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

This is the final message in our teaching series we’ve called In God We Trust? Throughout this series, we’ve been learning that God has asked us to make a very tangible trust decision: He’s calling us to trust him by following his teaching about our money and our giving. Today, the last installment in the series, we’re talking about Trusting God & Basic Cable.

Nicki and I hadn’t been dating that long, but I was already lost. Christmas was quickly approaching and I didn’t have a gift for her. Not only did I not have a gift in my hands, I didn’t have a gift in my head. I had no idea what to get her. Well, truth be told, I had waited to the last minute, so I was desperate. So, on Christmas Eve, I bought her a gift certificate to Eastgate Mall. It’s the perfect gift. I don’t have to come up with a gift idea. She can use the gift certificate to get whatever she wants. On Christmas morning, I presented the gift to her, and she wasn’t exactly thrilled. Understand, Nicki is one of the least materialistic people I know. She doesn’t want big, extravagant gifts. But even so, she still wasn’t happy with this one. She didn’t like it because I didn’t put in the time and effort to think of a gift for her. It wasn’t a good gift because there was no sacrifice attached to it. The best gifts are the ones that cost the giver something.

Today we’re in the Old Testament book of 2 Samuel, chapter 24. At the very end of this book, there’s a story about David and a guy named Araunah.

David was commanded by one of God’s prophets to build an altar to God. The altar would be used to offer a sacrifice to God. This altar was to be built on the threshing floor that was owned by Araunah.

So David set out for Araunah’s place. Araunah looks up and sees King David and all his kingly entourage coming toward him. He goes out and bows facedown in front of David and he asks David why he had come.

David told him that he had come to buy Araunah’s threshing floor so he can build the altar there. Araunah generously offered to give the threshing floor to David. In addition, he offered to give David the building materials for the altar and even to give him some oxen to be used for the sacrifice. David had everything he needed and it was all free. Sweet! But David does something that may seem a little crazy. He refuses the gifts.

In 2 Samuel 24:24, David said, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” (2 Samuel 24:24, NIV)

For a lot of us, it probably seems like David is off his rocker. He was commanded to build the altar and offer a sacrifice. He wasn’t told how to get it. He was the king, so he could have just demanded that Araunah give him what he needed. But as it turns out, he didn’t even have to do that. Araunah offered it to him for free. It’s the best of both worlds. He can follow God’s instructions, it won’t cost him anything, everybody’s happy!

But the reason that David wouldn’t accept the gifts for his sacrifice is because, if he had, it would have no longer been a sacrifice. He couldn’t bring himself to offer God something that cost him nothing.

Today we’re learning about the concept of sacrifice. This is the final destination on our journey to trust God with our money and our giving.

The concept of sacrifice is foreign to most of us because we’re conditioned to avoid it. The new Chick-Fil-A in Eastgate gave away free sandwiches recently at their drive-thru and there were cars lined up out to the road because it’s something for nothing. You get a sandwich and it won’t cost you anything.

I’ve got a friend who goes to Sam’s Club on Saturdays because that’s when they usually roll out all their free samples. A sample is usually meant to just give you a taste of something in the hopes that you might buy it. But my friend stays in the store long enough to make a meal out of the free samples. It’s something for nothing.

Sacrifice is a foreign concept in our culture. We are taught to get as much as possible by giving as little as possible. So this story about David turning down these free gifts just doesn’t register. Sacrifice just does not fit into our cultural context.

But as counter-culture disciples of Jesus, God is calling us in a different direction. Jesus’ call is for each one of us to “deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Mark 8:34, NIV)

We talked about this verse from book of Galatians last night at APEX. Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ. I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me. So I live my life in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20, NLT)

These words from Jesus and from the Apostle Paul remind us that following Christ means death to self. Self-denial is a core value of growing in our walk with God.

Sacrifice is key to becoming a mature Christ-follower. And God’s plan is for this self-denial, this sacrifice to make itself evident in our giving.

We’ve learned throughout this series that our giving is completely reliant on our trust in God. God has called each of us to give generously to his church. Trusting God through generosity will make making sacrifices in our lives.

In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, “If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say that they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot because our charitable expenditures excludes them.”

If our offerings do not cost us anything, then we have yet to arrive at the generous, sacrificial giving that God has in mind. David wouldn’t offer God something that cost him nothing. How much do your gifts to God cost you? How much comfort or convenience do you sacrifice so you can be generous in your giving? We all have to ask ourselves, “Is there anything that I cannot afford to do because of what I give to God?” If the answer to that question is no…after my offering, I can still afford to do pretty much whatever I want…then what are our gifts truly costing us? Are we bringing God something that costs us nothing?

Sacrifice is a conscious decision to be content with less.

Terrell Owens can’t seem to keep himself out of the headlines. It was that long ago when the Philadelphia Eagles basically kicked Terrell Owens off the team. He was disgruntled and he was very noisy about it. During that time period, I read an interview with him before he was fired from the team. The ESPN interviewer asked T.O. why he couldn’t be satisfied with his seven year, $49 million contract with the Eagles. His response? “Why would I be satisfied?”

T.O. basically echoed the philosophy of our culture. Why would I be satisfied when I can get more? Why would I be content?

Russian author Leo Tolstoy tells the story of a man who was never satisfied with what he had. One day, he heard of a wonderful chance to acquire more land. For 1,000 rubles, he could have all the land that he could walk around in a day. But he had to make it back to the starting point by sundown or he would lose his money and receive no land.

He arose early and set out walking. He walked on and on, thinking that he could get just a little more land if he kept on going. But he went so far that he realized he must walk very fast if he was to get back to the starting point in time. As the sun got lower in the sky, he quickened his pace. He began to run. As he came within sight of the starting point, he exerted the last bit of energy that he had. He plunged over the finish line and collapsed. A stream of blood poured out of his mouth and he died. His servant took a spade and dug a grave for him.

The title of Tolstoy’s story is, How Much Land Does a Man Need? He concludes by saying, “Six feet from his head to his heels was all he needed.”

God’s call to sacrifice means learning to be content with less instead of chasing after more.

The Bible says, “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” (1 Timothy 6:6-8, NIV) The call of contentment in the Bible is unmistakable.

But the problem is that, instead of contentment, we choose the route of comparisons. Sacrifice cannot coexist with comparisons.

When it comes to this issue of comparing, I’m as guilty as anyone. Nicki and I were talking about some couples we know who are around our age. These couples are always taking big vacations, they have nice stuff, it just seems like it’s all working for them.

Nicki and I haven’t taken a vacation of any length since our honeymoon. It’s just not something we can afford to do. So, in a moment of total frustration, I said, “What are we doing wrong? I know these people don’t make that much more money than us. How can they do this and we can’t?”

And in a moment of pure, quiet wisdom, Nicki looked at me and said, “They don’t tithe. They don’t give generously to the church.”

It was a moment where the concept of sacrifice became real to me. Our gifts to the Lord were costing us something. But that was all erased in my mind when, instead of being content, I was comparing our situation to somebody else’s.

Comparing is a losing deal. There is always someone with more money, more stuff, bigger cars, nicer houses. And when we compare ourselves to them, we end up with T.O. syndrome. Why would I be satisfied? Why would I be content?

But, as with everything else in our giving, this all comes down to trust. Sacrifice hinges upon our trust in God. If I give this up, I trust that God will fill in the gap. I trust that his blessing will outweigh what I have given up.

Let’s look at our theme for this series from Proverbs 3. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing and your vats will brim with new wine.” (Proverbs 3:5-6, 9-10, NIV)

Did you catch the last part? It’s all about sacrifice. “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops.” Not the leftovers. The firstfruits. God is the first person we think of when it comes to our money. And when we make that sacrifice, the Bible says “your barns will be filled to overflowing and your vats will brim with new wine.”

Don’t misunderstand here: that is not a promise to make us rich. Overflowing barns and vats brimming with new wine do not refer to life’s luxuries. When Proverbs was written, “barns” and “vats” refer to bread and wine, the staples of life.

Sacrificial giving is an act of worship. It is us acknowledging that everything we have is a gift from God. Sacrifice is not a way to somehow trick God into making us rich. It’s not a way that we can really turn the screws and make God squirm until he gives in and lets us have whatever we want. That’s not the promise here in Proverbs. The promise is that, if we are faithful to give sacrificially of the best portion of our income, our needs will be met. It will mean that we’ll have to be content with less. It will mean that we can’t waste our time comparing what we don’t have to what other people do have. It simply means that we trust God to provide us, not with what we want, but with what we need.

David said, “I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” (2 Samuel 24:24, NIV) What are you sacrificing so that you can give generously to God through his church?

If it doesn’t feel like you’re sacrificing much of anything, then start small. Begin by eating out less. Maybe drop your digital cable package and just go with basic cable. (You were wondering about this sermon title, weren’t you?) As you make these small sacrifices, you can then graduate to bigger and more significant sacrifices. Maybe you drive a car that isn’t as nice, maybe you have less of a house, maybe you give up your extra toys that you really don’t need. What are you willing to sacrifice so that you can give more to God?

Remember the words of martyred missionary, Jim Elliot. “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Everything you own is actually a temporary loan. Your job, your house, your car, your income, your savings, your investments…none of it is permanent. But what you sacrificially give to God has eternal consequence. It is forever significant.

As we close up this series of messages on trusting God, we each need to ponder this question. Will I love God more than…? Will I love God more than my wardrobe? Will I love God more than entertainment? Will I love God more than a new car? Will I love God more than a cruise? Will I love God more than_____________?

God loved us more than he loved his own life. When God calls us to sacrifice, it’s not an arbitrary command. It is a command followed up by an unfathomable example. God’s sacrifice cost him his very life. He was willing to sacrifice his life so that he could love us. There is nothing we can do to deserve this sacrifice. There is nothing we can do to pay him back. The only thing we can do is choose to love God more than… And then demonstrate it by dying to ourselves and living for him.

Mike Edmisten