Sermon Tone Analysis

*Christians & Debt: Romans 13: 8-14*

*Maranatha** **Baptist** **Church**.

**October 30, 2005**.

**10:00 am*

 

*John Ortberg tells a story* that we are *all familiar* of.

When we take our children to the *shrine of the Golden Arches*, they always *lust for the meal* that comes with *a cheap little prize*, a combination christened, in a moment of marketing genius*, the Happy Meal*.

You’re not just buying fries, McNuggets, and a dinosaur stamp; *you’re buying happiness*.

Their *advertisements have convinced* my children they *have a little McDonald-shaped vacuum in their souls*: "Our hearts are restless till they find their rest in a happy meal."

\\ \\ I try to *buy off the kids* sometimes.

I tell them to *order only the food* and I’ll *give them a quarter to buy a little toy on their own*.

But the */cry /*goes up, "I want a Happy Meal."

All over the restaurant, *people crane their necks to look* at the tight*-fisted, penny-pinching cheapskate of a parent* who would *deny a child the meal of great joy.* \\ \\ *The problem with the Happy Meal* is that *the happy wears off*, and *they need a new fix*.

No child discovers lasting *happiness in just one: No child says*, I remember that last happy meal, and with that I am *satisfied* and *what great joy* I found there!" \\ \\ *Happy Meals bring happiness only to McDonalds*.

You ever wonder why *Ronald McDonald wears that grin?* Twenty billion Happy Meals, that’s why.

\\ \\ *When you get older*, *you don’t get any smarter*; your happy meals just get more expensive.

{Citation: John Ortberg, Dangers, Toils & Snares: Resisting the Hidden Temptations of Ministry (Multnomah, 1994), pp.99-100}

 

*Canadian Stats:** *

*A recent Statistics Canada study suggests** Almost half of Canadian households* *spend more money than they earn*, with *much of that spending financed by debt.

*The study compared spending patterns of Canadian households in 1982 and 2001, using constant 2001 dollars.

According to the study, *47 per cent of households spent more than they earned in 2001*, up from 39 per cent in 1982.

*Canadians are increasingly turning to borrowed money* *to finance their purchases*, as they *spend more on taxes, homes, health and education*.

*Mortgage debt and consumer debt* (credit cards, unpaid bills) have *ballooned from a total of $258.2 billion in 1982 to $651 billion in 2001.

*

* *

"*Low interest rates* and *easy credit* undoubtedly influence the inclination of households to borrow as household debt continues to rise to unprecedented levels in relation to household disposable income," said the study.

While the number of spenders increased in all age groups, it was *particularly high* among *households in the pre-retirement years (45-64).*

Other groups that saw significant increases in the number of spenders were families with children at home or those paying for education, as well as households with mortgages.

*Debt-driven spending may be setting the economy up for a fall,* it said.

"*A sudden drop-off in the housing market* or a *sudden spike in interest rates* could throw cold water on the spending party."

*Personal bankruptcies* are *near record highs*.

*In 2003*, for the first time ever*, the average Canadian household owed more than its annual take-home pay*.

*We carry 74 million credit cards* *– three for every Canadian over the age of 18*.

Credit counselling agencies say they're busier than ever.

*Students are often graduating* with *accumulated debt of $25,000 or more.*

Consumer debt levels are rising much faster than incomes and have been for years.

*Savings rates* are *at record lows.* \\   \\ What is strange is *our reaction* to this action.

According to a *study conducted by Ipsos-Reid* on behalf of Scotiabank, *less than half (48%) of Canadians 25-64 years* of age who are the main or joint financial decision-maker of the household have “*structured their debt so they pay the lowest amount possible*,” and *three-quarters (75%) “consider their debt payments to be a part of their day-to-day living expenses*.”

*In Romans 13**,* the apostle has just told us to *render to all people* what is their *rightful due*.

We are *never* to be in a position of *owing* something to somebody.

*All our debts* are *to be discharged.

*

 

*What would happen today if you* went in to *work* tomorrow and found out that your *company is closing*?

What would you do if you had an *accident* that did *not able you to continue in your present job*?

What is a *disaster *struck that was *not covered by insurance, like flood*?

 

*Are you: *paying the *minimum balance* on your Credit card?

Not able to give a weekly *offering*?

Not able to *deal with emergencies*: Personal and global?

*God has direction for his Church* and we are *told to* *Live Justly, Lovingly, and Expectantly*

 

*1)      **Live Justly*

*Rom 13:8*  Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

Rom 13:9  The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

As we saw *two weeks ago*, we have an *obligation* *to owe the state* what is *due to it,* but this *applies *to *society at large as well.*

·        *Do you have* *unreturned property,* for a business or other individual?

·        V.8 is saying that we should *have nothing* which *belongs to your neighbour,* except love for him.

Verse 8 puts in a *negative form* what he has *previously expressed positively*: Hence, discharge your obligations to everybody.

Just as *taxes* have a *due date* and *we are not intended to* *pay our entire lifetimes taxes at one time*, *so we are to render* what is due when it is due.

The key to understanding the command in verse 8 is *an understanding of the word “Owe”.*

The word is in the *imperative mood* and hence *a command*.

God is *not calling all borrowing wrong.*

Exodus 22:25, Dt. 15:7-10, Ps. 37:26, Mt. 5:42, Lk 6:35 give the *ability to borrow*.

The connection to understanding the verse lies between verse 7 and 8.

 

It is a *condemnation of the practice* of some who are *ever ready to borrow* but *very slow to repay**.*

It also *expresses the debt* *we owe to our fellowmen.*

*The debt* is a message to be spoken.

The same terms are expressed in *Romans 1:14*

*Rom **1:14*  I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

Paul is saying: Since I have become a Christian, I feel that *I have something which other people need*, I think this *so strongly* that I feel as if I am *in debt to them*.

Its effect on him is do pressing, that he feels he has *no right to withhold it from them*.

He feels they have a claim on him, as it were, and *can make a demand of him.*

Unfortunately this message is *often presented* that *God wants to make you healthy and wealthy.*

*When people buy it*, they later find out that *it was an attempt to make the speaker wealthy.

*

 

But *the real message of God’s stewardship* is *so compelling* and *life changing* that we are in debt to share it.

*What is Debt?*

* *

*Noah Webster*

*Debt*

*DEBT, n. det.

[L.

debitum, contracted.]*

* *

*1.

That which is due from one person to another, whether money, goods, or services; that which one person is bound to pay or perform to another; as the debts of a bankrupt; the debts of a nobleman.

It is a common misfortune or vice to be in debt.*

*synonyms for debt:*

·        to owe, to be obligated, liable, in deficit, in default, insolvent, encumbered, in over one’s head, tied up, out of pocket, in arrears, indigent, paupered, destitute, penniless, needy, lacking, distressed, in difficulty, a deadbeat, having a wolf at your door, living hand to mouth, beggarly, emptied, having seen better days, gone to the dogs, racked and ruined, impoverished, bad off, hard up, beaten down, reduced to ruin, fleeced, stripped, bereft, bereaved, reduced, unable to make ends meet, embarrassed, broke, busted.

* Please turn to 1 Tim.

6*

 

*Debt is a symptom*, *not the root problem*.

*Materialism* *is the root problem*.

(1 Tim.

6:9-10, Luke 12:15) Materialism is seeking happiness through the accumulation of material things.

There is a lie that Satan uses over and over again to lure people away from the life that God desires for them.

It’s the “Happy Meal” lie.

*Buy this and you will be happ*y.

Get rich and your problems will disappear.

It is the *lie that materialism will fill the empty place inside*.

*Pro 22:7*  The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.

*Bumper Sticker*: “I Owe, I Owe, its off to work I go” \\ \\

What does the Bible have to say about *materialism?*

\\ \\ 1Ti 6:9  But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

1Ti 6:10  For *the love of money* is a root of all kinds of evils.

It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and *pierced themselves* with many pangs.

Heb 13:5  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."

Did you catch that *– the love of money* *causes people to wander from the truth* and actually *pierce themselves*.

It is their own fault.

*They think* they’re *going to be happy* if they just get the next thing on their list – *but instead* of receiving happiness they *pierce themselves with many griefs.*

\\ Jesus said this: