Greed: His Heart Will Go On Series

Title: Greed: His Heart Will Hold On

Text: Heb 13:5

MP: Holding on to Jesus is better than holding onto anything else.

Outline:

1. Intro: Tax Day the Scariest Day of the Year

a. Lincoln Shot / Titanic Sank

b. Wrong Auditee

c. Money stirs up lots of emotions

2. Text: Two simple truths, but the connection?

a. Love of Money root of all evil /Jesus is too big to hold on to both

b. God is faithful / We sing the songs / Song here?

c. He is faithful is how we avoid the love of money

3. Be content with what you have

a. Perfection = Completion, Rich = never enough

i. A contented day

b. Contrast Credit Card debt

i. Living beneath for means

ii. Ford guy who gives $2 ml

c. How Giving makes us content

i. We don’t need your money – you need to give

ii. When you put it in the plate you are in control of the amount of worth it will have

iii. Where your treasure is // Your money will never love you back

4. Illustration: J. Bruce Ismay

Your money will never love you back. But, as I said, Jesus already has. He will never leave you, never forsake you. He won’t leave you out to dry, he’ll stick with you through whatever happens.

We all like to think that after we die, the judgment seat is a lot like the ultimate audit from the IRS. …

Younger kids grow up thinking that Halloween is supposed to be the scariest day of the year. As Americans age, however, ghosts and goblins give way to the real day of horror: April 15th. Yes, your taxes are due – although this year you actually have until Tuesday. But just to give you an idea of how successful the whole thing is, today is also the 142nd anniversary of the day Lincoln died, and its also the 95th anniversary of the day the Titanic sank.

There is something about money that can easily hold us all in the grip of fear. When I worked at Coopers & Lybrand, my boss was a former IRS auditor. He told me of a phone call he placed one day. He rang up and asked, “This is the IRS. Is this with Joe Smith?” Yes, came back the reply, voice beginning to crack with fear. He began the standard spiel that his taxes had been selected for a review, and the caller grew palpably sweaty. And then my boss said, “You’ll also need to bring the records for your restaurant.” “My restaurant?” the caller asked. “Yes. You are Joe Smith of 123 Wherever Lane, right?” A huge sigh. “No, that’s not me. That’s my father!” The expression of relaxation was like none other.

Money is like that – it can stir up all sorts of emotions. Its amazing how much power a simple piece of paper can have over us. It is often a factor when people commit suicide. It is the #1 reason married couples divorce. It is a subject that Jesus talks about more than any other. It stirs up all sorts of emotions within us. Fear, Desire, lack of or a sense of Control.

But as Christians, full-bodied people of God with a wide range of emotions, there is one emotion we should never allow to grow: Love for it. Greed is rightly called one of the seven deadly sins, because it is nothing less than the love of something other than Christ.

In our text this morning, Hebrews 13:5 we have two pretty simple propositions, but a connection that, at least to me, at first made no sense. And that’s usually my clue. If it at first it doesn’t make much sense, there’s probably some power there that needs investigation.

You’ll notice the text again: (1) Keep yourselves free from the love of money, and be content with what you have.

Nothing particularly surprising there. We all know that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. We all know that where our treasure is, our heart will be also. And when it comes to the question of serving two masters? Well, a good friend of mine said a wise thing to me the other day. He said, “Your heart can’t hold on to Christ and your money. Jesus is simply too big. There just isn’t enough room for money.”

You’ll also notice the second part of the verse: (2) For he has said, I will never leave you, never forsake you. So we can confidently say, The Lord is my helper, What can man do to me? Another thing we as Christians almost take for granted. God is faithful. God is always there. Think about a thousands of songs that come to mind with that point. Even that phrase that the author quoted – while the text appears in a few places, some scholars suspect that was probably just a popular song or catchphrase.