Father, we confess before you that we do not like it when your word talks about something
that we don't want it to talk about.
And Father, we confess before you that we see money as something very deeply personal.
And so part of us resents it, Father, when your son talks about money or possessions at all.
We ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would gently but deeply work upon our will and our mind.
But most of all, Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would touch us at our heart,
the center of who we truly are.
We ask, Father, that your Spirit would touch our heart
so that we might be receptive to the wisdom of your word.
And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
So some of you might be saying, actually, this is going to be one of those interesting days.
The lights mean that I can see virtually none of you.
So don't play a trick on me and all get up and leave me standing near the end of the service without realizing.
So here's what I'd like to say to you folks,
and I say it every time we have a passage on money and some other times as well,
is that if you're here this morning as our guest and you haven't given your life to Jesus,
to trust him as your Savior and follow him as your Lord,
then we would actually prefer if you don't put any money in the plate
or give money online or send us a donation later,
we would actually prefer it if you didn't do that.
Because we're not interested in your money.
Jesus isn't ultimately interested in your money.
He's interested in you.
And so that's the first thing.
So whatever it is that I'm going to say,
and really all I'm going to do is just try to bring out what Jesus is teaching us about money.
I just want you to be aware of the fact that you don't have to put money on the plate.
Okay?
So here's the thing.
If you just heard me read the Gospel text a few moments ago,
Jesus talks about money,
and he talks about covetousness or greed.
And here's sort of two things that some of you are probably thinking,
and even if you aren't thinking, I'm going to remind you of them
because it's really important for us to keep this in mind when we talk,
when we try to understand the words of Jesus.
We're just right next door to the province of Quebec,
and the perception of many of our Quebecois friends
is that for many, many decades, in fact, for centuries,
the church used text like that to keep the people poor.
That the church used text like that to stop people from having ambition,
starting businesses, getting educated,
and getting advanced.
And many of our Irish brothers and sisters would probably say the same thing,
and probably in other parts of the world.
So is what Jesus is saying something that if we take it seriously,
it means that we should be content with being poor and uneducated?
A second thing, just to sort of bring it home at a more personal level,
is the other day I was in a Starbucks,
no surprise to those of you who are regular,
and there's a fellow that I've gotten to know over the last few years,
and he's sort of an interest.
He's a really nice guy, working-class guy, salt-of-the-earth type.
He sees that I have the Bible there.
He shows no interest whatsoever, but he's friendly.
He shows no interest in the fact that I have a Bible open.
But he's very friendly.
He's living with his girlfriend.
They have a kid.
And I saw him the other day for the first time in a couple of months.
And he said that he'd gotten, he'd changed jobs,
that he'd got to work.
He's now working for another company,
and it was a promotion,
and he was making more money,
and I congratulated him on that.
So would Jesus say,
would the Bible say that I sinned
by congratulating him
on switching to another company
and getting a promotion and making more money?
Is Jesus saying that,
George, when the confession comes up later in the service,
you've got to repent of that.
You shouldn't have congratulated him.
Is that what Jesus is saying?
Well, let's listen.
Let's listen with fresh ears
to what it is that Jesus has to say
about possessions and about money
and about greed.
So if you have your Bibles,
if not, I'll read the text.
You know, we'll go through it a bit slowly,
but it's Luke chapter 12,
and it begins in verse 13.
Luke 12, 13.
And okay, there you go.
So it goes like this.
Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,
teacher, tell my brother
to divide the inheritance with me.
But Jesus said to him,
man, who made me a judge
or arbitrator over you?
I just sort of want to pause there for a second.
In the original language,
Jesus is angry at him,
and the word man is sort of rude.
Or not rude.
He's putting the man in his place.
It's not a gentle response.
And from the context,
it's obvious that it isn't so much
that the man is looking for a disinterested judge
to come and help sort out a problem.
The man wants Jesus to come and be on his side
against his brother's side
so that he'll get more money and more possessions.
And so here, mindful of what I just said earlier,
here we see something which is very, very important
for us religious and spiritual types to hear.
The first point,
Jesus rejects being used as a tool
to further someone's plans.
Jesus rejects in the strongest possible language
being used as a tool
to further someone's plans.
So, you know, obviously,
if in fact our Quebecois friends'
understanding of their past is correct,
there's lots of different priests and nuns.
They all probably had different motives.
But if any of them, in fact,
were saying what they were saying
to actually either maintain their own position
or to help wealthy English or Quebecois
keep their position,
then these words of Jesus
are a very, very stark rebuke to them.
To the religious or spiritual person who,
you know, to the politician
who, when he's in trouble,
comes to church
to try to use the church to distract people
and make them look like he's good
when he's just been caught doing something very bad.
This is a very strong rebuke.
That's using Jesus as a tool
for your own advantage or benefit.
A person who comes to a church
so that he can sell
or she can sell real estate
or Amway
or some other type of product,
and they primarily see
Christians or a church
as a means by which they can prosper
or their son or their daughter
or their husband or their wife
or their cousin to prosper.
This is a very, very, very strong rebuke.
Jesus rejects being used as a tool
to further someone's plans.
Now, Jesus goes to the heart now.
Is this mic still working?
Sometimes it seems like it's working
and sometimes it doesn't.
It's fine?
Okay, good.
I'm not used to not hearing
any type of a feedback.
So a few years ago,
I had a guy who,
he was somebody I knew
through another Christian ministry,
so you don't have to wonder
who it was here in the congregation.
But he very, very, very seriously
said that he had a plan
for us to get a building.
And the plan for us to get a building
was that he was going to buy lottery tickets
and I was going to pray for him.
And as I prayed for him
to buy the lottery tickets,
when the lottery ticket won,
half of the money would go
to the church building fund.
And so, you know,
at the time,
I think the lottery
was like $10 million.
He said,
George, that'll get us
a really, really nice building
and a really nice location,
$5 million.
And so first of all,
I told him whatever anybody tells me
when they ask me to pray,
I tell them that I'm in sales,
not management.
And so my prayers
don't actually work any better
than anybody else's.
But then I had a variety
of hopefully nice and gentle ways
to tell him I wasn't going to do it.
But what was going on with that man?
What would Jesus say
about something like that?
Well, if we continue to read,
we see what Jesus has to say about it.
Verse 15.
And so Jesus is just rejected
that he's going to be used
as a tool by this fellow
against the man's brother
so that the fellow
could become richer.
And in verse 15,
Jesus says,
and he said to them,
take care and be on your guard
against all covetousness
for one's life
does not consist
in the abundance
of his possessions.
And some of your versions
of the Bible
might not say covetousness,
it might say greed.
Sort of the same word
in the original language
can be translated either way.
Coveting means that sort of
I see what somebody else has
and I want it.
They have that nice house
and I'd like that house.
And in fact,
often in older days like that,
it meant quite literally
you wanted that house,
not one like it,
but you wanted that house.
And you just wanted
more and more of things.
And so covetousness and greed
in the original language
is sort of the same idea,
but you use two different words
in English to translate it.
And listen to it again.
It's very, very stark.
In fact,
there's a sermon
from the time
of the English Reformation
by a fellow
by the name of Latimer
who was one of the
English reformers
who died a martyr's death.
And when he preached
on this text,
all his sermon was,
take care and be on your guard
against all covetousness
for one's life
does not consist
in the abundance of possessions.
And he'd read it
three, four, five times in a row.
And then he paused and said,
what if for the sermon this morning
all we did was read this text
over and over and over again?
It's an important warning
from Jesus.
And to put it up
on the screen
as the second point,
Jesus warns me,
beware of greed
and covetousness.
Jesus warns me,
beware of greed
and covetousness.
Now here's the problem.
We never think
that greed and covetousness
applies to us.
Or at least we rarely
think about it.
Now if you're a guest
here this morning
and you don't know much
about the evangelical world,
let me just tell you
something about
what goes on
often in the minds
and hearts
of young men.
That many young men
spend many anxious hours
worrying about lust.
And don't take anything
I'm about to say
to tell you that
lust is all right.
I'm not saying
that lust is all right.
But they worry about
impure thoughts
about women.
And yet many of these
same young men
in the churches
they are,
they're in,
they maybe desire
to have the Mercedes,
to have the Beamer,
to make lots of money,
and nobody at all
ever warns them
that what they're desiring
might be dangerous
for them.
That in fact
in many churches
a preoccupation
with sex
allows us
to be fully devoted
followers of mammon
with not even
the least shred
of conscience
or doubt.
And this isn't
just a Christian problem,
it's a human problem.
So for instance,
I've noticed lately,
occasionally when I'm
procrastinating,
I read the obituaries
in the paper.
So, you know,
you know I'm really
procrastinating
when I start with interest
to read the obituary.
It means I don't,
I should be going
into work
or doing something else,
but there I am
reading the obituaries.
But here's the very
interesting thing
about obituaries
in the newspaper.
The newspaper
as a whole,
when it's not
talking about news,
is telling you
about how to live
the good life.
And the good life
involves
having lots
of experiences
and getting promotions
and being successful
and being powerful
and being popular
and being able
to get the girl
or the guy
that you want
and that's what
the newspaper
gives you advice in.
But when it comes time
for the obituary,
they want you
to be known
as a good person.
I'll give you
an illustration.
Imagine for a moment
that you're coming
to a,
you know,
maybe it's your mother,
maybe it's your aunt,
you know,
your grandmother,
whatever,
and you come
to visit them
and they know
and you know
that they only
have a month
left to live
but they're still
compass mentis.
Their mind still works.
So on her deathbed,
she says to you,
by the way,
what are you going
to write in my obituary?
And so you say,
gosh,
I'm so looking forward
to writing your,
I mean,
I'm not looking forward
to you dying
but I'm so looking forward
to your obituary.
I mean,
you're amazing.
Like my husband
and I were debating
whether you have,
I think you only have
a hundred pairs
of designer shoes
in your closets.
He thinks it's 200.
We're going to count it
and put it in the thing.
And you have 300 designer dress
and gosh,
I think you must have
at least 125 designer purses
and we're going to put
all of that
in your obituary.
And the woman would look
with a steely glint
in her eye
and she'd say,
if you do that,
I will haunt you.
I want you to write
that I'm generous.
You see,
the paper tells you
how to get the best
designer things
and how to make the money.
But when it comes
to our obituaries,
we don't want to be known
as a person
who owned 300 pieces
of expensive clothing,
150 expensive shoes,
75 expensive
or 125 handbags.
We want it to be known
as being generous.
We want it to be known
as being good.
It's a human problem.
So Jesus says,
beware of greed
and covetousness.
We all agree.
We all think it applies
to somebody else.
But what if it applies
to us?
And so Jesus tells
a parable
to try to start
to unpack
or get us to see
an aspect of the issue.
And it begins
in verse 16.
And he told them
the parable.
The land of a rich man
produced plentifully.
And he thought to himself,
what shall I do?
For I have nowhere
to store my crops.
And he said,
I will do this.
I will tear down
my barns
and build larger ones.
And there I will store
all my grain
and my goods.
And just pause
before you hear
the rest of the parable.
There's something
very important
to note in this parable,
the beginning
of this parable.
Jesus isn't telling us
that the man
should be world-denying.
He's not going
to tell us
that the man
should feel bad
because his farm
produces lots of crops.
Jesus is not a Buddhist.
He's not going to say
that all desire
in and of itself
is our fundamental problem.
And Jesus is not going
to say that godly people
let the crops
rot in the field.
That that's a sign
of godliness.
There's nothing wrong
and all the rest
of the story,
there's nothing wrong
at all
with the fellow
being thankful
or pleased
that his field
has produced
lots of crop
and there's never
any hint
that his idea
to build more barns
is wrong
in and of itself.
Jesus isn't telling
the fellow
to be impractical
or to be wasteful
or to be told
that possessions
in and of themselves
are evil.
Nothing that happens
is going to say
anything at all
about that whatsoever.
Jesus goes to the heart,
to the man's response
to what has happened
to him
and what's actually
motivating
at a deeper level
his plans.
Beneath his prudence,
there in computer language
there's another program
running
deeper than his prudence
and it's revealed
in the words
that begin
on verse 19.
And I will say
to my soul,
I will say
to my soul,
soul,
you have ample goods
laid up for many years,
relax,
eat,
drink,
and be merry.
All the way
through this entire
parable,
if you go back,
it's always
I,
me,
my.
And even as he speaks
to his soul,
he speaks to his soul
as if he is God
speaking to himself,
to his subject.
And in verse 20,
God said to him,
fool,
this night your soul
is required of you
and the things
you have prepared,
whose will they be?
So is the one
who lays up treasure
for himself
and is not rich
toward God.
One second after death,
Bill Gates
and the poorest person
in Ottawa
who also dies,
if they die
at the exact same moment,
a second after death,
they have the same possessions
in their possession.
None.
You can't be poorer
than dead.
That's what Jesus is saying.
It's also the name
of a Flannery O'Connor
short story.
You can't be poorer
than dead.
So,
here's the thing.
Is,
is Jesus
going to now give us
sort of a bit of a
radical hippie,
socialist,
left wing,
walled and pond
type of take
on money
and possessions?
I have a,
another friend
who,
he and I have
very,
we have,
we have public
discussions
about the Christian faith
in Starbucks.
And,
just recently
we had one.
He,
he doesn't know anything
at all.
I don't think he's ever
even read the New Testament,
but he likes to tell me
all about what Jesus
actually thinks and believes.
And,
and so he,
he told me,
because he'd just read a book
by a popular guy,
he said it had to be true
because he heard it
on television.
And,
and it's funny,
he said that,
I said to him,
you know,
in his job,
he has,
I said,
you actually think that
just because it's said
on television
it must be true?
I mean,
you don't believe that
in the rest of your life.
Why do you believe it
about,
about somebody saying
something about Jesus?
Anyway,
he told me,
it's a very,
very common idea
that Jesus was sort of
like a radical
and he was always
going against
the,
the rich and the powerful
and helping the poor.
He didn't use this,
but I've heard many people,
even,
even evangelicals
and charismatics
and,
and very,
very orthodox people
say that the point
of the Bible
is to afflict
the comfortable
and comfort
the afflicted.
You know,
afflict the comfortable
and comfort the afflicted.
Is that what Jesus
is going to do?
Is he going to afflict
the comfortable?
Is he going to say,
is he going to now say,
you know,
come on,
smell the roses,
smell the flowers,
you know,
chill out,
be more relaxed,
less type A,
you know,
don't work so hard.
Is that what Jesus
is going to say?
Well,
that's what many people,
that's how many people
read this.
Just,
just listen to what
then goes on to,
what goes on to be,
to be said.
It was a text like this
that my,
my friend was really
referring to.
Verse 22,
therefore,
Jesus said,
I tell you,
do not be anxious
about your life,
what you will eat,
nor about your body,
what you will put on.
For life is more than food
and the body is more
than clothing.
Consider the ravens,
they neither sow nor reap.
They have neither storehouse
nor barn,
and yet God feeds them.
Of how much more value
are you than the birds?
Can't you just sort of
hear this,
that Jesus is saying,
like,
why are you so concerned
about making money?
Why are you so concerned
about working hard?
You got to take time
and smell the roses.
Like,
it's all just going
to work out.
Just chill out,
you know?
Like,
be more calm.
Get more centered.
Turn off the cell phone.
Get more in touch
with yourself.
Spend time.
Have long meals.
It sort of almost
sounds like it.
And then he continues,
and which of you
by being anxious
can add a single hour
of a span
to a span of life?
If then you are not able
to do as small a thing
as that,
why are you anxious
about the rest?
I mean,
at first,
at first glance,
it's so easy for us
in our culture
to hear this
as a message
just to become
more laid back,
to become more hip,
to spend the time
to make your own craft beer,
to make your own clothing,
make your own art.
Like,
just forget all
of that rat race stuff.
Is that what Jesus
is saying?
It sounds like it.
Verse 28,
Or verse 27,
Consider the lilies,
how they grow.
They neither toil
nor spin.
Yet I tell you,
even Solomon
in all his glory
was not arrayed
like one of these.
But if God
so clothed the grass
which is alive
in the field today
and tomorrow
is thrown into the oven,
how much more
will he clothe you,
O you of little faith?
And do not seek
what you are to eat
and what you are to drink,
nor be worried.
For all the nations
of the world
seek after these things,
and your Father
knows that you need them.
Instead,
seek his kingdom,
and these things
will be added to you.
Vote for Olivia Chow
and not for the Fords.
Is that what he's saying here?
But then all of a sudden,
there's a sixth sense moment.
If you've seen the movie,
there's something that happens
at the end of the movie
that makes you wonder
if you've understood
anything that's taken place
throughout the entire movie.
I won't tell you what it is
in case you haven't seen it,
but that's a sixth sense moment.
Verse 32.
Fear not, little flock,
for it is your Father's
good pleasure
to give you the kingdom.
One moment.
It's your Father
gives you the kingdom.
Your Father gives you the kingdom.
Like,
what happens is
Jesus does have
some stern words
about the person
who dies
leaving behind
300-plus designer dresses
and 150 pairs of shoes
and 125 designer purses
and has really,
in effect,
lived an entirely
self-centered life.
but when they die,
they want to be known
as generous.
Less than 19%
of the Canadian population
gives enough money
to charity
that they can file
an income tax return
asking for a charitable receipt.
And the median amount
of money given to charity
out of that 19%
is,
I think it's only
something like $100.
and yet Canadians,
we,
humanly speaking,
like to be known
as generous people.
And I'm just,
if you're making
$80,000 a year
and you give no money
to charity,
not enough money
to charity
to actually ask
for any type
of income tax receipt
at all,
I don't know.
Should we put
generous down
in your obituary?
I don't know.
But,
while it,
it,
it hammers away
at us
about that type
of a preoccupation
with money
and prestige
and all being
completely and utterly
self-centered,
there,
there's a way
for those of us
who are called
about being,
chilling out
and getting more centered
that in fact
that whole language
is in fact
actually profoundly
self-centered as well.
I need to get,
I need to get
in touch
with myself.
I need to smell
the roses.
I need to smell
the lilies.
I need to not
worry about things
because it's all
going to work out
all right for me
and I need to spend
time taking my
long time to do this
or whatever it is
because you see,
in effect,
when Jesus says
that the Father
has to give
the kingdom,
what he's saying
is that it's true
that when Bill Gates,
if Bill Gates
and the poorest person
and Ottawa die
at the exact same
instant,
they both take
the same amount
of possessions
with them,
which is none.
The text here says
that we don't take
hipness with us,
coolness,
centeredness,
relaxedness,
valor,
honor,
none of that
goes with us.
Everything we possess
is left behind.
In fact,
what he's saying,
if you could put up
the third point,
Jesus is not
coming down here
as part of an
anti-capitalist rant
and it's easy
for us to fool
ourselves that this
text applies to
somebody else
and thinks that
he's talking about
other ways
that merely leaves
us being self-centered,
only self-centered
in a different way.
What Jesus is
talking about
is this,
that there are
two ways to live.
One is to have
me and my idols
on the throne
of my heart
or the throne
of my life
and the other
is to have
the living God,
my creator,
on the throne
of my heart
or the throne
of my life.
That what Jesus
is doing
is he's addressing
the heart.
He's addressing
the motivations
that go underneath
our prudence
and our other
types of concerns
that reveal
that we still
want to be
at the center
and rule our
hearts and rule
our lives
and that we
make idols
of things.
Idols of money,
idols of being
cool,
idols of being
religious,
idols of being
spiritual,
idols of being
artistic,
idols of being
communal,
idols of being
a high
accomplishing
individual,
idols of sex,
idols of control,
that underneath
it all,
we are still
self-centered
and we make
idols.
And at the
very, very
center of who
we are,
there is a
throne.
And God,
because God
created us,
he created us
to have a throne
at the very,
very center
of who we are.
and part
of our
rebellion
against God
is that we
decided that we
wanted to sit
on the throne
of our lives
and when we
sit on the throne
of our lives,
we never leave
ourselves alone
there because
we put our
heart on many
things.
We have many,
many things
which we
treasure,
none of which
will come to
the other
side of the
grave.
In fact,
if you just
go reading
past verse
32,
listen to how
Jesus goes,
fear not,
little flock,
for it is
your father's
good pleasure
to give you
the kingdom.
Sell your
possessions
and give to
the needy.
Provide yourselves
with money bags
that do not
grow old,
with a treasure
in the heavens
that does not
fail,
where no thief
approaches and
no moth
destroys.
For where
your treasure
is,
there will
your heart
be also.
It's the memory
verse for the
week.
For where
your treasure
is,
there will
your heart
be also.
And so
what Jesus
is doing
here is he's
setting before
us two ways
to live.
One is to
have me
and my
idols
on the
throne
of my
heart
or the
throne
of my
life
and the
others
to have
the
living
God
my
creator
on the
throne
of my
heart
and my
life.
So what
then if you
were to go
back and to
listen to what
Jesus is talking
about,
go back to
verse 21.
So is the
one who lays,
this is after
the little
comment about
the parable
about the
man who's
going to die,
my soul,
my this,
me this,
I this,
and Jesus'
comment,
so is the
one who lays
up treasure
for himself
and is not
rich toward
God.
The two
paths,
treasure for
myself or
the path of
rich toward
God.
And the
rich toward
God has
this great
conundrum,
and the
great conundrum
is that at
the heart of
being rich toward
God is to be
reconciled to
him, and
only God can
do that.
how is it
that Jesus
could ask us
to walk
down a
path that
actually you
can't accomplish
the path because
it has to be
given to you
freely and
completely.
Well, what
Jesus does is
he actually
asks us to
think about
things.
So we'll
just start,
one thing,
verse 22,
therefore I
tell you do
not be anxious
about your
life, what
you will eat,
nor about
your body,
what you
will put on,
for life is
more than
food and the
body more
than clothing.
So sort of
pause there.
Here's the
thing which
Jesus is
going to try
to get us
to understand.
The fourth
point, if you
could put it
up, having
money or
possessions as
an idol makes
me anxious.
Having money
or possessions
as an idol makes
me anxious.
And the thing
about an idol is
it could be an
idol for,
a million
dollars or a
hundred million
dollars or it
could be
walled in
pond.
It could be
an idol about
being as
popular as
the most
popular movie
star or it
could be an
idol of just
being popular
with that one
girl or that
one guy.
It could be
an idol of
being loved
by millions
or just being
loved by that
one person.
that what
Jesus is saying
is that where
our treasure
is, there
our heart
will be.
And that's
in effect
describing an
idol.
And idols
make us
anxious.
Idols
make us
anxious.
Part of being
anxious is
natural to
being a human
being.
We're frail.
Tiny little
microbes, tiny
little upsets in
the balance in
our body could
make us have
a mental
illness, could
make us have
cancer, could
profoundly affect
our lives in
all sorts of
ways.
We are inherently
fragile.
There's always
going to be a
certain degree of
anxiety to us.
But we go to
idols thinking
that they will
comfort us and
protect us.
But Jesus is
going to say, and
it's not just
here but all the
way through the
Gospels and all
the way through
the New Testament,
all the way
through the Old
Testament, is that
idols make me
anxious.
And part of
the power of
an idol in my
life is that my
anxiety drives me
to my idol rather
than make me
question my idol.
I'm anxious.
I buy the
expensive clothes.
And it
comforts for a
short while but I
get more anxious.
It's going out of
style.
There's a tiny
little fray.
It's not the
right color for my
eyes.
It's not what
the girl that I
love or the guy
that I love or
somebody or my
boss or somebody
else has a better
set of clothes.
And so our
anxiety returns and
we seek to put,
to get the net.
And before we
know it, we have
the 300 or the
75 or the
125.
And why?
It's because idols
make us anxious and
rather than doubting
the power of an
idol, we continue
to serve it.
And that's why
Jesus is talking
about.
Okay, just think
about it for a
second.
Do you really,
really actually
think that the
meaning of life is
possessions?
Like, if you
really think that
the meaning of
life is possessions,
does that mean
that rich people
have rich and
meaningful lives and
that everybody
else have
unmeaningful lives?
Like, why do the
rich commit suicide?
Why is it so common
for movie stars who
are rich and popular
to commit suicide?
So you really think
that possessions are
the meaning of life?
Do you really think
that anything on
this side of the
grave will completely
and utterly encapsulate
the meaning of life?
And Jesus goes
through a series of
thought experiments to
ask us, why is it
that these things that
we make idols, why is
it that we think that
these things consist in
the meaning of life?
Like, why do we do
that?
And then in verse 32,
he sort of throws the
zinger in it.
Those of us who think
that we can take our
money, you know, if the
meaning of our life,
you know, if everything
that makes life
meaningful ends at
death, there's a long
tradition of philosophy
that goes right back
to the Greeks, that's
response is, and
therefore, nothing in
life is meaningful.
And so Jesus says
something about how
only God, there's
another path of living
that does not involve
me and my idols,
that involves God
being at the center
of my life, who
cares for my needs
on both sides of the
grave, and yet that
caring can only be,
only God can do that.
I can't spend my way
into his favor, I
can't manipulate my
way into his favor, I
can't do anything.
It's something that all
of a sudden I have to
put everything down
because it's something
that only God can
grant or bestow.
If you could put up
the fifth point, only
the living God can
bestow citizenship and
life in his kingdom.
I cannot create
citizenship or earn
citizenship or demand
citizenship as my
right.
Harder for me to say
citizenship than I
thought it was going
to be.
Only the living God can
bestow citizenship and
life in his kingdom.
That's what the text
says, that's what 32
says, fear not,
little flock, for it
is your father's good
pleasure to give you
the kingdom.
It's his pleasure to
do something that only
he can do that we
cannot possibly do.
I can't create it, I
can't earn it, and I
can't demand it as a
right.
See, this is how,
remember, everything
that happens in the
gospel, in this case,
if you're a guest this
morning, you haven't
heard this before, but
in Luke chapter 9,
Jesus tells his
disciples he's going to
Jerusalem to die.
And everything that
takes place is all in
the context of Jesus
is constantly reminding
his disciples that he's
going to Jerusalem to
die.
And Paul, in 2
Corinthians, has a
very, very powerful
analogy for what Jesus
does.
The analogy is that
Jesus, God, the Son of
God, sets aside his
glory and divine
prerogatives and
splendor and majesty and
adulation and all of
that.
He sets all of that
aside while remaining
God.
He takes into himself
our human nature.
He lives a simple
working class human
life.
And then he dies upon
the cross and you
can't be any poorer
than dead.
He became poor that we
might become rich.
That's how Paul puts it
in 2 Corinthians.
That by God's grace,
Jesus becomes poor that
we might become rich.
Because he dies for you
and for me on the cross.
And that death upon the
cross, when we put our
faith and trust in
something that only God
can give us to reconcile
us to himself, we have
this profound, asymmetric,
unfair, in a sense,
exchange.
But it's not unfair
because it's motivated and
comes from love.
That God gives us, who put
our faith and trust in
Jesus who died for us, he
gives us citizenship in his
kingdom.
freedom and we bring
nothing into it but
ourselves because he loves
you and he loves me.
Let's just sort of wrap
this up to allow us to
sort of, what does this
sort of mean?
Just very, very quickly.
If you could put up the
very next slide, Jeremy,
that would be great.
And that's this.
In a world of money and
possessions, the Bible has
a simple rule of life for
all who have received Jesus
Christ crucified, God's free
gift of grace.
Give 10% of the money I
receive to further the
gospel and bring glory to
God.
In a world of money and
possessions, money and
possessions which can become
idols, the Bible has a
simple rule of life for
all who have received
Jesus Christ crucified,
God's free gift of grace.
Give 10% of the money I
receive to further the
gospel and bring glory to
God.
How do you kick possessions
and money off the throne of
your life as an idol?
Give it away.
Give some of it away.
You see, the question is,
when you go back over this
text and it says, you know,
give to the poor and give to
this and give to that, the
question is, well, how much
does God want?
Like, how much does he want?
Like, how do I figure that
out?
And the Bible has this very,
very consistent, simple rule
of life, and the rule of
life is 10%.
And enjoy the other 90%.
Do things that make your
heart glad.
And that's a very, very big
step for my wife and I.
I was ordained for quite a
few years before my wife and
I started tithing.
And at the time I was getting
paid monthly and it was very,
very hard.
I started to get convicted
about it.
And because I'm not very
brave and courageous, what I
thought is, in obedience to
God, I'll give an extra $20 a
month.
And I did.
And my world didn't collapse.
And then after a couple of
months of that, we gave another
$20 a month.
And our world didn't collapse.
And then we had to give several
hundred dollars.
Oops.
Then we had to give several
hundred dollars.
I won't stop.
We had to give several hundred
dollars to sort of catch up to
the tithe and our life didn't
collapse.
Some of you can do things
quickly, some very slowly.
But here's the thing.
It's a very, very simple rule of
life.
And it's a rule of life for
those who have given their lives
to Jesus and are free and
receive God's free gift of
grace.
Some of you might say,
George, if you knew my
finances, if you knew how much
trouble I was in, like how on
earth could you possibly say
that?
What are you saying to the
single mom or the single dad
or the person at very, very low
income who's just overwhelmed
with financial trouble?
Here's the second thing that
this text is saying to us.
Jesus never tells me to ignore
reality.
He invites me to walk towards
reality with him as my Savior
and my Lord.
That point could go up.
Jesus never tells me to ignore
reality.
He invites me to walk towards
reality with him as my Savior
and my Lord.
Does Jesus know that you or I are
in profound financial trouble?
Yes, he does.
Does he want you to engage in some
some type of spiritual or other
type of practice that makes you
ignore it and deny it?
No, he doesn't.
Will following Jesus take you away
from the real world?
Truly following the real Jesus
will never take you away from the
real world.
In fact, the invitation of Jesus is
to actually live in the real world,
a real world where you die, a real
world where there is a life after
death where you have to give a count
for your life.
That a real world where the living
God actually does exist.
Jesus is inviting us to actually
live in the real world.
And he wants us to walk towards
reality with him as our Savior and
as our Lord.
To walk towards the source of our
indebtedness.
To walk towards the source of our
financial problems.
To deal with the bank or the credit
card.
Or the person from the debt
collection agency who is ruining
our lives by calling us at all
sorts of odd hours and threatening
us.
He wants to say to you and me,
be my child, be my disciple,
accept my offer of grace.
And with me beside you, let's walk
towards that problem and deal with
it.
And then the final sort of takeaway
from all of this on money, if you
could put it up, is invite Jesus
Christ crucified to throw out every
idol from the throne of your
life and ask him to sit on the throne
of your life as your Savior and your
Lord.
Invite Jesus Christ crucified to throw
out every idol from the throne of
your life and ask him to sit on the
throne of your life as your Savior and
your Lord.
This should really be the first point,
but I left it to the last as the one
you'll remember.
And if you write down these points,
you go on the webpage later on and find
them, you start with this point and you
move backwards.
Start with this point to invite Jesus
into your life and ask him to sit on
the throne of your life and to cast out
the idols that are there and then ask
him to walk towards your financial and
other problems, realizing that at some
point along that way, he's going to ask
you to give 10% of the money you receive.
I told you it one way, live it the other
way.
Please stand.
Jeremy, could you put the final prayer up
on the screen?
Here's a prayer.
For some of us, it's a prayer by which we
begin the Christian life, but it's also a
prayer that we have to pray for those of
us who are followers of Jesus, because even
those of us who are followers of Jesus, we
try to do the unimaginable, which is to
have Jesus on the throne of our lives and
all sorts of idols.
And part of our sanctification is to first
receive what only Jesus can give us for
free and God gives us for free, the power
of God for salvation.
But then we need to remember what Jesus
has done for us on the cross and ask him
to look inside of our lives to see the
idols which are there and confess before
him that we don't have the strength to
throw the idols off by ourselves and ask
him to cast off the idols from the throne
of our heart.
And so if this prayer is the whole, I think
the whole prayer is there.
Is it part of two?
Is it two screens?
It's three screens.
I'll read it to you.
And then if the Holy Spirit is convicting
you to pray it, you can join with me and
praying it out loud.
But here's what the prayer will say.
Jesus, I repent from trying to sit on the
throne of my heart.
I repent of every idol that is on the
throne of my heart.
I thank you that you left the glory of
heaven to die upon the cross for me.
I thank you that you became poor, that I
may become rich.
Please come into my life as my Savior and
my Lord.
Please take your rightful place on the
throne of my life.
Please remove all idols from the throne of
my heart so that you alone sit on the
throne.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, make your
home in me and never leave.
In Jesus' name, amen.
If you would like to pray that prayer with
me, then let's do it now.
Jesus, I repent from trying to sit on the
throne of my heart.
I repent of every idol that is on the
throne of my heart.
I thank you that you left the glory of
heaven to die upon the cross for me.
I thank you that you became poor, that I
may become rich.
Please come into my life as my Savior and
my Lord.
Please take your rightful place on the
throne of my life.
Please remove all idols from the throne of
my heart so that you alone sit on the
throne.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, make your
home in me and never leave me.
In Jesus' name, amen.