GIVING AND VALUES

          What does money have to do with our values? Have you wondered that?

          Are you, in fact, wondering right now why I’m even asking that question?

          Gospel of Matthew 6:21 says:

·        For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (NIV)

·        Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. (NLT)

          What this scripture is telling us isn’t that we put our money where our heart is (although that can certainly be the case). What it is telling us is we value where our treasure is.

          If my treasure is all about keeping it in a savings account or under my mattress, all for me, me, me; then my heart is also going to be all about me, me, me.

Ø We must view our values. What is important to us? Who is important to us? Then our giving and how and to whom we give will match those values.

          If my treasure is concern and care for only myself, then my heart will only care for myself. In A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens describes Scrooge as "a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint,... secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster." Scrooge’s concern and care is only for himself, and that is what he values.

Ø We must view our values. Let’s revisit the questions from above. What is important to us? Who is important to us? We must care for our neighbors, no matter who they are or where they are.

          But that kind of discipleship and stewardship only happens when we “visit” our values and determine what they are and what God is telling us about them.

          What is important to you in your faith community? Those things that you view as important is where your heart is and where your giving will likely follow. And it’s not just you. It’s everyone. When someone looks at a budget, they often look for the lines about the “stuff” they like and they want to know what amount of money goes to that item. The fact that some of the other important work of the church may not be fancy or appeal to them gets lost when values “fixate” on one thing.

          I encourage you to view your personal values and then how your giving and generosity and care for neighbor match those.

          Then I encourage you to look at what you value at church, and what your church values and see how the giving and generosity of your folks matches that and how good you are at describing “what God has called you to be” as a church. Your giving, and your folks’ giving hinges on that!