"Physical & Financial Capital"

When I first believed in Jesus and started going to church, I was 14, a growing boy with a big appetite. Very food motivated. 

My family didn’t go out to eat much. That wasn’t really a thing. On Friday nights we might go to Kmart and dad would get us all submarine sandwiches from the deli—but you know, calling it a deli is a stretch of the imagination. Once a year, my uncle Edwin would take the family to the Heritage House—which was a smorgasbord. Is that a word people still use? All you can eat piles of comfort food. I don’t know how good it really was but it was one of the most exciting days of the year.

So, imagine my joy the first time I stayed for a church potluck. It was like the Heritage House but with more mysterious casseroles and jello molds. “Lord, is this what heaven will be like?”

I love a good potluck. That probably has something to do with why NewChurch has always had HangTime. 

And, you know, I’m all about the “luck of the pot.” Whatever happens, happens. We have what people bring, and it’s usually enough. Usually.

There have been many weeks when the congregation was bigger and hungrier than the sad little crockpot parade waiting to feed them. And without fail, someone would notice and order a stack of pizzas or a bunch of BBQ to make sure no one left hungry. I love that.

I think this is a pretty good picture of the church.
The church runs on potluck energy.

But the thing about potluck energy: it’s not just about filling our own bellies so we can make it to Sunday nap time. It’s a lot more important than that. What we bring to the table is what makes the work of the church possible. You can’t have deep, life-changing conversations about the Gospel if everyone’s stomach is growling or if we don’t show up in the same physical space to actually be with people. Macaroni and cheese is the gooey infrastructure of the mission.

The ministry of the local church works because people bring what they have. We say it as part of the offering prayer every week, “Lord, bless this offering that it will be enough.” And it always is.

But we need to get something very important straight, right off the bat...
The mission of the church doesn’t start with what we bring.

It starts with what God gave, what God gives.

Before there’s ever a potluck table, there’s an altar. Before we bring anything to God, He already gave everything to us—and continues to give everything to us.

From “in the beginning” and “Let there be light” to the air we breathe and the ability to have faith. It all starts with Him. He gives us His Word. He gives us forgiveness. He gives us His own body and blood. Life and salvation, grace and peace. He feeds us in these holy mysteries. He serves us before we ever serve Him.

He’s where everything begins.

“For by him all things were created” Colossians 1:16

And because that’s true… because God the Father gave Christ the Son who gave Himself for us… Who is

“before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:17

now we can actually talk about what we do—what we bring to the table.

Look at this snapshot of the early church… 

Acts 4:32 says this:

“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.”

Now that’s a glimpse of what the church is supposed to be like. 

I would be encouraged by someone in the church selling some property and giving the money to the church, too. I’ll even call you Barnabus if you want.

This verse makes some people nervous because they’re like, “What! The Bible wants us to be Communists?” Well, no. Nobody forced Barnabus to sell his land and give it to the church. This is the opposite of greed and envy. This is people loving each other and taking care of their church. 

You’d probably think it was a beautiful story if you weren’t worried about where this sermon is going. Ha.

I mean, we all love the idea of generosity… 

Who doesn’t love George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life”? Spends his whole life helping people—literally gives away the money he was going to spend on his honeymoon to help his community.

We love the idea of generosity… until…

Until it comes to our stuff, our time, our homes, our money—all our important things. Then we start having internal board meetings in our head and don’t really want to invite God to the table.

Because, you know, we trust God with our eternity… but maybe not access to our bank account.

Oh man. Nobody wants the preacher to talk about money. “Just stick to Jesus, please.”

I know, I don’t like it either. But Jesus talked about money all the time… so, if you want me to be a faithful pastor, who says what God says, not just what we want to hear, then we have to go there.

Because we all say we want a biblical church. Until the Bible says something we don’t like.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been talking about the five capitals—Spiritual, Relational, Intellectual, then today, Physical, and Financial.
And the big idea is every one of us brings all these things to the table.

Today we’re talking about physical and financial capital.

We throw this Jesus party every week, and being a participating member of the body means stepping up and being part of it, bringing what we need for it, and paying for it.

The mission of the church isn’t to make money but it does cost—it costs time, it costs money, and God has always called His people to be generous. 

Here’s something we might not think of as “physical capital.”

Part of the physical capital we bring to the church… is ourselves.

Our physical presence, it matters. Matter matters. Ha.

We don’t just worship God spiritually—God created a physical world and we’re physical creatures. So, carving out this time. Driving to this location. Sitting in a seat. Next to other physical people. Singing out loud with our voices. Shaking hands. Hugging people. Greeting guests who walk in wondering if they even belong here. The very important physical aspects of weekly worship.

In a world where we can watch a sermon in our pajamas while eating Fruity Pebbles in bed—making the bold choice to put your physical body in a chair next to a real human being is a massive investment. Your smile, your handshake, your 'how are you doing?' …all the little interactions you have with people—you are the hardware the Holy Spirit uses to run the software of the Gospel.

God uses actual people, in actual bodies, in actual space, to do His work. 

That’s the most important thing we bring.

Now, for everybody’s favorite part. Financial capital. 

We all see a lot of trolls slamming the church, saying all preachers want is your money. That it’s all about greed. That when they talk about the tithe, it’s a lie. 

So, let’s open the Bible and see what it says. 

In the Old Testament, God’s people were commanded to give a tithe—a tenth—as part of their worship. He was very serious about it… in Malachi, God confronted the people because they had stopped giving, and He says something really strong. He says, “When you don’t tithe, you are robbing me.”

That’s pretty heavy.

And then He says something He doesn’t say anywhere else about anything. He says, “Put me to the test, says the LORD, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”

A lot of greedy preachers have milked this verse to squeeze every dime out of their people. So, let’s be careful not to misunderstand what it’s saying… 

This isn’t God setting up a transactional agreement. He’s not saying, “Give me ten percent, and I’ll give you an ROI like you’ve never seen.” This is not a divine investment strategy. Put in a quarter and get back a dollar.

This is God calling His people to trust Him. 

“Be faithful in giving as part of your worship and see how I will take care of you.”

Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament, and then in the New Testament, it doesn’t say anywhere, “You better give 10% or else.” Instead, we are invited into something deeper—sacrificial giving flowing from faith. 2nd Corinthians 9:7 says…

“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:7

Not to earn anything. Not under threat. Not to get God’s blessing but because we already have it. Like when some new tech comes out and I’m like, “Take my money please!”

So, are we supposed to tithe or not? Okay, here we go… 

The first mention of the tithe is long before the Law, long before the nation of Israel. Abraham was victorious in battle, so as part of his thankful worship to God, he paid ten percent of what he won in battle to the priest king of Salem. His name was Melchizedek.

We don’t know a lot about this priest king. It says he was Priest of the Most High God. He surprises Abraham by bringing out bread and wine. He blesses Abraham by saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And then Abraham responds by giving him a tenth of everything. No command. No pressure. Just a response.

And that would just be an interesting, weird little story except…

Salem is a really old name for Jerusalem—and New Jerusalem.
And the Book of Hebrews makes a big deal out of quoting Psalm 110 where it says the Messiah is a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.

So, He’s priest and king… like Jesus.
He offers bread and wine, a foretaste of the Lord’s Supper.
He blesses Abraham before Abraham gives anything—this is huge!
And then Abraham responds to all that by giving a tithe.

So, when “Jesus is our High Priest in the order of Melchizedek” and one of the only things we know about him is Abraham gave him an offering of ten percent. I think it’s pretty hard to ignore the example.

Also, the New Testament doesn’t specifically cancel the tithe, Jesus affirmed it in Matthew 23:23 when He said to the Pharisees,

“You guys are so careful to tithe on your mint and cumin but then you completely ignore everything God said about justice, mercy and faithfulness”

—basically, “it’s good that you give ten percent of your spices but you should do the more important things, too.”

Anyway, putting this all together… if you hear anything today about giving, don’t hear some soul crushing commandment to give ten percent or God will be mad at you. That’s not the point. Hear an invitation to trust God. 

I would encourage you to pray about this, though. Maybe it’s time for some of us to see what it might look like to multiply our paycheck by something closer to ten percent. Most of us don’t come anywhere near that. It might be time to stop treating the offering like a tip we only pay if we show up and get good service. 

Luther said, “There are three conversions necessary: the conversion of the heart, mind, and purse.” In other words, the last thing most people surrender to God is their wallet.

Because the Gospel changes the way we should think about everything.

Jesus didn’t save you in an abstract way. He came to earth physically. He lived physically. He fed people with real food. He touched people and healed them. He came to serve.

And then He gave physically in the most ultimate way.

His body. His blood. His life. He truly and physically died on a real cross.

He held nothing back.

He still doesn’t.. 

When you show up to a worship service, it’s Jesus who serves you. He gives to you. Through His Word. Through the water of baptism. Through the bread and wine of Communion. Through the mouth of a minister speaking forgiveness to you. That’s what happens in worship, God gives you what you need—and then you respond. With gratitude. With praise.

Everything you need, today and every day—all your daily bread. Everything you need for life and salvation.

We don’t give to God so He will accept us. We give because we’re already accepted.
We’re not bribing Him so He’ll give us more.
We respond for what He’s already given, and what He promises to give.

We’re not supposed to have a scarcity mindset. Always worried if there’s going to be enough.

Our security isn’t supposed to be in our money. Our trust is in God so we can be free to use what God gives us for the good of others.

Kim and I were watching a show a couple weeks ago and someone told this story…

They said… There was a village where everyone was given a velvet bag on the day they were born. Their land was full of hidden jewels, and over the course of their lives, they’d go out and collect them.

The jewels were how they paid for everything—food, shelter, whatever they needed.

But the goal wasn’t to die with a giant collection of treasure.

The sign of a truly great life… was to be buried with an empty, worn-out velvet bag.

Because that meant you had used what you needed—and then gave the rest away to help others.

A pretty good picture of the Christian life. Because God’s the one who hid all those jewels for us to find. Then He gave us His word so we’d know what to do with them. 

But most of us spend all our time trying to keep the bag full.

Not because we’re greedy—
mostly because we’re scared.

“What if we don’t have enough?”
“What if we need it later?”

Life has taught us scarcity—bills, job loss, uncertainty. But God is always reminding us to remember His faithfulness, to be like children who know their Father provides.

That we can trust Him to be generous with what He gives us.

So, what might that look like in the church? 

It might look like opening your home for a Bible study or a discipleship group. It might look like bringing food for hangtime. It might look like giving someone a ride to church. Helping someone move something, or fix something, or build something. Some of you are amazing at looking around the church and giving something you know would be helpful. I could stand here and point to one thing after another that was physically donated to this ministry—from the lights and screens, to the camera and computers, the drumset, the keyboard, the actual space we meet in. I could go on and on. What we have at NewChurch is what you, the people of NewChurch, have brought to the table.

That’s the way this works. Everything we have was given to us so we can use it to bless others. It’s part of our vocation—our calling. All these things come together so people can hear the Gospel. What you bring to the table matters.

And I know some of you are thinking, “I don’t have much.”

Do you have a couch? Do you have chips and salsa? Do you have a folding chair from 2003 that’s a little questionable?

Congratulations. You are fully equipped. For something.

God’s not asking you to bring what you don’t have. He’s asking you to bring what you do.

Five Capitals Over these four weeks, we’ve looked at everything on the table. We started with Spiritual Capital—the engine of prayer and the Spirit’s work. We moved to Relational Capital—the bridge of friendship and relationships. Intellectual Capital—the 'Kung Fu' skills God gives us to serve. And today, we wrapped it up with Physical and Financial—the resources that keep the mission moving. None of these exist in a vacuum. If we have money but no Spirit, we’re just a bank. If we have Spirit but no relationships, we’re a cemetery. But what could God do with it if we brought all five? What might that look like?

It might look like a church that is growing—not because we’re trying to manufacture something, but because God is using ordinary people and ordinary things to reach others.

We’d love to see NewChurch grow from about 100 people every Sunday to 140 by next February—not numbers for numbers sake. But because every number represents a person.
A name.
A story.

Remember the movie Apollo 13?

It’s about NASA’s third mission meant to land astronauts on the moon.
About two days in, an oxygen tank explodes. Then the famous line, “Houston, we have a problem.”

Then the movie becomes a survival story. It’s not about landing on the moon anymore, it’s about saving the crew. 

The engineers back on earth literally collect all the parts they have to work with in the spacecraft and lay them out in front of the team. “We have to get them back home, and we have to do it using only what’s on this table.” 

Which is another great picture of the church and our mission. We also have to solve the problem using only what we have on the table. And the only thing we have on the table is what God has given all of us to bring.

I still remember that first church potluck. Walking in as a 14-year-old kid, hungry, awkward, not really sure if I fit in. I wonder what would have happened if there was barely any food? …if everyone was in a hurry and had just gone home? …if the other kids hadn’t invited me to sit with them? …if the youth guy didn’t sit across from me and invite me to come back on Wednesday night. What if there hadn’t been macaroni and cheese or peach cobbler? I don’t know if I would’ve come back. 

But they invited me to the table and shared everything they brought…
All because Jesus had already made a place for me at His…
And it changed my life.