In Debt-What Now?

INTRODUCTION

A. Debt can be devastating

1. Average American has over $8,000 on credit cards

2. Thirty year or more mortgages with high payments

3. Got sticker shock when I bought my last car ($19,600 and that was the next to cheapest they had)

4. Mom inherited money, paid off cards and charged again (we have done the same)

5. How many are close to retirement and still have debts

B. What people do to try and eliminate their debts

1. If serious enough they declare bankruptcy

2. Transfer balances to a card with cheaper interest rate

3. Borrow from their retirement

4. Don’t get credit cards (brother, grandfather)

5. Yell to a parent for help

C. Our society encourages debt

1. Sending credit cards to college students who have no job

2. Not encouraging Americans to save (in negative territory now)

3. Should have enough to pay three months bills if income was shut off

4. Cost of big ticket items (house, car, furniture, appliances) for the average person means debt

5. Appeals through advertisement to our greedy spirit

6. Encourages us to spend to help a bad economy

D. Some of you know the free feeling of being out of debt

1. No pressure to pay those bills

2. Freedom and joy of not owing anyone anything

3. Most young adults don’t know that feeling (they want now what it took their parents years to get, thus the debt)

E. Dad’s church just recently (2001) paid off their church debt

1. Had a big ceremony to celebrate

2. Burn the mortgage

F. Worked with a guy after high school who struggled with debt

1. Talked with a mutual friend recently-still the same even in his 50’s

2. Borrow from one bank to pay another (granddaddy did this too)

3. Just couldn’t seem to get ahead and always borrowing money from those he worked with

4. By the time he got a paycheck, he was that much behind again

G. What debt can lead to

1. Depression and short tempers

2. Financial struggles are the main reason for marital breakups

3. Jail time if it is not paid or ruination of credit record

H. Prelude to Jesus’ story

1. Simon the Pharisee asked Jesus to his house to eat

2. Interesting since most of the time Jesus was hounded by the religious leaders (may have been the earlier part of his ministry)

3. Sat down to eat (actually reclined on their elbows with their feet extended behind them)

4. Sinful (immoral) woman comes in with expensive perfume

5. May have followed Jesus in (people in the streets were allowed to enter to look at great celebrations)

6. Put perfume on his feet, wept on them and dried them with her hair

7. Allowing such a woman to do this proved to Simon that Jesus was not a prophet

I. Jesus told a story

1. Man loaned money to two people

2. 500 pieces of silver to one and 50 to the other

3. Neither could pay so he canceled the debt

4. Jesus asked which one would love him more

REALIZE WE ALL ARE IN DEBT TO GOD

A. Symbolism of the story

1. One who owed 500 pieces of silver was the woman (immoral)

2. One who owed 50 was Simon (though not right with God he still served God)

3. God is the man who loaned the money

4. We are the ones who can’t pay the debt

B. What is our debt

1. Sin (we have rebelled against God)

2. I’m a pretty good person (so was Simon the Pharisee, in fact I doubt any of us here are as good as he was)

3. It’s in our nature and is in the nature of every person

4. Since the time of Adam and Eve’s rebellion

5. It’s like a bad habit we just can’t kick (drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, gambling, spending money, immoral sexual activity)

6. “For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”

7. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

8. Our debt is equal in God’s eyes (we have different debts in life)

9. From Simon’s point of view the woman owed more to God than he did (she was immoral and he was religious)

10. From God’s point of view, we all owe the same and it is unpayable

C. God offers to deal with our debt

1. Through his Son’s death on the cross

2. “That’s pretty gruesome God, couldn’t you do it some other way?”

3. The Bible says sin has to paid for with blood (sacrifices of the O.T.)

4. Hebrews 10:10, “And what God wants is for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time.”