Sermons

It’s clear that we are in a financial slowdown.  You can’t click on Google News or read the newspaper without hearing bad economic news.  Friday morning I read that Agilent is laying off 2,700 employees, Fairchild Semiconductor is closing two factories, Google is laying off another 200 employees, Florida’s unemployment rate has doubled in the last 12 months, home prices are down over 40% from their peak, and cable TV giant Charter Communications is filing for bankruptcy.

All the financial pundits agree that we are now in a recession.  The only question is how soon we will get out of it.  So it’s clear that we are in a financial downturn.

And we’ve seen evidence of this here at Mercy Hill.  Dave Strouss runs a cement contracting company which has seen a severe decline in business; same with Doug Walker’s drywall company.  Laurie Harnden’s contract running day-care at San Jose City and Evergreen Valley colleges might be terminated because of budget cuts.  Many of you have had salary reductions.  And those of you with money in the stock market have taken big hits.

So what I want to do this morning and next Sunday is talk about what Jesus promises to do for His people during times of economic hardship.  We know that Jesus promises that through His death and resurrection we can be forgiven for all of our sins, clothed with His perfect righteousness, adopted by God so we have Him as our loving Father, freed from the power of sin, satisfied with His presence.  But what does Jesus promise about money?  What does Jesus promise to do for His people when we face financial hardship?

And the passage I want to focus on these next two Sundays is Hebrews 13:5-6.  Let’s turn there together.  If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand and one of the ushers will bring one to you.  Hebrews 13 is on page 1009 in the Bibles we are passing out.

The book of Hebrews was written around 65 AD, to followers of Jesus who were experiencing terrible suffering.  To see this turn to Hebrews 10:34 which is to the left a page or two.  Some of their fellow-believers had been thrown in prison because of their faith in Jesus, and look at how the rest responded in v.34 –

For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.

Some of their fellow-believers had been thrown in prison, and the rest responded with  compassion.  They visited them in prison, taking them food and clothing and blankets – publicly identifying with them.  And as a result they had their property plundered – possessions stolen, homes ransacked, homes destroyed – without the government doing anything about it.

So the readers of this letter had suffered financial loss.  They faced financial hardship.  And with that in mind, look at what the author says to them in Hebrews 13:5-6 –

5              Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

6              So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"

This passage gives a profoundly different perspective on financial hard times than you will hear on CNN or CNBC.  To dig into this perspective, let’s start with this question – who is ultimately behind financial difficulties?

It’s easy to focus on people: the bankers who made those toxic loans; the hedge funds who invested in those toxic loans, the lenders who encouraged people to borrowing more than they could repay; Greenspan whose policies kept interest rates too low for too many years.  It’s easy to focus on people.

But the author of Hebrews tells us that it’s not people who are ultimately behind financial difficulties; it’s God.  You can see that in v.6 – read it again --

So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"

He asks: “What can man do to me?”  We might answer: man can do lots to me.  Man can lay me off from my job, pop the bubble of house values, drive the stock market to terrible lows, destroy the value of my retirement.  The readers of this letter could answer: men have plundered my possessions.  So man can do lots to me.

And the author of Hebrews knows that.  But what he is saying is that while man can do things to me, he can’t do anything that God doesn’t purposefully allow.  Everything man does is ultimately under God’s control.

To see this even more clearly, take a look at Amos 3:6 (page 765) –

Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid? Does disaster come to a city, unless the LORD has done it?

Every disaster that comes is ultimately under God’s control.  So this economic downturn is ultimately God’s doing.  It has been purposefully allowed by God.  God is not surprised by what is happening.  God has ultimately planned what is happening.

Now with that in mind, turn back to Hebrews 13:5-6.  That’s what the author has in mind when he asks: “What can man do to me”?  The answer is: nothing that God doesn’t purposefully allow.  Your job is ultimately in your boss’s hands; it’s in God’s hands.  Your employment is not ultimately in the Fed’s hands; it’s in God’s hands.  Your retirement is not ultimately in the stock market’s hands; it’s in God’s hands.  Your ability to refinance is not ultimately in Freddie Mac’s hands; it’s in God’s hands.  Your salary level is not in your company’s hands; it’s ultimately in God’s hands.

The point is not to absolve anyone from blame.  There’s a place for blame and for understanding what’s happened.  But when we face financial hardship, the most important step is to come before God through Jesus, humble ourselves before Him, see this as ultimately from His hand, and trust Him.  That’s the most important step.

In the early ears of this church I worked in real estate to pay the bills.  And I remember one day when I got a terrible phone call.  I had been helping a seller sell his house.  Had been working very hard with him and for him; and we finally got a buyer.  The escrow was flowing smoothly.  My client was happy, because he desperately needed to sell.  And I was happy, because I really needed the commission.

But then I got the terrible phone call.  The buyer’s agent called and told me that the lender had not approved the buyer’s loan.  So as far as she was concerned, the deal was off.  That was it.  I remember heading out to the creek, where I do much of my praying.  And God gave me grace to see that this was ultimately from His hand.  He was not surprised by this.  He was not worried about this.  He had purposefully allowed this.

And when I saw that this was ultimately from God’s hand, and was able to humble myself before Him, I was filled with comfort.  I did not know what God was going to do.  But I knew that this was not about the lender, or the buyer, or the other agent.  This was about God.  God had purposed to allow this to occur.

But now let’s ask a second question: what does God say to us during financial difficulties?  The answer can be summarized in two words found in Hebrews 13:5-6 – God says be content with the present, and be confident about the future.  Read those verses again so you can see this:

5              Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

6              So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"

This is astonishing.  Think of those reading this letter who had lost their homes.  God calls them to be content with the present, and to be confident in the future.  And that’s what God says to us as well.  When we are in financial hard times, God calls us to be content with the present, and confident in the future.

Now don’t misunderstand contentment.  Being content doesn’t mean that we stop looking for work and give up on a budget.  No.  Being content means having hearts that are full and satisfied with what you have now -- and not needing anything more to be full and satisfied.

And God calls us to be confident.  To be confident means you feel good about the future, you feel in your heart that your finances will be taken care of, you are without fear or worry about the future.

But now you might be thinking: “Get real.  How is that possible?  I just got laid off from your job.  How can I feel content -- that I have everything I need – when I don’t have a job?  How can I feel confident – that my future looks good, that everything is going to work out – when I don’t have a job?”

Good questions.  Let’s ask the author.  How is it possible to be content and confident?  It possible because of two promises which God promises to keep for everyone who is trusting Jesus.  The first promise is in v.5 –

“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

The second promise is in v.6 –

“The Lord is my helper.”

Let’s take the second one first.  “The Lord is my helper.”  This is a quote from the Old Testament book of Psalms – Psalm 118:6.  This means lots of things.  But when it comes to money, it means God will provide all the money you need to fulfill His calling in your life.

God promises this throughout the Bible.  When you become a follower of Jesus, you are reconciled to God.  God is now your Father, and He loves you with an everlasting love.  And part of this means that He takes full responsibility for your finances.  Which means that God will always provide all the money you need to fulfill His calling in your life.

This does not mean that you can play WarCraft all day and wait for the checks to start coming.  No.  God calls us to work.  But it means God will use your hard work to provide everything you need for whatever He has called you to do.  That’s what Hebrews 13:6 means – “The Lord is my helper.”

You can also see this in Philippians 4:19 (page 982).  Here Paul tells says: “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”  If you are trusting Jesus, then as you work and do what you can do, God will provide everything you need to fulfill His call on your life.  “The Lord is my helper.”

So, what if you have lost your job?  The Lord will be your helper – He will provide everything you need.  What if the unemployment numbers are going up?  God is not worried – He will provide everything you need.  What if your industry is shutting down?  It makes no difference – God will provide everything you need.

Back in 1985 I was unemployed.  I was working part time at a church in Southern California, but they weren’t able to pay me.  So I did what I could: sent resumes, sent samples of children’s ministry curriculum to publishers, networked all I could, and kept working at the church.  But no income.

And yet, just as this passage says, “The Lord was our helper.”  God provided all the money we needed to fulfill His call.  We were given free housing in a very expensive townhome community.  God stirred friends in other cities to send us money; so we’d find checks in the mail.  And people at the church walked up and handed us money.

And then the day came when we had to leave our free housing, and sign a 6-month lease on an apartment when I had no idea where that money would come from.  But a few weeks later the church started paying me.

The point is this.  Because of Jesus, God is your Father.  He has promised to take care of your financial needs.  He will bring you all the money you need to fulfill His call on your life.

That’s why you can feel confident even if you have been laid off – because of Jesus, God will be your helper.  As you look and pray and interview and apply God will provide you with whatever job you need to fulfill whatever calling He has for you.  It’s going to happen.  There’s no question about it.  The Lord is your helper.

But what about feeling content?  Notice that we are to be content, but not because of what we are going to have in the future.  We are content with what we have now.  We are content with no job, no income, no savings.  Now again – don’t misunderstand.  You should keep looking for a job, keep doing whatever you can do to bring in income.  But the point is that you can do all of this with a heart that is fully content, fully satisfied, with the present.

How is that possible?  It’s because of that first promise: “I will never leave you or forsake you.”  You don’t have a job, but you have Jesus.  You don’t have much retirement, but you’ve got Jesus.

See, Jesus will take care of all your financial needs.  But that’s not why you are content.  You are content in Jesus.  See, money and job and savings will not satisfy you.  That will not make you content.  There’s only one source of true contentment – knowing God in the person of Jesus.

I remember during that time I was unemployed in Newport Beach.  I had no paycheck, and that made me feel second-class.  I had no income, that made me feel insecure.  But there were times when I walked through the campus at UC Irvine, praying and crying out to Jesus, and He so poured His love into my heart that I was completely content.  I wanted a job.  I was looking for a job.  But my contentment didn’t depend on the job.  I was completely content in Jesus.

That’s how we can be content with what we have, because He will never leave us or forsake us.  And if we have Him, we can be completely content, regardless of what’s happening financially.

Isn’t this encouraging?  Think about it.  No matter what has happened financially – or what might happen financially – you can be content with what you have, because Jesus will never leave you or forsake you.  And you can be confident about the future, because God is your helper.

So take extra time to seek Jesus in prayer and God’s Word, and let Him fill and satisfy your heart so you are fully content with what you have.  And take extra time to trust Jesus’ promise to help you, so you feel confident about the future.