Adventures In Life Management

ADVENTURES IN LIFE MANAGEMENT (stewardship)

John L King, Taconic Christian Church, Shrub Oak, New York

Introduction (sarcasm)

•Jesus told a parable about A Rich Man in Luke 12 This guy was Rich and famous. (Tell parable in own words)

•This rich man had evidently been very successful and there was just jealousy of his success don’t you think? Happens all the time.

•Today we understand that when you have excessive success you have to make more room for the extra crops or the extra stuff you buy. You buy a larger warehouse or a build a bigger house for all your stuff. It just stands to reason. That’s what anyone would do, right?

•People should have been grateful that this rich man was successful enough that he was creating more jobs for people in his community.

•The rich man’s success was giving a lift to the whole economy in Judea.

•Not only that but his success was creating increased consumer optimism and increased consumer consumption which helps everyone up and down the scale.

•With the rich man’s success he no doubt was also increasing the foreign trade and erasing deficits that had accumulated in the past.

•This rich guy was no doubt a leader in his community. He probably built luxury condo’s for wealthy people in small towns right next to the freeway. You know. Stuff like that.

•BUT HE GOT A REALLY BAD RAP IN THIS PARABLE.

ALL AROUND THIS RICH MAN WAS A REALLY COOL GUY. DON’T YOU AGREE??

WELL YOU SHOULDN’T !! I JUST FED YOU A LINE OF BALONEY THAT IS VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT WE MIGHT HEAR EXPRESSED AROUND US DAILY. BUT JESUS HAD A DIFFERENT COMMENTARY ON THIS RICH MAN. LET’S READ THE WHOLE STORY.

Scripture: Luke 12:13 - 21

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

THESE ARE STRONG WORDS, JESUS, AIMED AT A GUY WHO JUST WANTS TO BE SUCCESSFUL. LET’S SEE WHAT JESUS WAS REALLY LOOKING AT and how it effects YOUR LIFE MANAGEMENT

I.JESUS WANTS YOU TO GIVE YOUR TALENT - TALENT IS GIVEN US BY GOD TO SERVE HIM AND OTHERS JUST NOT OURSELVES

A.And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

B.It looks like the rich man used his talents and skills to get rich. Farmland that has been farmed over and over for centuries doesn’t become productive overnight - without a lot of skill and hard work. This guy was working the farm with all his abilities. He used his gifts, and talents to become rich.

C.In Eph 4:12 – Our spiritual gifts are given “so that the Body of Christ may be built up…”

1.We can fall into the same trap as the rich man in America today. The word for this is GREED. God frowned on this guy for his Greedy attitude towards life. Not because he was productive and wealthy but because he was all about self.

2.Solomon says: “Money never satisfies.” Eccless 5:10

3.He directed his skills towards the accumulation of wealth. He used his talents to become rich.

4.WHERE ARE YOU DIRECTING YOUR SKILLS AND TALENTS? ARE YOU USING THEM JUST TO GET AHEAD OR TO SERVE THE LORD?

MONEY TRICK

D.We all get bombarded by ads, email or snail-mail inviting us to get rich quick

1.(see ad on powerpoint) Rich Dad Education – Learn how to be rich! THANK YOU

2.Mark Morford (columnist at San Francisco Chronicle):” There remains this enormous and wicked socio-cultural myth. It is this:

Hard work is all there is.

a)Work hard and the world respects you.