"Is Your Will His Will?" Rev. Dr. Bruce Fiol Marco Presbyterian Church November 29, 1998 Text: Luke 16:1-15 Outline: I. Preparation A. Bobbi - Final Preparation B. Shrewd Manager II. Investing A. Earthly Possessions B. Stewardship 1. God owns it all 2. A trust III. Faithfulness A. Can't Serve Two Masters B. Serve the King IV. The Will A. A Christian Will is not Just a Will Written by a Christian B. A Christian Testimony C. Not a Christian Will Because it Gives to Christian Agency(ies) D. What is a Christian Will? 1. Motivation is Biblical 2. Reflects God's distribution plan 3. God's plan 4. Bring God's glory 5. Introduce them to Christ V. Whoever Takes the Son Takes It All It seems as though we're always involved in some kind of preparation of one sort or another, doesn't it? We've just come through Thanksgiving and were it not for the faithful preparations of somebody, we would have had a miserable Thanksgiving as we sat down at those tables so bountifully laden with all the good things that we enjoy. Christmas is next. We experience preparation for trips and vacations and visits to or from loved ones. We go through preparations for our work. I spend a lot of time, for example, preparing for Sunday and my responsibilities in it. But I would submit to you that there is no more important preparation to be made than the preparation to die and yet so few, it seems, adequately prepare for our death. We all know that we're going to one day die and after that, what? The matter of our eternal destiny is the most important question that any human being will ever face. The scripture puts it like this, bluntly and yet unambiguously. "He who has the son, that is Jesus Christ by faith, has life. But he who does not have the son of God does not have life" (John 5:12). Two weeks ago many of us attended the memorial service in this room for Bobbi Temple, one of the charter members of Marco Presbyterian Church. We remembered in that afternoon an outstanding Christian women who loved her Savior dearly, who served Him so admirably. But in addition to her many note worthy traits and significant accomplishments there was one thing that I especially appreciated about Bobbi and that was this. She made my job as the one responsible for her memorial service, so very easy. She planned the whole thing. The hymns that were sung, the scripture that was read, even the very words, to some extent, that were spoken. Twenty years before she died, she wrote a very moving piece expressing her deepest longing, her hopes and she asked that that piece be read at her funeral. It spoke of her personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, her great love for her husband and her children and their children. It expressed her chief desire that they all come to know Jesus Christ personally so that they too would eternally be together with her in the presence of her Savior. This was the touching way in which she concluded that word of testimony. "You are able", said the master "to be crucified with me". "These beautiful words crept into my thoughts", Bobbi wrote, "and I said, yes Lord, I am able. I hope and pray that those whom I love and cherish are able too". Bobbi, you see, was prepared to die, for she had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through faith. She knew he had died to save her and she was putting her trust and confidence in the Lord, Jesus Christ. But that's really not the kind of preparation I want to talk about today. What I'd like to address is the matter of careful planning for the wise handling of one's earthly estate at the time of death. One day Jesus told a parable which has confused many in that we just read. We call it the parable of the shrewd manager. This manager had an employee whose job it was to handle, to oversee, his wealthy master's estate. But reports began reaching the master that his manager was scandalously misappropriating his master's wealth by padding his own wallet and his own bank account. So the master called him in for an accounting. He wanted an explanation. Knowing now that his employment was on the line, that his job was in jeopardy, this shrewd man tried to prepare for his very shaky future with all it's insecurity by making friends for himself. He wanted to have a bunch of people to whom he could turn for help when things really got rough in the days ahead. This manager was a slick operator. He made friends by buying their loyalty at his master's expense and the way he did it was to reduce the amount of money that debtors owed his master. Now he had friends for life. On the day of reckoning, the master commended his servant. Notice he didn't commend him for his dishonesty, but he commended him for his cleverness. The man's careful preparation for his future impressed his boss and since Jesus is dealing with money and worldly possessions in that story, He then follows that parable up with some rather hard driving practical instructions. In these verses He touches on three principles for handling our worldly possessions. That's what we'll look at this morning. While making particular application of those principles and providing some practical help for preparing our Wills. Whereas I've preached on the principles of stewardship before and I've only once preached on making a Will, as far as I can remember, I've never heard a sermon on this subject. Well, we're going to look at that matter today. To begin with, let's notice three biblical principles for handling our possessions. The first one is this. Be careful to do long range planning. Look at verse 9 of Luke 16. "I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourself so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings". Jesus told this parable to illustrate the fact that this man, who though he was honest, nevertheless was thinking, he was planning, he was making preparations for his future and he was commended in that. I said a moment ago that the most important we can ever do is for our eternity. Let me ask you a question. Have those of you who are here this morning made preparations for your future? The future which is eternal is far more important than the few decades we will live here on earth. The shrewd manager, though praised for his preparing for what was ahead, made a major blunder. He planned only, however, for this life. The really wise person, however, is the one who plans for eternity. Have you? Have you made friends with Jesus Christ who can secure your place in Heaven forever and give you strength today to live as His child? You do that by confessing your sin and turning in repentance and faith to Jesus Christ, thanking Him for that which He accomplished on your behalf on the cross of Calvary. (Topic: Stewardship) But Jesus Christ in this passage is telling us how you use your earthly wealth indeed has definite consequences eternally. In both the parable at the beginning of Luke 16 and the parable that we didn't read that closes this chapter, the story of the rich man and Lazarus, the long range future, eternity, is very much in view in both of these. Paul expresses it beautifully in II Corinthians 4:18. He says, "so we fix our eyes not on what is seen, that which is temporal, but on what is unseen for what is seen is temporary, but is unseen is eternal". The person who thinks only of his earthly sojourn, his material, his physical needs and how he can provide for his temporal comfort without giving any attention to his soul and its eternal destiny is a fool. Jesus said so. He told the story of the prosperous farmer whose ground produced a bumper crop. He had the problem now with what to do with all of this abundance and so he began tearing down those obsolete and small bins and he built bigger ones in which to store all of his grain. Then he said to himself with pride and a measure of self-satisfaction, you've got plenty of good things laid up for many years, take your life easy, eat, drink and be merry. God said to him, "you fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you and then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? Who's going to get these temporary treasures?" Jesus concluded that story in Luke 12 with this penetrating warning. "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up for himself things but is not rich for God". The point that Jesus is making is this. Preparation for the eternal future are far more important than preparation for temporal and physical comfort. Furthermore, the Lord would say "Use your money with a view to eternity. It will pay rich and eternal dividends". I experienced a good illustration of that principal when we were missionaries in India. I was teaching at Presbyterian Theological Seminary and among the very first class of six students in 1969 when the school began was a fellow by the name of Amarach. He was in his early 20's, been reared in an orthodox Hindu home, but an American missionary in Deli had just a few months earlier led him to personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. His conversion was a revolutionary event in his life. But also it had far reaching affects in his family. His father became outraged, angry and ordered him to denounce his new faith, to deny his Savior. His son refused and so his father ripped his Bible and forbade him to read any more Christian literature or to even bring anymore into the house. But this new believer with a veracious spiritual appetite secured another Bible and secretly smuggled it into his room and he continued to meet with his new found Christian friends for instruction, for fellowship, for encouragement. But when his father discovered his new Bible and learned of his sons continued contact with Christians, he beat Amarach mercilessly to the brink of death. When Amarach had recovered from his near fatal beating, he ran away from home and moved in to a room with one of his Christian friends. Here he grew by leaps and bounds spiritually. It was here also that he learned of the new seminary being started by the Presbyterians in a city about 100 miles North. He applied and was accepted and he enrolled as part of that very first student body. He and I became very good friends. I would spend hours with him seeking to help him grow in his infant faith and then one day he said something I have never forgotten. He said, as a child growing up in a Hindu home, I developed a strong resentment that bordered even on hatred toward all missionaries. I picked that up from my father and from others with whom I lived. We felt that Christian missionaries were importing a foreign religion that did India no good and in fact it contributed nothing positive to our country or its society. But, he continued, since I've become a Christian, my attitude has totally changed and I'm now able to see how much a owe the Lord for my salvation and how much I owe to American missionaries for not only instructing me in Jesus Christ but also preparing me here in the seminary to effectively and with love to take this urgent message to my own family, to my own countrymen. Mr. Amarach said, "when you go back to America, will you tell all the people in your church, thank you for sending you to me". Here were dear Christian people in America, some of them right here in this church, investing their worldly wealth to gain friends in India. Friends who would welcome them in Heaven with eternal gratitude for investing through the missionary program through their church, in their lives, the lives of people half a world away. This is certainly one way to use worldly and temporal wealth for eternal gain. So the first principal, be careful about long-range planning with your earthly possessions. With regard to the way you handle your possessions, the second principal is that of stewardship. We notice it there in verse 12. Jesus says, "and if you have not been trust-worthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?" The principal of stewardship we all know to be the heart of the biblical teaching. God owns it all, the world, the cattle on a thousand hills, the gold in every mind, but He places a portion of it into our hands, yours and mine so that what we fondly call "our money, our house, our investments" are not really not ours at all. They are a trust handed to us and to be used in such a way that God will be pleased for He holds us responsible for the way that we use His wealth and that brings us to the third biblical principal when it comes to handling our material possessions. That's the principal of faithfulness. Look at verses 10 and 11. "Whoever can be trusted with very little, can also be trusted with much and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with money so if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?" Look at verse 13. "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". What Jesus Christ is saying here is this. That the way you look at things ultimately determines our relationship to God. Man was created as a worshipping being and if he will not worship the Creator, he will worship what the Creator has made. The creature, or the Creation. When that happens, he becomes a slave, not to God, which is freedom but a slave to self, a slave to things that God has made and that is bondage. God made us for himself, whether we acknowledge that or not. So, it's imperative for the sake of our spiritual well being that the question of our devotion be settled once and for all. Man was created to have a master. Who is your master? Have you resolved that issue? Is it God or is it man and money or self? Life in Christ's kingdom means absolute allegiance to her king. Compromise here is impossible. It is an either/or issue. Either God or money. To which then are you devoted? Am I devoted? It's impossible both then to glorify God and to gratify the cravings of the flesh. These are two opposite, mutually exclusive goals and since we are stewards of everything we have, family, home, business, we must not permit them to rule over us. We must use them faithfully in the service of the King. If we love these things without first remembering that they are His, we will soon hate and despise the one who has given them to us. Here then are three principals from the scripture which deal with the matter of our earthly possessions. First, use your possessions with eternity in view, implement long-range planning. Secondly, remember that all you possess belongs to God and hence thirdly, you are to be faithful to Him in the way that you use them. This, of course, applies to all of our resources, especially of our Wills and how to dispose of that which God has given us when we step from this world into life eternal. As we come to a recognition that God has entrusted to us these things of value which belong to Him, but are to be used for Him may God give us insight today in how to use that which is His so that we can begin to apply these principals in that which we will leave behind and address the matter of our Will. The wise person is the one who plans for eternity. He uses his material, earthly resources to lay up treasures for him eternally thinking especially as we've just done this morning of the Philippians, using our resources to lay up Philippine people eternal treasures. Before Judy and I went to be India's missionaries in 1966, we were required by our mission board to have a Will. We owned at that point very little and what we did possess could be folded or crammed or twisted or somehow compressed into three wooden crates and 4 or 5 55 gallon drums which are really affectionately referred to as "missionary barrels". Well, we looked at our Wills as little more than a formality required of all missionaries who were going overseas. Seventeen years later in 1983 when we left India to take the call to Marco Presbyterian Church, we had accumulated much more of this world's stuff. It's value however, was questionable. After all, apart from his children, what of any real value does a missionary possess? But we felt it wise to sit down at that time with a lawyer and draw up a Will. After all we'd been told that it's good stewardship for every Christian to have a Will because to die without it means that the government distributes the assets. Not only is it costlier that way but it means that the wishes, especially for a Christian, are seldom carried out. For the priorities of the government are not exactly those of Christians. But let me ask you, is fear that the government will take more than it's share of the estate really the proper motivation for a Christian to prepare his Will? I'd like to suggest Christians that we have a higher reason. A reason rooted in an understanding of spiritual truth that Jesus gave in Luke 16 which we looked at last week. Several years ago an excellent piece crossed my desk entitled, "Opportunities" and it was published by our denominational foundation. That particular issue dealt with a matter which many of us at least in the stage of life that I'm in think about. That's the matter of our last Will and Testament. But I fear that some of us don't think Christianly about our Wills. We've not applied the principles of scripture to the matter of preparing our Will. May I humbly suggest that you give serious thought to these considerations. I've printed them in some detail in the outline that you find inserted in your bulletin hoping that this may be of some practical help to you. Thinking then, of a Christian Will I submit that we should look first at what a Christian Will is not. In the first place, a Christian Will is not just a Will that is written by a Christian. There are Christians whose Wills look no different than one written by irreligious person or even a Will written by a Hindu and a Moslem or an atheist. Just because one is a Christian does not make one's Will Christian. Having said that, however,I find it difficult to understand how an individual who has lived an active Christian life during his pilgrimage on earth, who has been heavily involved in the work of his church, who has given faithfully to the work of God throughout his life, how that person at the time of his death, continue using the same principles of Christian stewardship that he has used throughout his entire Christian life to distribute his earthly estate. (Topic: Will) But again, just because a Christian writes a Will doesn't make his Will Christian. Secondly, it is not Christian simply because it includes a Christian testimony. A Christian's Will can have a sermon that speaks of his spiritual and personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Last Will and Testament could truly be a Last Will and testimony. But that by itself doesn't make the Will Christian. Let me say this however. A testimony in your Will is a very important part for it tells of your love for Jesus Christ and your love for your family. Let me encourage you to express that love in your Will. (Topic: Will) Thirdly, it's not a Christian Will just because it makes a gift to a Christian agency or a church or a charitable organization. Many Christians feel that by leaving 10% of their estate to a Christian ministry, they have thereby drawn up a Christian Will. But I point out to you that in scripture, tithing is giving of our cash flow. While the Will deals with the distribution of net worth. In other words, God owns it all, every bit of my estate, not just 10%, but He owns 100%. It all belongs to the Lord. Well, if that's what a Christian Will is not, what is a Christian Will. Let me address five points. First of all a Christian Will has as it's motivation that which is biblical. It's not just to limit what we give to the government. We've talked about these principles, we say again that we are only caretakers of God's property which He has entrusted to us and how we manage that Trust during our lifetimes and how we distribute the Trust assets at the time of our death are an important part of our spiritual commitment. The article that I read put it this way. Stewardship is not simply giving a percentage of our income. Stewardship can be defined as using God-given abilities to manage God-owned properties to accomplish God-ordained results. Therefore, every financial decisions becomes a spiritual decision, in effect including the distribution of our property at the time of our death. Secondly, a Christian Will reflects God's plan for distributing property. A Christian's Will is different from others because the Christian has taken time to find out what God's plan of distribution is for that property. (Topic: Will) He doesn't just assume that property will be divided among certain family members because that's the way traditionally it's done. But rather he recognizes that scripture gives primarily two reasons for giving. The first one is this. We give because there are those who are dependent on us. Paul writes to the young pastor in the church in Ephesus by the name of Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:8: "If anyone does not provide for his immediate family, he is denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever". It's obvious that those who are financially dependent upon us must receive priority in our giving decisions. But we give also for another reason. We give out of love. God himself set the example. He elevated the standard. For God so loved the world that he GAVE and He gave all that He had. He emptied Heaven of it's greatest treasure to give to us that we desperately need. So He set the pattern in giving for us. While some may not be financially dependent upon us, it doesn't mean that we can't give. We give then out of love for them. Well those are the two motivations for spiritual giving. Thirdly, a Christian finds God's plan for him as he prepares his Will. How does he do that? He does it finding God's plan for your Will by taking primarily two steps, practically. First of all, begin by listing those who are financially dependent upon you. Perhaps aged parents, maybe minor or handicapped children, a husband or a wife and then also add to that list the names of those to whom you'd like to give out of love. Remember, however, that charitable organizations that we support during our lifetime are still dependent upon our contributions to find God's work here on earth and besides, we love them and the lost, hurting world that they are embracing for Jesus Christ sake. So, don't forget those institutions also as those evidences of people, as institutions of ministries that you love. The second thing I'd encourage you to do is to make a list of the property that God has entrusted to you. What do you own? What did you pay for it? What is it worth today? Add up those values and then think in terms of cash and then assume that you are giving that cash away to the people and the organizations that you've listed over here. Before you do that, stop and ask the Holy Spirit for direction. (Topic: Will) My prayer is that you will give attention to this aspect of Christian stewardship for this comes under the umbrella of doing all things to the glory of God. Let's never forget that in our stewardship it is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the one who is demonstrating that choice example. All that He has given came from His Father. He used it for His Father's glory but in His death, He made provision for one whom He not only loved but one who is totally dependent upon Him. From the cross, you recall, Jesus spoke with tenderness to His mother. Dear mother, here's your son and to John, His beloved disciple Jesus said, "and here is your mother". From that time on we read that this disciple took her into his home. When Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary, the Lord Jesus Christ's entire estate consisted of only the clothes He was wearing and these were stripped from Him and the Roman soldiers scrambled for them. They were worth nothing more than a curiosity piece of cruel, crude souvenir. He had nothing of material value to give to His mother whom we assumed was widowed by this time. But in His love for one dependent upon Him, He made arrangements for her support. Yes, Jesus was providing for the care His mother would need for the rest of her life upon earth and in that he sets for us a perfect example. (Topic: Will) But, there's something far more valuable than any earthly inheritance you can pass on to your children and other whom you love. Don't overlook the greater thing that Jesus Christ was providing for Mary and all of us. For at that very moment, Jesus Christ was dying as God sacrifice to atone for Mary's sin and yours and mine. He was shedding His blood on that cruel cross in order that Mary have something far more valuable than the material resources necessary to care for he during the remaining years on her life on earth. He was providing for her eternal care, everlasting life with Him in Heaven was going to be offered to her through that death on the cross. Is this Christian parent what you are passing on to your children? Have you introduced them to Jesus Christ and the salvation that His death provides for all who repent of their sin and put their trust in the Savior? (Topic: Will) In conclusion let me tell you a story that I read recently which illustrates what I think we've been talking about. Years ago there was an industrialist with enormous wealth but he had an expensive hobby that soon developed into a passion which he shared with his young son. They were into art collecting. Together father and son would travel the world collecting pieces by Van Gogh, Picasso, Monee and lots of others. It wasn't long before they had a priceless collection. The father with a growing sense of satisfaction watched his son develop both an eye for outstanding art as well as the skill to handle art dealers all around the world. But as winter approached the storm clouds of war soon engulfed the nation and the young man left to serve his country. After only a few weeks, his father received a telegram informing him that his son was missing in action. The art collection anxiously awaited more news. Within days, his worst fears were confirmed. The young man had died while rushing a fallen soldier to a medic. Now distraught and lonely the old man faced the upcoming Christmas holidays with anguish and sorrow. How he and his son had enjoyed past Christmas' together. But that joy now would never again be experienced, at least in that home. On that Christmas morning a knock on the door startled the depressed, old man. Walking to the door past all these priceless masterpieces of art that hung on the walls, he was reminded again that his son was not coming home. Opening the door he was greeting by a soldier with a very large package in his hand. He introduced himself to the man by saying, "I was a friend of your son. I was the one that he was rescuing when a bullet pierced his head. May I come in for a few moments? I have something that I'd like to show you". As the two began to talk, the soldier told how the man's son had spoken with pride to everyone of his father's love of fine art. "I'm an artist", said the soldier. "I want to give you this". The old man unwrapped the package, the paper gave way to reveal a portrait of the man's son. Though the world would never have considered it a work by a genius, the painting featured the young man's face in striking detail. Overwhelmed with emotion, the man thanked the soldier and he promised to hang it in that most prominent place right above the fireplace. A few hours later after the soldier had departed, the old man set about his task. True to his word, the painting went right there above the fireplace pushing aside paintings worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Then the man sat in his chair and spent Christmas gazing at the gift that had been given him. During the days and weeks that followed, the man realized that even though the son was no longer with him, the boy's life would live on because of those whom his life had touched. He would soon learn, for example, that his son had rescued dozens of wounded soldiers before a bullet ended his life. Many stories of his son's gallantry reached him and in that his grief was swaged. But the portrait of his son soon became his most prize possession. Fair eclipsing any interest in the pieces for which museums around the world clambered. He told his neighbors that that was the greatest gift that he had ever received. The following spring the old man became ill and passed away. Now the art world was in anticipation. With a collector's passing and his only son dead, those paintings would be sold at an auction. According the Will of the old man, all of the art works would be auctioned on Christmas Day, the day that he had received that greatest gift. The day soon arrived and art collectors from around the world gathered to bid on some of the world's spectacular paintings. The auction began with a painting which wasn't on any museums list. It was the portrait of the man's son and the auctioneer asked for an opening bid. The room fell silent. Who will open the bidding at $100? Minutes passed. No one spoke and then from the back of the room came, "who cares about that painting? It's just a picture of the son. Let's forget about it and move on to the good stuff". More echoes began voicing the same sentiment of people in the room. "NO, we have to sell this one first", replied the auctioneer. "Now, who will take the son". Finally a friend of the old man spoke up. "Will you take $10 for the painting? That's all I have. I knew the boy and so I'd like to have it". "I have $10", the auctioneer said, "will anyone make it $20?" After more silence, the auctioneer lifted his gavel, "going once, going twice, gone". Cheers filled the room and someone exclaimed. "Now, finally, we can get on with it and we can bid on the masterpieces". The auctioneer looked at the audience and declared the auction finished. Stunned disbelief silenced the room. Someone spoke up and asked, "what do you mean, it's over? We didn't come here for a picture of some old guys son? What about all of these paintings? There are millions of dollars of art here. I demand that you give us an explanation of what's going on here". The auctioneer replied. "It's very simple. According to the Will of the father, whoever takes the son, gets it all". Let's put it all into perspective. Just as those art collectors discovered on that Christmas day, the message is still the same today. The love of a father, a father whose greatest joy came from his son who went away and gave his life rescuing others. Because of that father's love, whoever takes His son, gets it all. That's your inheritance, Christian. What have you left for those who follow you? A fading few earthly treasures or have you introduced your heirs to Jesus Christ, the true inheritance and have you spent a lifetime laying up treasure in Heaven? I trust your physical Will represent that. (Topic: Will) Let's look to Him in prayer.