WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.980 For many people in life today, throughout Edinburgh, throughout Scotland, really 00:00:04.980 --> 00:00:12.000 throughout I think the whole Western world, there's a huge pressure to make it. 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:17.460 So right now, over the past month or so, it's been exam time I think for a lot of 00:00:17.460 --> 00:00:22.679 people here, people in high school, people in uni, and there you're working 00:00:22.679 --> 00:00:25.440 hard, you're trying to consolidate all that you've learned, you're sitting in 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:30.359 exam because you want to get the grades you need, and if you do that you can go 00:00:30.359 --> 00:00:34.640 on to the next step of life, maybe that'll be more study, maybe it'll be into a 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:40.760 job. Once you get a job, you can earn money, you can maybe step onto the 00:00:40.760 --> 00:00:48.880 property ladder, buy a house, you can work and buy a car, pay it off, you can maybe 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:52.200 try and earn a wee bit more, maybe you can get some nice holidays, if it goes well 00:00:52.200 --> 00:00:57.320 you will get promoted, that'll increase your income, you can then maybe move to a 00:00:57.320 --> 00:01:01.240 better area, you can get the mortgage paid off, you can go for even nicer 00:01:01.240 --> 00:01:05.760 holidays, longer holidays, you can get an even nicer car and you have financial 00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:11.000 security. Eventually, if you can work your way all the way through these 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:18.960 steps, you reach the point where you've got it all. And for many that's the dream, 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:24.719 that's what life is about and that's what we need to pour our energy 00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:29.519 into. For some people, making it takes a long time, so you go through this long 00:01:29.519 --> 00:01:34.839 process of school, university, job, promotion, house, mortgage, paid off, wealth, 00:01:34.839 --> 00:01:42.000 and then you've got security. For others it's much quicker, so some people might 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:46.439 have a very successful new business that just booms, some people might get promoted 00:01:46.439 --> 00:01:50.079 up the ladder very, very quickly, or even better somebody might become a 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:56.679 successful YouTuber and earn a fortune. Apparently my nephew told me that that 00:01:56.679 --> 00:02:00.719 was what most people in this class wanted to be, a successful YouTuber. 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:07.840 Change days, when I was wee it was just a footballer, but that's the dream. 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:13.039 But however old you are, however young you are, however it happens, if you reach 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:17.879 that point where you're successful in your career, where you're financially 00:02:17.879 --> 00:02:29.039 secure and comfortable, then in the world's eyes you've made it. In Luke chapter 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:40.000 12, Jesus tells us a parable about a guy who made it. Let's read it again. Jesus 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:44.400 said to them, take care and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:48.319 life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. And he told them a 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:53.000 parable saying, the land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to 00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:58.000 himself, what shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops. And he said, 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:03.599 I'll do this, I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:08.759 store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to my soul, soul you have ample 00:03:08.759 --> 00:03:15.239 goods laid up for many years, relax, eat, drink, be merry. But God said to him, 00:03:15.239 --> 00:03:21.479 fool, this night your soul is required of you, and the things that you've prepared, 00:03:21.479 --> 00:03:27.840 whose will they be? So is the one who lays up treasure for himself, and is not 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:37.280 rich toward God. Now this is a very relevant and very challenging parable 00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:41.520 for us. If you were to go out into the center of Edinburgh just now and have a 00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:48.400 look around, you would see hundreds of shops where you can get more goods like 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:53.639 this guy had. And you'll also find hundreds of bars and restaurants where 00:03:53.639 --> 00:03:59.479 you can eat, drink, and be merry, just like this guy wanted to be. So if the guy in 00:03:59.479 --> 00:04:03.319 this parable could step onto the royal mile right now, he'd be thinking, this 00:04:03.319 --> 00:04:16.040 is my kind of place, and we would look at him and we'd say he's made it. And that's 00:04:16.040 --> 00:04:23.680 why this parable, if anything, is even more relevant today than ever. And I want 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:27.560 us just to think about it together for a wee while, and I want us to focus just on 00:04:27.560 --> 00:04:34.680 three things. This parable challenges us and forces us to think. It forces us to 00:04:34.680 --> 00:04:39.319 think about our perspective, it forces us to think about our priorities, and it 00:04:39.319 --> 00:04:44.959 also forces us to think about how we relax. And I want us just to think a wee 00:04:44.959 --> 00:04:49.360 bit about the three of these things together. So first of all, at a kind of 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:54.279 general broad level, this parable is making us think about our perspective on 00:04:54.279 --> 00:05:00.959 life. And in many ways, it's presenting us with this image of climbing up to a 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:06.959 point of success. So we've got this man who's a rich landowner and his crops do 00:05:06.959 --> 00:05:12.000 well. So he's successful, but his barns aren't big enough. So he needs to kind of 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:16.839 climb up to the next step of the ladder to get onto the next stage of wealth and 00:05:16.839 --> 00:05:20.199 capital. So his plan is, I'm going to knock these down, I'm going to build a 00:05:20.199 --> 00:05:24.119 bigger one, then I'll have even more, I'll be able to store it up. His success is 00:05:24.120 --> 00:05:30.519 increasing, he's on the up, everything looks good. And that I think is a picture, 00:05:30.519 --> 00:05:36.959 a very clear picture of the perspective that pervades life today for many of 00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:42.920 us. The idea that we are climbing our way up towards greater levels of success 00:05:42.920 --> 00:05:49.399 and that that is ultimately what life is all about. People are working their way 00:05:49.399 --> 00:05:56.319 up to that level. So I couldn't resist a diagram for all of this. So start off in 00:05:56.319 --> 00:06:00.039 school, you need to work your way up to school, then university, work your way up 00:06:00.039 --> 00:06:03.239 through university, then you get a job, work your way up through that job, then 00:06:03.239 --> 00:06:08.239 get a promotion, even higher, then you've got security, and then once you're there, 00:06:08.239 --> 00:06:17.719 relax. Because you've made it. Now that's just one way it can happen, it doesn't 00:06:17.720 --> 00:06:20.840 necessarily happen through university, some people leave school, they'll maybe do 00:06:20.840 --> 00:06:24.760 a trade engineer or electrician or something like that, they'll start a 00:06:24.760 --> 00:06:28.520 business, they can zoom up the ladder even faster that way, it just depends. 00:06:28.520 --> 00:06:31.800 There's different ways of doing it, but the general, you get the general gist, 00:06:31.800 --> 00:06:39.200 that's the idea. If you can reach that point, then you've made it. You're on a 00:06:39.200 --> 00:06:44.320 plateau of success and satisfaction. So many ways, it's like that, it's like a 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:49.759 climb and then a plateau, and that's what we're all aiming for. Now at one level, 00:06:49.759 --> 00:06:55.040 there's nothing wrong with that. It's good to work hard and it's great if we 00:06:55.040 --> 00:07:01.079 can do well, and if it does happen, we should be so thankful. But we should 00:07:01.079 --> 00:07:07.600 always remember that part of that will always be out of our hands. And it's 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:11.240 interesting, that truth is reflected in this parable, because you have this rich 00:07:11.240 --> 00:07:15.400 man, he's got lots of land, but he benefits from the fact that the land 00:07:15.400 --> 00:07:20.879 did well. There's a sense in which it was out of his hands and he benefited from 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:25.879 that and that helped him on his way. That's true in every part of life. We 00:07:25.879 --> 00:07:31.560 can work our way through that. For some people, it doesn't work out, but for some, 00:07:31.560 --> 00:07:37.879 the breaks do come. Sometimes it's out of our hands. But the point is that the 00:07:37.879 --> 00:07:42.040 parable is not saying that being well off is wrong. That's not what it's talking 00:07:42.040 --> 00:07:48.199 about. So what is it saying? Well, I think one of the things Jesus wants to teach us 00:07:48.199 --> 00:07:57.920 is that this parable is emphasizing the need for a bigger perspective on life. 00:07:57.920 --> 00:08:02.519 We stand and we look at that and we think, yeah, that's a great summary of what we 00:08:02.519 --> 00:08:08.159 want life to be. We're looking up that slope, we're trying to get to the top and 00:08:08.159 --> 00:08:15.319 if we get there, we've made it. Jesus is saying, you need to look further than 00:08:15.319 --> 00:08:29.319 that, because the truth is, at the top of that climb, there isn't a plateau. At the 00:08:29.319 --> 00:08:39.639 top of that climb is a cliff. And that cliff, the end of our lives when we die, 00:08:39.639 --> 00:08:47.879 that's stripping away, instantly stripping away everything that we've gathered 00:08:47.879 --> 00:08:56.319 for ourselves on that climb. This guy in the parable had gathered a whole pile of 00:08:56.320 --> 00:09:01.120 resources, so much so that he didn't even have room for it all. Yet no matter how 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:09.760 much he had made it, he was absolutely powerless to stop death bringing it all 00:09:09.760 --> 00:09:13.600 to an end. He thought he had a survival plan. He thought, I've got ample goods, 00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:17.920 it's gonna last me for many years and yet we're being reminded of the 00:09:17.920 --> 00:09:25.000 shortness and fragility of life. He couldn't stop. It all been stripped away. 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:34.080 As he came off that cliff. And exactly the same as true for everyone, exactly the 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:40.320 same as true for us. Different people make it to different heights of success, so 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:44.000 that path of arrows going up might be really steep for some people. They might 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:46.840 really make it and if you look around Edinburgh, there's some people who have 00:09:46.840 --> 00:09:51.600 really made it in that sense. Other people, they might not get anywhere near 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:58.320 that level and it might be a struggle. Some people make it way higher than 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:03.759 others. But the key point is that no matter where you are in terms of height, 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:14.600 no one, no one can avoid the cliff. No one can escape leaving it all behind. 00:10:14.600 --> 00:10:25.159 And this is where we see just how absolutely brilliant the gospel is. 00:10:25.159 --> 00:10:30.960 Because if we use this image to describe life, if we say that life is a climb and 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:38.080 then a cliff, we work our way up and then it comes to an end. We can often think 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:42.960 that Christianity is about changing the climb. So we think, you know, Christianity 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:47.639 is about making your life easier. And so if you go to church, if you have a faith, 00:10:47.639 --> 00:10:51.800 it's going to make the climb easier. It's going to change it and it'll make it 00:10:51.800 --> 00:10:55.720 better. And often people can think that that being a Christian will make you a 00:10:55.720 --> 00:11:00.639 better person and it might even bring better things into your life. Now that 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:04.759 may be true for some, but for many people it's not true. Often being a Christian is 00:11:04.759 --> 00:11:10.200 really tough. Often life is hard and often Christians most definitely don't 00:11:10.200 --> 00:11:15.480 make it in the world's eyes in the sense of being successful in the workplace or 00:11:15.480 --> 00:11:21.080 being financially secure. People think that Christianity is about improving the 00:11:21.080 --> 00:11:31.040 climb, but that's not what Christianity is all about. And that's why Christianity 00:11:31.040 --> 00:11:35.040 is amazing, because Christianity is not about changing the climb, it's about 00:11:35.039 --> 00:11:43.000 changing the cliff. Jesus hasn't come to give us an easy life for a while. He's 00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:50.919 come to give us eternal life forever. He's come to change the cliff. And so 00:11:50.919 --> 00:11:54.319 instead of grafting through your life, trying to make it and then falling off a 00:11:54.319 --> 00:11:58.399 cliff where you lose it all, the gospel is saying that you can go through life 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:02.519 knowing that wherever you reach in terms of the climb and no matter what stage in 00:12:02.519 --> 00:12:06.720 life you reach the cliff, Jesus is already holding you and he will carry you 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:17.679 home to be with him forever. And if you're not yet a Christian, you need to look at 00:12:17.679 --> 00:12:24.039 that at the two big arrows at the end and just ask yourself which one's better? 00:12:24.039 --> 00:12:35.759 Which one do you want? The parable is really challenging out perspective. It's 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:40.639 also challenging our priorities and in many ways this parable arose out of the 00:12:40.639 --> 00:12:47.399 context of misplaced priorities. Luke chapter 12 comes in kind of a wee bit 00:12:47.399 --> 00:12:53.839 into a big chunk of Luke which runs from chapter 9 through to chapter 19. Much 00:12:53.840 --> 00:13:00.560 of which is unique to Luke's gospel. And in this big chunk from 9 to 19 in Luke, 00:13:00.560 --> 00:13:07.240 Jesus is making his way towards Jerusalem. He's nearing the end of his ministry 00:13:07.240 --> 00:13:10.759 and he's traveling around. It's not a kind of direct path to Jerusalem but the 00:13:10.759 --> 00:13:17.000 general trajectory of his journeying is towards Jerusalem in terms of coming to 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:21.040 the end of his ministry and moving towards the cross. So this is quite far 00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:24.839 on in terms of Jesus' life. This is probably the period when he was at 00:13:24.839 --> 00:13:30.799 his most well known in terms of the area of Judea and the surrounding region. 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:38.399 And so he comes to this place and a man in the crowd gets a chance to speak to 00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:44.319 him. And so just imagine being this man in the crowd. Here is your one chance to 00:13:44.319 --> 00:13:48.759 speak to this rabbi who's kind of turning the world upside down that people 00:13:48.759 --> 00:13:52.600 are hearing about. He's teaching all these things, performing miracles. He's 00:13:52.600 --> 00:13:56.200 coming to this place. You get a chance to see him. You get into the crowd. You get a 00:13:56.200 --> 00:14:00.919 chance to speak to him. This is his one opportunity and the guy comes to Jesus 00:14:00.919 --> 00:14:08.840 and he wants him to sort out a family feud about money. He says, teacher, tell 00:14:08.840 --> 00:14:13.399 my brother to divide the inheritance with me. This is his one chance to talk to 00:14:13.399 --> 00:14:19.439 Jesus. And this is what he wants to talk about. Now we don't know the details of 00:14:19.439 --> 00:14:23.159 this claim. It could be a legitimate claim. It might be that his brother is 00:14:23.159 --> 00:14:28.559 treating him unfairly or it could be a selfish claim. It may be that this man 00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:33.959 is wanting his share now in a sense that's not appropriate or not customary. 00:14:33.959 --> 00:14:37.679 We don't actually know whether this guy is being treated badly or whether he's 00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:42.840 being selfish, not sure. You can decide for yourselves what do you think? I don't 00:14:42.840 --> 00:14:48.560 know. I lean towards the second idea that his claim is not legitimate 00:14:48.560 --> 00:14:55.000 because certainly what Jesus says in response certainly seems to be towards a 00:14:55.000 --> 00:15:02.000 rebuke or a warning implying that this man's motivation is in terms of 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:05.840 covetousness and greed. But whatever the circumstance is, the one thing that's 00:15:05.840 --> 00:15:12.960 clear, material possessions are a priority for this man who comes to speak to 00:15:12.960 --> 00:15:18.280 Jesus. And in response, Jesus refuses point-blank to get involved in the 00:15:18.280 --> 00:15:25.440 family dispute and instead he gives us all a warning about our priorities. Verse 00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:30.120 15, he says, take care, be on your guard against all covetousness for one's life 00:15:30.120 --> 00:15:36.720 does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. Now this is one of the many 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:42.039 great statements that Jesus made and it's one of the statements that we 00:15:42.039 --> 00:15:46.240 would all agree with. Even people who have no interest in the Gospel, I'm pretty 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:49.919 sure that if you went out onto the Royal Mile and started asking people, do you 00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:57.360 agree with this statement? They would all say yes. And yet at the same time, a 00:15:57.360 --> 00:16:05.440 huge amount of people in Scotland live just like the guy in the parable. And as 00:16:05.440 --> 00:16:12.200 we look through the parable, we can see three key patterns of behavior in this 00:16:12.200 --> 00:16:17.840 rich man. First of all, you see individualism. Notice how much he 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:24.560 speaks about me, my, I. What shall I do? I've got nowhere to store my crops, I'll 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:30.439 tear down my barns and then I'll store my grain, my goods, I'll say to my soul. It's 00:16:30.439 --> 00:16:35.439 all very, very much me, me, my, my, my. There's no word of any sense of 00:16:35.439 --> 00:16:41.119 responsibility or generosity to others. It's very individualistic. It's also very 00:16:41.119 --> 00:16:47.319 materialistic. The guy basically says, I've got loads of stuff, I've got loads of 00:16:47.319 --> 00:16:51.959 goods, I'm sorted. And his satisfaction and security was in his 00:16:51.960 --> 00:16:59.120 material possessions. It was materialistic. And it's also hedonistic in the 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:04.400 sense he wants to just eat, drink and be merry. He just wants to pursue pleasure. 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:13.380 In other words, he's got it all. He's made it. He just wants to party. These three 00:17:13.380 --> 00:17:18.120 behavior patterns are clear in the passage. Individualism, materialism, 00:17:18.119 --> 00:17:23.799 hedonism and they are all around us today. Because if Scotland in 2019 is 00:17:23.799 --> 00:17:33.079 anything, it's individualistic, it's materialistic, it's hedonistic. Look after 00:17:33.079 --> 00:17:42.039 number one, get more stuff and have a blast. And all of this raises the question 00:17:42.039 --> 00:17:50.039 about the priorities in our lives. Am I the priority in my life? Is it all about 00:17:50.039 --> 00:17:57.639 me? In other words, am I more important than anybody else? Is stuff the priority 00:17:57.639 --> 00:18:04.000 in my life? In other words, will goods bring me fulfillment and happiness? Is 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:08.799 partying the priority in my life? In other words, is that the dream to be able 00:18:08.799 --> 00:18:16.399 to just go out and just have a massive laugh? Is that the reward? Is that 00:18:16.399 --> 00:18:22.480 the legacy you want to leave? Imagine your gravestone. It says she put 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:29.759 herself first, she had loads of stuff and she went to loads of parties. 00:18:30.680 --> 00:18:36.919 Now this is not a question of whether that stuff is wrong. Jesus is not saying 00:18:36.920 --> 00:18:39.759 that we shouldn't have possessions. You only need to read the rest of this 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:43.600 chapter to see that that's not the case. And he's not saying that we shouldn't 00:18:43.600 --> 00:18:49.480 have fun. Jesus himself celebrated with friends at weddings and things like that. 00:18:49.480 --> 00:18:52.600 The question is not about whether these things are right or wrong. The question is 00:18:52.600 --> 00:18:58.560 about priorities. Are these the most important things in your life? And I am 00:18:58.560 --> 00:19:05.880 sure that every single person here would say no. And yet at the very same time, 00:19:05.880 --> 00:19:17.120 whenever we see someone who's made it, we think to ourselves, I wish I was that guy. 00:19:19.320 --> 00:19:27.640 And that's why Jesus says to be on guard, because covetousness and greed can 00:19:27.640 --> 00:19:34.640 sneak up on us and it can spring up in our hearts so easily. And that's why the 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:38.720 key question is not do you know the truth that life does not consist in the 00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:42.120 abundance of your possessions? It's not do you know it. The question is do you live 00:19:42.120 --> 00:19:51.920 by it? And the best way to think about whether we live by it or the best way to 00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:56.200 know it and live by it is to go back to our first point, to have the right 00:19:56.200 --> 00:20:01.360 perspective. Thinking about the whole of life and the whole of eternity. What's 00:20:01.359 --> 00:20:06.839 more important? Individualism or community? What's more important? Materialism or 00:20:06.839 --> 00:20:12.439 generosity? What's more important? Hedonistic merriness or genuine meaning 00:20:12.439 --> 00:20:19.359 and purpose and relationship in life? And that's why Jesus is asking us do we 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:26.240 prioritize what's rich before the world or what is rich towards God? Do we 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:31.119 prioritize what we have now which will leave behind or do we prioritize what's 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:37.799 what we have in eternity? In other words what's more important? The climb or the 00:20:37.799 --> 00:20:45.479 cliff. The gospel challenges us to think about what really matters and if this 00:20:45.479 --> 00:20:53.000 parable has any effect on you at all God grant that it makes us all stop and 00:20:53.000 --> 00:21:01.240 think. So Jesus is challenging our perspective, Jesus is challenging our 00:21:01.240 --> 00:21:07.160 priorities but last of all in this parable Jesus also I think wants us to 00:21:07.160 --> 00:21:15.079 consider how we relax. In verse 19 we read that the man said I'll say to my soul 00:21:15.079 --> 00:21:21.799 soul you have ample goods laid up for many years relax, eat, drink and be 00:21:21.799 --> 00:21:27.000 merriant and in many ways to me that word relax stands out a lot because if you 00:21:27.000 --> 00:21:32.599 think in terms of making it of getting to that point you think that's the 00:21:32.599 --> 00:21:38.399 moment when I really can relax. So for some some of you that might be when you 00:21:38.399 --> 00:21:40.799 get your degree maybe some of you are about to get your degree you think oh 00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:45.240 if I just get it I can relax. For others it might be when they get the job 00:21:45.240 --> 00:21:48.759 they've always wanted so you think oh if I can just get that job just get that 00:21:48.759 --> 00:21:55.119 permanent contract oh then I can relax. For some it might be when you finally get 00:21:55.119 --> 00:21:58.559 your own house you think I've always wanted my own house if I could just get 00:21:58.559 --> 00:22:03.879 that then I can relax. For other people it might be retirement if I could just 00:22:03.879 --> 00:22:11.379 retire then I would relax. And we have all these points in their lives and we 00:22:11.379 --> 00:22:18.559 think if I reach that point then then I can relax. That's what this guy thought 00:22:18.559 --> 00:22:26.559 and reading this parable and thinking about relaxing there's two mistakes 00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:32.599 that we can make. The first one is that we can think that getting to the top is 00:22:32.599 --> 00:22:40.000 the key to an easy life. So we think to ourselves if I can just get that job that 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:51.000 gives me that bit more money then I'll be able to relax. But so often the top is 00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:57.920 a far from relaxing place at all. We can think to ourselves that getting up there 00:22:57.920 --> 00:23:03.440 means more money more freedom more relaxation in reality it often means more 00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:12.080 pressure more stress more isolation more worry. For many people who are 00:23:12.080 --> 00:23:20.480 adventurers the dream would be to climb Mount Everest and you look at photos and 00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:24.240 or footage of people who are at the summit of Mount Everest have you ever 00:23:24.240 --> 00:23:32.559 ever ever seen anyone relax at the top of Mount Everest. It's probably the 00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:41.839 harshest most dangerous most isolated place on the planet. And for the bosses 00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:49.159 in here you're probably thinking then that's my job. Getting to the top is not 00:23:49.159 --> 00:23:54.359 relaxing but the world makes you think that it is. So that's one mistake that 00:23:54.359 --> 00:24:01.519 we can make. But secondly and even more importantly it's easy to read this 00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:08.440 parable and think that God is against this whole idea of relaxing. So you have 00:24:08.440 --> 00:24:13.440 got this guy who finally makes it he says soul you can relax and then God 00:24:13.440 --> 00:24:19.720 jumps in and says fool. And our impression can be that God is against this 00:24:19.720 --> 00:24:24.200 whole idea of relaxing he doesn't want us to relax and some people definitely 00:24:24.200 --> 00:24:29.119 have that impression of Christianity that Christianity means giving 00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:33.839 up any hope of relaxation or happiness in your life. There's this idea that God 00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:39.159 is kind of harsh and cold and doesn't really like the idea of people relaxing. 00:24:39.159 --> 00:24:50.559 And we have to ask the question is that true? Is God against relaxing? Well it's 00:24:50.559 --> 00:24:58.279 not true. In fact it's the complete opposite of the truth because the truth 00:24:58.279 --> 00:25:07.879 is the gospel of Jesus Christ gives you the best relaxation of all. If you put 00:25:07.879 --> 00:25:11.519 your trust in Jesus if you are a Christian or if you become a Christian 00:25:11.519 --> 00:25:18.680 then for many many reasons you can relax. And this chapter actually highlights 00:25:18.680 --> 00:25:24.920 several of them and I'll just give you three or four examples. So think about 00:25:24.920 --> 00:25:30.080 life and what makes you tense, what gives you stress, what makes you angry, what 00:25:30.080 --> 00:25:34.720 frustrates you, what slips away your relaxation. There's various things often 00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:43.000 in life we are stressed because things seem unfair and so you look at things 00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:45.320 that are happening in the world you look at things that are happening to us and 00:25:45.320 --> 00:25:50.120 you think that's so unfair it's so frustrating and it all just seems so 00:25:50.119 --> 00:26:05.879 wrong. The gospel says you can relax. Why? Because justice will come. This 00:26:05.879 --> 00:26:12.879 parable arose from an aggrieved individual. He felt this is not fair what 00:26:12.879 --> 00:26:17.159 my brother is doing to me and so much tension comes into our lives because we 00:26:17.160 --> 00:26:22.000 feel that things are unfair but the gospel tells us that ultimately God will 00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:27.680 sort everything out. Jesus makes that very clear at the beginning of the 00:26:27.680 --> 00:26:33.040 parable. He says beware the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. Nothing is covered that 00:26:33.040 --> 00:26:40.680 will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known. And that's telling us that 00:26:40.680 --> 00:26:48.080 all injustice will ultimately be dealt with by God. So instead of us trying to 00:26:48.080 --> 00:26:53.240 take revenge, instead of us trying to take matters in our own hands, often we 00:26:53.240 --> 00:26:57.640 can think that if I can just sort that person out then I can relax. God says no 00:26:57.640 --> 00:27:05.840 relax now I'll deal with it. Gospel tells us that we can relax in terms of 00:27:05.839 --> 00:27:14.439 injustice. Often in life we can feel stressed about everything that's going 00:27:14.439 --> 00:27:22.679 on. So busy, so much pressure and even just the little things in 00:27:22.679 --> 00:27:26.679 our lives can seem chaotic and we feel like all these things we're trying to 00:27:26.679 --> 00:27:32.799 juggle, we're trying to keep on top of them and we can't handle it. The gospel 00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:41.639 says you can relax because God cares about every detail of your life. Verses 00:27:41.639 --> 00:27:46.879 6 to 7 emphasize the care that God has towards us. He says are not five sparrows 00:27:46.879 --> 00:27:52.399 sold for two pennies and not one of them is forgotten before God. Why even the 00:27:52.400 --> 00:28:03.320 hairs of your head are all numbered? Fear not. God's care towards you goes to the 00:28:03.320 --> 00:28:08.400 most minute details of your life. So whether it's your bank balance, your 00:28:08.400 --> 00:28:15.400 email inbox, your health, your family, your finances, your work, your schedule, 00:28:15.400 --> 00:28:23.160 your exams, your university application, whatever it is God knows every detail 00:28:23.160 --> 00:28:32.000 and you can relax. You really can relax because God will take care of it. Often in 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:37.880 life we can be scared of opposition and for many Christians this is very real 00:28:37.880 --> 00:28:42.080 and I think it will become more and more real for us in the decades to come. We 00:28:42.079 --> 00:28:46.839 are scared of people opposing us, people challenging us and for the fact that our 00:28:46.839 --> 00:28:55.359 faith might bring us into conflict with others. The gospel actually says you can 00:28:55.359 --> 00:29:00.199 relax because when they bring you before synagogues and rulers and 00:29:00.199 --> 00:29:03.279 authorities don't be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you 00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:09.599 should say, the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to 00:29:09.599 --> 00:29:17.599 say and no matter who stands against you, Jesus, the Son of Man, the one who has 00:29:17.599 --> 00:29:24.439 all authority, will stand up for you. The Son of Man will acknowledge you before 00:29:24.439 --> 00:29:31.119 the angels of God. Often in life we're worried about what we have or what we 00:29:31.119 --> 00:29:38.679 don't have. Again the gospel says you can relax because God is more than ready 00:29:38.680 --> 00:29:44.600 and willing to provide for you. That's what the section from verse 22 to verse 00:29:44.600 --> 00:29:48.799 31 speaks about, just the fact that you look at the birds, you look at the 00:29:48.799 --> 00:29:53.720 flowers, God provides for them, God will also provide for you and then in verse 00:29:53.720 --> 00:30:00.279 32 it tells us something amazing. It tells us it's actually a pleasure for God to 00:30:00.279 --> 00:30:07.720 bless you and to provide for you. Often in life we can be stressed or nervous 00:30:07.720 --> 00:30:13.279 about protecting our assets so we think, I mean to protect my job, my house, my 00:30:13.279 --> 00:30:21.079 money, we want to protect and preserve it all. The gospel says, relax because the 00:30:21.079 --> 00:30:27.120 riches you have in Jesus will never fade. The next verse says that, sell your 00:30:27.120 --> 00:30:30.279 possessions, give to the needy, provide yourselves with money bags that do not grow 00:30:30.279 --> 00:30:36.880 old with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail. Where no thief approaches, 00:30:36.880 --> 00:30:44.480 no moth destroys. You don't need to set a burglar alarm on your eternal treasure, 00:30:44.480 --> 00:30:51.600 it's safe. You can relax. And this is again with the gospel so brilliantly 00:30:51.600 --> 00:30:59.840 different. Every single earthly investment involves risk, every single one. But our 00:30:59.839 --> 00:31:10.399 heavenly investment in Jesus carries no risk at all. All it requires is patience. 00:31:10.399 --> 00:31:16.879 Often in life we put huge amounts of effort into gaining wealth. The gospel 00:31:16.879 --> 00:31:22.759 says, relax. You don't need that treasure, in fact you are the treasure 00:31:22.759 --> 00:31:31.519 because you are so precious to God. And above all else, in life we are nervous 00:31:31.519 --> 00:31:43.119 about death. But even then the gospel says, relax. Because in Jesus you're safe 00:31:43.119 --> 00:31:49.160 for eternity. And when the day comes when your life is required of you, you are 00:31:49.160 --> 00:31:57.080 utterly safe in the hands of Jesus. And this is one of the many, many reasons why 00:31:57.080 --> 00:32:05.080 being a Christian is amazing because the world says you need to reach 00:32:05.080 --> 00:32:17.040 the top and then relaxation begins. The gospel says, relaxation of the very best 00:32:17.039 --> 00:32:27.639 kind begins now. And if you think about it, the whole of the gospel is shaped 00:32:27.639 --> 00:32:35.240 around the call to trust in Jesus. That's what we are asked to do. 00:32:35.240 --> 00:32:46.359 That's just another way of saying relax in Jesus. Just lean on Him, rely on Him, 00:32:46.359 --> 00:32:52.879 depend on Him, rest in Him. Now when I say relax, I don't mean in the sense of 00:32:52.879 --> 00:32:58.799 being lazy. Relaxation is not laziness. It's in the sense of resting and just 00:32:58.799 --> 00:33:03.879 leaning on Him. That's all the gospel asks us to do. To trust in Jesus. To 00:33:03.880 --> 00:33:16.600 relax in confidence that Jesus has done everything that we need. So this is the 00:33:16.600 --> 00:33:26.560 parable of the guy who made it but ultimately lost it all. But the key 00:33:26.560 --> 00:33:32.440 point I want to emphasize is that the warning that Jesus gives is not because 00:33:32.440 --> 00:33:40.840 He doesn't want you to make it. It's because He doesn't want you to lose it. 00:33:41.559 --> 00:33:50.120 And instead He wants to pour out eternal blessings upon you. And here's where we 00:33:50.120 --> 00:33:55.200 see the irony of the world in contrast to the gospel. The world says you need to 00:33:55.200 --> 00:33:59.519 make it. That's what you need to do. And then if you actually make it, do you know 00:33:59.519 --> 00:34:06.960 what will happen? The world will resent you and be envious of you. And you'll find 00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:13.239 yourself isolated. And ultimately you'll lose it all. The gospel is the complete 00:34:13.239 --> 00:34:17.480 opposite. God doesn't expect you to make it. He knows you can't. He just wants to 00:34:17.480 --> 00:34:23.639 give it to you and pour out eternal blessings upon you that will last 00:34:23.639 --> 00:34:28.880 forever. That's when you will really make it. And if you do, if you do that, if you 00:34:28.880 --> 00:34:33.160 reach that point where God can look at you and you've got these eternal 00:34:33.160 --> 00:34:38.960 blessings of life with God forever as part of God's people, God won't look at 00:34:38.960 --> 00:34:48.160 you and resent you. God will look at you and be so, so delighted. And I think 00:34:48.159 --> 00:35:02.519 that's where we can all really relax. Let's pray. God our Father, we want to 00:35:02.519 --> 00:35:08.920 acknowledge that you are so good and so kind and so generous. And we just praise 00:35:08.920 --> 00:35:14.199 you for that so much. We also want to acknowledge that we are so foolish and so 00:35:14.199 --> 00:35:18.119 often we think that stuff will make us happy and that that's what life is 00:35:18.119 --> 00:35:23.639 about. Help us Lord to have the right perspective. Help us to have the right 00:35:23.639 --> 00:35:49.199 priorities and help us always to just relax in you. Amen.