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January 18 & 19, 2014
Chutes and Ladders: God or Money? Aaron Brockett | Matthew 6:19-34
Alright. Good to see you today. If you have a Bible go ahead and grab it and find Matthew 6:19-‐34. That’s going to be our passage this morning. And, can I just go ahead and get this off my chest. I’m really tired of the phrase “inclement weather”. I don’t know if any of you are with me in that. The snow is beautiful, it is time to go. I don’t know if any of you are with me there? The people down front are. We are starting a new, three-‐week series of messages today which is a bit of what I might call a breather series considering that we were in Hebrews for about 16 weeks or so. This series is called CHUTES AND LADDERS and I’ll explain what we mean by that here in a minute. Let me just give you a very brief overview of where we are headed in 2014. The series after this we’re going to do a 10 week series called WHAT SHOULD I LOOK FOR IN A CHURCH. We’re going to examine that question through the lens of Scripture and talk about the Gospel, talk about the mission, preaching, theology, worship, and service. And really, what I want to do in that series is to redial and recalibrate our focus, as a church, on what the Bride of Christ should be. And maybe for some of us, through that series, nurse us back to health in that area. And this series might become a basis for our membership curriculum. That series will lead us up to Easter. On Easter we’ll be talking about the Resurrection – that’s right – just seeing if you are with me, alright? That’s what we’re going to be talking about. Be praying that friends and family will come that day. I really – just a no frills message – unpacking what the Gospel message is, so bring friends and family. We will do another baptism weekend on that particular day. Then, out of that we’re going to do an eight week series in the Book of Colossians. In the summer we’re going to be in Proverbs. In the fall we’re going to start the Gospel of John. And the Gospel of John will take us through Easter of 2015 with a few little breaks in there. But I can’t imagine ending a series better than on the Resurrection in 2015. So, I’m a planner. I’m a planner. That’s where we are headed. But today we’re in a bit of a breather series called CHUTES AND LADDERS. Our passage is Matthew 6:19-‐ 34, which is the very tail end of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. And if you are not familiar with the Sermon on the Mount, it is a sermon in which Jesus preached to those in the First Century in which He hits multiple points – it’s like a 25 point sermon. And He just preaches through this and if you are not really down with being confronted or challenged, then the Sermon on the Mount is probably not for you because it’s hard hitting, it’s direct, it’s convicting. But here’s what I love about Jesus’ preaching and teaching. It’s bold, and it confronts us, and it makes us feel uncomfortable. And yet at the same time we are strangely encourage by it. Have you ever had that experience? Whether you’ve read something or you’ve listened to a sermon and you are like, “I shouldn’t like this but I kind of do. This is kind of uncomfortable, it’s convicting me, it’s cornering me and
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Chutes and Ladders: God or Money?
January 18 & 19, 2014
yet at the same time I don’t feel crushed but it – I feel encouraged and lifted up by it.” Jesus is a master at that. So, Jesus is going through the Sermon on the Mount. The tail end of this message, what I want to focus in on in our time today that will set the pace for these three weeks together, is that He focuses upon two issues that affect every single person in this room regardless of what you believe, where you are with God, what is your age, what you do for a living, or if you are married or single. And the two issues are worry and money. Those two things go together like cookies and milk. They are like riding a tandem bike together. I didn’t think you’d get that. They are – just imagine it with me if you would – it’s like peanut butter and chocolate. I would give you more analogies but I’d just be belaboring the point. These two things go together. If you’ve got one you’ve most likely got the other. Worry and money are linked together at the hip. And Jesus knows this. That’s why when He teaches on one of these subjects – always the other creeps itself in through the side door. And that’s what He’s going to do here in Matthew 6:19-‐34. What I want to do is I just want to read the passage for us without any comments because I want you to hear, clearly, God’s Word and then I’ll convolute it later. My biggest prayer is that I won’t get in the way of this. So, I want you to hear this – one of my biggest goals in preaching isn’t just to hold your attention, or to give you information but to give you the eyes and the ability to read the Bible on your own. And so, I don’t know how to do that without reading the Bible. Matthew 6:19-‐34. Pay attention with me. Follow along, because I’m going to ask you to repeat with me out loud maybe a word or a couple of phrases. So you don’t want to get caught snoozing. Verse 19, Jesus says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Let’s just say verse 21 out loud together, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” Let’s read the last part of this out loud together, “You cannot serve God and money.” Verse 25, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil or spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But If God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or “What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.”
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Chutes and Ladders: God or Money?
January 18 & 19, 2014
Let’s say verse 33 out loud together, “But seek fist the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” That is God’s word. Let me pray for us. Father, thank You so much for this Word that I know, speaking for me, I desperately need to hear because not a day goes by that the issue of worry, or the issue of money is not something that I wrestle with and that is right in front of me. I’m just trusting in faith that others in this room share that struggle right along with me. And so I pray that we would hear from You clearly what it is that You want us to hear and to know. We ask this in Jesus’ name and the church says, Amen. My kids, one of their favorite things to do is to go to the park and one of their favorite things to do at the park is the slide – loves the slide. Yet, one of the things that I’ve noticed, especially when they were younger is that they enjoyed the slide way more than the process of getting to the top of the slide. That’s kind of a given. If you think about it, it is necessary for you to climb the ladder to go down the slide. But, it’s not nearly as much fun. I don’t know that ever, when we were going home, my kids were like, “Daddy, we had so much fun on the ladder. That was so much fun, Daddy.” But, they actually spent more time on the ladder. The ladder takes greater concentration, the ladder takes greater effort. It takes longer to get up the ladder than it does to go down the chute – than it takes to go down the slide. The slide takes no effort at all – you just put yourself on it and you get carried away. The momentum takes you down the slide. And I think that when Scripture speaks of earthly treasure – which is much more than just money, but the things that we value, the things that we put our trust in and find security in. When the Scripture speaks of earthly treasure it consistently warns us of the chutes of fear and anxiety and self-‐indulgence and it urges us to climb the ladders of joy, contentment, and generosity – but which is more fun? Which is easier? Where do we find ourselves sliding into more times than not? We find ourselves sliding into worry, and concern, and anxiety. I thought it was so providential last week, as we concluded the Hebrews series from chapter 13, if you were here you might remember that the author was hitting a bunch of subjects to fully equip us in Christ so that we could endure, and one of the things he said in verse 5 was keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for I will never leave you. Now, we had CHUTES AND LADDERS planned – because I’m a planner – months ago. And yet I didn’t closely study 13 until last week. And as I was studying it I was like, “Whoa,” because what we are doing in this three week series is to basically take that statement and really form it into a question, “How do I practically keep my life free from the love of money? I hear what you are saying but what does that look like in my real life?” And maybe the question for you is, “Why would I want to do that? Why would I want to keep my life free from the love of money?” And yet, what the sermon on the mount is – at a practical level – is here’s what the Gospel looks like in real life. Here’s what your beliefs look like when you put them into action. And Jesus finds it fit to address this particular subject. Now, let me just say very briefly that I acknowledge the fact that addressing the subject of money in church is about as popular as trying to sell cheeseburgers at a vegetarian convention. I know that – just by the awkward tension in the room – I can feel your body language and energy coming at me like, “What’s he going to say? What’s he going to plead for?” And I get it. Intellectual materials are the property of Traders Point Christian Church. All rights reserved.
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Chutes and Ladders: God or Money?
January 18 & 19, 2014
I love this quote from Martin Luther – one of our early church fathers and a great reformer. This is what he said about the subject of money. He said, “When it comes to what the Bible teaches about money, two terrible plagues arise. False preachers who corrupt the teaching and internal worry that obstructs the teaching.” Do you hear what he’s saying there? That the Bible has a lot to say about the subject of money and what convolutes us from truly hearing it is a preacher who has false motives for it and corrupts the preaching. Or, our internal insecurities, and fears, and worries obstruct the teaching. So, what we need to do is always approach this subject in such a way that I would say to you that I’m going to do my absolute best to teach this in such a way that I would not corrupt it if you won’t obstruct it. Can we make a deal on that? Just to say, “God, this is far too important for us to overlook.” And here’s the reason why. I cannot think of a more applicable issue than the subject of money that hits every single one of us. Last week I hit a bunch of subjects, some of them applied to you more than others. Some of them maybe didn’t apply to you at all. Not this one. This one – it doesn’t matter how old you are, or how young you are, or how well off you are, or how little you have, we all think about the issue of money and it is our number one stress or source of anxiety in our lives. And if that’s not true for you, your spouse probably does the bookkeeping. Just guessing. Some of you thought that was funny. This is the number one issue that gets all tied up in knots. And maybe the more pertinent part of this issue is that the Bible addressed this subject far too often for me to ignore. It would be awkward if I didn’t address it. Roughly 25 percent of the Gospels teach on this subject of managing earthly treasures. It was the subject that Jesus taught more than any other. Not because He was trying to get more, because He didn’t have anything. Jesus addresses the subject of money so often, I believe for this reason, that money and the way we think about money either enhances or diminishes our relationship with the Lord. I said this last week. In pastoral counseling there are a number of issues that arise but nine times out of 10 the root of those issues always makes its way back to either relationships or money. We always get tripped up in this and Jesus does not want us worshiping our wealth but to worship with our wealth. Money makes a fantastic servant, it’s a horrible master. And so we can get wrapped up in this and I think that is why Jesus teaches on the subject so much. So, here’s what I want to do. First of all let me just say this. If you’re a guest with us, I don’t want you to give a dime. If you’re not a Christian, I don’t want you to give a dime. If you are internally wrestling with this thinking that you’re agitated with this – don’t give. We’re not taking a special offering, we’re not filling out a card – just take all of that off the table so that we can hear what the Bible teaches in a clear, objective way because I don’t know about you man, I need this. There are four things that Jesus says in this passage and I want to unpack them for us in our time together. Here they are – then I’ll walk through them. Money has power over us. Isn’t that true? If you don’t like the word power, then interchange it for money has influence over us, money sways us, or money affects us. So, we want to look at how does Intellectual materials are the property of Traders Point Christian Church. All rights reserved.
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Chutes and Ladders: God or Money?
January 18 & 19, 2014
money have power over us? Why does money have power over us? And finally, how do we break the power? How do we break the power? That’s what we want to look at. Money is a big part of all of our lives and it’s not a bad thing to have it but when it becomes too important in our lives then it has unnecessary power over us. I was reading a poll not long ago where they asked people what they would be willing to do for a million dollars. What would you be willing to do for a million dollars? And in the poll this is what they said: 42 percent said that they’d be willing to spend time in jail, never see their best friend again – depends on the best friend I suppose – move permanently to a foreign county, and here’s where it goes dark – throw their pet off a cliff. I don’t know what they are thinking but apparently they would throw their pet off a cliff for a million dollars. Money has significant power and influence over our lives. And this is the point that Jesus is making in verses 19-‐21 of the passage that we just read. What He says there is don’t lay-‐up treasures on earth but lay up treasure in Heaven. Does that confuse any of you? You read some of that and you’re like, I don’t understand exactly what that means. Is Jesus against savings accounts? Is Jesus against 401Ks and retirement plans? Is that what He is saying? Let me just say as clearly as I can that is not what He is saying – in fact the Bible teaches in Proverbs 13:22 that a good man will leave an inheritance for his children’s children. Now, just do the math on that – that’s a considerable amount of money. Because it costs you – what do the studies say like 1.5 billion dollars per child from zero to 18? I don’t know what it is – but it costs you a lot of money to raise a child from zero to 18 – I’ve got four of them. The math doesn’t even work. Now it says not only your kids but your kid’s kids. Your grandkids. So that takes a considerable amount of planning. That takes a considerable amount of money. And the Bible says you’re a good man, you’re a good woman, if you leave an inheritance for your children’s children. Okay, so that’s out. Jesus is saying – the word treasure is key – we’re going to hone in on that. Jesus says, “Don’t lay up treasure for yourselves,” and then right away He knew that you’d ask that question because He gives two practical responses. Look at your Bibles. What are they? He says don’t lay-‐up treasure for heaven because number one, it will wear out and go out of style or it will be stolen. Isn’t that true? At the most practical level that is true. So what He is saying is, treasure is what you base your ultimate worth and value in. Treasure goes beyond just money. Treasure is anything that you look at and say, “If I had that it would all be worth it. If I had that then I would be complete. If I had that then I could finally sleep at night.” So He says all those things are going to go out of style, they’re going to wear out – have you ever just gone through your closet? Here’s what I mean. When I bought that in the department store it looked so good under those lights and now it’s like it’s faded, it’s not even in style anymore. As soon as you walk out of Best Buy there’s a new one. You just walk out immediately and it needs an update, it goes out of style – this is the point that Jesus is making. Not only that – it could be taken from you. It could be stolen. Have any of you ever had anything stolen? Just that feeling of anger and resentment and vulnerability – especially if the thing can’t be replaced. All Jesus is saying is, don’t just stockpile things and put your trust in them when they can wear out and they can be taken away from you. It’s all temporary. It will all wear out in our lives. And so He says lay up treasure in Heaven which, I don’t know about you, but I always want to know practically what does that mean. How do I lay up treasure in Heaven? Do I pack up a box and take it to Fed-‐X and mark Heaven? Intellectual materials are the property of Traders Point Christian Church. All rights reserved.
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Chutes and Ladders: God or Money?
January 18 & 19, 2014
Just send that on ahead. Make out a check that says to Heaven from me God so that you know and send it up to Heaven? Is that what you do? I believe that 1 Timothy 6:17-‐19 gives us the most succinct answer for laying up treasure in Heaven. Paul is writing to a young pastor named Timothy and he says this, “As for the rich in the present age,” by the way, that means you. None of us think of ourselves as rich but we’ve talked about this before. If you live in a western world, if you make more than $30,000 a year, if you have a roof over your head, a refrigerator with food in it, and a closet with at least one extra pair of clothing – you are among the wealthiest in the world, not only in this time period but across all of history. So, he’s saying this to us, “As for the rich in the present age, charge them not to be haughty,” that is to put more confidence in it that than what it is worth, “nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches,” any of you setting your hopes on riches? Setting your hope on a savings plan, setting your hope on retirement, “but on God, who” now notice the play on words here. I think it’s fascinating, “God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.” Some of you have been taught to believe that you should feel guilty if you have much, or that you should feel guilty if you enjoy what wealth has provided you. And here it says that, like a loving father He has given us things, not just to meet needs, not just to meet the essentials, not just to meet the needs of others and expand His kingdom. But God also wants us to enjoy them. “They are to do good, to be rich” right there the Bible commands us to be rich, but then tells us what that means, “in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future,” in other words – lay up treasure in Heaven, he just gave us the description, “so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” Here’s what Jesus is saying. When you treasure something you’re saying if I had that it would be worth it and then I would be worth it. If I had that salary, if I had that house, if I had that money then finally I could rest. I wouldn’t have to worry all of the time. And money has this power over us to make us feel more powerful than we are, or more weak and vulnerable than we truly are. It’s an illusion. Have any of you ever come into a little extra money? Like your grandparents gave you a little gift at Christmas? And all of a sudden you just found yourself relaxing, “Hey, we can go to the Olive Garden now.” If you were not here last week, you did not get that. I’m sorry. Or, how many of you have been hit with an extra bill? You file your taxes and you are like, “Oh, no.” And all of a sudden you feel insecure, and a little bit on edge, and you kind of snap at others because money has this significant power over us. So Jesus says, “Here’s what, on a practical level, you are doing. You’re treasuring. And your heart always follows your treasure.” Always – never the other way around. This is why Jesus says to lay it up in Heaven because He knows that your heart will follow that. Some of you are very cool to the Kingdom of God; indifferent would be the word, because your treasure isn’t there. It’s in the temporary. It’s in what’s right in front of you – what you can see. And so Jesus says, “This thing has significant power over you.” Now, how does it have power over us? And that’s where verses 22 – 23 come into play. Look at your Bibles with me again. He says, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” Now these two verses have sent commentators Intellectual materials are the property of Traders Point Christian Church. All rights reserved.
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Chutes and Ladders: God or Money?
January 18 & 19, 2014
into fits because they don’t know why they are there. They are asking, wasn’t Jesus talking about money? Why is He talking about eyesight now? Why did he just change subjects? He didn’t. He’s using this as an analogy because analogies help us to understand truths. So here’s what Jesus is saying. He saying if your eye is bad then you’re going to run into things. If you’re standing in a room that is full of light – it is fully illuminated but your eye is not functioning properly, if it’s blinded, then it doesn’t matter that your body is standing in the light – you are still surrounded by the darkness. Any of you ever get something in your eye and it obstructs your vision? It just impacts the rest of your body. Our eyes are so important. And consistently the Bible always uses the terms set your heart and fix your eyes – those terms are almost always synonymous. This is the idea that the eye is the gateway to the soul. And so most of what trips us up into sin really begins with our eyes. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 2:10, in all of his wisdom, “I denied myself nothing my eyes saw. Everything my eyes desired – I did not deny myself of it.” And you know what that’s called in our modern vernacular today? Impulse purchase. Followed quickly by buyer’s remorse. Is it not true of you? It’s true of me. Our eyes can talk us into almost anything. Our eyes can talk us into spontaneous expenditures that we did not plan for, or budget for, or really need. We just saw it. That’s what those end caps are for at Target. Right? You went in there to get a loaf of bread and then you went home with an iTunes gift card. It’s just like, “What? Didn’t even need that.” Our eyes can talk us into anything. Over Christmas break we went back and we got together with my mom and dad and my grandparents for Christmas on New Year’s Day – that’s when we did our gift exchange. My dad came into the living room and he sat down next to me and he pulled out something from his little bag and he handed it to me and said, “Hey, check that out.” And it was a flash light, but he said, “Hey, that’s not only a flash light, it’s a stun gun.” And so, he turns it on and he’s like, “Hey, hit that button right there.” And there were these two little blue lines and it was like jzzz – and he was like, “It’s one million volts, man.” I was like, “What do you need this for?” He’s like, “Well, I was in a pawn shop and I was looking around and I go for a walk out where we live, and there are stray animals every now and then, and I just got it because I go for a walk and it’s a little bit of extra protection.” And I was like, “Oh. Okay. That’s a little twisted, Dad, but that’s cool.” Gave it back to him. We got home, it was like our first day home, and I was on the Internet and I was just Googling stun guns. And Lindsay walks in, it’s time to go to bed and she comes in, “Hey, I’m on my way up to bed. Are you on your way up?” And I’m like, “Yeah, I’ll be there in a minute.” She’s like, “What are you looking at?” And I was like, “Stun guns.” She’s like, “You’re only looking at stun guns because your dad has one.” And I was like, “No. I’ve been thinking about this for a while, I go on walks every now and then, been praying about this.” She’s like, “You just saw it the other day.” And I was like, “Yeah, it was an answer to my prayers, alright? Just taking that as affirmation.” There are ladies here who are elbowing their husbands, “You’re not buying a stun gun.” Our eyes can talk us into anything. I think this is part of what Jesus is saying here. If your eyes get full of greed, if your eyes get convoluted – but it’s deeper than that. It’s deeper than that. I think that what Jesus is saying here is that materialism and self-‐indulgence operate in ways in which other sins do not. In this sense materialism is different Intellectual materials are the property of Traders Point Christian Church. All rights reserved.
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Chutes and Ladders: God or Money?
January 18 & 19, 2014
from other sins because materialism blinds us to our own materialism. We just don’t see it in ways that we see other sins. So, when you are lying, you might continue to tell the lie but you’re aware of it. You see it. When you are losing your temper, you might continue to blow your top but you’re aware of it. You know that you’ve messed up. But this is a different sin. When the Bible comes along and says, “Watch out, you might be greedy.” You notice it never says, “Watch out. You might be committing adultery.” It’s like, “Whoa, you’re not my wife.” We never do that, right? It’s not as if you’re blinded to this – materialism is the one sin that blinds you to your own materialism. You’re usually the last to know. All we need to let us off the hook of the sin of indulgence is just one example of somebody else’s extravagance. If we just see one example of somebody else’s extravagance we excuse ourselves from our own because we always compare but we never compare down – we always compare up. So, maybe you go out and it’s time to buy a car and you were looking at a Honda but now you’re like, “Well, I went ahead and sprung a little more and got the Acura that’s fully loaded.” And you go home and you’re starting to feel a little convicted, “I don’t know if I need this much car.” But then your neighbor rolls up in a Lexus and you’re like, “Well, how could they? Clearly they need to hear this sermon.” And then your neighbor in the Lexus is starting to feel a little bit guilty like, “Well, they went with the Acura,” and then their neighbor rolls up in a Mercedes. And they’re like, “Oh, I could have done that but I did this.” And then the person in the Mercedes, their neighbor rolls up in a Bentley and they are eating stupid Dairy Queen because in Zionsville when you buy a Bentley you get a free Blizzard with that – if you are visiting from out of town, we have a Bentley dealership in town right next to a Dairy Queen and a liquor store – alright? So take your pick. Alright? Take your pick. That’s just how we roll on the north side of Indianapolis. Is this not true for you? Man it is so true for me. This is so convicting. That all I need is just somebody else’s example of extravagant living, and it is a sliding scale. What I used to think was a lot of money per year – maybe now I just don’t think is quite as much money per year. What I used to think is a huge house – I don’t think is as much of a huge house because as you continue to move through life and if God blesses you with more, the scale slides. This is why He says, “It’s your heart, it’s the way you see this that is the sin. The desire to be rich. A desire to provide for your own security. And money blinds us to that. So, that’s how. Now why? Why does money have power over us? This is so practical. Verses 25 – 32 and the key word here is anxiety. See, money makes us feel important, makes us feel better, it makes us feel safe – money gives us the illusion that we have control in a world that is uncontrollable. This is why we freaked in 2008 and 2009 when the economy fell apart because at a practical level our lower case “g” god died. The thing that we were basing our sense of security on failed us. And we flipped out. And we could hide this little god behind responsible living but then, when we get stripped of it, it reveals where our heart is. The word “anxiety” is mentioned multiple times in this passage. Jesus is linking worry with money. You’ve got to look at the two together. See, why money is so powerful and why we need to address it Biblically is that money reveals where your heart truly rests. It reveals what you find security in. It reveals what you worship. It reveals your self-‐esteem. And Jesus says to us, hey, don’t worry about this. And then He compares us to the birds of Intellectual materials are the property of Traders Point Christian Church. All rights reserved.
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Chutes and Ladders: God or Money?
January 18 & 19, 2014
the air and the lilies in the field. He’s like, those things are so temporary compared to you, yet God provides for them. And we’re like, wow, that’s just a flower in a field. But in comparison to all of eternity, isn’t your 70, 80, 90 years on this planet not much longer than that? God looks out for them. God clothes them, and God provides for them. He’ll provide for you. And worry is, oftentimes, the culprit that keeps us from generosity and worshipping with our money. Rather we worship our money. I know that for many of us we look at this and say, well, I’ve got a unique set of circumstances that cause me to legitimately worry. And, you know, I don’t want to be trite about this – maybe you do. Maybe you do. But I also want to keep in mind, Jesus’ original audience when He originally said these words. Who was listening to these words when Jesus first preached them? Jesus was not speaking to affluent suburbanites on the north side of Indianapolis. Jesus was speaking to a group of people who would have been incredibly poor for their entire lives which would not have been very long because the average life expectancy was about 30 – 40 years old. Most of them could not read and write. Most of them were lame and sick and had no medicine. Plaques could come along and wipe out a third of the city at a moment’s notice. Many of them were slaves. In other words – they had a lot to worry about. If Jesus were here in the flesh this morning, and I would gladly step aside to let Him take it from here, if He were, and if He were to speak this and He were to teach this to us, I don’t think He’d let up on this. I think He’d hit it even more. Don’t worry about your future – I’ve got this. What worry is is you and me trying, in vain, to fabricate our sense of security. And it is a futile effort. When did worry ever do anything for you? It’s sort of like sitting in a parked car that’s running and you’re revving up the engine while it’s in park, and you’re pushing it all the way to the floor, and you are burning up fuel and energy and putting wear and tear on the engine but you are not going anywhere. That’s what worry is. And it is insulting to your heavenly Father who loves you, and wants to provide for you, and has a broader perspective than you do. Jesus is like, I’m just trying to make a distinction here between who is really in control and who is in charge. We’ve got to go back and lean into the wisdom of Paul once again in 1 Timothy 6:6-‐10. Listen to what he says. Let these words wash over you, “But godliness with contentment is great gain,” that is the Biblical perspective on money in a nut shell. Godliness with contentment, “for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.” This is why U-‐Hauls are not pulled behind hearses, “But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 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.” Just do a Google study on the outcome of people who have won the Lottery. It’s called the Lottery effect. Usually within a year their lives are in complete shambles, “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,” wasn’t that the whole theme of Hebrews? “and pierced themselves with many pangs.” What Jesus is forbidding here is not responsible stewardship in thinking about the future. What Jesus is forbidding here is the stockpiling of abundance without a heart for God that then leads to a hard heartedness. It is a stock piling of abundance beyond what I could ever spend in this life. It is a Intellectual materials are the property of Traders Point Christian Church. All rights reserved.
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Chutes and Ladders: God or Money?
January 18 & 19, 2014
stockpiling in which I put my sense of security in that – and lest I lose you, just look right up here at me. Jesus hates what that does to you. And deep down in the recesses of your soul, you hate what that does to you. Jesus hates it when your possessions end up possessing you. It causes you all sorts of stress, and anxiety, and worry, as this precious life slips through your fingers. So, how can we break free from the power that money has over us? And this is the briefest and the simplest point of the four. And it’s essentially this. It is the power of the Gospel message that frees us from the power that money holds over us. And here is what I mean. We’ve got to be reminded of that word “treasure”. To treasure something means to say, if I had that then life would be worth it and as a result then I would be worth it. If I had this treasure then I could finally have status, then I could finally have significance, then I could finally have some security. And Jesus, here’s the Gospel, Jesus had the ultimate status as the Son of God, He had the ultimate significance as Co-‐creator, He had the ultimate security by being part of the Trinity and yet He laid aside His heavenly robes and He clothed Himself in human flesh. He went from having everything to nothing. He went from being totally secure to being perhaps insecure because He was born into poverty just swinging a hammer and manual labor with His earthly father, Joseph, who was a carpenter. Here’s the Gospel. Jesus gave up all of His treasure to make you His treasure. Jesus gave up His treasure to make you His treasure. 1 Peter 2:9 says that you are God’s possession, a holy priesthood, a royal nation, that He loves you, and that you are worth it. The Gospel is that you are more sinful, and dark, and corrupt than you ever imagined and yet you are more loved, and cared for than you ever dared dream. And if you don’t have both of those in balance it’s not the Gospel. See, it’s the more sinful part that keeps us from getting puffed up and superior, it is the more loved part that keeps us from feeling inferior and vulnerable. Jesus says, you have a need and I have met that need in the cross. Jesus is the most generous. And so the Gospel hasn’t really penetrated us until we begin to understand this and we find our sense of security in the cross and not cash. That’s why any time Biblical preaching on money – if you hear money talked about and it is not connected to the Gospel it always leads to corruption or obstruction, “I’m not going to hear this thing because you’re messing with my idol.” And God says that this is so important for us to get this. And this is the defining, distinguishing characteristic of what it means to be a Christian. It’s to come open-‐handed before the Lord and receive this gift because He has made you His treasure because He gave up all. And with that spirit we just want to spend some part of this service in worship together. I’m going to pray for us and the ushers will come. We always do this, regardless of the subject, where we return our tithes and offerings and we are going to take communion. And I want to ask you that the spirit in the room would be settled. I know that if you’re like me God is working on your heart in this area and there’s some conviction and there’s some legitimate need. So Father, we come to You as we ready ourselves to worship you and to respond to this teaching. And I pray that giving would never be an obligation or done out of manipulation but that it would always be an act of worship, a sense of trusting in You to know that You have provided for us and we don’t want to worship our wealth, we want to worship with it. God if there is anybody in the room whose heart is not settled on this – if they’re feeling a bit more agitated than convicted; I just pray that You would release them of it. They don’t need to give a dime. I don’t want that to intercede with what it is You might do to Intellectual materials are the property of Traders Point Christian Church. All rights reserved.
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Chutes and Ladders: God or Money?
January 18 & 19, 2014
speak into our hearts and minds on this issue. Father, there is somebody here who is very far from You and who needs to respond to the Gospel message, to give their life to You and they never dreamed it would be a sermon on money that would do that. That’s how You work. Money is oftentimes our chief competition with You. And so, may we slay that false god and exalt You upon the throne of our hearts. Do a work in us and among us, God. And start with me. Start with me. We love You and we pray this would be acceptable worship in Your eyes in these following moments together. We ask this in Jesus’ name and the church says, Amen.
Intellectual materials are the property of Traders Point Christian Church. All rights reserved.
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