Happy Father's Day, guys. How you doing? Welcome to Watermark.
And if this is your first time or your millionth time,
we are glad that you're here to worship the Lord with us. And we have a very special day.
So I thought, I need some help. I need some helpers. And so if you're a kid,
can you come up here and help me for one second, please? Just come right here. All the kiddos,
come on. You don't have to cling to me, but just sit right there, okay?
All the kids, come on, guys.
Oh. Hey. Okay, guys, I need your help, okay? So can someone tell me what today is besides Sunday?
Father's Day. Father's Day. And what does Father's Day mean?
Father's Day. To do what now?
Father's Day means give a present to your daddy. That is so good. So how many of you guys are going
to take your dad out to lunch today and be nice to him? How many of you guys are going to give
your dad a brand new watch today? Wow. What great kids. Hey, so what I want to do is I need your help.
We have these special gifts made for our dads. And so I'm going to have all the dads and all the men in the church,
all the men in the church stand up. Okay, so all the men in the church stand up now.
Kids, push your, come on, Albert. You're a man. Stand up. Okay. All the men stand up. Okay, guys.
Hey, guys, listen to me. Look at me. I need your help. Can you help me pray for the dads? Okay?
So I'm going to pray, and you just pray right after me, okay? Okay? Let's pray.
Dear God, thank you for our dads. Guard their heart. Help them to love you. Help us to obey them.
Help us to obey them. We love you. Amen. Okay, guys, this is what I need to do. I need all the kids
to take these cards. Men, stand up still. Take these cards, and I want you to hand them out to any man
standing up and say, Happy Father's Day. Thank you so much. Okay? Thank you. So hand it to your daddy
and hand it to people. Here you go. Here you go. Just go hand them out. Just hand them out to your dads.
Wow, crazy chaos. Okay. Everybody got them? There you go. Here you go, Willow. Good job, guys.
And after the dads get their card, you can sit down. Okay. Pass them out. Okay. Here you go.
Take them. Take them. Okay. Good. There you go. Okay. Go give them to your dads.
And after that, kids, you are dismissed. Watermark kids. So every daddy standing up,
make sure you give them a card. Okay. After that, Watermark kids are dismissed,
and youth are dismissed with Eric.
The scripture reading today comes from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12. Please follow along in your
bulletin.
Someone in the crowd said to him,
Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.
But he said to him, Man, who appointed me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?
Then he said to them, Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed.
For not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.
And he told them a parable, saying,
The land of a rich man was very productive.
And he began reasoning to himself, saying,
What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?
Then he said,
This is what I will do.
I will tear down my barns and build larger ones.
And there I will store all my grain and my goods.
And I will say to my soul,
Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come.
Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
But God said to him,
You fool, this very night your soul is required of you.
And now who will own what you have prepared?
So is the man who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.
This is the reading of God's word.
I got stuff.
Good stuff.
Happy stuff.
Successful, sensational, recreational, relaxational stuff.
Mac stuff.
PC stuff.
I stuff.
Cool fashion.
Fast cash.
Fast action.
Rocket chips and chocolate chips.
Stuff with crosses.
Christian fishes.
Stuff beyond my wildest wishes.
And you can't take my stuff.
My stuff is a needle that drops to the vinyl to start the party and spin the spiral.
My stuff impressively, incessantly, illuminates my import.
And my stuff is loud.
It demands respect.
And you can't neglect when my stuff says,
I have arrived and this is what I'm all about.
My stuff demands respect.
It identifies me.
And I identify with my stuff.
My stuff is the needle that tattoos my skin, signifying the significance of who I am.
You can't handle my stuff.
I got stuff.
Stuff.
Stuff from my past.
That follows me around like some run-down evangelist carnival caravan that keeps coming to town.
In the amusement park dark.
Saints from the shadows shout my shattered story.
Selling success souvenirs.
And soulful sideshows.
Their slanted slogans solicit me.
Slander me.
Compel me.
Tell me.
Tell me fortunes that I regret.
I can't forget.
And surrendering or seeking grace.
I surrender to the stuff spell.
But it conjures no confession.
No communion.
Just a constant carousel of clamor.
That casts out the quiet and the question so I don't have to hear my heart beat.
My stuff is a ferris wheel that takes me to the top.
Then brings me right back down again.
I spin and I turn and I want off.
But the ride never stops.
I got stuff.
My stuff is the elevator to the penthouse floor.
Sometimes no matter what button I push.
I can't seem to open the door.
You can't handle my stuff.
My stuff is the needle that injects my vein.
And it's warm like a fever.
And it spreads like a stain.
And it itches.
And I scratch until it burns like a blaze.
But all I have is this nothing.
And I can't stop the flame.
I can't stop the flame.
I can't.
I got stuff.
I can't handle my stuff.
You can't take my stuff.
Can you?
Take my stuff?
I kind of feel like I just need to say amen after that.
Finish our time.
We're talking about stuff.
We're talking about life.
If you've been with us for any amount of time, you've heard us talk about stories that we're
all writing out and living out our story right now.
If you've been here for any amount of time, you hear us talking about journeys.
We're all on a journey.
And the interesting thing about this journey is that we're all following someone or something
or stuff.
Some of us are following Ben Bernanke.
Some of us are following Jamie Dimon.
Some of us are following Li Kai-shing.
Some of us are following Warren Buffett.
Some of us are trying to follow Christ.
But the stuff crowds out our life.
And we don't know how to handle it.
We're continuing the story of stuff and the journey.
Last week we talked about being in a minefield.
We talked about that we walk into a minefield.
And in this field there are things that can disable us and hurt us and cause us to be enslaved.
Jesus talked last week about that thing as the leaven of the Pharisees, hypocrisy.
We talked about wearing a mask, being different in different places and acting different ways
because people expect you to act certain ways.
And we said in the midst of all of that, we lose the gospel.
We de-gospelize ourself.
We're clinging to Christ and we're on this journey.
And all of a sudden we break free and we cling on to position and power and material things.
And we lose the power of the Holy Spirit.
We lose the power of the gospel.
As I was praying through this sermon today, I was reminded of a story.
And it begins as all good stories begin.
And the interesting thing about this story is I think that if we're honest,
we see it lived out every day in our life.
We see it lived out every day in people's lives all around us.
And this story begins like every story should begin.
Come on.
How does every story begin?
Once upon a time.
Once upon a time in Hong Kong, there lived a very important man or woman.
I'm just going to say a man.
He routinely logged in 12 to 14 hours of work a day.
And sometimes on weekends, he went to Stanford and Thunderbird and then the Harvard School of Management.
He got top honors.
He qualified in his chosen field and decided to broaden his horizons by joining every professional institute he could.
Indeed, he joined a number of boards and he was on the directors.
He read books on Genghis Khan and management and how to swim with the sharks.
And even when he wasn't working, his mind wandered back to his job,
which not was his occupation but became his preoccupation.
He found a 40-hour work week such a good idea that he often did it twice.
His wife tried to slow him down to remind him that he had a family.
He knew they were not as close as they had once been.
He had not intended for them to drift away.
It just seemed that she wanted time from him.
And that was just something that he didn't have to give because he gave it all at the office.
He was vaguely aware of his kids that they were growing up and they were missing him.
From time to time, his kids would complain about the books that he wasn't reading to them
and the games he wasn't going to them and all of these things.
And he would get angry and he says, I'm doing it all for you.
Just wait.
Soon it's all going to get better and our future will be assured.
One day his chief operations officer came to him and he said,
you're not going to believe this but business is booming.
I mean it's out of control.
We can't keep up with it.
It's a miracle.
But with the present technology that we have, we can't keep in the market.
We can't make a killing.
So he put the company through a technological revolution.
The buzzword was 24-7 connectivity.
There was phones everywhere in the bathrooms and in the conference rooms
and everybody was connected by Wi-Fi, BlackBerrys, iPhones.
As he sat at his computer that night rearranging the company,
he had overlooked one microscopic detail.
He had overlooked an artery that had once been so supple,
as supple as a blade of grass,
but now was dry and brittle like cement.
For more than a century,
his heart had been pumping 70 milliliters of blood with every contraction,
14,000 pints each day, 100,000 beats in 24 hours,
all of this happening without him ever having to send a memo
or giving a reminder or a performance review.
Now it skipped a beat,
and it skipped another beat,
and a third, and he grasped his chest,
and he breathed for air,
and for a moment he was given the gift of blinding clarity.
Even though he sat on the top of hundreds of organizational charts,
it turned out that he wasn't in control of his own pulse.
Funny thing, he was thinking as he was dying,
hundreds of people on multiple continents would listen and heed every word,
but now a few ounces of hardened muscle in his heart wouldn't obey him.
His wife woke up at 3 a.m.,
and she was still looking next to herself,
and she saw that he wasn't in bed,
and she went downstairs to drag him up out of bed,
and she saw that he was laying in front of the computer,
head on the desk,
and she just yelled to herself,
this is ridiculous.
It's like I'm being married to a child.
He would rather fall asleep in front of the screen than come to bed.
She touched him on the shoulder to wake him up,
and he didn't respond,
and his skin was eerily cold.
She quickly dialed 999,
and when the paramedics got there,
it was too late,
and they told her that he had died of a massive heart attack.
His death was a major story in the financial community.
The obituary appeared in the South China Morning Post,
and then the tattler.
It was too bad that he was dead,
because he would have loved to hear what people were saying about him.
They came to the funeral because of his prominence in the community.
People filed past his open casket,
and they commented on how peaceful he looked.
Death has a way of doing that,
of making us look peaceful.
Death is nature's way of saying you're working too hard.
You need to slow down.
And as they followed past,
they asked the same question that everybody always asks
when someone rich dies,
how much money did he leave?
He left it all.
We always leave it all.
People got up to eulogize him.
Mostly they talked about his accomplishments,
because everyone knew about him,
but no one really knew him.
He was one of the leading entrepreneurs of the day.
He was an innovator in technology.
He was a man of principles.
He never cheated on his taxes.
He never cheated on his expense sheet.
He never cheated on his wife.
He was a pillar of the community.
Everybody knew that.
Everybody saw how great he was.
He was an amazing networker.
This guy could network everything.
He never cheated on his side.
They commissioned a large marble monolith
by his grave,
and on it they wrote visionary,
innovator, leader, entrepreneur.
And at the top of the monolith,
they wrote this huge word, success.
But when it was dark and no one was around,
the angel of God was sent to the cemetery.
Unseen and unheard,
the angel made its way past all of the monuments,
until it came to his wonderful monument.
And in the quiet,
the angel traced with his finger
on the monolith
the words that God had used to describe him.
F-O-O-L.
Fool.
You fool.
This night,
your soul will be required of you.
As I think of this story,
I just think maybe there's a parallel going on
with this parable
of what's happening in Europe,
in the States,
in Asia.
We're so busy
accumulating stuff
for ourselves
that we haven't taken time off
to think about God
and to thank him
for where we are.
I guess a challenge this morning for me
and for all of us
as we think about this parable
is
am I,
are we
making efforts
to be richer towards God
or are we just interested
in getting more
stuff?
Chapter 12,
Jesus is talking to his disciples
in this very interesting passage
because as he's giving this amazing sermon,
this young man stands up
and he yells out a question
which has nothing to do
with the sermon.
Meaning,
you wonder what people are thinking.
Here,
he's the greatest communicator
of all time
and even the people
in the congregation
aren't clued in
to his words.
It kind of gives me comfort
as a pastor
because I wonder sometimes
what you're thinking
out there.
Does all he own
is blue shirts?
Well,
at least his belt
and his shoes
are matched today.
But the guy comes
and he asks Jesus
this incredible question
and I want to take
these couple minutes
just to look at it
because I think
there's so much more
we need to learn
from this passage
and it's found
in verse 13
through 21
of Luke 12.
It's interesting
when he asks
this question,
Jesus never answers
the question
that people ask.
He always answers
the problem
that's in their heart.
in our heart.
And so this guy
asked this question
if you look at it
in your bulletin
this is,
I'm going to look
through this really quickly
and we're going to make,
we're going to go through this.
I want to run through this
and we'll make some points
about the text
and see what we have
to learn here.
I want to share with you
some things
that I've been learning
these last couple weeks
and then I want to do
a quick exercise
and then you're dismissed
for Father's Day.
So in verse 13
someone in a crowd
yelled out to him,
teacher,
tell my brother
to divide the family
inheritance with me.
Someone,
we don't know who it is,
he yells out,
rabbi,
respected person,
tell my brother
to divide the inheritance
with me.
Those listening
would have known
exactly what had happened.
The father had died
and the boy yelling out
was the younger son
and the older son
who got two-thirds
of the inheritance
would always divide up
the inheritance
when it was his time
but he hadn't done it yet
and the younger son
was frustrated
because he wanted his stuff.
It's interesting
in this passage,
he doesn't ask God
to fix the relationship
between him
and the older brother.
He doesn't say,
God,
our relationship is broken.
We're arguing
with each other.
I know that we've never
seen this happen
in Hong Kong
and you've never seen
this happen in your life
when someone dies
and then everybody
starts arguing
over the stuff
but it happened
in Jesus' day
and the guy
doesn't ask Jesus
to fix the relationship.
He doesn't ask
to mend hearts.
He doesn't say,
hey, check me
because maybe my motives
are wrong.
Maybe something's
going on here.
Can you bring me
back to my brother?
All he asks Jesus
is I want my stuff.
Give me my stuff.
In verse 14,
Jesus says,
man,
who appointed me
a judge
or arbitrated over you?
It's a very strong word.
In the Middle Eastern,
everybody listening
would have been freaking out
because it was like
Jesus was disgusted
with this guy.
And so he doesn't even
call him by name
even though he would have
known his name
because he knows everything
but he addresses him
just as a man.
And then he shares
in verse 15,
beware,
pay attention,
understand,
learned about,
stay away from,
be on your guard,
always be constant,
active,
diligent,
look around
of every form.
There's more than one form.
There's position,
there's power,
there's possession
of greed,
coveting,
wanting things that aren't yours,
wanting more than you need,
wanting a surplus
that's not healthy.
Beware of these things
because not even
when one of you
has an abundance
does his life
consist
of these things.
Jesus looks
at the guy's heart.
He looks
at our heart
and he says,
you know,
you have a problem
and your problem
is greed.
You have a problem
and your problem
is coveting.
And it's interesting
because greed
and coveting
is so subtle,
it's so behind the scenes.
No one has ever
come to me
and confessed,
you know,
I have a problem
with greed.
Can you pray for me?
I've had people say,
I've had a problem
with my wife,
I have a problem
with my anger,
I have a problem
with materialism,
kind of,
but I have a problem
with these other things,
but never I have
a problem with greed.
But the scripture
talks about it
over and over
and I think the thing
that's scary
about greed
and hypocrisy
is if we walk
into that minefield,
if we go down
that road,
we start living out
a life that's hypocritical.
And so Jesus
is so concerned
about this
and he says,
be careful of this,
beware of this,
it's going to destroy you.
It's the tenth commandment,
thou shall not covet.
It's the loving of stuff,
it's the hoarding of stuff.
If I were to pick
one sin
that I would say
is probably
the chief sin,
I would probably
say it's greed
and coveting.
I mean,
think about it.
It's the sin
that got the angels
kicked out of heaven.
They wanted to be like God,
they wanted the things
of God,
they wanted to know
and act like God
and they got kicked out of the,
it was a sin
that got Adam and Eve
kicked out of the garden.
They wanted to be like God,
they wanted to have
the things of God,
they wanted to have
the knowledge of God
and it seems like
from that time on
it's been the sin
that causes quarrels,
wars,
strife,
division,
envy,
disputes,
jealousy,
hatred.
We can covet a lot of things,
we can be greedy
about a lot of things,
the passage says that,
many things be careful of.
We can be coveted
about possessions,
about stuff.
We can be greedy
about positions,
titles and jobs
and offices,
I want those things.
We can be greedy
about power.
In the book of Romans,
when Paul looked
at his life,
he looked at his life
outwardly
and he said,
look at me,
I'm perfect.
I'm a Jew of Jews,
I've kept all the requirements,
I keep all the laws,
I've done everything.
But in Romans 7,
he looks at his heart.
He doesn't look outwardly
but he looks inwardly
like God calls us to.
And he looks at his heart
and he goes,
I have a problem.
And this problem is
that I covet.
I see things
that other people have
and I want those things
and all of these things
are coming into my world
and Paul realizes
that sin has invaded his life
and has changed him.
Ultimately,
greed and coveting
is an attempt
to find satisfaction
and happiness
and ultimate meaning
in things that are temporary
instead of God.
it seems like
when we do that,
we're walking along
as Christians
and we're attached
to the gospel
and the power
of the Holy Spirit
and all of a sudden
we just kind of
de-gospelize
or we decouple
and we say,
no,
I'm not going to trust
in that anymore,
I'm going to trust
in my money.
Or no,
I'm not going to trust
in that anymore,
I'm going to trust
in my position.
And as we head down
that path,
the scripture says
that we become slaves
to the things
that we really want
and we desire.
Does anybody have a problem
with coveting
and greed in here?
Let me ask a couple questions.
Are you content
where you're at?
Financially,
location,
your job.
I mean,
as you look at your life
right now,
do you think
that this present condition
is the best condition
you could be in?
Are you content
with where God has you?
I mean,
could you say to God
right now,
God,
you have me
in the best place possible.
I mean,
I cannot imagine
any other better thing,
God,
you've had me
in exactly the best place.
With my family,
with my finances,
with my job,
with my location,
with my house,
with my car.
God,
you have me
exactly where I need to be.
Or would you say,
like me,
man,
if I were God,
I would do things
a little differently.
I'd probably get
a 20% more raise
and drive a little nicer car
and I don't know
about this house,
maybe I should own it
instead of renting it
because I'm just
wasting all this money.
That's just me.
Do you rejoice
when your friend
and your neighbor
prospers?
When your friend
gets something
that you don't have
but you want,
can you say,
man,
I'm so excited
for them.
I'm so excited
that their family
has got it together.
I'm so excited
that that husband
loves his wife
and spends time
with them.
I'm so excited
that that wife
respects her husband.
I'm so excited
that those kids,
they got into Harvard
finally and that's,
that's just amazing.
I'm so excited
for them.
I mean,
I want those things
but I'm just,
I'm just really glad
they got that new iPad
and that new Mac
PowerBook
that you can bend
like that.
That's really cool
but I'm really excited
they got it.
Can you say that?
Or do you say,
I need to go buy
that really cool
Mac PowerBook
before they see
that I don't have it
so they just assume
that I already have it too
and then we're both cool.
Do you want
what you have?
Now be very careful
this is gonna,
this is gonna take
some brain cells,
okay?
Do you want
what you have
is not having
what you want.
I know that sounds
like a country western song.
I want what I have,
I want what I don't have
but do you want
what you have
right now?
Or do you wanna have
what you want
for the future?
Are you generous
with what you have?
As you get more money,
if you get a pays,
if you get a bonus,
do you think,
oh how can I give this
away to people?
How can this go
towards the church?
How can this build up
treasures in heaven?
How can I help people
with this money?
Or do you think,
well this is my
great opportunity
to finally get
my car upgraded?
Or this is a great
opportunity for me
to change my lifestyle
because I deserve
a better lifestyle
because I've worked
so hard for it.
Are we generous
with what God gives us?
All these questions
I ask myself
all the time.
And Jesus wants us
to ask these things
of us
because he's worried
that we're gonna walk
down this road.
That we're gonna walk
into this minefield
and this minefield
is gonna enslave us
and destroy us
and change us
and the mine
that we're worried
about stepping on today
is greed
and coveting.
Are you following me?
The rest of the passage,
Jesus basically just says,
here are some things
you need to be aware of.
If you walk down this path,
you're gonna step on a mine.
And we're gonna run through them.
I wanna run through them
with you right now.
The first thing Jesus says
in verse 16
as you look at your bulletin,
Jesus warns
that we're heading
into the minefield,
that we're gonna become greedy,
that we're gonna worry
about coveting
if we just focus
on ourselves
and not on God.
Look at the passage.
He told them a parable
saying,
the land of the rich man
was very productive.
Now remember,
parables are stories.
The word actually means
to lay beside.
So Jesus is talking
to everybody
and he lays out this story
right in front of them
and he says,
okay, now take your life
and lay your life down
beside the story
and compare
and see how you're doing.
And so he shares
this first thing,
this first warning sign
as you walk
into this minefield
and he says,
the guy of a rich man,
his land was very,
very productive
and Jesus warns us,
he says,
you're gonna walk
into the minefield
when you forget
to give credit
for God
for what's going on
in your life.
You read in the passage,
the guy only thinks
of himself
and he thinks,
I did this,
I made this happen.
He looks at the harvest
and he says,
all of this was because
I was a great planter.
But every farmer knows
in farming
that there's rain,
there's hail,
there's sun,
there's locusts,
there's timing,
there's bacteria
that get into the dirt.
All of these things
can change the crop.
But the rich man says,
I did this,
it's me.
I made it happen.
Now I've gotten
some really serious arguments
sometimes with people
as I talked about this
and sometimes people
get really offended.
They go,
I worked hard.
I studied hard.
I got into Harvard
and I'm in
where I am
because of my work.
I've done everything
and that is what
has brought me here.
And I listen to them.
I go,
you're right.
I worked hard too
and I studied hard.
But you know,
that has nothing to do
with what country
I was born in.
And that has nothing
to do with what time
I was born.
Statistics tell us
that if we were born
one year later
or one year earlier
or five years later
or five years earlier
for sure,
we would not be
where we are right now.
We didn't choose
our parents.
We didn't choose
what we would look like.
We didn't choose
that we would have eyes.
And all of these things
that God has given us,
our mind,
our body,
where we're at,
all of these things
have brought us
where we are right now.
But the farmer
looks at that
and he goes,
no, it's me.
I did it.
I made it all happen.
I took a group
of students
when I was living
in China
to an orphanage.
And it was interesting
to see their reaction
when we walked
into the orphanage.
And we were playing
with the kids
and several of the kids
had nothing wrong
with them
except for like
a little spot
on their cheek,
a little birthmark.
And one of the guys
looked at this orphan
with that little birthmark,
that little physical scar
on him
and he started to cry
and he ran out
of the room.
And I caught up
with him
and I said,
what's going on?
And he goes,
I realize
that the only reason
I'm here
right now
studying
in this university
is because
I wasn't born
with a mark
on my face.
Because if I had
any imperfection,
my parents
would have sent me
to the orphanage.
I have a good friend,
he shares his testimony
and he talks about
how when his parents,
he was in his mother's stomach
and one of the tests
came back
later in stage of life
and it said
there was a 50% chance
that he was going to have
an abnormality,
genetic,
and that he would never
be able to survive
in the real world.
And the doctors
encouraged
and encouraged
his parents
to abort him.
And his parents,
which is amazing,
they weren't Christ followers
but they said,
we believe that
for some reason
we have this child
and we're going to
keep this child
and they kept him
and he was born
perfectly normal.
For some of us,
the only reason
we're here right now
is because the doctors
read our medical charts
right,
no abnormality
came back
in the blood work
and our parents
decided to keep us
instead of abort us.
But the farmer
doesn't know that.
The farmer thinks
it's all about him.
He did it all
and what Jesus
is trying to tell us
is if you run down
that road,
you're going to get
in trouble
because you're going
to become greedy
and you're going
to become lost.
He warns us
in verse 17,
again,
be careful.
The man began
reasoning to himself.
He's all by himself.
Everyone listening
would have been
freaking out
because he's all
by himself
and everyone in that
culture was communal.
He said to himself,
I shall do this
and I will do that
and no place
to store my crops
and then he said
this is what I will do.
I will tear down my barns
and I'll build larger ones
and they'll store
all my grains
and my goods
and Jesus warns us again.
He says be careful
when you separate yourself
from other people.
Be careful
when you separate yourself
from God
because when you start
thinking that ownership
is yours
and you're not a steward,
you're in trouble
and you're going
to become greedy
Jesus is warning us
and he's warning
the audience
that he's teaching to
that it's not our stuff,
it's not our crop,
it's not our barn,
it's not our house,
it's not our car,
it's not our bank account.
At least five more times
in the Gospel of Luke
he's going to talk
about these exact same things
and he's going to say
the only reason
you have what you have
is because God gave it to you.
I read this passage
and I thought wow
this is kind of like
the typical Hong Kong lifestyle,
isn't it?
I mean you think about it,
many of us in Hong Kong
we want to improve
our lifestyle.
We want to increase
our wealth,
we find more ways
to improve our lifestyle,
we find more ways
to enjoy ourselves,
we want to store up wealth,
we want to store up stuff
so that we can enjoy them
when we're old.
We're always planning
for the future,
we're making good investments
in stocks
and insurance
and wine
and property.
You notice this guy,
he's not yelled at
or criticized
for being a good planner
because the Bible wants us
to plan for our future
but what the guy
is criticized for
is that he leaves God
out of the plans.
He says,
I'm going to do it,
I can do it.
In verse 19,
Jesus goes on
and he tells his audience
and he tells us,
I will say to my soul,
in Greek and Hebrew,
he's actually saying myself,
self,
you have many goods
laid up for many years
to come.
Take your ease,
eat,
drink,
and be merry.
I mean,
he's so busy
thinking about
his physical body.
We're so busy
thinking about
our physical body.
that we forget
our soul.
And Jesus warns him
and he warns us,
be careful,
be careful
because your future
isn't in your control.
It's in God's control.
Finally,
in verse 20,
verse 21,
Jesus shares with us
and he shares
with his congregation.
But God said to him,
you fool,
this very night
your soul
is required of you
and now
who will own
what you have been prepared?
So is the man
who stores up treasure
for himself
and is not rich
towards God.
All up until this point,
it's just been
the guy speaking.
I will do this,
I will do that,
I will do these things.
And all of a sudden,
God speaks
and he speaks
in a very powerful way
and he calls him
a fool.
In scripture,
in the Bible,
a fool is anyone
who disbelieves God
or disregards
God's teaching.
And if you look
at this parable,
you realize,
finally,
after all of his time,
the rich,
famous farmer
realizes that everything
isn't his.
his life's not his.
His stuff's not his.
His self's not his.
And actually,
the words
is required
is a banking term.
What Jesus is saying
is everything
that's on loan to you,
margin call,
everything's back.
Everything that I've given you,
I need it back.
And in this moment,
the guy realizes
as he walks through life,
all those things
he was clinging on
for significance
and who he was
and to bring power
and people recognize him,
all of these things
that weren't really his,
he has to give them back.
And he's left with nothing.
I mean,
these are harsh words.
I understand it.
I mean,
because the world would say
this guy was successful
and he was good
and he was famous,
but when we look at Scripture,
Jesus looks at this man
in verse 21
and he turns back
to the man who yells out
at the very beginning
and he says these words,
so is the man
who stores up treasure
for himself.
He is not rich towards God.
He's living like a fool.
Are we living like a fool today?
Where are we storing up
our riches?
What are we thinking about
as we walk through life?
Are we thinking
that it's me, me, me
who's did it?
Or do we think
God has brought me
to this place,
God has given me sight,
God has allowed me to hear,
God has given me the health
and he has allowed me
to be here?
Here's some thoughts
I want to run through
really quickly.
These are things
that I've been struggling with
in the last couple weeks.
I know I say it every time.
But yeah.
My first thought is this.
Life is a gift on loan.
Each day is a gift
and everything we have
belongs to God.
It's a gift to be used,
enjoyed,
and returned.
And when we start thinking
that we own it,
we're in trouble.
Number two,
every moment we have a choice,
are we going to live our life
for ourself
or towards God?
There's only two choices
in the Bible.
And I know this might run
some of you away
because we hear
different gospels sometimes,
but in the Bible it says
we only have two choices.
Are we going to live our lives
towards God
or towards ourself?
Are we going to store up
treasures for ourselves
or are we going to store up
treasures in heaven?
Both of these storings
involve trust.
Whenever you give something
to somebody
and they store it,
you have to trust them.
You're trusting the bank,
you're trusting the institution,
you're trusting your banker,
you're trusting your investment guy,
or you're trusting God.
But there's a huge element
of trust in there.
And what this guy realizes
is that storing up things
here on earth
ultimately failed him.
because the abundance
of our life
doesn't guarantee
our eternity.
Here's the question
I want to ask.
I've been very hesitant
to ask this.
If God were
an investment banker
and he looks at your life
and he realizes
everything
that he's put
into your life,
money,
talents,
connections,
family,
health,
eyesight,
stopping that drunk car
from hitting you
when you should have
been wiped out.
God,
as an investment banker,
and the only return
God wants
in your life
is treasures in heaven.
Because that's
what the Bible says.
So God is
an investment banker.
He's invested
all these things
in your life.
Have we been
a good investment
for him?
I mean,
have we brought
the return
that an investment banker
would have expected?
Now this has nothing
to do with our salvation,
right?
The gospel saves us.
We're not working
to earn our salvation.
We're already a child
of God.
We're walking with him.
That's the power
of the gospel.
But after that,
God continues
to build into us
and he continues
to invest into us
and he continues
to give to us.
And the question
we have to ask ourselves
is,
are we a good investment?
if the only thing
he expects
is treasures
stored in heaven?
Have we been
dealing with God's word?
Have we been
in community?
Have we been
giving and tithing
and helping people
less fortunate
than ourselves?
When we look
at our neighbors,
the two great commandments,
love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
mind, and soul.
Look at your neighbor,
love your neighbor
as yourself.
The guy asked,
who is my neighbor?
He said,
your neighbor,
is anybody in need?
Take care of them.
Heavenly investments.
Have we been
a good return
on those things?
The Bible says
that Jesus was rich
but for our sakes
he became poor.
He paid the debt
that we owed God.
the debt
that we owed God
was hell.
That's a bad debt.
And Jesus
paid that debt
on the cross
not by tithing
his blood.
Okay, I'll give
20% now
and maybe 30% later.
He paid that debt
because he gave
everything.
He poured out
everything on the cross.
Jesus is incredibly rich
and generous
towards everyone
in this room.
And because he is
we can be also.
because he is
we have the freedom
to be also.
As I look at this passage
and I think of greed
and coveting
I've been praying for us
every day as a church.
I'm praying that who we are
our identity
is not defined
by where we live
or where we meet.
I'm praying that our identity
isn't defined
by the clothes we wear
the barns or wealth
that we accumulate
where our kiddos
go to school
who we know
the group of people
we hang around
our business card
our family
how big our business is
how big our church is.
I'm praying that our identity
isn't determined
by those things
because it is
we're walking
in this minefield
and we're just as lost
as the rich farmer.
I'm praying as a church
and as individuals
that our identity
is rooted firmly
in God
the gospel of Jesus Christ
the grace of God
that is poured out
on the cross.
I want to do an exercise
very quickly.
At the very beginning
I handed out money
to about 20 people
in this congregation.
Would you please stand up
and pass it out
to everybody?
I know who you are
so you can't run off
with it okay?
Every adult
should get a one dollar bill.
Every adult.
Everybody take one.
Don't be a cutie.
Everybody take one.
I did a one dollar bill
because I'm an American
yeah you can give me
a hard time.
But also I felt like
I won't get arrested
if I were an American
and I did this
I'd get arrested
because I wrote
on American money right?
So that's bad.
So on the dollar bill
just do as quick
as you can buddy.
That's good.
On the back
of the dollar bill
I want you to hold it up.
Everybody have one?
If you don't have one
raise your hand.
Dave you got some more?
I want to give this to you.
Christina and I
want to give this to you
as a gift.
Our hope is
that you would put it
we have more money
any more money?
We have any more?
Any more?
Okay.
Charles you want to
hand it up?
Raise your hand.
Hold it up.
It's very interesting
isn't it?
Because on the back
it says in God
we trust.
But what we wrote
on there
was a Bible verse
Luke 12 21
So is the man
who stores up
treasure for himself
and is not rich
towards God.
You can stick this
in your Bible
please don't put it
in the offering box
to convert it
just to moff on.
Okay.
So don't do that.
But the reason
I gave it to you
is I want it
you to take this
and think about it
as you go through
this day
and this week.
I mean this passage
tells us
that God
listen to me guys
this passage
tells us
that God
wants us
to enjoy life
but he doesn't
want us to do it
a part of
a relationship
with him
and other people
around us.
this passage
tells us
that God
wants us
to have stuff
but he doesn't
want us
to worship it.
He doesn't want
it to become
our gods
he doesn't want us
to forget
that we're not owners
but we're stewards
and one day
there's going to be
a bell that rings
inside your head
your eyes are going
to close
and the next thing
you do
when you open up
your eyes
hopefully
is you're going
to see Jesus Christ
and you're going
to look around
and you're not
going to have
any of the stuff
that you had
on earth
with you.
The only thing
you're going
to have
in your new home
is the heavenly
treasures
that you sent
ahead.
That's it.
And this passage
tells us
that God
wants us
to have stuff
he wants us
to enjoy things
but he wants us
to remember
that it's not
ours
that ownership
is a myth
ownership
is a myth
even with our
kids
even with our
life
God gives it
to us
for a little
while to enjoy
and then one day
he's going to ask
for it back
and hopefully
we'll be with him
enjoying eternity.
This passage
tells us
that God
wants us
to plan
for our futures
but he wants
us to remember
that our future
isn't here
that our future
is in heaven
and that's
where he wants
us to store
our treasures
not here
but in heaven
mine too
Jesus says
be careful
you walking
down that road
everybody has
that problem
everybody has
that problem
is probably
the greatest
sin
no one wants
to talk
about it
because no one
wants to say
I'm greedy
they'd rather say
I look at pornography
or I'm a drunk
but they don't want
to say I'm greedy
but Jesus says
we all struggle
with it
and we need
to be careful
we need
to be careful
Father we just
thank you for this
day
I thank you
for your mercy
and your grace
in our life
we thank you
for your goodness
and Father we thank you
for your word
that is living
and active
and never changes
and as we look
at this parable
of the rich farmer
we realize
that
that's us
if we're honest
we realize
that there's times
that we've forgotten
you
we realize
that there's times
that we've forgotten
community and fellowship
we realize
that there's times
we think this stuff
is ours
we realize
that there's times
that we think
that this is where
we store our treasures
and Father we just
come before you
and we just confess
and we repent
and we ask
your forgiveness
I know there are
people in here
even now
who haven't even
started the journey
with Christ
in our hope
what you heard
from this message
is that God
loves you
and he so desires
to have a relationship
with you
and our prayer
is that you would
stop having
relationships
with stuff
things that will
pass away
one day
and that you will
have it with
the eternal God
who you can enjoy
forever
and for the rest
of us
I just pray
Lord
as we walk
on this journey
and we walk
into these fields
and these struggles
that we would have
brothers and sisters
around us
who care enough
about us
to ask us questions
that we'd have
brothers and sisters
around us
who care enough
to pick us up
when we fall
and to point us
into the right direction
the direction of mercy
and direction of grace
and so Lord
we just come before you
as your people
and we continue
to think
that your son
was so rich
and yet for us
he became poor
he paid the debt
that we could never pay
so that we might
become rich
as members
of your family
help this gospel
message
permeate all
that we do
may we be generous
and gracious
because we serve
a God who is
we love you
amen