TOTALLY SECURE WEALTH
Stewardship Sunday
Ken Peterson
11-11-07
Luke 12:13-34
INTRODUCTION
A few years ago, I read about a couple in Florida who were getting a divorce after 21 years of marriage. Their assets were $100 million. The terms of the settlement called for the woman to be able to maintain “a reasonable lifestyle.” Out of the requests made by the woman, here’s what the judge ruled to be “a reasonable lifestyle:”
I’m sure none of us have our lives and values that distorted. But we live in the midst of what has to be the most materialistic and self-absorbed society that has ever existed. We are constantly pommeled with messages in the advertising media designed to incite envy and greed. There is always a newer, better, or entirely new gadget we begin to feel we can’t live without. Columnist, George Will, has defined “a need in contemporary America is a 48-hour-old want.” Haven’t you experienced that? You want something, and soon you have it rationalized as something you really need. Anytime there’s one of those info-mercials on TV regarding a neat tool or gadget, Polly wants to switch it off lest I fall for it. Yes, I am vulnerable if it is a tool! If you’re old enough, think back with me 35 years ago to 1972. How many of the things we think “we can’t do without” didn’t exist then, or at least we didn’t have them? And, most of us lived quite well then.
Our appetite for things and “the good life” are seemingly insatiable. Did you know that Evangelical Christians spend four times as much on weight reduction programs than they do on missions? How does God view this when 100,000 a day die of starvation and one-fourth of the world is in grinding poverty?
In light of all this, I find Jesus’ teaching this morning quite challenging.
READ: Luke 12:13-34
WATCH OUT!
The parable begins with a legitimate concern for justice. Here is a man whom, we presume, is
getting cheated out of his inheritance. Certainly this is an important concern. Rabbis were often enlisted to help settle such disputes. But Jesus side-steps the justice issue and responds to what’s in the man’s heart. He often does this– responding not to the asked question or petition but to the motivation behind the request. Imagine this poor fellow’s shock when instead of justice he gets,
"Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15)
Watch out! Are strong words given in the imperative. It is like we would yell to a person who doesn’t see a car coming, “Watch out!!” Here the danger is not physical, but spiritual. The man’s soul is in serious danger to greed. This doesn’t mean that Jesus considers that justice is not important. But, the pressing issue, the real danger is the man’s heart being pulled by greed.
I’ll have to confess, I feel sorry for this poor guy. He comes to Jesus to enlist him on his side to rule in his favor. Then, he has his motives put on display for all the world to see. And greed is certainly an ugly motive we like to keep hidden. Then he becomes an object lesson.
The parable Jesus tells is rather disconcerting. This rich man is one our world would commend. He is industrious and a good manager. A successful farmer, probably getting up early and working late. He knew every year wouldn’t be a good year, so he had developed storage capacity against lean years. He was saving for the rainy day and for a good, secure retirement. He was a disciplined, prudent man. But God calls him a fool. In all his getting and success, he’d lost touch with the most important reality– God. He was self-absorbed, spending it all on himself and living a life of ease. In all his careful preparations for a good life here and now, he gave no consideration of preparing for the next life which lasts forever.
The problem with greed is excess– too much of a good thing. Greed is to things as gluttony is to food. God created the world for us to enjoy. But, when we take more than we need and can properly use, it becomes destructive greed. Yet, how do we define too much? It is probably impossible to come up with an objective measure for needs, situations, and the contexts of our living differ widely.
Our grave danger is in comparing ourselves with one another. By that standard, we all need a little more to catch up with others. But, we miss the point that we are all rising in wealth and goods. In a fascinating book, The Progress Paradox, by Gregg Easterbrook, with the subtitle, How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse, he points out that we don’t have any idea of how good we have it in the Western world. The average person lives better than 99.4% of the people who have ever lived on this earth. But, because we keep looking for “the next thing” we don’t realize it. There’re always those with more, with a newer or better whatever. Here’s a graphic that comes from Money magazine, with the numbers adjusted for inflation:
Is it wrong to prepare for the future, to save for a rainy day, and to make careful provision for our retirement? Certainly not. We are to be careful stewards of what God has blessed us with. To just spend it all without thought to the future is poor stewardship. Denying ourselves to provide for later needs is commendable wisdom and discipline. But again, that difficult question, how much is enough?
The fundamental mistake of the rich man in the parable is that he’s talking to himself, not God.:
He is making the mistake we so often do, of thinking what he has is his. “It is my money, my house, my things. I worked hard to get them and they are mine to do with as I want.”
To this the Bible says a big, NO! It all ultimately belongs to God. We are to be God’s stewards, His servants using all He’s entrusted us with as He directs. You are not the source of what you have– God is. Paul asks the Corinthian Christians at one point, What do you have that you did not receive? (I Cor. 4:7). It is a good question. Can any of us take credit for our birth into the family we have or the nation we live in? Did you create your intelligence, your inner strength? How about friends and encouragement along the way? How about your body and your health? If you’re in touch with reality, you realize all that we are and have is a result of God’s goodness and generosity.
The key to putting things back in balance is to get our focus off ourselves and back onto God. Instead of talking to ourselves as this rich fool does, we need to talk to God. It is God we answer to. What are His desires of what we should do with our resources? Storing up can be okay within reason, as long as it is at God’s disposal. I know this is a very tough relinquishment to make. I have to constantly let go of the illusion that I own it. All that I am and have is the Lord’s. I must hold it lightly and freely and gladly share whatever it is as He directs me.
Greed is not just a problem of the “haves.” The poor, the “have nots” can be just as guilty. Hoarding what we have and seeking after more all fit into this. And often, our wants lead to enormous debt. Since 1972 the average credit-card and other revolving debt has risen from an average of $600 per household to $7,300 in 2006– an 11-fold increase 34 years. Also, greed is more than in just acquiring more. It is a matter of what occupies our hearts.
The problem with this rich fool in the parable is that everything is short-circuited to himself. God’s verdict is chilling as He says,
'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ (20)
Jesus adds the moral lesson, "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God” (21). How do we become rich before God? It is by using what God’s blessed us with to bless others. It forms the conclusion of Jesus’ teaching on worry.
DO NOT WORRY
Of course, greed is not the only motive in accumulating more and more stuff and larger and larger investment portfolios. We can be driven by anxiety and worry. There are many unknowns in our futures. What if we don’t have enough for some emergency, for the rapidly escalating costs of medical care, and who knows what inflation will do to my savings?
Again, prudent preparation and saving is in order and part of good stewardship. When we have more than needed, some should be set aside for a time when the needs may outstrip our resources. But, how much is enough? When do we cross the line into too much?
Here Jesus gives us a heart-check. Where is our trust? Are you trusting in what you have and your ability to get and manage or are you focused upon God who loves you and has promised to care for you? Using the illustration of God’s care for His creation, Jesus encourages to enter into the rhythms and beauty of that. Then, He says,
And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. (Luke 12:29-31)
Or, as The Message puts it (29-34)
"What I'm trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don't be afraid of missing out. You're my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself.
"Be generous. Give to the poor. Get yourselves a bank that can't go bankrupt, a bank in heaven far from bankrobbers, safe from embezzlers, a bank you can bank on. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.
GIVING
The answer to greed is not getting more. Giving and gratitude fight greed. While this week I’m focused on giving, next week I’ll continue this with a sermon on gratitude. The answer to worry is not more in the bank. The answer to both greed and worry is the same– giving. Also, next week, we’ll see how gratitude also alleviates anxiety in our lives. However, this morning we’re focused upon giving.
Giving is how we put our faith into practice. If we trust God to take care of us, we can give freely as He directs us. Generous giving puts brakes on our tendency to get more and more for ourselves. When we have more than we need, we can then invest it in the kingdom of God. And, Jesus reminds us, this is a totally secure investment. No disaster, no gyrations of the stock market, no inflation, no thief can ever touch it. It is not just for our pleasure now, but something we’ll enjoy for eternity– forever and ever.
Addressing our feelings of vulnerability, Jesus is appealingly tender in His saying,
"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (32-34)
God knows we want security. But its found in doing just the opposite of what we might think. It is found not in getting, but in giving. But, just how much should we give?
Now, if you know your own heart at all, you know how prone we are to rationalizing and deluding ourselves into what we want. We have the saying, “Give until it hurts.” Well, some of us have a very low pain-threshold when it comes to giving. We may “feel” like we’re doing our part and that we’re giving enough. But that isn’t the issue. How does God look at it? Often we think we can’t afford to give more because we are so busy spending on our wants. Are those wants things you’ve asked God about? Are they things He wants you to have?
I’m grateful that God has given us a clear beginning point for our giving. It is precise, unambig-uous and not prone to self-delusion. It is the tithe, 10% of our increase, or our income. It was formally instituted in the Mosaic law, but it predates that as we’ve seen in our Abraham series with Abraham tithing to Melchizedek (Gen. 14:20). And it doesn’t end with the law. Jesus affirms the tithe in Mtt. 23:23. In fact, God goes so far as to say the tithe belongs to Him. If we don’t give that to Him, Mal. 3:8 says we actually are robbing God of what is His. I for one don’t want to stand before God one day having robbed Him.
While tithing is not talked about in the New Testament letters, a lot is said about giving generously. Because these early Christians were so overflowing with gratitude for God’s salvation and blessing, they were giving way beyond a mere 10%– sometimes giving everything they had to meet the needs of others. Talking about tithing was piddling compared to their practice. Yet, Christians have never disagreed that this is God’s call to His people as a baseline for giving.
I suggest to you that this is a liberating call– not a harsh legalism we must adhere to. God wants us to give freely, not under guilt or compulsion, For God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7). But, if we are not free to give at least a tithe, doesn’t that say something is seriously wrong with our heart? To give a tithe may mean doing some serious rearranging of our budgets and priorities. However, that too is a gift, for we’ll find ourselves breaking away from either greed or anxiety or both. It is Jesus’ prescription for our problem.
I realize, getting to the tithe may require a process and incremental steps. But I do not buy into, “We can’t afford to tithe.” Polly and I have always tithed, even when we were in seminary and buying a $0.25 birthday card impacted our budget significantly. (That tells you how long ago that was– a card for $0.25). I say, you can’t afford not to tithe. Listen to God’s promise:
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it” (Mal 3:10).
Do you believe God? Well, that’s a pretty practical test. And, frankly, I’ve known many people who have put it to the test and I have never known anyone to regret it.
And, when we tithe, we shouldn’t feel “off-the-hook” for further giving. Remember, it is intended as a starting place. It’s all the Lord’s, and He may well ask you to give more.
CONCLUSION
The colorful Sam Houston was governor of Texas in the mid 1800's. While governor, he came to know Christ as His Lord and Savior and he wanted to be baptized. His pastor arranged for the service on the banks of a nearby river. As the governor was about to enter the waters of baptism, the pastor noticed his wallet was still in his pocket. He called Governor Houston’s attention to it, thinking he’d certainly not want to get it wet. Instead, Houston replied, “It needs to be baptized too.” Then he turned to the crowd and said, “And by the way, a lot of you live as if your wallets need to get baptized!”
Some of us need to hear Jesus’ warning to “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Lk. 12:15). Some need His assurance, “Do not be afraid little flock” (12:32). Most of us, I expect, need both. The beginning step of faith for overcoming both greed and fear is the same– trusting God. And, the way we put that trust into practice is giving generously. That is how we put faith into action.
Totally Secure Wealth
For Further Study and Reflection from Sermon 11-11-07
Read Luke 12:13-34
Name the 10th Commandment. (Ex.20:17) Does this give you an idea of how serious God views greed?
Instead of worrying and concentrating on our possessions, where does Jesus suggest we put our energy instead? (vs. 31) Discuss how you do that.
Have any of these 3 things worked for you? Share with the group.