2-14-10 More than just surviving financially

Do you ever think about money? Do you ever worry about it? Do you ever have enough money? We deal with money every day.  Lots of people spend a lot of mental energy thinking about it, dreaming about it, or worrying about it.  People never seem to have enough money no matter how much they have.  There’s something wrong with that picture, don’t you think?

We as a church try to help people sort out the issue of money in a biblical way.  God has a lot to say about money.  Throughout the Bible God gives us wisdom that will help us when it comes to how we think about, save, and spend our money.

God never intended for money to be a burden in our lives.  Instead, he intended it to be a blessing and a resource that we could manage in a way that blesses us and others.

 

In Luke 12:1 Jesus is teaching his disciples about money, but a very large crowd is listening also.

Jesus was very frequently talking about money and about possessions.  You and I might not think of money as a spiritual issue, but Jesus did. You and I may not think about how we think about money, how we spend it, and how we save it to be a spiritual issue, but Jesus did. You many not think that how you spend or save your money or how you think about money could ever affect your relationship with God, but Jesus did. Jesus thought the topic of money was a deeply spiritual issue.

Even in Jesus day two thousand years ago before Wall Street, Blue Chips, Ira’s, and Tech stocks Jesus was teaching about money.   He understood the significance of money and possessions. He understood the driving influence that it had in people’s lives.   

He understood that possessions and money were often at the top of what people thought about and how it influenced people’s life decisions.  In fact Jesus coupled the significance of possessions with the meaning of life like no other teacher had ever done. Jesus said this in Matthew 6:21

For where your treasure is – where your money is, where your possessions are, there your heart will be also.

 

The spiritual condition of our life is directly related to how we spend our money and the attitude that we spend it with.  He said that how we handle our money has a direct bearing on the condition of our heart.  Get this: Our heart and our money is inseparably linked.

 

Our money and our heart are like the steering wheel on our car and the wheels that it turns. If we turn the wheel to the right, the wheels on the car turn to the right. They are linked. The direction the steering wheel turns is the same direction the wheels of the car turn. For where your treasure is there your heart will be also.

Most religious teachers in Jesus day regarded the topic of money as a worldly topic.  It was a topic that really had no relation to God and to spirituality.  Spirituality and money existed in two separate worlds – they never came together, but not in the mind of Jesus.  In the mind of Jesus, the spiritual condition of a persons heart had everything to do with money – no other religious teacher in Jesus day made such a connection.

That’s the reason Jesus talked about money so much.  His desire was for people to be free.  His desire was for them to live a life of joy and freedom. He knew that one of the greatest restrictive factors of how much joy people have is directly related to how they think and how they spend their money. 

Sometimes Jesus used money as an illustration.  Sometimes he talked about money in the context of worry.  Sometimes he talked about money in the context of social justice. Sometimes he talked about the power of money and sometimes he talked about the temporary nature of money. But whatever the case, Jesus was always talking about money.

Luke 12:13  Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 

 

He says to Jesus, “I am having an argument with my brother about dividing the inheritance.”  Apparently the father had passed away and there was an inheritance.  This guy felt that he rightly deserved a portion of the inheritance but he was frustrated because his brother wasn’t dividing it as he thought necessary.

It is not a bad request.  On the surface it seems like a very legitimate request, and in Jesus’ culture, people always asked Rabbi’s or teachers – that’s what a Rabbi was – He was a spiritual teacher. It was normal for a person to ask a Rabbi a question, but this guy if you will notice, doesn’t ask Jesus a question, he tells him what to do, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 

To this man, it wasn’t a matter of right or wrong, he knew he was right and his brother was wrong. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind. And anyone acquainted with Jesus understood that he would be the guy to ask.  Jesus understood money; he was always talking about it. 

Besides that Jesus was always concerned with justice.  He was concerned with right and wrong in society.  He was concerned about the poor.  He was concerned about those who were unjustly treated.  Jesus had expertise in this area and he cared about these sorts of issues. But notice Jesus’ response in Luke 12:14:

 

 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 

 

Jesus responds to this guy rather abruptly.  He responds in a way that seems to be out of character.  He says, “This is not my role.  What responsibility do I have to be a judge between you and your brother with whom you have this conflict?”

Where does that come from?  It seems so out of character.  Jesus was always making judgment calls.  Jesus was never judgmental, but he was always making judgment calls, so what’s up with this kind of response?  Why does Jesus respond this way? 

He responds this way because he understands what is going on in the man’s heart.  He understands that his underlying motivation for having Jesus settle the money problem is not primarily a concern for justice – Jesus is concerned about that. This man’s underlying motivation is that this man’s heart is wrapped around money. 

Here is what Jesus is essentially saying to this guy.  “I can’t help you solve the money issue because right now that is not the real issue in your life.  You think the greatest obstacle for your life right now is this debate that you have with your brother over a financial issue.  But that is not your greatest obstacle.”

One of our greatest tendencies is to come to God and say, “God, bail me out of this financial hardship; God, if I only could reach the next income level I would be content; God, if only you would make the market move forward instead of backward, life would be OK and then I would really believe in you.”

We have a tendency to say those sorts of things to God.  “God, if you would just solve my financial crisis then I would know that you are for real.”  

I don’t sense that this guy came inappropriately to Jesus.  He came with a good honest request, but Jesus read his life and said something needs to happen here before the request that you are making can be addressed.

Jesus then turns away from the man and addresses the crowd and says,

 

 “Watch out!  Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a person’s life does not consist in the abundance of his or her possessions.” Luke 12:15

 

Jesus says, “Watch out.  Be on your guard.”  Be on your guard against the desire to always want more stuff.  Be careful about that because it will quickly take over your life.” This is not an obvious process.  The danger is that greed and the desire for more takes over our lives and we are blinded to it.  We can’t perceive it.  We become numb to it. 

The only paradigm that we have in our culture is the paradigm of upward mobility.  The only paradigm we operate under is making more, owning more and having more.  Jesus says be careful that you don’t fall into that paradigm.  You fall into it not by leaps and bounds but by subtle steps. 

Let me ask you a question. How would you answer this question: “My life would be better if we or I could afford _____________.  If we only made X number of dollars more life would be so much better.

Greed creeps in subtly.  Let me ask you a question.  Has greed been subtly growing in your life?  Is there some danger in your life of becoming too focused on possessions and material success?

Greed is a heart issue and it can quickly take over your prayer life.  “God, I need this and I need that.  God, could you please provide this for me?”  There is often a correlation between your prayer life and your possessions?  Are you sensing any danger of becoming too focused on possessions and on what you have and how much you own?

 

Possessions fool us into thinking that if we have a lot we matter a lot.  The more we have the more we mater.  The more we own, the bigger our investment portfolio, the more earning power we have — that means that we are worth more.  If I don’t have much, it must mean that I’m not much. We often tie our financial value to our personal value.

We feel more significant when we have wealth. Possessions deceive us in this way.

Jesus provides a parable in Luke 12:16-21 to teach us about these things. Look at this parable with me. It expresses the subtle dangers that come with focusing on possessions.  It expresses how we can become self-deceived when it comes to possessions.

The Bible says that at the very core of who we are, we were created with a non-material being – a spirit, a soul.   That is a central part of who we are.  And yet we can get to the point where we forget that who we are on the inside of us is far more important than the kind of stuff we can afford or how much money we have.  There really is more to life than being able to afford more pleasures and accumulate more possessions.   But unless we do a reality check once in a while we can get fooled into thinking that what we own is who we are.  We can be fooled into thinking that enjoying more of life’s pleasures will give us more peace and joy, but peace and joy come first on the inside, not from our stuff. Stuff might give temporary joy, but it fades so quick and then we move on to the next purchase, and the next, and the next, trying to fill the emptiness inside of us.

Be realistic about what you own. God said to the man who kept acquiring more and more,

You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you.  Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” Luke 12:20

The fact of the matter is that everything that has your name on it actually belongs to God.  He owns it all, you have just been entrusted with it for a period of time and that time will come to an end.

One time, God was upset at the heart with which people were sacrificing burnt offerings to him and he said, If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. Psalms 50:12 (NIV)

God says that he owns the whole world and everything in it. You might respond to that and say, “Hold on! Not so fast!  I worked for everything I have.  I put in my time.  I earn my paycheck.  The stuff that I have didn’t fall out of the sky.  I earned it.”

You did work hard and you did put in your time, but the greater question is, “Who gave you the body to get out of bed and go to work?  Who arranged for you to be born in this particular country with the opportunities that it offers?  Who gave you a functioning brain that works efficiently and effectively?  Who blessed you with certain skills that enable you to be productive?  Where did that all come from?”  The fact of the matter is that it came from God. Without God, the universe wouldn’t even exist for us to be able to make money!  Everything that is, ultimately is God’s and that even includes the money in our bank account.  It is all his.

Our ownership is an allusion.  We don’t keep what we own.  We have to have that understanding about possessions or how we handle money and possessions will be flawed.

Do you know what that means?  It means that we will never be able to manage money and possessions well unless we first understand that it is God’s and not ours.

The amount doesn’t matter.  You may say, “I don’t have lots of money, so this is really not a problem for me.  The fact of the matter is that whatever you have belongs ultimately to God. People often think – well when I am richer than most other people then it will be natural to see that all I have is God’s.  But that is not how it works.  Everything we have right now – whether it is a little or whether it is a lot – belongs to God.

Suppose I came to you and I said, “I have 10 million dollars sitting in an account.  I am going to put your name on the account and I am going to give you access to it.  It is still my money, but I am allowing it to be used and spent at your discretion. I want you to enjoy some of it.  I want you to enjoy things that you have not been able to do before; I want you to have a nice house with it but I also want you to be wise with it.  In fact, in five years I am going to ask for a complete accounting of how every dollar was used and all the assets will become completely my own but for five years you get to enjoy it and manage it. 

Do you think that would have an impact on how you utilized the 10 million?  I think it would have a great impact and I don’t think they would brag to their friends too often that the money was totally theirs because they know it isn’t.  They know it is my money but they have simply been given the privilege of managing it and using it to meet their needs.  I would hope that they would enjoy it but I would also hope that they would have a sense of wisdom in spending it and investing it. 

That is the directive that God gives here.  He says it is very shortsighted to think of your possessions as your own.  It is a foolish decision and it is foolish because it doesn’t really belong to you.  It belongs to God.

The second thing is that we need to be realistic about what owns us.  Not what we own, but what owns us. We also have been given the decision to either acknowledged who the rightful owner of everything that we have is or to be deceived into believing that it is all ours.

In this area of life, the Bible presents an incredible plan. The Bible says that God sent Jesus to earth to die for our sins, so that your soul – the essence of your life – could belong to him. 

If you want to be self-owned God gives you that option.  He grants you the freedom to make that decision.  But how much sense does that make?  How much sense does it make to be self-owned when God himself gave you life – gave you the breath for living today.  If you are self –owned the Bible says that God gives you the privilege of being on your own.

But here is the irony of this.  If you are self-owned you will still enjoy plenty of God’s blessings in this life.  You will be able to enjoy the gift of living another morning and the beauty of another day because God is still extending his kindness to you even though you are self-owned. 

But here is the deal with this.  The Bible says that once you die your decision of self-ownership becomes final and you are forever removed from God’s presence and from all the benefits that God has blessed you with.  The full effect of your self-ownership kicks in only after you die because at that point you are totally removed from God’s presence.  The Bible says that is a terrible thing.  It says eternal separation from the owner of your life leads to eternal suffering.

But God offers to become your owner.  He really is anyway, but since God doesn’t want to force his love on you, he gives you a decision. Through Christ you can become God’s child.  You can turn over your life to God so that you become fully his or you can go your own way.

So there you have it.  The Bible doesn’t treat money as a dirty issue that is outside the realm of God’s interest.  Instead the Bible deals directly with the topic of money and says that it has everything to do with the spiritual condition of our lives.  It is a window to our soul.  It sheds light on who we are.

And the Bible also says that we better think through our relationship with our money with great diligence because the whole area can be very deceptive and it can subtly take over our lives. 

And then the Bible says that the most important thing is that we belong to God.  The most important thing is that we become God’s child because having that relationship with him will last forever.