Well, good morning.
Good morning.
Because of those things, it is more important than ever for us to actually read the Bible itself and to hear what Jesus has to say to us about these things.
As you know, at Trinity here, we preach through sections of Scripture.
And one of the reasons we do it is because it brings us to these topics that we might feel uncomfortable choosing.
But when we get to them, we now allow God to speak into our lives as God's Word wants to.
And so we are doing that this morning.
Last week, we did the end of chapter 11 and the beginning of 12 of the book of Luke.
And so we are going to continue on.
On the road of discipleship with Jesus.
And this is what we're...
What does it mean to follow Him?
As Jesus is heading towards Jerusalem, heading towards His crucifixion and resurrection,
heading towards the accomplishment of the purpose for which He came, the salvation of the world.
He is teaching His disciples, spending this traveling journey, teaching them what does it mean to know Him and to follow Him.
And so we're going to talk this morning about our relationship to money and wealth.
I don't know if you watch the Super Bowl.
My guess is there will be one of these.
I don't know.
But the Super Bowl commercials are always a big thing.
And there's a commercial that's been out for a while by a company named ING.
And its tagline is, what's your number?
And you see a guy walking down the street and he's got this big six or seven digit orange number under his arm.
And then there's someone else.
A woman rides by on her bicycle and she's got her number on her back.
And there's one where there's a guy clipping his head and he's got a number.
And this is a gazillion because he has no idea what his number is.
And his neighbor comes up and says, how are you going to plan for that?
And the upshot of the commercial is that for you to plan for your retirement, ING can help you do that well.
And in order to do that, you have to know your number to have enough to retire.
And they want to help you to do that.
What's your number?
Underlying it is a question that we all need to ask ourselves, which is, what are we investing our lives, including our money, in?
What are we investing our lives, including our money, for?
ING says your goal should be a successful, comfortable, and financially secure retirement.
What does Jesus have to say about that question?
So let's look at this passage together.
And hopefully we'll get some answers to that question before we go.
So Luke chapter 12, it's page 818 in your Pew Bible if you're following along.
Luke chapter 12, starting in verse 13 and going to verse 34.
So let's read this together and then we'll pray and then we'll continue.
And he said to them,
And he told them a parable saying,
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 I will say to my soul,
Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years.
Relax, eat, drink, be merry.
But God said to him,
Fool, this very 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 towards God.
And he said to his disciples,
Therefore, I tell you,
Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat,
nor about your body, what will you 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.
Yet God feeds them.
Of how much more value are you than the birds?
And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life?
If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that,
why are you anxious about the rest?
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 clothes 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?
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.
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.
So, let's pray.
Lord, we thank you for this word.
Lord, we thank you that you speak to us
so that we might know what it means to know you,
and we might know what it means to live in a relationship with you.
Lord, I ask this morning for your Holy Spirit to be at work in us
as we look into your word together.
Lord, may the truth of your word be plain.
Will you apply it to our lives?
Lord, will you change our hearts,
and will you move our limbs to action?
Lord, that we might be not only hearers of the word,
but doers also.
For your glory, we pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
So, in this passage,
Jesus gives us both warnings
about how we ought not to relate to our possessions and our money,
and then he gives us a new way to live,
a different direction to go in how we think about this.
So, that's how we're going to look at it.
The warnings are in verses 13 through 30.
The new way is in 30 to 34.
So, we're going to look at this in
and work our way through this passage together.
So, first, Jesus' warnings to us
to avoid greedy and grasping hearts.
In the setup of this story,
Jesus is publicly teaching,
and there's a voice from the crowd.
It's fascinating.
This is a completely anonymous guy who says,
Hey, Jesus, will you tell my brother
that he needs to give me my share?
And it's not even clear whether it's his share
or whether this guy is just wanting more than he actually deserves.
But whatever the request is,
this guy is looking for Jesus
to give this public intervention about it,
about money.
And, you know, it's so interesting to think
that we wouldn't ever be the kind of grasping person
who would put someone on the spot
in a public forum
to adjudicate for us
against someone else
in matters of money.
We would like to think
that we're generally generous people,
that we would actually think
that, you know,
we wouldn't put someone
in this position.
If you were here last week,
you heard Pastor Greg mention briefly
in his sermon
as the passage last week
talked on generosity.
That our culture has a problem
and that our human hearts
have a problem with thinking
that we're more generous
than we think we are.
So, as Greg reported,
I'm just going to report these again
so you can remember them.
70% of millennials say
that they're very or somewhat generous
in 2016.
But the same survey said
that 84% of them
reported giving away
$50 or less
during that same year
that they were being very generous.
Another way to think about it
is that America is perhaps
the wealthiest nation in the world
and yet Americans today
give away broadly
3% of our income.
Not only is that not a lot
on an absolute standard,
but it was less than
what people were giving away
during the Great Depression
when people were in serious need.
I bring these up
just to say that
in our human hearts,
it's easy for us to think
that we're going to be okay
about money
and we don't need to hear
a warning about being greedy,
but in fact,
we often do.
Pastor Orly,
it is remarkable
how many stories I hear
about how many families
squabble and fight
about inheritances
and how much money they get.
That's just an anecdotal observation.
Many of you are not there yet.
Bob's nodding.
He's a lawyer.
He gets it.
But when you get there,
you feel the pull on your heart
in ways that you never knew
would be there.
And Jesus says,
beware,
beware of the impulse
of your heart
to be greedy.
And he gives two reasons.
And the first one,
he tells us in verse 15
and then he gives us
a parable to illustrate it.
The first reason why
we ought not to be greedy
is because life is not found
in things that are temporal
and passing.
That's what he says
at the end of verse 15
and then he goes on
and tells this story,
this well-known story
about a rich man,
a rich man whose land
has produced for him
an abundant crop
and he doesn't have
the resources to,
he doesn't have
the buildings
to store all of these goods.
And if you're a businessman
sitting out there,
you might be thinking,
what's wrong with that?
His business is expanding.
He's just increasing
his operations
so that he can continue
to grow.
And at one level,
that's right.
Because in the sense that
there is no condemnation
of this man
having gotten this wealth
in an ill-gotten way.
He didn't do this deceitfully
or manipulatively.
He simply was prosperous.
But you see that
as the story goes on,
this man's heart
in relationship
to his possessions
was not right.
You see,
if you look in verses
17 through 19,
the personal pronouns,
I, me, and myself,
or self,
are used 12 times.
And at the end,
you see what his goal is.
Soul, you now have
all that you need.
Eat, drink,
and be merry,
and relax.
The underlying message
of this man's heart was,
when you have enough,
now you have security.
Now you have comfort.
Now you have satisfaction.
Now you have peace.
It was not in the having
of these things,
but in the way
that he valued them
that was his downfall,
says one commentator.
And God intervenes
at the end of the story
and says,
Fool,
tonight your life
is taken from you.
You've gathered
all this stuff
for what?
Because now you
have died.
And who's,
who will get
all this stuff?
It doesn't matter
to you, does it?
Because you don't
get any of it.
And you have said,
this is what my life
is about.
So Jesus finishes
this parable
in verse 21.
So is the one
who lays up
treasure for himself.
That is,
that one is a fool
who will recognize
that the transience
of life means
that the possessions
that they have
cannot be the substance,
the goal
of meaningful investment
in their lives.
And Jesus points ahead
to what we'll see
at the end
of this section
when he says,
and is not rich
towards God.
Jesus is tipping
his hand saying,
that's where we're going.
There's a different
kind of riches.
There's a different
kind of investment.
There's a different
kind of goal
for you.
Being rich
towards God.
Jesus then continues.
If the first one is,
you ought not to
fall prey
to greed
because
when you are greedy,
you're setting
your hearts on things
that will never be able
to do what you think
it will.
Your possessions
are passing.
Your money is fleeting.
Your life is eternal.
The second one
is he says,
don't spend your life
grasping
for material possessions.
And I'm using
grasping as a word
you see in your text.
The word is seek.
That's,
and I'm translating
that grasping
because I think
this seeking
has this all-consuming
sort of fixation,
obsessive
approach
to gaining
these things
when Jesus uses us
in this section.
And then he walks
through this passage
which you probably
hear all the echoes
of it.
It's very similar
to part of what
Jesus does in Matthew
in the Sermon on the Mount.
It's a little different
and so I want to let
the way that
Luke records it
to speak as it does.
He walks through
and he reveals
our heart attitudes
towards
are we those
who are grasping?
He says,
don't be those
who are grasping
but instead
recognize who God
is for you.
How does he do that?
Well,
look with me
in verse 21.
Don't be anxious
about your life,
what you will eat,
about your body,
what you will put on.
Now look,
here's what I want to say.
How many of you,
when you think
about anxiety,
think about those
particular categories.
Do I have enough food?
Do I have clothes to wear?
Some of you,
that's real.
For some of you,
that's true
and that is a concern
that you have today
that is real.
For many of us,
the anxieties
that we have
don't even touch
on these most basic
of human needs,
do they?
Our anxieties
about things
that are much less
basic to human life.
But Jesus says,
don't be anxious
even about the most
basic of things
in life.
Now,
he's not saying,
let's clarify this,
we need to make sure
we clear the decks
a little bit.
He's not saying,
don't be thoughtfully
responsible
before God
about these things.
There is,
throughout Scripture,
a clear picture
of stewardship
and responsibility
of working hard
and of providing
for others.
There's all sorts
of things
that are in there
that we need
to make sure
that we don't neglect
when we read
a passage like this.
But the passage here
is talking about
our heart.
Are you consumed
with fear today
that you won't have
what you think
you need?
Are you dominated
and controlled
by the uncertainty
that is
filling your life today
because of those things?
Jesus says,
look,
your life
is more
than those things.
And then he gives
an example
of the ravens.
And the ravens
were sort of like
seagulls
or like common pigeons.
They were flying rats
with wings, right?
They were the lowest
of the low.
And what Jesus
is saying,
he uses these
very common,
even detested animals
to say,
if God provides
for even them,
don't you think
he will care for you?
And then he goes on
and he's piling on
these rhetorical questions.
Can you add anything
to your life,
to your lifespan?
Can you live
just a little bit longer
by being anxious?
And of course,
that's ridiculous.
Today we know
anxiety is one of the reasons
why we live shorter lives,
right?
It causes hypertension,
it causes stress,
it drives us
in extremes
to suicide.
Anxiety is a terrible thing
in our lives
and we know that.
And Jesus is saying,
yeah,
and well,
how good is it?
How much profit
do you have
in being anxious?
He says,
if you can't even
add one little moment
to your life
by being anxious,
why do you think
it's worth being anxious
about these other things?
And then he turns
and he says,
consider,
consider the flowers
of the field,
the lilies.
They don't work,
they simply are.
They do what God
designed them to do.
They don't toil
nor spin,
they don't labor,
they don't create
their own clothing
and yet God
has clothed them
in a splendor
that is more majestic
than even Solomon.
I was trying to think,
is there today
an analogy
to who Solomon is?
I'm sure there probably
is in the fashion world
but I'm just too ignorant
to know it.
But someone who is,
you know,
Lady Gaga,
right,
who is displayed
in the most amazing
and without,
golly,
that was an off-the-cuff
illustration
that really went badly,
didn't it?
anyway,
the people
who have
the brightest,
the most abundant
of the glorious
clothing in the world.
God gives
to this lily
more
than the greatest
human being
has achieved
on their own.
and they're passing.
The lilies
are here today
and gone tomorrow.
You're living
in the image
of God.
Don't you think
God
will care
for you?
And then
as we're working
through the passage,
verse 30,
he says,
for all the nations
of the world,
and when he uses
that phrase,
he means
all the people
who don't know
the God of the universe,
the God of the Bible,
the way you do,
and all the nations
of the world
seek after these things.
That is,
they grasp
and strive
and are consumed
by getting
these things.
And your heavenly
Father knows
that you need them.
And this is where
he turns
and he points
you to God.
He points us
to God.
He says,
don't you know
the God
who made the universe
is a heavenly Father
who knows
what you need.
Every parent
thinks about this.
How do I provide
for my kids
the things
that they need?
Every parent
cares about that.
Whether they're able
to do what they want
to do or not,
every parent
knows this.
Jesus says,
you have a heavenly Father
and he knows
what you need.
He cares about you
more than the natural world.
Jesus says,
an anxious heart
is consumed
by worry,
not consumed
by trusting
God.
Now,
just stop
and think.
how do we know
if we are anxious?
How do we know
if we are worried?
Maybe it's not that hard.
Maybe you're already thinking
and the wheels are spinning.
But what if you lost
X tomorrow?
I saw last week
there was this fire
in the Newark
airport terminal.
17 cars
just burned
to ashes.
Can you imagine
coming back from a trip?
I was walking through this.
Coming back from a trip,
you know,
I've got a plan.
I've probably got
a pretty tight schedule.
I know where I'm going.
You come back.
You go to the parking lot
and there is your car,
a hunk of molten metal
and plastic.
Don't be anxious,
Jesus says.
What if you saw a need
that you could
actually meet?
You could loan your van
to the youth group
for a trip to Monadnock
later this year.
You have an old,
you have a piece of furniture
that you could give
to someone
who doesn't have a bed.
Would you do it?
Would you do it
if it was your bed
and you had to pull out
the old rusty one
from the closet
and put that back
in your bedroom?
The fact is
that we have,
we live in a culture
that has become
very comfortable
with a lot
of material possessions.
Our standard of living
is high
and our cost of living
is high
and yet
in the eyes of the world
we are wealthy.
and God wants
our hearts
to not be consumed
with accumulating,
gathering,
and collecting
and keeping
these things.
He wants us
to be people
who are glad givers
not tight-fisted
graspers.
Here's another diagnostic.
What do you spend
your time doing?
What do you spend
your things,
what do you spend
your time praying about?
What do you talk about
with your friends?
Do you see anxiety
filling those spaces
in your life?
Anxiety about material things.
Jesus says
this is a heart
orientation
towards our
physical belongings
that is not good.
We are putting
our hope
in something
that cannot deliver
to give us life.
We are finding
our present lives
consumed
with anxiety
and worry
about having
or not having
these things.
And I know that
for some of us here
in this room,
we've had a lot
for a long time
and it's easy
for us to get comfortable.
I know that
for some of you,
you've actually lived
in a lot of need
and you've faced times
where you don't know
where the next meal
comes from
or where the roof
is over your head
or what clothes
you will have to wear.
But as I read
through this,
we can have
grasping anxious hearts
whether we have
a lot
or a little.
And God instead
points us
to something else.
He points us
as disciples,
as followers of Him
to a new way
in the end
of this passage.
And He's already
pointed towards it twice,
being rich towards God
and knowing
a heavenly Father
who knows what we need.
But starting
in verse 30,
we see Him turn.
Verse 31 actually
is where we see
Him really turn the corner.
He says,
there is a new way
for followers of Jesus
to live.
He says,
instead,
seek His kingdom,
that is God's kingdom,
and all these things
will be added to you.
What does it mean
to seek God's kingdom?
Remember,
I told you earlier,
seeking in this passage
is being used for the,
what are the things
that dominate your attention?
What are the things
that drive you?
What are the things
that absorb you?
What are your obsessions?
He says,
I want you to be obsessed
with the kingdom of God.
What does that mean?
The kingdom of God
is the extent
of God's effective rule
and reign in this world.
Right?
God is the sovereign
over all things,
but His kingdom,
when Jesus came,
He said,
the kingdom of God
is near.
What He was saying was,
God is about to do
a new thing
to impress His will
and to begin to build
a kingdom
where what God values
and what God says
is right and wrong
and good and bad
happen
and that God's kingdom
is presented
as a picture
of a place
of flourishing
and a place
of joy
and a place
of abundance
and a place
of provision.
A place where God
is in the center
of the world again.
And Jesus says,
this is worth
our hearts
being consumed by.
The nations seek
after these things,
but you have something
better to seek for.
God and His kingdom.
This is what you can
set your heart on.
This is what you can
invest your life on.
And you're going to
invest your life
in something
that will not fade
and therefore
is not disappointing.
When He says
in verse 34
or verse 33,
provide for yourself
money bags
that don't grow old
and with a treasure
in heaven
that does not fail
where no thief
approaches
and no moth destroys.
He's saying
all of your physical
belongings
and all of your
possessions
will pass away.
But when you invest
in God's kingdom,
you're investing
in things
that will last
forever.
How do we do this?
What does it look like
to seek God's kingdom?
Well,
that's a very broad question,
but Jesus has very specific
applications here.
Verse 33,
sell your possessions
and give to the poor.
Okay.
Now next week,
I expect you all
to come in
having one pair of clothing,
one car,
one house,
and nothing else
because that's,
no,
I don't actually think
that's what Jesus is saying.
As often,
Jesus says things
in very black and white nature
in order for us
to feel the impact
of what he is saying.
The reason why I say that
is not just because
I don't want to feel
the sting of this command,
but the reason is because
you see it,
even in this passage,
the man with his barns
was not criticized
for being a wealthy man.
He's being criticized
for making his life
be in his wealth.
Okay.
And we also see it
throughout Scripture.
Right.
If you look,
you know,
this is the book of Luke,
the gospel according to Luke.
Luke then went on
and wrote a sequel
about how the early church
lived out these things.
And part of what you see
in the early church
is people actually owned things.
They had homes
that hosted churches.
They had belongings
that they could give.
Ananias and Sapphira
were not condemned
for having land
that they hadn't sold yet.
They were condemned
for lying about
how they did it.
And so,
this is,
well,
it's not,
the ideal of God's kingdom
isn't communism
and everything
being owned communally,
but what it is
is generosity
and a freedom
and a sense of stewardship
that all that we have
has come from God
and God has given to us
not for simply
our own sake
but for the sake
that we may bless others
in the name of Christ
and build his kingdom
by the way
that we do that.
This is what God
wants us to think about.
He wants us to think about
all the things
that I have.
Am I thinking about
how can I bless
others with them
or am I simply thinking about
how can I be more comfortable,
more secure,
more important,
find more meaning
in the things
that I have?
To invest in God's kingdom
in the age of the church
is to invest
in the gospel ministry
of word and deed
to proclaim Jesus Christ
and to then live out
the ethics
that Jesus Christ
commands us to
in the world
as we await
Jesus coming back.
This is what God's
called us to.
So I want to get
really practical
for a few minutes.
I want you to think about
how you can invest
some of the places
where,
because you might be
sitting there thinking,
I don't know
how to do that.
I don't know
where to go.
I get lots of stuff
in the mail.
I don't know how much
of that is kingdom oriented.
What do I do?
I want to give you
some places
for you to consider
where you could
ask the Lord,
Lord,
do you want me
to become more generous?
Do you want me
to give more
in these areas?
Before I get into
some of the details,
I want to say this.
The giving that Jesus
calls us to here
is not merely
financial giving.
I gave some examples
earlier.
Your homes,
your cars,
your time,
your hospitality.
There are lots of
other ways
that you can invest
your possessions
of your life
and your time
in the kingdom.
But I'm going to talk
specifically about money
today
and how you can
invest finances.
First thing I'm going
to say,
and this is with
a great disclaimer,
is you can give
to your local church.
Now,
having said that,
look,
the kingdom of God
is larger than
any local church
and I hope
that you
who have been
coming here
for a while
know that our heart
is not simply
to build a bigger
barn here
so that we can have
more stuff here
for our own comfort
and welfare.
Right?
I hope that
you would remember
how often we pray
for the flourishing
of other churches
in the city.
How we pray
for the gospel ministry
here and around
the world.
If you're new here,
I hope you'll stick
around long enough
to hopefully find
that this is true
and if it's not,
please come tell me
so we can fix that
because that would be
terrible if that were true.
But the church,
globally and locally,
is God's central means
of building His kingdom
and giving to the church
is a good thing.
And we are on the brink
as a church
of investing a lot
of money
in expanding
our base of operations
here on this little
postage stamp
with a building campaign.
You guys know,
if you haven't heard it
in three weeks,
we will have a launch,
you will hear
all sorts of details,
plan to be here
on the 24th
to be able to hear
about all the details
of what that looks like.
But our heart
is not to build
a bigger barn
so that people will think
we're an impressive church.
Our heart is to build
a base of a church
so that we can continue
and expand the ministries
that we are doing already
of gospel preaching,
of gospel ministry
to the city.
So if you want to think
about giving to our church
the building campaign,
consider how you might
be able to be
sacrificially a part of that.
But consider some
other options too.
Consider the DBF fund
that Nick mentioned
earlier in our service.
Consider the campus ministers
in our midst
who raise support
for their salary
and who raise money
for their operation costs.
Consider the poverty
of the gospel
on university campuses
and how few voices
there are there
and invest in those.
Consider investing
in Bridges of Hope,
the coalition of churches
that we're a part of
that's seeking to,
in Christ's name,
do good to the city,
that runs a mentoring program
and is seeking to launch
a prison re-entry program
in other ways.
Consider something like
the 180 Center.
If you don't know
the 180 Center,
it's over on Grand Avenue.
They do a great work
doing addiction,
treatment,
recovery,
job training.
They run a lot
of different things.
If you're looking
for a place
in the city to give to
that's doing great ministry
in Christ's name,
consider them.
Not only consider
the needs of the city,
consider the needs
of the world.
If you haven't been here
on a Sunday
when Hanum Asad
has come and talked
about his ministry
called Christian Mission
to Gaza,
and the ministry
that he is having
to Palestinian Christians
and the ministry
of the gospel
to Gaza,
which you can imagine
is an incredibly fraught
and very difficult ministry.
Not only is he doing
ministry there
where there are lots
of needs
because the Christians
get it from both sides
in that political conflict,
but then his base
of operations,
which is in Jordan,
has been ministering
to refugees
from Syria
and from Iraq
for quite a while now.
There are great opportunities
to think about giving
to his ministry
and to the things
that they're doing there.
And if for whatever reason
Hana and his ministry
isn't something
that you want to give to,
there are great organizations.
World Vision does wonderful
world relief,
particularly in light
of natural and human disasters.
Compassion International.
If you're a family,
if you want to engage
in an ongoing process
of investing in a child
somewhere in the world
where they will be ministered to
by a church
and where they will be supported
so they can get food
and clothing
and grow up
and get an education,
wonderful opportunities.
Personal ministry.
What about your everyday life?
Are you thinking about
how you can be generous
in your everyday life?
Now, if you're considering,
if you work in downtown New Haven
and you are exposed
to homelessness,
I think I mentioned this before.
Greg has written
a really great pamphlet
that's on the back table
that gives some really great wisdom
about how to actually
be most helpful.
Homelessness in America
and panhandling,
it's a complicated issue.
What God wants for you
is to have a generous heart.
And then we also want
to give you some instruction
on how you might do that best
to be truly helpful.
So pick up that flyer
as you cultivate that heart.
If you aren't on it,
consider being a part
of the have need email list
that Michelle has.
When people in our church
have needs
and there are things like,
I need a bed,
I'm moving in a new house,
I have nothing.
These are the kinds of things
that go out on that list.
Consider being on that list
so you know the needs
so that you can respond to them.
Here's a very practical thing.
If you don't know
how to budget your money
in order to be able
to take some of your money
and give it away
because you never know
how much you have
and how much you spend
and how much you need,
well maybe that would be
a first step.
We as a church leadership
would love to help you.
At our last congregational meeting,
someone stood up and said,
I would be willing
to help you take steps
in learning how to get a handle
on your finances
so that you can be generous,
so that you can give,
so that you can be not consumed
by these things.
So if you are in that need,
please let us know.
Write it in a prayer card.
Please talk to the staff
or the elders.
We would love to direct you
in that.
I actually heard a story
of a family in our church
that is purposefully eating
an extremely inexpensive meal
once a week
rather than the normal meal
that they eat.
They eat something
that will cost like less than $2.
So they can take
what they would normally budget
for that,
take the rest of the money,
and give it
in a particular way.
If you are a family,
maybe you would want to consider
something like that.
That money could be set aside
for a compassion child.
It could be set aside
for the mentoring program
at Bridges of Hope.
You could do all sorts
of things with it.
These are the ways
that we work
into our everyday lives,
patterns of generosity,
patterns of sacrificial living,
patterns of thinking
what we have
is not simply for ourselves,
but it is to bless others.
Jesus finishes this passage
with a diagnostic
that is always striking
when we read it properly.
Verse 34,
for where your treasure is,
there will your heart be also.
Humanly, we always want
to read this as,
well, where your heart is,
there will be your treasure also.
The things that you love,
those are the things
you give to.
But Jesus is not saying that.
Jesus is actually saying,
use this as a final diagnostic.
Where do you spend your stuff?
Your money, your time,
your resources, your possessions.
Where do you spend those things?
Those are the things you value.
And allow that to be
a diagnostic tool for you
to see whether your heart
is right towards God.
whether you are actually
seeking God's kingdom
and sacrificially
and generously giving
for the work of God's gospel
and God's church
and the expansion of His kingdom.
Or whether you are
consumed by anxiety
and find yourself
with a grasping heart.
Amen.
The reason why we can do this
is in verse 32.
It's the very core of this
and we could spend lots more time
but I just want to say,
why can we do this?
Because friends,
you have a heavenly Father
in the heavens
who knows your need.
Verse 32 says that
it's not just His duty
but it is His delight
to give you His kingdom.
When you are seeking
after something,
you're not seeking it
hoping you might get it.
You are seeking after it
when the God of the universe
is saying to you,
yes, it is my pleasure
and my joy
to give this thing to you.
As you set your heart on it,
I will meet you in that
and I will give it to you.
And friends,
we know this
because of the gospel.
We know this
because when we were still
enemies of God,
when we were still dead
in our sins and trespasses,
God loved us
and He sent us His Son.
This is the loving heart
of our Heavenly Father
who at great cost,
at infinite cost to Himself,
sacrificed up Jesus.
Jesus willingly goes to the cross
in love so that we might know Him.
if you are ever afraid
that God doesn't know your need,
if you are ever afraid
that God isn't willing to help you,
if you are ever afraid
that God is unable
to solve your situation
or to take care of you,
look at the cross of Jesus Christ
and be reminded
that God has done that for you.
And if God did not spare His Son
but gave Him up for us all,
how much more will He give you
all things?
As the Apostle Paul says
in Romans chapter 8.
He loves you
and He will take care of you.
and He calls you
and me as followers of Him
to have a generous
and sacrificial heart
because He is a generous
and sacrificial God.
Let's pray.
Lord, thank You for this word.
Lord, I pray that it would
not simply blow through
our lives
in these few minutes.
But Lord, I pray that this word
would reside in our hearts.
Lord, that You would allow it
to shape us and mold us.
Lord, help us to see
when we are afraid
that You won't care for us.
Help us to see
when we become grasping
or when we set our hearts
on the things
that are passing away.
Lord, help us to see Your kingdom.
Remind us of the way
that You have met us
most importantly
by the sending of Your Son.
And Lord, we pray
that You would change our hearts
and that You would change
our relationship
to our money
and our things.
Lord, that we might be
truly followers of You
and that You might use us,
Lord, to build Your kingdom here.
Lord, we pray this
in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Well, friends, as we close,
it's a fitting ending
for us to come
to the Lord's table
because what we do
when we take the bread
and drink the cup
is we are reminded
of God and His character.
God who has acted
in such a way in history
so that He might save us.
And so,
this is what we commemorate.
This is what we celebrate.
As we come to this,
we are reminded
both of the weightiness
of our sin,
that it took the death
of God's very own Son
to be our redemption
and to be our Savior,
but it is also
a place of joy
where we see
how much God
has set His love
on us
and what He has done
for us in Christ.
And in light of
what we've talked about
this morning,
I hope and pray
that you will
not only take this in
as a reminder
of salvation
for those who put
their faith in Christ
and of the joy of that,
but also
that you would allow it
to sink in
and reflect a little
on what we've talked about,
about the state
of your heart
and are you responding
to the gospel,
being generous
and sacrificial people
towards others.
So,
I'd like to ask you
to reflect on that.
As always,
we invite all
who have placed
their faith
and trust
in Jesus Christ
as their Lord and Savior
to partake with us
in this.
But if you're here
and you're visiting
or you're checking out
Christianity
or this is something new,
my hope and prayer
is that you would,
rather than taking
these elements,
which is meant to be
an expression of faith,
you can look at the,
there are a couple prayers
in the bulletin
you could consider praying,
but think about
what it is that God,
what these elements represent
and reflect on God's love
that He has shown for you
and the invitation
that this is
for you to come
and put your faith
and trust in Him
as you do it.
Those who are serving
want to come forward
and that would be great.
As we will pass this out,
what we'll do
is we'll pass out
the crackers
and you can hold on to it
and then we'll eat it together
and then we'll pass out
the cups
and do the same.
Don't you guys
want to come over here?
The Apostle Paul,
as he wrote about this,
wrote this,
for I received from the Lord
what I delivered to you
that the Lord Jesus
on the night
when He was betrayed
took bread
and when He had given thanks
He broke it
and said,
this is my body
which is for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.
In the same way also
He took the cup
after supper
saying,
this cup is a new covenant
in my blood.
Do this as often
as you drink of it
in remembrance of me.
For as often
as you eat this bread
and drink this cup
you proclaim the Lord's death
until He comes.
and that's what we're doing
this morning.
Suzanne,
can I ask you to
pray for the bread please?
Dear God,
thank you for
the sacrifice
of your son Jesus.
Thank you for
dying on the cross
for our sins.
And let us take this time
to
remember
the blood that was shed
for us.
Thank you for