greed, wealth, a lot, which is in Luke's Gospels where we're going to be in the next month.
One third of his parables are on this topic.
He warns of the dangers and what it looks like to live a life of pervasive generosity.
He wants us to see how the good news of what he has done for us changes everything in our world,
including how we see wealth and possessions.
The second reason is we've just finished our pledging project for Mission Month.
Our vision series, which is our annual pledging time, is six months away,
and we don't have any capital fundraising program on right now.
So that's the reason why we're talking about money.
When there is a sermon or a series of sermons during any sort of fundraising campaign at all,
it's way too easy for us just to think about the thing.
You know, it's the pledging for the next year, the budget for next year,
or raising a target for Mission, or raising money to build buildings.
We focus on the thing we are raising the money for.
When our minds and our hearts engage with the Bible on the issue,
we default to the value of the thing we're raising money for,
rather than the spiritual life and the habits and the values of the gospel of the Lord Jesus calls us to.
We concentrate on the thing of the campaign and not our hearts.
And so this is a deliberate focus on heart work in the next four weeks.
Our perspective on money and possessions and wealth,
how we handle them, lie at the very heart of the Christian life.
Does that sound like an overstatement?
I want to say it's not at all.
The Bible emphatically demonstrates that how we view our money and our possessions is of utmost importance.
What we do with them will influence eternity.
God has recorded in the Bible everything that we need to know about his investment priorities,
his high standards of management,
and the rewards he offers his faithful stewards.
So this sermon series won't be about how to achieve your financial goals.
But it will provide the light in which your financial goals should be evaluated and formulated.
And that's why the central focus of this series is not insurance, but assurance.
It's not securities, but security.
It's not trust funds, but faith.
It's not principle, but principles.
It's not real estate, it's your eternal home.
That's the focus.
You will not find any net worth calculations in the next four weeks,
which we easily mistake for self-worth calculations,
but you will see how God measures your life's worth.
The issue of riches and wealth and money come up again and again as Jesus walks this journey from Jerusalem.
Sorry, he walks the road to Jerusalem on his way to his death for the salvation of humanity.
And as he teaches his disciples again and again and again,
what does it mean to be on the road with him?
What does it mean to be his disciple?
What does it mean to declare him as Lord?
And we find one of these encounters in Luke 18.
Grab your Bibles.
Luke 18.
Young man comes up to Jesus and asks him a question.
In verse 18, it says that the person is a ruler.
And we are told that he's rich in verse 23.
And throughout the centuries, he's been known as the rich young ruler.
Not known by his name, but by all of his classifications.
Rich young ruler.
And with this particular interaction with Jesus,
there are three things that we learn about wealth and money and possessions.
And if you've got one of the outlines, you can follow it along this morning on paper form or in the St. Paul's app.
You'll also find it there and you can take your notes and type them in.
So three things.
First of all, the danger of wealth.
That's the first thing we see.
It's in the middle of the passage.
Verse 24.
Jesus looks right at this young man and he says to him,
how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.
Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.
Now, Jesus is using a metaphor here.
It's what is known as a metaphor of impossibility.
The camel was the biggest land animal that people knew at that time.
And the eye of the needle was the smallest hole that people could imagine at that time.
It's a metaphor of impossibility.
It's the metaphor where we might say they've got a snowball's chance in hell.
Metaphor of impossibility.
No chance whatsoever.
Virtually impossible, it says here, for the rich to get into heaven.
Now, from my Google attempt the other day,
the world's richest person at the moment has a personal fortune of 145.3 billion US dollars.
Amazingly, he's also given less than 1% of his wealth away.
So, you might also call him a greedy man as well, possibly.
Now, I don't appear on that rich list.
I went down the list, and I'm not there anywhere.
I'm not published on any rich list, not even published on the Chatswood rich list.
But when I put my wealth, and I've told you this before,
and you can do exactly the same thing.
You go on a website called Global Rich List,
and I type mine and Nat's combined income, we put it in that rich list.
I'm ranked, or together we are ranked,
in the top 6 million richest people in the world.
The top 6 million people in the world.
That is, we're in the top 0.09% of the world's population when it comes to wealth.
And as a financial advisor said to Nat and I a little while ago,
you're a teacher and you're a pastor.
You're not giving me much to work with here.
When Jesus speaks about rich people, he's talking about me.
He's talking about you.
Even if you are a student in this country, he's talking about you.
And he's saying it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of an eagle
than it is for you and for me to get into his kingdom.
See the reaction of those who were listening to this incident?
Verse 26.
Well, who then can be saved?
Who can be saved?
Izzy, can you get me my water bottle, please?
Sorry, I've had a throat infection this week.
You wouldn't notice it.
But I feel it.
Who can be saved?
You see, the disciples in this moment are confused by the words of Jesus.
Jesus, aren't the rich ones the ones who are particularly blessed by you?
Haven't you particularly blessed them?
That's their cultural thinking.
Jesus responds, what is impossible with men is possible with God.
Now, notice that Jesus didn't say here, what is impossible for rich people.
He says, what is impossible with all people is possible with God.
He's saying that all of salvation is a miracle.
It is impossible that anyone would be saved because as Romans chapter 3 says,
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
It is not possible for anyone to be saved unless God himself intervenes
and does the impossible for us.
But the reason Jesus raised it here with this rich man
is because the same thing that makes salvation impossible for us all
makes it worse when you've got money.
The Old Testament book of Proverbs is primarily concerned
about how to navigate life well in God's world.
It says a lot about money and in particular,
two really important things that it talks about
when it says about the spiritual power of money.
Firstly, it says that money has the spiritual power to distract you
from what really matters in life.
So distracted, we don't have time in fact to ask really the important questions like,
what am I really here for and what am I really attempting to accomplish with my life.
Proverbs 11 verse 4 says,
Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath,
but righteousness delivers from death.
Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath means that money can't help us
when troubles hit us in life.
It does attempt to give us a deep delusion
that if we have enough of it, then we are safe.
It attempts to do that.
But we are not safe from grief and bereavement,
from illness, from disaster.
We are not even safe from financial ruin
when you've got lots of money.
Oh, the irony.
Money can't stop death.
It can't stop tragedy.
It can't stop heartbreak.
And when they come, we're not ready for it.
Money has the power to distract us
from the really important questions of life
and distract us to the point
to delude us into thinking that if we have money,
then these things won't hit us.
They become our security.
They become, in fact, Jesus says, our God.
Secondly, Proverbs says
that money has the ability to distort our self-image.
In Proverbs 30, verses 8 and 9, it says,
Give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much
and disown you and say,
Who is the Lord?
To see a person humbled under prosperity
is the greatest rarity in the world.
Let me just repeat that.
To see a person humbled under prosperity
is the greatest rarity in the world.
Wealth leads to pride.
I read this sometime.
I can't quote who it was,
but I remember reading some time ago
a philosophical paper on wealth
and what it does to you in terms of spiritual pride.
And it's interesting that a person
who's particularly skilled,
like a skilled engineer,
can take pride in the fact
they're a skilled engineer
and they're really good.
For some reason,
that when it comes to wealth,
a person who has become a self-made person,
built their own personal fortune,
has a delusion into thinking
that they are skilled at everything.
An engineer might be skilled in the engineer
and have certain pride in that,
but don't think for a moment
they're a great dentist.
But a person who has built their personal wealth
has for some reason
an inbuilt thing in them,
in their heart,
to lead them to pride in every area of life.
Give you advice on every area of life.
Wealth leads to pride.
And it puts us in a place where we say,
who is God?
Why do I need him?
That's the first point.
Secondly, why wealth is so dangerous.
Let's go back to the beginning of this passage
in Luke 18
and unpack why wealth is so dangerous for us.
So verse 18,
certain ruler asked him,
good teacher,
what must I do to inherit eternal life?
Why do you call me good?
Jesus answered,
no one is good except God alone.
You know the commandments.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not murder.
You shall not steal.
You shall not give false testimony.
Honor your father and your mother.
All of these I've kept since I was a boy,
he said.
Now,
we should be shocked,
first of all,
by Jesus' answer to the question,
what must I do to inherit eternal life?
Jesus says to him,
go and obey the Ten Commandments.
And the implication is,
to Jesus' answer,
well, that's how you get eternal life.
You just obey the Ten Commandments.
This should shock us.
Because immediately before this,
Jesus tells the story
of this parable
and this tax collector,
this parable of the Pharisee and tax collector,
where the
obedient religious man
went home,
not saved.
He was not saved.
And yet the sinner,
the tax collector,
is saved.
And Jesus says,
again and again,
that we cannot save ourselves.
He says it right here.
It's impossible for any person
to save themselves.
So why does he say here,
obey the Ten Commandments?
Why doesn't Jesus just be consistent
to this rich young ruler?
Well,
I'm on my way to Jerusalem,
to Zion a cross,
to pay a ransom,
and to pay the penalty
that you deserve for your sin,
and if you put your trust in me,
you'll have eternal life.
Why doesn't Jesus do that?
I mean,
I could have done that.
That would be consistent
with what Jesus has said elsewhere
in the rest of the New Testament.
But to say,
I've come to die for your sins
would have been incomprehensible
to this young man.
Like the majority of people,
he doesn't think
he's got a problem.
Look at what he says
in verse 21.
I've done all that.
All this I've done.
I've kept them all
since I was a boy.
In other words,
Jesus,
I don't need a rescuer.
I'm a good person.
Might not be perfect,
but I don't need a rescuer.
And so Jesus is just going,
he's just digging deeper
and deeper
into this young man's heart.
Deep down,
he must have some feeling
that something wasn't right.
Something was wrong.
Something was missing.
Otherwise,
why was he there
in front of Jesus
asking this question?
You see,
if we think
that we can get right with God
by being good enough,
we will always feel insecure.
We will always see someone
who's more righteous than us
and we'll always be left
with a question,
have I done enough?
Have I done enough?
Even though
those who project
an image
that they've got it all together
on the outside,
on the inside,
they know better.
And on the inside,
we know better too.
Every single one of us
knows the things
that we have done
and thought
that we could hide,
but we can't even hide them
from our own conscience,
let alone God.
And Jesus is reminding
this young man
that his first
and fundamental problem
that is
that he is in fact
not good.
No mere mortal is,
which is the point
of verse 19.
And so Jesus goes on
just a little bit further
just to push him
to help him to see
where he is not good.
Verse 22,
when Jesus heard this,
he said to him,
you still lack
one thing,
one thing.
Sell everything
that you have,
give it to the poor
and you'll have
treasury in heaven,
then come follow me.
Jesus has never suggested
to anyone else
that the way
to be saved
is to give all
of your money
to the poor.
Never suggested
that to anyone else.
So why here?
He's doing it
because it is
a brilliant strategy
to help this
rich young ruler
to see that
he needs rescuing.
Jesus targets
this man's idol,
the one of his heart.
This is the thing
that he's looking to,
to give him
that only God
can give him.
You see,
money is not just
a mere currency
to him.
It's not just
a tool for him.
It is an identity
scorecard.
It is his security
and his hope.
This is the thing
that is squeezing God
out of his life.
And when Jesus
presses him on it,
he sees he,
in fact,
hasn't obeyed
the commandments
at all.
He is not good
at all.
Jesus pushed him
to give it all up
for the poor.
Give it all up
for God.
Give it all up
and follow me,
he says.
And he couldn't.
Verse 23 says
he became very sad.
He was deeply
grieved.
He was deeply
distressed.
His money
is not just
money to him.
His money
to him
is, well,
just simply
more important.
And he did not
want God
to get in the way
of what was
more important.
He wasn't good.
In fact,
he didn't actually
obey the Ten
Commandments.
He couldn't even
get past
the very first one.
You shall have
no other gods.
You couldn't
even get past
that one.
And when you
break the first
one, you've
broken them all.
His money
was his God.
Money can so
easily become
a pseudo-savior.
Of all the things
that Jesus said,
you cannot serve
both God
and he chose
money.
Could have chosen
anything else,
but he chose
money.
Because he knew
it is the pseudo-savior.
It's the false
savior.
Jesus sets
it up.
There's the
alternative God.
We are devoted
to the one
or the other,
but you can't
have both.
Wealth is
that dangerous.
And so
for two-thirds
of this sermon,
I just wanted
to raise that
issue for us.
Do you
realize how
dangerous
your wealth
is?
Just think
it's important
to raise it,
how dangerous
it is.
Do you
see it
as dangerous
as it
slips through
your fingers
and your
bank accounts?
How do we
escape the
danger?
That's the
third point.
The first
thing,
first thing
here is to
assume that
you're in
denial.
That's the
first thing.
Always assume
you're in
denial.
Jesus is
pretty blunt
because this
rich young
ruler here
was in
denial.
That is
the very
nature of
addiction.
An addiction
will say,
I'm not
addicted,
I don't
have a
problem.
And so
the first
thing here
is to
assume that
we are
all living
in a
Western
materialistic
society
under the
influence.
Assume that
the amount
of money
you think
you need
is more
than what
you really
need.
Let me
just say
that again.
Assume
that the
amount of
money you
think you
need is
more than
you really
need.
And
secondly,
I'll say
this twice
as well,
assume that
the amount
of money you
think you
can give
away is
less than
what you
really can
in fact give
away.
I'll say
it again,
I said I
was going
to assume
also that
the amount
of money you
think you
can give
away is
less than
what you
actually can
give away.
Assume
it.
The Bible
says money
makes us
blind.
That's the
first thing.
Assume
you're in
denial.
The second
thing to
do here
to escape
the danger
of money
and wealth
is to
look to
the rich
young ruler.
Now
why do
that when
the rich
young ruler
walks away
sad and
rejects
Jesus?
Surely
he's not
someone to
follow here.
You're
absolutely
right.
I'm not
referring to
him.
I'm
referring to
the other
rich young
ruler in
this story.
Jesus is
around 30,
32 when
he is
heading to
Jerusalem.
The Bible
says he
existed with
God for
eternity.
He made
everything.
He rules
and sustains
everything by
the power of
his word.
He owns
everything.
Everything
is his.
He left
that aside,
came from
heaven to
identify with
the spiritual
poverty of
the human
race.
He is
on his
way to
Jerusalem
to die
on a
cross
and into
a deeper
poverty
than anyone
else has
ever gone
before.
He will
be stripped
of everything
including
his life.
And 2
Corinthians 8
and 9
puts his
sacrifice on
the cross
for us
in economic
terms.
For you
know the
grace of
our Lord
Jesus Christ
that though
he was
rich,
yet for
your sake
he became
poor,
so that
you through
his poverty
might become
rich.
It's in
those songs
we sang this
morning,
because of
his poverty
we have
everything
in Jesus
already.
Everything
that we
are looking
to money
to give
us
and we
are
labouring
for money
to provide
for us,
security,
identity,
Jesus
gives it
to us
already
as a
gift.
he was
drained
of all
of his
riches
so that
we
through
his
poverty
can
receive
his
riches.
In
Jesus
we get
adoption
into
God's
family,
forgiveness
parted
eternal
life.
It is
the only
wealth
that makes
us truly
secure,
even in
death
and beyond
death.
We need
to look
to the
true
rich
young
ruler
until
we get
weepingly
excited.
Weepingly
excited
over what
he has
achieved
for us
and what
he has
gifted
us.
Look to
the glorious
news of
God's
grace and
his riches
to us
in the
Lord
Jesus
until
it drains
all power
out of
money and
possessions
until
they just
become mere
currency that
goes through
our hands
for the
glory of
God.
Just
money,
that's all
it is.
It's no
longer
eternal
security,
it's no
longer
identity,
it's no
longer
self-esteem,
it's no
longer
comfort.
The third
thing you
do is
to have a
plan to
use your
wealth with
purpose.
To use
it with
eternity
in mind
as
stewards
of
God's
resources.
So,
let me
get
practical.
A few
steps here.
Step
one,
investigate
today what
percentage of
your income
are you giving
away.
How much
goes to
Christian
ministry and
to charity?
Christian
ministry to
help people
out of
spiritual
poverty and
charity to
help people
out of
physical
poverty.
step
two,
if it's
not at
least 10%,
which is
the baseline
commandment in
the scriptures,
work out
how you
could aggressively
move towards
10% in the
second half of
this year.
Step
three,
figure out
what sacrifices
you are going
to make in
order to take
that step.
Number
two,
what are you
going to stop
doing?
If you
don't need to
make sacrifices
in order to
give away 10%
and the reality
is 10% is not
your benchmark,
you need to
go higher.
You need to
keep working
higher.
Sacrificial
giving is not
about percentage,
it's when our
standard of
living changes
in such a
way that we
feel loss.
That's
sacrificial
giving.
That's radical
generosity.
It's when
our giving
changes,
our standard
of living
changes in
order for us
to feel
loss as
we give.
That's
sacrificial
giving.
Just let
me add
what Jesus
says at the
end of these
verses.
Having seen
the rich young
man walk
away sad,
Peter pipes
in and says,
hey, we
have left
everything to
follow you.
In other
words, we're
not like
him, we've
given up
everything,
Jesus.
Do we
get eternal
life?
And Jesus
reassures the
disciples that
though they
may have
sacrificed many
things, they
have left
many things.
They will
not fail to
receive many
more blessings
now and
forever.
Truly I
tell you,
Jesus said to
them, no one
who has left
home or wife
or brothers
or sisters
or parents
or children
for the sake
of the kingdom
of God will
fail to receive
many times as
much in this
age and in
the age to
come eternal
life.
Step four,
decide what
you are giving
to and follow
through with
it.
Make yourself
accountable.
That's partly
one of the
reasons why we
do pledging
here.
It's a
spiritual issue,
it's not a
financial issue.
It's one of
the reasons why
we do pledging
here at St.
Paul's.
Giving is a
spiritual issue
and like every
single spiritual
issue, we are
accountable for it
in the same
way that I
am.
To live
radically
generous lives
with our
money, with
our wealth
and possessions,
we don't need
courage.
That's the point
here.
We don't need
courage.
What we need
is joy.
That's what we
need.
We need to be
relaxed and at
peace and secure
in Jesus enough
in order to live
a life of radical
generosity.
This joy only
comes when we
look at the
true rich young
ruler who lost
everything so that
we would gain
everything.
And the more
we look to
Jesus and the
riches we have
in him, the
more free we
will be to
live a life of
pervasively
generous life,
radical
generosity,
including giving
our money away
in eye-popping
proportions with
joy.
thoughts and
mooden Morgan
lost Apple
chanting
sorry
stor Musimy
laughed
awfully
roll
Pens by
madly
gratitude
Marvin
är
en kanje
dag
Vi
amb