Honor the Lord with Your Wealth

I want to title this meditation “Honor the Lord with Your Possessions,” and I chose it precisely because it is so fitting for the subject we addressed this morning, and I want to enrich it further. These principles are not applicable only to a specific moment in life, such as the one this congregation is experiencing now, or to a present appeal to give to a specific cause; these are principles by which we should live every day of our lives. They should always govern everything we do, and there is a blessing, a promise, that comes as a result of living that way.

Right now, I am giving you gold in terms of how you can live prosperous, blessed lives, illuminated by the wisdom of God, with your movements helped along by the grace-filled wind of God when we flow and our lives are grounded in solid spiritual principles.

And I like the fact that the verses I have here for this sermon are not from the New Testament but from the Old Testament, written by a man of great wisdom—Proverbs 3:9 and 10—which reminds us that these are eternal principles. They are there, stated in a general, broadly applicable way amid other meditations and other things.

And that text says: “Honor the Lord your God with your possessions and with the firstfruits of all your produce, and your barns will be filled with abundance, and your vats will overflow with new wine.” “Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the firstfruits of all your produce.” There are two words there that I want to emphasize: honor, to honor, and the firstfruits of all your produce. And it says, “And your barns will be filled with abundance, and your vats will overflow with new wine.” That is a rule for life. For those of you who are new to the faith, for example, I want to emphasize that principle of Scripture for every aspect of your life.

For the moment, forget about this specific appeal; let that principle guide you throughout your life, and I promise you great blessing. This is the most basic rule of Christian stewardship. Stewardship means that we are stewards, not owners—neither of creation nor of the things we call mine: my house, my husband or wife, my children, my job, my career, my clothes, my talents, my knowledge. Ultimately, none of that belongs to you. That is one of the clearest principles in Scripture.

We do not really own anything; we are simply stewards. We care for and manage what belongs to God, amen? That is what a steward does. A steward simply manages the things that belong to God. God gave us, as the human race, the Earth, for example, and we must be good stewards of creation: caring for the environment, not being cruel to animals or to the things we enjoy, and keeping the Earth well cared for and properly managed for future generations.

Sometimes the present generations forget that there are grandchildren and great-grandchildren who will live on this same Earth and breathe the air we breathe, and that we must take care of those things as well. We are stewards; we do not own all these things. A movie I saw recently comes to mind. It is called The Pottler, The Butler—a wonderful movie. I invite you to see it because it traces the African American community’s struggle for civil rights here in the United States, and it moved my heart.

But it is also the story of an African American White House butler who served as a butler for more than thirty years through eight presidencies. And one of the things you notice about a butler is that these men and women—specifically, the butlers were men, but there were women working in the kitchen and in other roles, all African Americans—even though they were surrounded by so much wealth and all the opulence and power of the White House, were supposed to be practically invisible. If they give you a cup of coffee, it is as though it appeared by magic. The president is not supposed to pay attention to the butler serving him, or to anyone else. They are people who come and go and simply serve and manage the things placed in their hands.

And that is a good picture of us. We live amid the opulence of creation and the beauty of everything God has given us, and we have so many good things that God places in our care: our children, for example, so that we may care for them and raise them in the fear of the Lord; our spouses, so that we may love and serve them, submit to one another, and make sure we care for them and attend to them well, right? And the career God gives us, so that we may use it well for the purposes of the Kingdom of God. It is a rule of stewardship.

That is why the word stewardship is such an evangelical word: it refers to the fact that we are stewards, not owners. Always remember that, because if you understand it, you have already made great progress in your spiritual life. Nothing you have and call your own is actually yours; it simply belongs to God, and you care for it for the Lord and manage it.

And in that process, you enjoy it as well. That is the good thing: God says, “Look, I am going to place this in your hands. Enjoy it, but it is not yours; the title belongs to Me.” So that is the rule: Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the firstfruits of all your produce. I would say that this is the foundation of prosperity and true blessing in life. A person can prosper financially yet be miserable in terms of the joy and peace in his heart.

This very morning, or last night, I was thinking about the life of Michael Jackson. There is a lot being said about Michael Jackson now, after his tragic death, because his family is fighting with an advertising and entertainment company and suing it. One of the things Michael Jackson left behind after his death was a divided family fighting over the estate and all the possessions. He also left behind damaged reputations—his own and those of other people, such as the doctor who treated him and whose life has been ruined—and there were many others around him.

But at the end of his life, Michael Jackson was a tragic man. And one would think that a person as talented as he was, so full of resources and with so much money—which he would have earned and lost, because that is one of the things that happens when you have money without God: you gain it and you lose it as well—would have had a different life. But the terrible thing is that this man, so gifted, so admired, and with so many financial, intellectual, cultural, and artistic resources, lived a terrible, tragic life at the end of his days, one that I would not wish on any human being. At the end of his life, Michael Jackson had to have a team of doctors and medically skilled people simply to sleep at night, and the anguish and all the turmoil of his life led to his death.

In other words, you may have many things in the world, but if you do not have God’s blessing, you are miserable, and we see that again and again in human life. What ensures that you can have peace in your heart, know at the end of your days where you are going, and live with God’s approval no matter what happens is the awareness that your life is not your own, that it is in God’s hands, and that you are a good steward of the resources you have. You do not become attached to them or cling to them; instead, you know that there is a God watching you to make sure that you are using them for the glory of His Name and as a blessing. By doing that, you are blessed as well.

So this verse, Proverbs 3:9 and 10, first gives us a condition and then a result; the result follows from the prerequisite. If you divide this verse, you will see that one part says, “Honor the Lord with your possessions”; another phrase says, “with the firstfruits”; and another, “of all your produce.” That is the precondition: honoring the Lord with our possessions and with the firstfruits of all our produce—that is, everything that results from our life and labor.

And there is a result: as a consequence of that way of life—and the Bible says this, not I, because people often say, “Well, no, this is a preacher of cheap prosperity.” I am saying what the Bible says—“and your barns will be filled, and your vats will overflow with new wine.” If you do not like the theology behind that, take it up with God, not with me, because it is right there in the Bible, isn’t it? And that is why there are so many passages in Scripture that encourage us to believe in God’s blessing.

Now, we can exaggerate it, distort it, and take it out of context, and that is a grave sin that is committed very often nowadays. But in its original context, it is something precious, and we can take it to the bank and live under that promise, brothers and sisters, okay?

So it is no coincidence that this counsel is found in Proverbs. Perhaps you cannot see the lettering very well; that was years ago, when my technology was a little more deficient than it is now. I would do it better now, so do not worry. It is no coincidence that this counsel is found in Proverbs, as I said before, the book of wisdom. It is a fundamental rule for life; it is the secret of success and abundance.

First, look at the word honor: honor the Lord. It is a strong, definite, solid word. It means to prefer someone, to praise someone, to exalt them, to give a person prominence, to give someone a special place. When the Bible says, “Honor your father and your mother,” that is a very powerful prescription. Children, give preference to your parents; treat them with honor; make every effort to show them your gratitude for the things they have done. And that comes with a promise. It says, “Honor your father and your mother, so that it may go well with you, so that you may live many days and do well in life.” And in the same way, I would say: Honor the Lord, your supreme Father, and it will go well with you, and you will live many days in a positive sense of the word. You will not die prematurely; I would say that you will die at your appointed time, when God desires it, and that is the specific time when it must happen.

So honor is a very specific word, and it speaks about the believer’s essential ethic: placing God above all things. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your strength, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” It also says, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” God demands first place because He deserves it. Honoring God means placing Him above everything else and loving Him above all things.

Our life, in every one of its details and aspects, should reflect that passion, that commitment, that preference for God. David exemplified that as no one else did. David was passionate about God and, as we say, he did not mess around when it came to God. He showed it on many occasions, and the great men and women whom God blessed throughout Scripture always reflected that passion for the honor and the Name of God.

So when we consistently give generously to the Lord in our lives—and I am going to talk about what it means to give to the Lord—when we give generously, whether through our tithes, our offerings, or helping others in the Name of the Lord and for His glory, we are honoring the Lord and pleasing Him.

It says, “Honor the Lord with your possessions.” What are our possessions? Well, our belongings—everything we have. Our profession. Sometimes people think only of money, but no: it is with all your possessions, all the good things in your life. It can mean your belongings, but it can also mean your profession, your talents, your time, your material possessions, your body, your knowledge, and your human relationships. Sometimes we have human connections that can help the Kingdom of God.

Esther had an absolutely privileged asset: access to the king. And when her people were threatened with extinction, she used that resource, played an absolutely crucial role, and preserved the lives of her Hebrew brothers and sisters. She had a relationship; she had access. Sometimes we have access to certain places; we work somewhere, for example. You may work in a hospital. Do you know how many people there are—brothers and sisters from the church who help because they work as interpreters, doctors, or whatever else in a hospital?

If more people thought about that, they would realize that everything you have is a resource. You are in a school; there, you are an antenna ready to receive instructions from God for someone, and you must use your talent. English, if you speak it; computers, if you know about them; whatever it may be. Everything must be identified, and you must say, “Lord, thank You for giving this to me. Now I place it at Your disposal; do with it whatever You wish.”

Everything—honor Him with all your possessions. Everything must be consecrated and set apart for one purpose: to honor the Lord and His Kingdom. That must be the primary use of all the possessions we have, and it is what justifies and ennobles us. Now, this attitude—that everything must be for the glory of God and the advancement of God’s Kingdom; that everything I have belongs to Him, comes from Him, and is for Him; and that I hold it lightly and humbly while it is in my hands—is very different from the world’s attitude and the way the world views possessions.

The world says, “No, I earned what I have! Nobody gave it to me!” What madness. “Nobody gave this to me. I worked for it and earned it by the sweat of my brow, so why should I give it to that crazy preacher over there who is asking for money for this and that?” Right? “My possessions,” people say, “are mine. I earned them through my own strength, and I will use them however I see fit. They are mine, and I distribute them however I want. If I want to drink them away or eat them up, or simply build myself bigger houses wherever I please—a mausoleum to my own glory and greatness—I will do it for myself.” Right? That is the attitude of the world, of the person who does not understand the things of God.

There in the Bible we have the example of the rich fool, right? In Luke chapter 12, verses 16 onward, this man has acquired so much money and so much wealth, and he says: Oh, I no longer know what to do with all that I have. There are so many people like that, brothers and sisters, who tear down houses to build bigger ones; that happens nowadays. They come up with new projects because they do not know what to do.

A sister who works here for an airline tells me—she was telling me outside; we ran into each other out there for a moment—she works for one of these European airlines: a man came who thought he had made his reservation to travel to France—I do not remember where it was—and when he came up to her, he discovered that the reservation had not been made; rather, the ticket had not been issued. But there was room for him on the plane; there was room in first class, where he wanted to travel. But at that moment, to go—I think it was to France or Italy, or to a country relatively nearby in Europe—she told him: “Well, look, the only thing we have in first class is a ticket that will cost you nineteen thousand nine hundred and some dollars—twenty thousand dollars.”

She says that without batting an eye, the man pulled out his credit card and said to her: “No problem, here you go.” He paid twenty thousand dollars just like that. And there are people like that. Perhaps what that man wanted was the privilege of having two or three women look at him drooling (laughter), and that microsecond when he handed her the card and, out of the corner of his eye, saw them drooling—that was worth the twenty thousand pesos. And there are people like that in the world, brothers and sisters. There are people who do not know what to do; they have to spend it somehow. They do not want to leave it to the servants, and they have to spend it before they go.

And this rich man does not know what to do with so much, so he says: “I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And then I will say to my soul, when I behold that opulence once again, I will say: ‘Soul, you have many goods stored up for many years; rest, eat, drink, and rejoice.’”

But God said to him: “Fool, fool.” Many people enter the world with great honor, but God says: “Fool.” I want God to call me prudent, a good servant, even if the world calls me a fool, and when I get to heaven, I want them to say to me: “Come, good and faithful servant; enter into the rest of your Lord.” Then He said: “Fool, this very night—you who are saying that you have many days ahead of you—this very night your soul will be required of you, and these things you have provided, for which you have worked so hard, whose will they be?” And the Lord gave His final dictum: “So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

That is the ethic of the world: they are rich toward themselves because it is their money, their time, their space, their place, but toward God they are miserly, like that other rich man, Lazarus and the other rich man. So there is a paradox in the Bible: the more we keep for ourselves, the more attached we are to our money, and the more advantageously we manage what belongs to God for our own benefit, the more we actually lose. Whether we lose money, joy and peace, or blessing for our loved ones and our surroundings—because that is also a loss—we will always lose much more if we follow this self-centered ethic.

Now, if you consecrate your possessions to God and serve Him with them, I have found, at least in my own life, that they grow more, are blessed more, you make better use of them, they go further, and they give you more joy, even if they are fewer. Every dollar stretches much farther, and you get more out of every life God places around you and every project. That is the beauty of living in the will of God.

So this is a rule of life that blesses us, and failing to see that rule—so what it says is—yes, what I mean here is this: let us not view that promise, which comes as the result of a life surrendered to the Lord, as something mechanical. That is the mistake I believe many people make: they turn this into a kind of magic or a chemical formula. “If I sow ten dollars, God will give me ten thousand dollars,” and many foolish preachers encourage people with that horrible technique.

I cannot promise people practically anything in such a mechanical way. What I can say is: God truly will bless you, and you can take that to the bank. Now, let us not see it as something mechanical—if I give this much, I will receive this much. Rather, I prefer to see it this way: the overall pattern of your life will reflect God’s blessing. When others look at the graph of your life, when they look at the graph of your life, they will see an essentially upward line. Now, if they zoom in, they will see a few little dips here and there, even some larger ones; but when they look at the entire course, it is an upward trajectory.

Because difficult situations may arise in life at any given moment, but in the totality of what God—hey, how many of you have not suffered losses in your life? Raise your hand, and I will call you a liar right here in front of everyone. No. We have all suffered losses. In case you did not understand what I meant, we have all suffered losses, yes or no? We have experienced failures, suffering, and struggles. Who has not had a terrible illness? Who has not lost a loved one? Who has not been betrayed? Who has not experienced a great failure in their spiritual or personal life? Who does not have something like a thorn in the flesh that is bothering them right now?

But we can also say: “Wow, God has been so good to me. There is so much blessing,” right? And five years from now, we will not even remember that moment, because God’s blessing is what predominates in our lives, right? So there may be times of testing, loss, and scarcity, but the net balance of our lives will be truly positive. Not being generous toward God, brothers and sisters, and toward His purposes is not merely an omission, not merely something passive; it is a sin. Stinginess toward God is an active offense that leads to ruin and scarcity.

Because even an abundance of possessions does not provide the happiness it ought to provide. We may have many things, but simply keeping them, hoarding them, and being miserly with them is a sin. It is a sin; it offends God, it offends the generous God we have, and it offends the God who calls us to use them well, to put them to work, and to invest them, like the talent, right? God says: “Invest your talent. Do not keep it to yourself; do not put it under your pillow; do not put it under the mattress. Put it to work for My Kingdom, and I will bless you.” Do not let fear control you either: “Oh, if I give, I will not have enough.”

When giving to the Lord and giving to others, fear must never govern our lives. There are times when I give to something—a cause or whatever it may be—and I tell my flesh: “Stop it.” I like to think carefully about what I am doing at that moment. The flesh and the mind often betray us when it comes to generosity toward God. That does not mean we should be reckless, but one has to give as though drinking a glass of water, simply taking a pill: you swallow it and do not dwell on how unpleasant it is at that moment, because you know it is for your good. That is how we have to be with the Lord.

When we give to the Lord, we must give on principle, not because of emotions, because the flesh is always sticking its spoon in where it does not belong, and so is fear, right? We must give to the Lord on principle because that is the way it is.

So there is a verse, for example, in Scripture, Proverbs 11 as well, verses 24 and 26: “There are those who scatter, yet more is added to them, and there are those who withhold more than is right, but it leads to poverty.” Which of those two principles does your life exemplify? Are you one of those who scatter or one of those who withhold more? I have told you that I have made many efforts in my life to have a really nice bank account, but I always fail because there is always a need or something, and I give to it—I give, you know? And God has never failed me. If your faith is strong enough for that, do it. If it is not, do not worry; I understand. Not everyone can live at that level.

But there are so many opportunities in the world to be a blessing, to give, and to share with loved ones—with children who need a strategic investment; that is one example. Look: if you are going to give something to a child, give it at the time when they can make use of the money. Sometimes our children need a little boost to go to college, to make a down payment on a condominium or a little house when they get married, or to take a trip that will enrich them culturally, and there we are.

“No, I am going to give it to them when I die, and this and their inheritance that I am—” Look, by the time you die, perhaps that young person will be thirty or fifty years old and will no longer need that money, you know? But if you invest it at the right time, now, when they need a little boost in life, what you give them will be worth ten times as much. So, in a sense, we want to give to our children when—if we have it, give it to them at the strategic moment, at the time when it will be worth the most. It will be worth about three or four times more than later, when they are older and need nothing, and you have already died and cannot even enjoy seeing them delight in what you invested in them.

That is a little extra; I am not going to charge you for that advice (laughter). It says: “The generous soul will prosper, and the one who satisfies others will himself be satisfied.” Satisfy people with your blessing, and they will be grateful that you are alive. So withholding more than is right means giving God less than He deserves—which is everything.

Honoring God with our possessions also means being generous with others. I am going to go through that quickly because we have already—right? Because, again, we must broaden this beyond merely giving to the Church, giving to the Kingdom, and giving to obviously spiritual causes; we must be generous with others.

Another way to prosper is by blessing others with our possessions. That is why I believe the writer of Proverbs says: “And the generous soul will prosper.” I believe he is broadening the scope of his counsel there and saying: “Honor God with your possessions,” but he is also saying: “The generous soul will prosper as well.” Use your possessions to enrich the lives of others who do not have as much as you do. Bless a relative in Central America, in the Caribbean, or wherever they may be, if you can—a mother who needs a little house at that particular time. Do not send her flowers afterward; she will not be able to use those fifty dollars spent on that bouquet of flowers. Send the money to her so she can buy herself a little outfit or have a good meal, right? That is what we have to do.

Use your possessions to enrich the lives of others, and when you find yourself in need, strangely enough, you too will find yourself satisfied; you too will receive blessing and provision. It is a rule of life. And then we come to this Word: “With the firstfruits.” “Honor the Lord with the firstfruits of all your possessions.” Firstfruits means the first; it also means the best, the cream of the crop. “With the firstfruits”—firstfruits is a good Old Testament word. It referred to when farmers brought the first fruits of their harvest: the choice produce, the best heads of grain, the largest, juiciest, and most beautiful fruits. They brought them to the Lord as a way of bringing God’s blessing into their finances and expressing to the Lord: “I acknowledge, Father, that this comes from You, and that is why I set apart the best for You.” It is like the firstborn, which belonged to Jehovah, right?

And to me, the first thing we should take out of our salary is the tithe. Sometimes we wait: “Well, this month I am very sorry, Lord. You know how things are with us; there is nothing, there is nothing. So perhaps next month—we will see. Let us talk then and see how things go.” Take out the tithe before you even realize it, because then your flesh will not trip you up. We have to give to the Lord first, and do not worry, because God will take care of the rest. That is how it is. People who tithe know what I am talking about, and they are the ones smiling right now. The others may have a grimace of pain, but do not worry; we bless you too.

The tithe belongs to the Lord. The tithe is the firstfruits; it is the first of our possessions. It should not be the last thing that occurs to us. It is not a question of whether we can give or whether we have anything left after paying our bills. No, the idea is that when you give to the Lord first, the blessing comes. To me, the clearest image of that is Elijah going to the widow and saying to her: “Give me a little—that tiny bit of flour and oil you have left.” And the widow says: “But how am I going to do that? Are you crazy? All I have left is just a tiny bit to make a little flatbread with oil, and then we will die because there is nothing left.” “No, no. Give me a little first, and I promise you that you will not lack anything throughout the drought.” And that is exactly what happened. That is the principle of giving to the Lord, and you have to believe that it is so.

If the musicians could come up here so that the brothers and sisters may feel hopeful, please come over. We must give the Lord the best, the choice portion, what costs us, what hurts. As the psalmist David says: “I will not offer burnt offerings to Jehovah my God that cost me nothing.” If you gave and it did not hurt, review what you are giving. If you gave and did not feel a twinge there in your mind or in your body, if a little alarm did not go off there on your cell phone saying, “You are giving too much, you are giving too much,” then you have to give a little more, because giving has to be something that sets off an alarm in our flesh. Ooh! That sounded beautiful. Someone write it down so I do not forget it later. Giving generously to the Lord should set off an alarm in the flesh, you know? That is how it is.

So when we are generous toward God, we not only receive material prosperity, but God also allows us to enjoy our possessions; He gives us joy, He gives us peace, He gives us health, He gives us the desires of our heart, He blesses our surroundings, and He gives us a greater capacity for enjoyment. Listen, I enjoy mashed plantain with olive oil, a little onion, and a little vinegar drizzled over it as though I were eating—perhaps Caribbean people appreciate that more; honestly, translate it into your own equivalent.

Brother, I do not need chicken cordon bleu with lots of cream and all kinds of things—no, man, leave that for later. Some well-cooked white rice with stewed beans on top and a little crispy rice on the side—that is it; nothing else is needed. Central American and South American brothers and sisters, make your own translations there too; I cannot think of any right now. When you are at peace with the Lord, listen, a little piece of bread with butter tastes heavenly.

I truly do not need great things to be content. This past week I was sleepy because I stayed here all day; I had the service in the evening, so I pulled out a mat that I had under the desk in my office and lay down there. How many pastors have a bedroom in their own office? I enjoyed that hour I spent lying there, refreshing my mind. You can enjoy the simple things in life, brother. You truly do not need great things, because God increases your capacity to enjoy the little things in life. That is the glorious thing about living under the Lord’s will, isn’t it?

The Bible says that to the man who pleases Him—and to the woman—God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner He gives the task of gathering and heaping up, only to give it to the one who pleases God. You know what? I am going to let it go; let us leave it there. You have already received too much information this morning, but may that deposit of blessing and promise remain in your life and in your spirit this morning: the call of a God who says, “Hey, learn to live life through the interpretive lenses of the Kingdom, where giving is receiving, losing is gaining, dying is living, sharing is increasing, and blessing others means that you too are blessed. Giving to Me, God, is to secure your future blessing.” Those are the rules of the world. When you live that way, with the paradoxes of the Kingdom of God, the blessing is incredible.

Young people, take that advice to heart. New families in the church, learn to give generously to God. Those who have been here for many years, renew your commitment to God—to give to God and live generous lives in the Kingdom of God. Amen? I bless you in the name of the Lord. Let us stand; let us stand now. And thank You, Lord; thank You, Father, because You send us out from this place with hope in our hearts. You bless us, renew our strength, take us in Your arms, and promise us blessing.

Lord, I bless every life present here. Those who are in other rooms, those who have not heard this message, and those who will hear it—I bless the families of this church. Autumn, new beginnings, harvest, blessing, renewal of efforts and of work and life. I bless you, my brothers and sisters. Live in the Kingdom of God; live by the principles of the Kingdom of God. Do not be led by your flesh or by your mind; live according to divine theology, and I assure you of blessing and prosperity.

Renounce everything that is not from God right now. Father, I renounce even the last coin that You do not bless and approve; I renounce it, and I keep only what You bless and prosper. And I know that You will not fail us and that You will bless us. I bless these people in their struggles, their tribulations, their anguish, the giants they are fighting right now, and the illnesses they are battling right now; the fear, the anguish, but also the joy, the life, the excitement about the future, the hope—I bless them.

I bless Your people, Lord, and may this church always be a refuge and a fortress where needy souls can come to be healed, Lord. Thank You for Your love. We place our struggles in Your hands. We will serve You until the last of our days, Father, and we will be faithful to You. Thank You. With Your help, Lord, we close this time in the name of Jesus, and the people of God say, “Amen.” I bless you, my brothers and sisters. May the grace of the Lord be with you all. Amen and amen.