Stress is Bad - Proverbs 22:1-16 (Pentecost 22C)

 

Continuing our series this month on “Making Change” and where our stewardship and financial health coexist, we will be talking about how STRESS IS BAD. This again is a no-brainer, like our other topics in this series - Less Is More, Giving is Good, and Tomorrow Matters. 

This morning, we will be talking about debt. I'm sure there are few things many people want their pastor to talk about more. Maybe if I had a series on sex, that would bring less interest, but here we are, talking about the taboo of debt. 

You know, I haven’t met anyone who’s said, “I just got a new credit card, and now that I’ve maxed it out, my marriage has gotten so much better.” Or, “My marriage has gotten so good because I have a huge mortgage. Now that interest rates have gone up, it’s made date nights more thrilling!”; or even “Every night, I thank God for my debt. I used to be debt free but now I’m over my head and it’s amazing!” 

As Christians though, we love to give. We want to help people - we just can't afford to. Which adds to the stress we may already be feeling. We wish we could travel. I just saw how one of my mentors is offering a trip to Rome & Greece to follow in the footsteps of Paul next October. How great would it be to go! Or even, realizing the high costs of daycare and how it’s more cost effective to stay home with them, even if that means a lower standard of living. Financial stress is bad! 

A friend of mine was talking to me, and was telling me about the new truck he bought. Man - you should see it! It’s a 2022 Silverado, made right here in Fort Wayne! He’s excited about this thing. I asked him how much he paid - he said $48000. Did you pay cash or finance? Oh I could never pay cash for that… I got a car loan. At what interest rate? 19%. NINETEEN PERCENT?? For how long? 72 months. SIX YEARS??? Do you even know what your life will look like then? After it’s all said and done - you’ll be all in on this truck for $81000! 

It’s easy to feel judge my friend. It’s easy to think he’s being foolish with his money, versus as I drive away in my 15 year old car. But we don’t want to falsely become prideful in our judgment, or even boastful. The point isn’t to feel superior. 

According to a Washington Post article from August of THIS YEAR, Credit card balances increased $46 billion in the second quarter, a 5.5 percent increase from the first quarter, and there was also an uptick in new credit card accounts.1 The 13 percent increase from the second quarter of 2021 to the second quarter of 2022 was the biggest such jump in more than 20 years.

Americans are borrowing more, but a big part of the increased borrowing is attributable to higher prices," researchers for the New York Fed said in a news release.

The key verse in our scripture reading today is verse 7: “the rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender. “ If we look back five verses, we’re reminded that rich and poor are the same, both made of God. And that’s where the similarities end. In this seventh verse, we are reminded that rich people have more authority and voice in the community than poor people do.

Our experience with debt is that it’s so personal. It’s embarrassing. We feel guilty because it feels like we’ve done it to ourselves. The way interest works is that can get hopeless quickly even just with simple math. It can show how our society doesn’t really understand finances, or with the advertising industry we talked about last week, they are really silent about the real cost of things. It’s overwhelming, so just keep payments. It’ll work out eventually. 

Imagine though, for a moment, what it would be like for this stress is gone: You would buy something, and pay cash. Something breaks, no stress - you can get it fixed. You know someone in need? No problem - you can help. Just imagine what it would be like to schedule some time for yourself - whether at the beach... or in the mountains. Or maybe at a beach near some mountains? It's such a problem to have!

If I'm being too practical for you this morning, there is a spiritual side to this as well. I know I've covered it, even somewhat recently. It was from the Gospel of Luke, 16:10, Whoever can be trusted with little can be trusted with even greater things." Jesus said it! Look it up yourself! 

Those who can be trusted with little, can be trusted with the Kingdom of Heaven. Just like with the story of the mustard seed and our faith. All it takes is a little faith to move mountains, and some days the faith of our debt feels like it could crush us with a mountain. Not only that but being wise and faithful stewards is pleasing to God. Isn't that really one thing that we're all here for?

Now - you may be wondering - Pastor Dan, how is this biblical? Aren't you just pushing around some empty prosperity gospel narrative that when I dig deeper will just fall apart? No - I am not saying that when you believe that your life will magically change overnight and success is just around the corner, now make sure and stop by and place everything including your last two quarters in the offering plate on your way out. That is theological mispractice, and should not be tolerated. Debt is tough enough, and when we're in it, one of the first things we need is support, not empty hope. It takes discipline and sometimes when we're trying to "be good" and get out of debt, it's like putting our wallet on a diet, but sometimes there are those days when we fall off the wagon. This is where the community part comes in. We need support for those days not to abandon the great task put in front of us, but for the long road ahead so we can say our path is forward and not stagnant. 

But biblically, this text has many things to say about money and debt. If you think that the modern credit system started with the creation of the private credit bureaus back only decades ago, you'd have a lot of learning to do. Debts and credit were around, even in the times of Solomon, who is key to writing these Proverbs I'm talking about today. 

There are, however, crucial differences between our debt system and theirs. In ancient Israel, debt was a function of survival and a ministry to the poor. Those without any other survival options were forced to borrow. As a result, the lending systems was established as liberally as possible. You would not charge interest (Ex. 22:25), you would not remove items necessary for one’s livelihood to pay their debt (Deut. 24:10-14), and you would forgive all debts every seven years (Deut. 15:1).

The biggest biblical concern with debt revolves around two issues: servitude and obligation to debt creditors. The Bible speaks about a nation’s debt. The Lord was promising to make Israel a powerful nation and spoke in terms of borrowing and lending to represent the strength and weakness that is inherent in lending and borrowing. Deuteronomy 15:6 says, “For the LORD your God will bless you as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.” When a nation is indebted to someone, they can exert influence over you. Our nation’s leaders should listen to Biblical commands about debt and stop spending money we don’t have. Our enormous debt as a nation is going to be a burden passed on to future generations.

The Old Testament also speaks about individual debt: “Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender.” Proverbs 22:7 When you’re in debt, you’re a slave to the lender. You might not realize it, but they control a good deal of what you do – what you buy, where you go and even how or where you live. God does not want us in bondage to anyone or anything. Instead, he wants the freedom that Christ provides us spiritually to be experienced in every other area of our lives.

Debt ties us down and dictates our future. Each debt we assume offers us less personal choice for the future. Eventually, our false hope for the future will be sold away because of our discontentment with the present and the spending it causes.

That doesn't mean that it's not an uphill climb, but one day, next to the whole of debt is better than being deep inside. 

Hope is a difficult thing - it can seem misguided, but if you have hope, how are we supposed to transform anything? Hoping in something better means believing that there is change, and that there is a better out there for you and your neighbors, and everyone else. 

While we are being faithful in either filling in the holes that we've created, or being faithful with what we've been given, let me offer a few prayers that can be reminders for the journey, not just in the hope that it will just go away: 

First, GOD, GIVE ME SELF-CONTROL. 

We could all use a little more of that, I know I could. Self-control really means self-evaluation. We need to know what our triggers are so that we can't give in when we feel lonely, or bored, or overly emotional in other ways. I don't want to oversimplify the problem to being a child in a toy store - "Why can't I have the toy??" If we are going to fix the problems, we have to look at ourselves and figure it out. But self-control does not come easily... hahaha... at least not in my life. This is why this is a prayer for me almost daily. Ultimately what it comes down to is, saying no temporarily means we can say yes to the things that actually matters... when we can feel God moving in our chest and pulling at our heart. 

Second, GOD, GIVE ME UNDERSTANDING. 

Hosea 4:6 says, "My people are destroyed for a lack of understanding." Debt is one of the most discouraging things on this earth. Christians don’t understand it very well. The world doesn’t understand it very well. This is why we need not only book knowledge but heart knowledge as well. Understanding the contracts that are being signed, like how much is our down payment, how long the loan is for, what happens when I'm late on payment; but also, as I said just a moment ago, understanding ourselves so that we know when our hearts are just restless or being moved by the Holy Spirit. 

There's a question that's going around social media right now that I find fascinating: I could give you a million dollars right now, or a penny that doubles every day for 30 days, what do you want? Almost everyone says they'd take the million dollars. It's too bad, since they'd be missing out on four million dollars by taking the doubling penny. Compound interest has been called one of the greatest forces on the planet, and it's true. Let us pray that God can give us understanding when making difficult financial decisions. 

And last, GOD, GIVE ME A PLAN. 

There's nothing worse than realizing you're stuck in a hole and there's no way out. Proverbs 21:5 says "The plans of the diligent leads to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty." The plans of the faithful, the diligent, it leads to profit. You do better, you get ahead, as surely as haste leads to poverty. Somebody asked me, "Well, what does haste mean?" Well, the Hebrew word translated as "haste" means, "I felt sad and went shopping." Just joking, but anyway, it's retail therapy, right? It's not having a plan that will lead to poverty.

Here is what we need to recognize, and don't miss this. You can wander into debt, but you never wander out of debt. You can stumble into debt, but you never stumble out of debt. You can mistake your way into debt, but you never mistake your way out of debt. That's why we need a plan, and this is spiritual, it is scriptural. The plans of the diligent lead to profit. First of all, to have an emergency fund. We're going to sell something. Sell everything. Sell the kids, if they're acting up. We're going to take another job or whatever, and we're going to put away $1,000 into an emergency fund. Then, Dave's going to teach you very practically how to start paying off debts, and then once we pay off some debts, then we're going to learn to put aside an emergency fund for three to six months' living expenses. We're going to learn about investing, and guess what? We're actually going to honor God with a plan. If we're faithful with a little, guess what? God will trust us with so much more. God, give us a plan.

We will be faithful to our God, because he's been faithful to us. He gave us his son Jesus that we could live eternally, therefore our only reasonable response is to give our whole lives back to him. What do we know? God, you blessed us with gifts. You blessed us with income. You blessed us with resources. They do not belong to us. They are from you. Therefore, God, we will honor you, being faithful with what you've given to us, even if we messed up a lot in the past. We thank you that you are forgiving, and a redeeming God. Therefore, God, give us self-control. Give us understanding. Give us a plan, in which we can honor you. God, one day we believe with all of our hearts we won't be in bondage to anything in this world. Just as Jesus sets us free from spiritual bondage, you will set us free from material bondage, and we will live radically generous all along the way, because you are a good God, who gave Jesus so we could know you and live forever. May we live in a way, today, God, that truly honors you.

Amen.