Amelia Church of Christ - Christian Church in Amelia, OH near Cincinnati in Clermont County

Welcome to the last week of our Dear Money series. In this series, we’ve been writing letters to our money.

We open the series by writing this letter. Dear Money, where did you go?

Then last week, we explored this common message. Dear Money, bail me out!

Today, we wrap up with this very clear and very important message to our money.

Dear Money, you work for me.

We’re going to open up in Luke 19. Gonna be some good stuff today. Let’s pray and we’ll get after it.

Luke 19, starting in verse 1. Here we go.

“Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' "

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."

Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." (Luke 19:1-10, NIV)

Great, great story. It’s a story that some of you remember from a Sunday School class when you were a kid. Remember? “Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he. He climbed up in a sycamore tree, for the Lord he wanted to see.”

And I’ve just revealed to you that I am a BUICK. I’m a Brought Up In Church Kid.

But this isn’t just stuff for a kid’s Sunday School class. It’s more than a hokey little song. This story has a ton of relevance to us today. The financial truths in this story are off the chart.

Zacchaeus made a decision to stop allowing money to rule his life. He was a chief tax collector. Mark Black notes that a chief tax collector would have done very well financially in Jericho. He would have collected taxes on all the goods that were shipped along this busy east-west trade route. And, tax collectors were able to get even richer because they could cheat people by charging extra for their taxes. As long as the Roman government got their cut, they didn’t care how much extra tax collectors charged the people. They would just look the other way.

That’s who Zacchaeus was. But his encounter with Jesus changed everything. This is so critical. If you haven’t heard anything else that I’ve said in this entire series, you’ve gotta hear this: once Zacchaeus allowed himself to be dominated by Jesus, he was no longer dominated by money. Once he was dominated by Jesus, he was no longer dominated by money. He became free to tell his money what to do instead of the other way around.

His road to freedom involved a couple of key, godly financial principles. First all of, he got out of debt. He wasn’t in debt legally because, even though he had cheated a lot of people, there was no law against it. However, Zacchaeus knew that the debt still existed. And he committed to pay it off.

You will never get back in the financial driver’s seat while you are in debt. You’re probably getting tired of hearing that. I’ve been saying the same thing for three weeks now. And there’s a good reason why. Because most of you still haven’t done a dang thing about it. Am I right?

Listen to what Jesus said in Luke 16. He doesn’t mess around here. He comes out swinging. Jesus said, “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” (Luke 16:13, NIV)

You are a servant. You serve something. You have a master. The gauntlet that Jesus lays down is a choice. We have to choose who our master will be. Jesus said very specifically that you can serve God or your can serve money, but you can’t serve both.

If God is your master, then you will bring your money under His control. But if money is your master, then you attempt to make God conform to your money. The problem is that He’s not willing to do that.

Do you work for your money or does your money work for you? Have you mastered your money or has it mastered you?

Here are some easy ways to figure it out…

Are you stressed about money? If something constantly worries you, that something has mastered you.

Do you dread seeing your credit card statement every month?

Are you living like you are entitled to a certain lifestyle, even though you don’t have the cash to make it happen?

We’ve all gone to the grocery store and been asked the question “Paper or plastic?” Do you want a paper bag or a plastic bag?

That is a key financial question. Are you going to live your life by paper or plastic? Paper (cash) will keep you out of trouble. If you spend paper, it obviously means you’ve got the cash set aside to do it.

Plastic (credit card) will allow you to live the lifestyle that you think you deserve, but it presents a subtle but sinister problem. It shifts the balance of power. Instead of your money working for you, you work for your money. Instead of your money serving you, you wind up serving your money.

If you don’t believe me, maybe you’ll believe the Bible. Proverbs 22 says, “…the borrower is the slave of the lender.” (Proverbs 22:7b, ESV)

The borrower is what? The slave of the lender. When we choose to go into debt, we choose to go into slavery. We voluntarily give up our power. We surrender and we tell our money, “Ok, I work for you, now.”

It’s the American way. The interesting thing is that, in a country that values freedom and liberty, almost everyone voluntarily chooses to be a financial slave.

But like we’ve been saying throughout this series, you can choose to do it differently. There is another option.

Psalm 119 says, “I will always obey your law, for ever and ever. I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.” (Psalm 119:44-45, NIV)

When we choose to follow God’s word and God’s will, there is freedom. Instead of being mastered by money, we can follow godly principles and start telling our money what to do again.

“Well, that sounds good. But you’re being unrealistic. No one really gets out of debt. No one really lives without a credit card. Everyone has a car payment. You’re just being naïve.”

Tell that to the people who just completed our Financial Peace University small group.

Let me give you some stats from our FPU small group. This small group paid off $51,000 of debt.

They saved over $20,000 saved.

At least 8 credit cards cut up and/or closed

All within 3 months.

A couple of things. First of all, don’t tell me that a small group can’t have a radical impact on your life. Registration for our fall semester of small groups ends today and you need to be in one. Huge things can happen when we commit to grow with God and with others in the context of a small group. Get signed up today.

The other thing about those stats…they pretty much drive a death nail into our excuses. After hearing stats like that, there is no way you can say, “It just can’t be done.” It most certainly can be done.

Instead of saying, “It can’t be done,” we should at least be honest in our excuse. It’s not, “It can’t be done.” It’s, “I don’t want to do it.” That’s a lot more honest, isn’t it?

You can work for your money. Or you can make your money work for you. You can be a slave to money. Or you can make it serve you. It’s a choice that you get to make.

Ultimately, it’s a choice between freedom and slavery. Look at these verses from Psalm 119 again. “I will always obey your law, for ever and ever. I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.” (Psalm 119:44-45, NIV)

When we obey God’s law…when decide to do it God’s way…there is freedom. You can walk about in freedom. You can walk through everyday of your life in freedom.

Or you can remain a slave. You can cringe when creditors call. You can make that long march to the mailbox, wondering what credit card statement is coming today. It’s up to you.

Zacchaeus illustrates this truth with crystal clarity…if you want to turn things around financially, you’ve got to get out of debt. Period. The first thing He did after meeting Jesus was to commit to pay off his debt.

A lot of people make insanely stupid comments like, “Preachers shouldn’t talk about money,” or “God doesn’t care about my money.”

Here’s what you can’t miss in the story of Zacchaeus. After He encountered Jesus, the first thing he surrendered was his money. It wasn’t an afterthought. It was the very first thought. After his life was turned upside-down by Jesus, the first thing Zacchaeus did was surrender control of his money.

That’s because he understood this truth. In Luke 12, Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Luke 12:34, NIV)

You simply can’t surrender your heart to Jesus without surrendering your money. It can’t be done. Don’t give me some lame, half-hearted excuse that, “God doesn’t care about my money.”

God cares about your heart. And your heart is directly linked to your money. If you can’t surrender your money to Jesus, then you haven’t been truly changed by Jesus. That’s the takeaway from the Zacchaeus story. When Jesus invades your life, everything is immediately surrendered to Him…beginning with your money.

If you’re up to your eyeballs in debt, you are an indentured servant to money. You are a slave. But you are a slave who can begin making different decisions. You are a slave who can still find freedom if you will start applying godly financial principles in your life.

Now, for a lot of us, the amount of debt we’re carrying is so massive that it’s going to take a while. The average credit card debt in America is over $15,000. That’s just credit card debt. That’s not car payments, school loans, etc.

If you’re deep in debt, you didn’t get where you are overnight. You’re not going to get out overnight. But you’ve got to develop a plan to get out.

It’s very tempting to look for shortcuts, but in reality, shortcuts don’t exist. Don’t look to the schemes known as “debt consolidation” or “debt management.” Debt consolidation tries to get you to believe that you can get out of debt by taking out a loan. Debt management will destroy your credit and your financial reputation.

The key is not managing or consolidating your debt. The key is getting out of debt! That’s going to mean changing your lifestyle. It’s going to mean living on less so you can pay off your debt as quickly as possible. It’s not rocket science. This is as basic as it gets. There are no quick fixes and no easy outs. It’s tough because it involves making different decisions. It involves a complete change of your lifestyle. But if you want to be free, you’ll be disciplined enough to make those changes and stick to them for the long haul.

The first thing Zacchaeus did was get out of debt. It’s the first thing he committed to do after he met Jesus.

The other key change in Zacchaeus’ life was generosity. He didn’t just commit to pay off his debt. He said that if he had cheated anybody out of anything, he would pay them back four times the amount.

That’s an incredible change. That is radical, no-holds-barred life change. That’s what Jesus does.

No life is too far gone to be changed by Jesus. No life is too far gone to be saved by Jesus.

Some of you view yourselves as the exception. You’ve convinced yourself that you’re too far gone. You are too messed up. Your life has spun so far out of control that not even Jesus can do anything about it.

You’ve convinced yourself that you are the exception. Jesus can change anybody. Jesus can save anybody. Except you.

Here’s the beautiful truth about Jesus. He doesn’t make exceptions. His blood is enough. His death is enough. His cross is enough. His resurrection is enough. Jesus is enough for you. He was enough for a scumbag like Zacchaeus. He is enough for a jacked up sinner like me. And He is enough for you.

That is the beautiful picture of grace. It is God, doing what He didn’t have to do. Giving up His Son to save us.

It is Jesus, surrendering to the will of the Father. Taking the insults. Taking the beating. Taking the nails. Hanging on a cross for hours until He died. All for us.

It is the most lavish, extravagant, unfair, illogical gift that has ever been given. And it was given to us.

And that’s why Jesus said this in Matthew 10. “Freely you have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10:8b, NIV)

Think about what you have received so freely. God has lavished His love and mercy and grace on you.

Your relationship with God is not contingent on anything that you can do. It is by grace alone. A radically extravagant gift that you and I don’t deserve. A gift that we receive absolutely free.

If we have been given a gift like that so freely, how can we not become radical givers? If generosity is not a core value of your life, then you don’t fully understand what you have been given. Freely you have received, freely give.

Not under compulsion. Not out of duty. But out of radical, unlimited, white-hot gratitude for what God has done for you.

You don’t tithe because you have to. You tithe because you get to.

You don’t generously help out someone who is struggling because it’s your duty. You do it because it’s your privilege.

In 2 Corinthians 9, the Bible says, “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7, NIV)

If you are not joyfully living a life of extreme generosity, then you have missed the whole point. And you’ve probably missed it because, at your core, you have devoted your life to another master.

Let’s read it one more time. Luke 16:13. Jesus said, "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." (Luke 16:13, NIV)

It comes down to a choice. We can choose to serve money, which will ultimately result in a life sentence of slavery. Or we can choose to serve Jesus. Not just give lip service to it. Not just claim it by coming to church or reading your Bible or singing a worship song. But actually live it out by making Him first in everything…including your money.

And actually…it’s not your money in the first place. Let me show you the simplest, but most radical, financial principle you’ll ever find.

The Bible says in Psalm 24, “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it…” (Psalm 24:1, NIV)

The earth is the Lord’s. Everything on the earth is the Lord’s. Everything means everything. Everything on this planet belongs to God. And the last time I checked, your money is something that is on this planet. Everything is the Lord’s…including your money. That means that your money really isn’t YOUR money, is it?

You are a steward, or a manager, of God’s money. So if you’ve been getting all offended that “this preacher needs to back off about my money,” you can stop now because it’s not your money, dude! You’re getting your nighty in a knot over something that doesn’t even belong to you.

You have what you have because God is gracious enough to let you manage it for Him.

This really throws everything into a brand new perspective. You get a new perspective on debt…you get a new perspective on living wisely…you get a new perspective on generosity…when you realize that your money isn’t your money at all.

It’s all God’s. You are just managing it for Him. If we really owned that truth, it would change the landscape of our finances pretty dramatically.

The only question that remains is, “Will I come down off my high horse and admit that my money actually belongs to God? Will I humble myself and obey His commands instead of my own desires?”

Go back and look at these verses from the Zacchaeus story. Zacchaeus is up in a tree when Jesus finds him. Luke 19, verses 5 and 6 says, “When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.” (Luke 19:5-6, NIV)

The first command of Jesus was, “Come down. Zacchaeus, come down immediately.”

That’s where a lot of us are. We’re perched on our pedestal of pride. We’re too proud to listen to God’s Word about “our” money. We’re too proud to listen to what this young preacher is saying about money. What does he know anyway? We’re too proud to admit that we’ve really made a mess of things with money. We’re too proud to admit that we are jacked up and really need a fresh start.

That’s why Jesus’ first command to us is, “Come down.” Come down off the pedestal of pride. Come down and assume a position of humility.

If you do that, listen to this promise from the book of James. “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (James 4:10, NIV)

The only way to experience grace is to admit that you need grace. The only way for Jesus to change your life is to admit that your life needs changed.

The one thing that will keep God away is pride. If you won’t give up your pride, then God can’t work in your life. But when you humble yourself…when you admit that you can’t do it on your own…when you actually own up to your mistakes and shortcomings and sins…that’s when grace kicks in.

When you humble yourself, that’s when God lifts you up. We see that in the very last verse in the Zacchaeus story.

Jesus said in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” (Luke 19:10, NIV)

Jesus didn’t come for people who have it all together. And He also didn’t come for self-righteous religious types.

He came for people who are humble enough to admit that they’re lost and they need some help. He came for the person who is willing to admit, “I’m a broken, screwed up, jacked up, sinful mess.”

When you get to that place of humility, God begins to take over.

Some of us need to finally own up to our financial brokenness. We’ve been doing it on our own, and it hasn’t worked out. We need to humble ourselves and commit to doing it God’s way.

Some of us need to go even deeper. Maybe you’ve never surrendered to Jesus in the first place. You’ve never humbly admitted your need for grace. You’ve never repented of your sin and allowed the blood of Jesus to take it away.

Maybe you’re ready to make that commitment. You can humble yourself before Jesus today. You can be forgiven today. You can be immersed into Christ and walk out of here today in total freedom.

Maybe you have no idea where to start, but you know you’ve got to start somewhere. You just need someone to pray with you and partner with you on your journey. We’d love to do that.

All of us need to take this time to humble ourselves…fully…completely…nothing held back. Humble yourself, everything you are, everything you have to Jesus right now.

Mike Edmisten

Tags: Dear Money, debt, generosity, Luke 19, money, wisdom, Zacchaeus