 00:12:01.850 --> 00:12:05.090 us to give in the painful way that Jesus does. 00:12:05.210 --> 00:12:09.840 Why? Because it's impossible for us to. Think 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:13.779 about how Jesus gives. He gives extravagantly. 00:12:20.039 --> 00:12:24.019 Jesus gives up the very treasures of heaven, 00:12:24.419 --> 00:12:26.860 that's when he was rich, to come and dwell with 00:12:26.860 --> 00:12:31.940 us and die. And as Flannery O 'Connor says, you 00:12:31.940 --> 00:12:36.389 can't get no poorer than dead. And because of 00:12:36.389 --> 00:12:39.629 that poverty that Jesus voluntarily takes on, 00:12:40.110 --> 00:12:45.649 we get His riches. We get peace with God and 00:12:45.649 --> 00:12:47.750 entrance into heaven. And you don't get that 00:12:47.750 --> 00:12:50.929 on any other terms but His. So, if we're not 00:12:50.929 --> 00:12:54.750 being called to emulate Jesus in His total self 00:12:54.750 --> 00:12:58.470 -giving, why is this verse in here? I'll tell 00:12:58.470 --> 00:13:02.590 you. It's because For the believer, this, this 00:13:02.590 --> 00:13:04.909 verse nine, is the foundational truth of the 00:13:04.909 --> 00:13:09.529 universe. Every decision that we make needs to 00:13:09.529 --> 00:13:14.190 be made in light of the fact that Jesus's voluntary, 00:13:14.470 --> 00:13:18.509 sacrificial death has changed all the rules of 00:13:18.509 --> 00:13:22.110 the world. It's a paradigm shifting way to think 00:13:22.110 --> 00:13:25.120 about all of life, including finance. So, I'll 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:29.259 give you an analogy. In 1958, economist John 00:13:29.259 --> 00:13:32.139 Kenneth Galbraith published his book, The Affluent 00:13:32.139 --> 00:13:35.440 Society, in which he claimed that we need, as 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:38.679 a culture, to stop thinking in terms of scarcity 00:13:38.679 --> 00:13:41.740 and start thinking in terms of abundance because 00:13:41.740 --> 00:13:43.799 our modern conditions have made that possible. 00:13:44.039 --> 00:13:46.960 And if we make that mental shift, we can then 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:49.639 make bolder steps toward eliminating poverty 00:13:49.639 --> 00:13:52.759 as a whole. I don't know if his argument is right. 00:13:53.049 --> 00:13:55.850 I'm not an economics guy, it sounds good to me, 00:13:56.029 --> 00:13:59.730 but Paul, you know, 1800 years before he wrote, 00:13:59.769 --> 00:14:02.570 has done him one better. He says, abundance and 00:14:02.570 --> 00:14:05.429 scarcity are both relative. And by the way, Jesus 00:14:05.429 --> 00:14:08.730 Christ endured pain on your behalf, so you could 00:14:08.730 --> 00:14:11.309 experience his spiritual affluence throughout 00:14:11.309 --> 00:14:14.269 eternity. And so, by the way, we can work to 00:14:14.269 --> 00:14:19.230 alleviate poverty. So that was all point one. 00:14:19.450 --> 00:14:22.669 Jesus is never irrelevant. He's always going 00:14:22.669 --> 00:14:25.889 to be the main point of how we make all of our 00:14:25.889 --> 00:14:31.830 decisions. Point two. Money is a good, but it's 00:14:31.830 --> 00:14:33.809 not an eternal good. Where do we see that in 00:14:33.809 --> 00:14:36.509 this text? Let's take a look at the verse Paul 00:14:36.509 --> 00:14:39.870 quotes from in order to anchor his argument. 00:14:39.929 --> 00:14:45.149 This is verse 15. As it is written, whoever gathered 00:14:45.149 --> 00:14:48.649 much had nothing left over. and whoever gathered 00:14:48.649 --> 00:14:53.590 little had no lack." What's this quote doing 00:14:53.590 --> 00:14:56.629 here? What connection does it have to the rest 00:14:56.629 --> 00:15:00.190 of Paul's argument? So, Paul is referencing Exodus 00:15:00.190 --> 00:15:02.350 chapter 16, which we read part of this morning 00:15:02.350 --> 00:15:05.309 for our Old Testament text. So, in advising the 00:15:05.309 --> 00:15:08.389 Corinthians to give generously to the Jerusalem 00:15:08.389 --> 00:15:11.149 church, he cites the Exodus event. That is the 00:15:11.149 --> 00:15:12.929 time when the people of God were wandering through 00:15:12.929 --> 00:15:15.980 the wilderness, right? the desert and everybody 00:15:15.980 --> 00:15:17.940 would have starved unless God had provided them 00:15:17.940 --> 00:15:20.740 with bread from heaven think about it You should 00:15:20.740 --> 00:15:23.120 give to Jerusalem because more than a thousand 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:25.600 years ago in the time of Moses everybody was 00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:30.700 starving in the desert Okay, so if you're like 00:15:30.700 --> 00:15:34.960 me you're thinking Paul Exodus doesn't actually 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:37.460 seem to have anything to do with what you're 00:15:37.460 --> 00:15:41.669 talking about currently This seems a little bit 00:15:41.669 --> 00:15:43.210 like the people who want to quote Shakespeare 00:15:43.210 --> 00:15:45.909 on money and use the who steals my purse steals 00:15:45.909 --> 00:15:49.049 trash line without knowing the context. It seems 00:15:49.049 --> 00:15:52.090 almost random like Paul used the first century 00:15:52.090 --> 00:15:54.809 equivalent of Google. Old Testament texts about 00:15:54.809 --> 00:15:58.870 fairness. Find me one. If I was grading the Apostle 00:15:58.870 --> 00:16:01.470 Paul's essay to the Corinthians in my literature 00:16:01.470 --> 00:16:07.110 class, I would take points off. But the problem 00:16:07.110 --> 00:16:10.450 with my grading system is that Paul, unlike my 00:16:10.450 --> 00:16:12.850 students as far as I can tell, is writing under 00:16:12.850 --> 00:16:16.789 the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So it turns 00:16:16.789 --> 00:16:20.509 out that what I thought was a very tenuous connection 00:16:20.509 --> 00:16:23.769 is exactly the right connection for Paul's original 00:16:23.769 --> 00:16:26.850 hearers and for us today. So let me read a little 00:16:26.850 --> 00:16:31.309 bit of the Exodus text to you again. So this 00:16:31.309 --> 00:16:35.309 is Exodus 16 starting in verse 16 says this is 00:16:35.309 --> 00:16:39.730 what the Lord has commanded Gather of it each 00:16:39.730 --> 00:16:42.009 one of you as much as he can eat you shall each 00:16:42.009 --> 00:16:45.529 take an Omer get your Omer's right according 00:16:45.529 --> 00:16:47.789 to the number of the persons that each of you 00:16:47.789 --> 00:16:50.629 has in his tent and The people of Israel did 00:16:50.629 --> 00:16:54.700 so they gathered some more some less But when 00:16:54.700 --> 00:16:56.879 they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered 00:16:56.879 --> 00:16:58.960 much had nothing left over and whoever gathered 00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:00.639 little had no lack. That's the part, of course, 00:17:00.659 --> 00:17:04.180 that Paul sources. Each of them gathered as much 00:17:04.180 --> 00:17:06.880 as he could eat. Now, this is where it gets super 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:09.740 interesting for me. This is verse 19 in chapter 00:17:09.740 --> 00:17:14.460 16 of Exodus. And Moses said to them, let no 00:17:14.460 --> 00:17:18.579 one leave any of it over till the morning. But 00:17:18.579 --> 00:17:21.920 they did not listen to Moses. Some left part 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:24.880 of it till the morning, and it bred worms and 00:17:24.880 --> 00:17:30.559 stank. And Moses was angry with them. How interesting. 00:17:31.579 --> 00:17:35.539 So that part, that part about the stink, that 00:17:35.539 --> 00:17:38.099 comes immediately after the part that Paul quotes. 00:17:38.579 --> 00:17:43.240 Stink? Worms? What's the connection? Here it 00:17:43.240 --> 00:17:47.900 is. You can't hoard what's not hoardable. You 00:17:47.900 --> 00:17:51.000 can't keep what doesn't keep. Shakespeare says, 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:55.839 youths of stuff cannot endure. Moses says, manna 00:17:55.839 --> 00:17:58.619 won't endure throughout the night. And Paul, 00:17:59.539 --> 00:18:03.619 by implication, is saying here what? Money is 00:18:03.619 --> 00:18:06.960 a stuff that won't endure overnight. What does 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:09.779 that mean? Because obviously it's untrue in our 00:18:09.779 --> 00:18:11.519 day -to -day life, right? We have a day -to -day 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:14.619 life. Our money doesn't just vanish and get worms, 00:18:14.740 --> 00:18:17.920 right? Well, think about it. What about when 00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:21.440 Jesus says, the night is coming when no man can 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:24.160 work? What about when the Apostle John says, 00:18:24.279 --> 00:18:28.119 children, it is even now the last hour? If you 00:18:28.119 --> 00:18:32.799 think big about what a day can mean in biblical 00:18:32.799 --> 00:18:34.819 terms, well then you get your answer to what 00:18:34.819 --> 00:18:37.799 Paul is doing here. Paul is talking about the 00:18:37.799 --> 00:18:41.359 calendar of salvation and the clock is ticking. 00:18:42.859 --> 00:18:48.839 Friends, we are spiritually In the last day, 00:18:48.980 --> 00:18:53.160 we are in the last hour. The night is coming 00:18:53.160 --> 00:18:57.119 and then it's the new day, right? That means 00:18:57.119 --> 00:19:01.240 that if we are hoarding up wealth for ungodly 00:19:01.240 --> 00:19:04.680 purposes, like the Israelites were hoarding more 00:19:04.680 --> 00:19:07.119 manna than Moses told them they should keep, 00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:10.299 right? In the analogy that Paul is making, we 00:19:10.299 --> 00:19:13.180 are going to be left from our money. We're going 00:19:13.180 --> 00:19:15.700 to be left with nothing but a big pile of worms 00:19:15.700 --> 00:19:20.220 and rot. You can't take it with you, as the saying 00:19:20.220 --> 00:19:23.900 goes, and it will pollute your heart if you try. 00:19:25.619 --> 00:19:28.500 All of our hard -earned money is worth nothing 00:19:28.500 --> 00:19:34.980 but worms and filth, eternally speaking. Unless, 00:19:36.099 --> 00:19:39.579 unless the Lord has enlightened our hearts and 00:19:39.579 --> 00:19:43.369 we use our money in a way that is congruous with 00:19:43.369 --> 00:19:45.710 his own character. Why? Because the point is 00:19:45.710 --> 00:19:50.309 never that manna is bad, right? Manna was necessary 00:19:50.309 --> 00:19:52.569 for the Israelites in the wilderness. They would 00:19:52.569 --> 00:19:55.410 have died without it. Money is necessary for 00:19:55.410 --> 00:19:57.809 us in our society right now. It would be really 00:19:57.809 --> 00:20:01.529 hard to live without it. Money is a good. Manna 00:20:01.529 --> 00:20:04.569 is a good. But it is only good in the way that 00:20:04.569 --> 00:20:07.789 God ordained it. It's good to keep you alive 00:20:07.789 --> 00:20:12.230 and thankful and dependent on Him. Because that's 00:20:12.230 --> 00:20:14.730 the other point of this analogy, isn't it? Without 00:20:14.730 --> 00:20:18.250 God's continuous providential blessing of His 00:20:18.250 --> 00:20:20.230 people, they would have starved in the wilderness. 00:20:20.529 --> 00:20:23.109 Without God's continuous providential blessing 00:20:23.109 --> 00:20:25.029 on His people right now, we would be utterly 00:20:25.029 --> 00:20:30.029 lost. So part one, money won't last into eternity. 00:20:30.210 --> 00:20:34.369 Part two, everything you have currently is God's 00:20:34.369 --> 00:20:37.049 gift. Both of those things are right here beneath 00:20:37.049 --> 00:20:39.690 the surface of this text because of this quote 00:20:39.690 --> 00:20:43.180 that Paul uses. Okay? And those two things together 00:20:43.180 --> 00:20:46.859 give huge emotional support to this idea of generosity 00:20:46.859 --> 00:20:49.200 or fairness, the thing that Paul is arguing for 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:51.900 here, right? If everything I have is a gift from 00:20:51.900 --> 00:20:56.140 God and what I have can't last into eternity 00:20:56.140 --> 00:21:00.920 and we're called to give to others, of course 00:21:00.920 --> 00:21:05.220 I should give freely. Think about what else flows 00:21:05.220 --> 00:21:08.450 from this argument. If everything we have is 00:21:08.450 --> 00:21:10.369 equivalent to manna and we're called to give 00:21:10.369 --> 00:21:14.329 to others, it follows we're being called to be 00:21:14.329 --> 00:21:19.029 a part of God's generosity. When you put it that 00:21:19.029 --> 00:21:21.390 way, it's no wonder the Macedonians begged for 00:21:21.390 --> 00:21:23.869 the favor of providing relief of the saints. 00:21:24.450 --> 00:21:27.009 We will too if we get what Paul is saying here, 00:21:27.329 --> 00:21:29.849 right? We get to be the manna producers, right? 00:21:29.930 --> 00:21:32.869 That's the angels. That's amazing. What follows 00:21:32.869 --> 00:21:35.369 from this is my last point. People are more important 00:21:35.369 --> 00:21:38.109 than money. This is not an obscure point in the 00:21:38.109 --> 00:21:40.930 Bible. If you're willing to let yourself think 00:21:40.930 --> 00:21:43.910 in monetary terms about people made in the image 00:21:43.910 --> 00:21:46.349 of God, that's a big spiritual problem. That's 00:21:46.349 --> 00:21:51.910 a no -no. So the clear background for this whole 00:21:51.910 --> 00:21:54.890 passage is that people are more important. God's 00:21:54.890 --> 00:21:57.670 people in Jerusalem are hungry. Therefore, for 00:21:57.670 --> 00:21:59.869 Paul, we try to feed them. There's not even a 00:21:59.869 --> 00:22:05.650 question. But what I'm interested in more particularly 00:22:05.650 --> 00:22:09.250 in this text is actually the way that that basic 00:22:09.250 --> 00:22:13.230 principle works in practice here, right? So let's 00:22:13.230 --> 00:22:15.789 make a detour quickly to say that the topic of 00:22:15.789 --> 00:22:20.309 money is pretty complex in the Bible. Money is 00:22:20.309 --> 00:22:23.210 a good that can very easily become a bad. The 00:22:23.210 --> 00:22:25.970 New Testament historian Ben Witherington lists 00:22:25.970 --> 00:22:29.789 no less than eight broad ways the Bible speaks 00:22:29.789 --> 00:22:32.289 about money, and five of those eight ways are 00:22:32.289 --> 00:22:36.829 bad. So in Wutherington's categories, this chapter 00:22:36.829 --> 00:22:39.509 is talking about one of the good uses of money, 00:22:39.769 --> 00:22:42.269 which is, quote, wealth as a resource for human 00:22:42.269 --> 00:22:47.599 needs, but even in providing for others. we have 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:51.519 a biblical obligation to be wise and discerning 00:22:51.519 --> 00:22:53.700 about the way that we give. C .S. Lewis put it 00:22:53.700 --> 00:22:56.180 really well when he says the fact that you are 00:22:56.180 --> 00:22:58.940 giving money to charity does not mean that you 00:22:58.940 --> 00:23:01.500 need not try to find out whether that charity 00:23:01.500 --> 00:23:06.900 is a fraud. He says that as an aside in a larger 00:23:06.900 --> 00:23:10.740 argument because he's brilliant. So what I mean 00:23:10.740 --> 00:23:14.180 is that Paul is showing us that as we give, as 00:23:14.180 --> 00:23:16.299 we give, we also have to be on guard against 00:23:16.299 --> 00:23:20.500 the temptation to sinfully abuse money that giving 00:23:20.500 --> 00:23:24.259 money can create. The people that we ask to give 00:23:24.259 --> 00:23:27.220 and the people around us broadly in culture and 00:23:27.220 --> 00:23:29.500 their consciences are all important too. They're 00:23:29.500 --> 00:23:34.099 just as important as the actual money. And so 00:23:34.099 --> 00:23:36.400 in Wuthering's terms, we have to guard against 00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:40.279 and help others guard against the category wealth 00:23:40.279 --> 00:23:44.680 as a stumbling block. So what's the temptation 00:23:44.680 --> 00:23:47.859 created specifically when people are giving money 00:23:47.859 --> 00:23:52.740 to charity? It's fraud, of course. It's embezzlement. 00:23:53.460 --> 00:23:55.240 You might remember from our gospel reading this 00:23:55.240 --> 00:23:57.740 morning that Judas was upset when a large sum 00:23:57.740 --> 00:24:00.880 of money was not given to the poor. He didn't 00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:02.900 care about the poor. He wanted to take it for 00:24:02.900 --> 00:24:06.829 himself, right? That's That's the temptation 00:24:06.829 --> 00:24:08.549 that's out there when there's a large pools of 00:24:08.549 --> 00:24:11.569 money So what we see Paul doing in this text 00:24:11.569 --> 00:24:14.450 is guarding against that temptation to take a 00:24:14.450 --> 00:24:17.849 little bit off the top We see this how in the 00:24:17.849 --> 00:24:21.289 apparatus of giving that he is using First he 00:24:21.289 --> 00:24:24.029 sends Titus who the Corinthians know because 00:24:24.029 --> 00:24:26.509 they've met him before that's in verse 6 He's 00:24:26.509 --> 00:24:29.569 also sending these two unnamed brothers. This 00:24:29.569 --> 00:24:35.259 is verse 18 and also verse 22 We are sending 00:24:35.259 --> 00:24:37.359 our brother with them. We are sending our brother. 00:24:37.980 --> 00:24:40.660 And he says that both of the brothers are quote, 00:24:40.759 --> 00:24:43.359 messengers of the churches. That's verse 23. 00:24:44.759 --> 00:24:46.960 At least one commentary suggests that that phrase, 00:24:47.259 --> 00:24:49.460 messengers of the churches, means there were 00:24:49.460 --> 00:24:53.500 special delegates from different individual churches, 00:24:53.720 --> 00:24:55.839 probably in different cities. What we see here 00:24:55.839 --> 00:24:59.160 is Paul is specifying three different people 00:24:59.160 --> 00:25:02.009 who are coming together. probably from different 00:25:02.009 --> 00:25:04.849 places, at least two of whom are known commodities 00:25:04.849 --> 00:25:07.410 to the people that he's writing to. What this 00:25:07.410 --> 00:25:09.910 means is these guys are intended to be able to 00:25:09.910 --> 00:25:13.549 report back to each of their individual congregations 00:25:13.549 --> 00:25:16.670 that everything's going the way it should. They 00:25:16.670 --> 00:25:18.849 gave the money. It all got where it was intended 00:25:18.849 --> 00:25:23.390 to go. Great. So Paul's providing guardrails 00:25:23.390 --> 00:25:25.829 to keep everybody honest. This is as close to 00:25:25.829 --> 00:25:28.289 being better business certified as it was possible 00:25:28.289 --> 00:25:32.130 to be. Think about it. This is a time when bribery 00:25:32.130 --> 00:25:35.210 and graft were the way that business got done. 00:25:35.529 --> 00:25:37.750 We've all heard about this with the Roman tax 00:25:37.750 --> 00:25:40.710 collectors of the day, right? So given that situation, 00:25:40.970 --> 00:25:44.150 Paul in the early church needed to invent systems 00:25:44.150 --> 00:25:47.910 of personal voluntary giving that won't end up 00:25:47.910 --> 00:25:51.630 with the money in somebody else's pocket. And 00:25:51.630 --> 00:25:57.089 what he comes up with is this. This three -person 00:25:57.089 --> 00:25:59.269 system. I think what we can see here is we should 00:25:59.269 --> 00:26:02.329 not be secretive with our finances We should 00:26:02.329 --> 00:26:04.670 rely on systems of accountability rather than 00:26:04.670 --> 00:26:07.849 one person's individual conscience, right? These 00:26:07.849 --> 00:26:10.490 are good principles one commentary says this 00:26:10.490 --> 00:26:13.369 Paul could write like a poet and think like a 00:26:13.369 --> 00:26:16.069 theologian But he could also act with a meticulous 00:26:16.069 --> 00:26:18.190 accuracy and integrity of the best accountant 00:26:19.429 --> 00:26:21.690 So I think a real application we can make here 00:26:21.690 --> 00:26:24.809 is that Organizations should be open, but they're 00:26:24.809 --> 00:26:26.809 finances and if they're not you shouldn't trust 00:26:26.809 --> 00:26:32.430 them probably Paul aims at what is honorable 00:26:32.430 --> 00:26:34.730 not only in the Lord's sight but also in the 00:26:34.730 --> 00:26:38.269 sight of man that's verse 21 and Trustworthy 00:26:38.269 --> 00:26:41.069 organizations will do the same and on that note. 00:26:41.069 --> 00:26:43.630 I want to say in praise of this church that we 00:26:43.630 --> 00:26:46.029 do that. We routinely have economic meetings 00:26:46.029 --> 00:26:47.910 where the whole budget is available to look at. 00:26:48.009 --> 00:26:51.289 We aim to be honorable in the sight of man. So, 00:26:51.670 --> 00:26:55.849 in closing, and like Paul, I want to address 00:26:55.849 --> 00:26:59.150 some potential grumbles. Some of you might be 00:26:59.150 --> 00:27:01.970 out there thinking, come on, stalker, this is 00:27:01.970 --> 00:27:06.750 just moralism. Where's the gospel here? And I 00:27:06.750 --> 00:27:08.390 want to tell you that I was kind of thinking 00:27:08.390 --> 00:27:11.210 that myself when I came up with my outline. And 00:27:11.210 --> 00:27:13.069 before that, I was thinking, oh no, I don't want 00:27:13.069 --> 00:27:16.269 to preach about money. But then I thought to 00:27:16.269 --> 00:27:18.690 myself, well, the structure of the sermon kind 00:27:18.690 --> 00:27:21.849 of resembles one of Paul's letters, right? We 00:27:21.849 --> 00:27:25.710 address the gospel first. Jesus made himself 00:27:25.710 --> 00:27:28.390 poor so that by his poverty, we might become 00:27:28.390 --> 00:27:31.049 rich. And then we saw what flows out of that. 00:27:31.109 --> 00:27:33.730 We need to give generously and thoughtfully and 00:27:33.730 --> 00:27:37.359 wisely. Some other people might be saying, look, 00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:40.359 I don't mind a little morality, but I come to 00:27:40.359 --> 00:27:43.839 church to hear about spiritual stuff, not money. 00:27:44.200 --> 00:27:48.279 Money is not a holy topic. And I sympathize with 00:27:48.279 --> 00:27:51.339 you if you're thinking that. I applaud your impulse. 00:27:52.200 --> 00:27:55.160 As a rule of thumb, I think if you go to a church 00:27:55.160 --> 00:27:57.259 service and the main point seems to be, give 00:27:57.259 --> 00:28:00.000 us your money, you probably should go to a different 00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:07.119 church. But here's the thing. The Bible actually 00:28:07.119 --> 00:28:09.920 is the text that gets to tell us what's spiritual 00:28:09.920 --> 00:28:13.599 and what's not, right? So in this text, which 00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:17.140 is an entire chapter about the wise giving and 00:28:17.140 --> 00:28:20.200 money, we learn that the generous giving of money 00:28:20.200 --> 00:28:23.299 in a discerning way is in fact a spiritual good. 00:28:23.819 --> 00:28:25.819 Something can be spiritual and practical at the 00:28:25.819 --> 00:28:28.140 same time. If it's not practical at all, I tend 00:28:28.140 --> 00:28:34.619 to think it's imaginary. So when the wicked Iago 00:28:34.779 --> 00:28:39.420 says, who steals my purse, steals trash while 00:28:39.420 --> 00:28:42.819 he's reaching for your wallet? You can say to 00:28:42.819 --> 00:28:46.519 him, well, you might have kind of an eternal 00:28:46.519 --> 00:28:49.559 point, but I feel like you're missing Paul's 00:28:49.559 --> 00:28:53.039 metaphor here. In this life, my purse is not 00:28:53.039 --> 00:28:57.279 trash. And in fact, I have an obligation as much 00:28:57.279 --> 00:29:00.920 as possible to keep my money away from bad actors. 00:29:01.289 --> 00:29:04.750 in order that I can give more freely to the people 00:29:04.750 --> 00:29:08.130 of God and the work of the church in the world. 00:29:08.890 --> 00:29:15.369 Amen? All right, well let's pray. Oh Lord God, 00:29:15.970 --> 00:29:21.470 we praise you for you are good. Your mercy endures 00:29:21.470 --> 00:29:25.750 forever. We praise you, oh Lord, that though 00:29:25.750 --> 00:29:28.470 you are rich beyond all splendor, yet for love's 00:29:28.470 --> 00:29:32.759 sake you became poor. that you fill us with the 00:29:32.759 --> 00:29:37.240 treasure of the gospel, with the treasure of 00:29:37.240 --> 00:29:41.500 the Holy Spirit. We ask, O Lord, that you would 00:29:41.500 --> 00:29:46.380 be present with us, that you would open our hearts 00:29:46.380 --> 00:29:50.160 to you, that our lives would reflect your generosity 00:29:50.160 --> 00:29:53.420 towards us, towards others. Lord, we pray all 00:29:53.420 --> 00:30:00.289 of these things in Jesus name. Amen. We hope 00:30:00.289 --> 00:30:02.329 this sermon has encouraged you to worship God 00:30:02.329 --> 00:30:04.950 and to celebrate the gospel of Jesus. Please 00:30:04.950 --> 00:30:07.309 consider subscribing to this podcast and joining 00:30:07.309 --> 00:30:10.509 us in person each Sunday at 10 a .m. You can 00:30:10.509 --> 00:30:13.829 find us online at SecondCityChurch .org and on 00:30:13.829 --> 00:30:16.410 Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Thanks again 00:30:16.410 --> 00:30:17.910 for listening. God bless.