Good morning!  What a great day to be alive!  What a great day to be a part of the Christian church, and of this congregation.  To all who will be elected officers or Elders today, congratulations.  And now we have work to do!  To all who aren't elected, congratulations also!  Now you'll have time for other tasks in God's kingdom.  I want to thank you all for being willing to run for office.  I always consider it a vote of confidence when people are willing to run for office in a church that I'm pastoring.  I truly appreciate your willingness to serve!

          To be a good servant or worker in the Kingdom of God, one must be motivated.  Sometimes we're motivated because we believe we have a talent to benefit others.  At other times we're convinced the cause is right, and we want to advance it.  Sometimes the right person asks us, and we just can't say no.  But every now and then something great and wonderful happens in the hearts of God's people.  They decide to take a risk and go beyond all expectations.  They see a challenge and rise up to it, seemingly to impossible limits.  That's our story for today.

          The story of this little Macedonian church giving a huge offering is often held up as a great example of stewardship, because, "...first they gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God."  Giving our whole life to God requires a powerful motive.  It's so tempting to give God only a little bit, or just to keep it all ourselves.  You see, the Jerusalem Church was suffering a terrible famine.  People had no food and some even were dying.  Something had to be done -- and fast!

          So Apostle Paul organized the first recorded Christian relief effort.  He took up a collection from door to door, from church to church, going to the big ones first, and then to the smaller ones.  The Jewish relief started with the Gentiles - amazing!  But Paul didn't expect anything from the Macedonians because they were small.  He passed them up and didn't ask anything of them.  Then one day he received word they had taken up a collection on their own!  No one asked them, but they did it anyway.  They didn't hire a funding consultant, and still they turned in a huge offering!  And all because "...first they gave themselves to the Lord."

          What a wonderful true story!  A small church doing something big!  It has been cited again and again by Christians to show proper gratitude to the Lord.  Our motive to give any offering should always be because God has first given us everything.  He gave us not only worldly riches, but heavenly ones too.

          St. Paul tells us in verse 9, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you, through His poverty, might become rich."  Jesus left heaven, left all His power and glory, and came to earth so that we might share in heaven's eternal riches.  God loves us enough to send His only Son, that whoever believes in Him, whoever trusts in Him instead of human cleverness, that man, woman or child will be given everlasting life.  Jesus is our Savior.  When we trust Him, He becomes our Lord!

          So how does a Christian respond to God for all He's done for us?  Christians have been trying to find the right response for ages.  Every communion Sunday we sing the words of the Psalmist:  "What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits to me?  I will offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call on the name of the Lord.  I will take the cup of salvation and will call on the name of the Lord.  I will pay my vows to the Lord now, in the presence of all His people."  Those words were written by a grateful believer who knew where life's blessings come from.

          St. Paul writes, "First they gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God."  There's a lot more to this verse than money.  It's about a way of life, inspired by gratitude to God.  Giving to God is a result of getting close to God.  Our giving is an outside indicator of what's going on inside our hearts.  It's funny how a $20 bill looks so small at the football game, but so large in the offering basket.

          There's a story of three dollar bills talking of where they'd been.  The $100 bill said he'd seen the glamor of the finest hotels and casinos in the world.  The $50 bill said he'd been to wonderful restaurants and great football games.  The $1 bill said, "Every week it's the same:  Go to church, go to church, go to church..."

          What is it about an offering basket that makes our money seem so large?  But all that changes when we think - "First to the Lord!"

          Paul said the Macedonians "gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own free will..."  Money is a gracious blessing from God.  We may earn it, but it's still His.  Just ask anyone who has lost a job or lost his health.  Health and abilities are gifts, and so is the money we earn.  Money is a means to an end - it's never an end in itself.  You can worship at the altar of the almighty dollar, but it can't forgive your sins.  You can have millions, but they can't buy you a moment's peace.  You'll never have peace with money till you have peace with God.

          No good gift to God comes without first giving ourself to Him.  You and I give ourselves to God when we trust Him, when we place our life into His hands and say, "Here I am, Lord, Your servant - do with me what you want."  That's hard to say with meaning.  But if you trust Him, you can do it.

          One of the big troubles with money is that most of us believe we don't have enough of it.  I'm not so sure that's true.  It's our nature to spend whatever we get, so when will we ever really have enough?  In the past several decades, we people have been spending more than we earn through something called credit.  Buy now, pay later, we were told.  And the bill is now past due!

          But credit cards aren't the problem - misuse of credit is.  Credit cards are a gift from God if we use them responsibly.  We misuse them when we have no ability to pay the whole amount when the bill comes.  The best advice you can get about a credit card is to either pay the monthly bill in full, or else stop using it until you can.  Credit is not the problem - misuse of credit is.

          Larry Burkett, Christian financial counselor, says our money troubles come from three human sins:  indulgence, ignorance and slothfulness.

          Indulgence means we want it, and so we get it, whether we need it or not.  And whether we can pay for it or not.  Madison Avenue has preyed on the sin of indulgence till some of us are left helpless.  We Americans are an indulgent people.  We don't have to spend the way we do.  How can we teach our children good stewardship if they see us indulge in so much?  Remember - "First to the Lord!"

          Ignorance, the second sin, is not realizing that money problems are really faith problems.  We run out of funds, but then attack the problem from the wrong perspective.  But if I'm trusting in God for all things, then what He gives me will somehow meet my needs.  Maybe not all my wants, but He will give me all my needs.

          If some of us here today are really trying to live by faith and are finding it's all uphill, hang in there.  God is faithful.  He says, "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well."  And He means it.  He'll keep His promise.  Ignorance is one of Satan's tools.  Remember - persistent money problems are usually rooted in faith problems.

          Slothfulness is the third problem Burkett cites.  It's not that we're lazy at work, it's that we're too lazy to wait.  We want it now!  It's not in our American bones to delay gratification.  Get it now!  But the opposite of sloth is not being tightwad, and stingy.  It's being a person of faith - "First to the Lord!"

          Hudson Taylor, the great 19th century Christian teacher, once said, "God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply."  That's my thought for all of us here today.  Do God's work in God's way, and God will make sure you have enough.  Whether you're going to be elected an officer, or be an usher, a teacher, a counter, a musician, a nursery worker or a grandma who can only pray, do God's work in God's way, and God will always make sure you have enough.

          God has unlimited resources.  He has the treasures of the universe at His command.  He loves us and gave us His only Son.  We've been praying God would give us land for a church.  Friends, watch for a surprise and soon!  We've been praying He would fill our church pews with hungry people, eager to hear His Word.  He already has, and more will come!  But we'll need to take some risks, to spend some money and pray a lot.  We'll need to step out in faith and trust He'll give us our needs.  God's work done in God's way, will never lack God's supply!

          A man once told me he had the gift to be able to see problems in the future.  I guess he thought pessimism was a spiritual gift!  It's been said there are two kinds of Christians in the world:  Basement Christians and Mezzanine Christians.  Basement Christians are skeptics, always pointing out what's wrong, seeing the bad, and pulling others down with them.  Mezzanine Christians are those up above, calling us to come up and be with them, positive people because they trust in God.  Which would you rather be?  And which would rather be around?

          Give yourself "First to the Lord," friends, and watch for His great surprises.  If you ask Him, they will come!  Amen!

Copyright © 1999 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.