February 10, 08 (Luke 12:15) From Success To Spiritual Significance.
While verse 15 is the focus of today’s message, I think it is important to read from the beginning of chapter twelve… for several of reasons. We can see that by this time, Jesus is well into His ministry, His presence and His message is having a profound effect on the people. (Read the first part of verse 1)
So many “THOUSANDS” had gathered so that they were trampling on one another… Think about that for a moment. Here He is, one man, One Solitary Life, remembering there was no radio, television, no satellites or the internet, no means, as least as we understand today, of local, national or international news, yet He had attracted THOUSANDS.
How could that happen unless this one man had a very special message for the people? Unless this very special man had a life changing, life saving message for His people? Unless these THOUSANDS of people were beginning to believe, this man was indeed the Son of God.
(Move)
Verses two (2) and three (3) put an exclamation point to a part of what we talked about last week… the subject of hypocrisy… and a truth we all know, but perhaps wish to forget…. Jesus couldn’t be more clear…there are no secrets from God. Listen to verses two and three. (Read)
In verses four (4) through eight (8) Jesus gives us very specific instruction about whom we should be afraid and why… and at the same time, tell us of our worth to God. (Read)
In verses nine (9) and ten (10) Jesus tells us to stand firm in our belief and do not be afraid to proclaim our faith in Him and adds the consequences of denying the Holy Spirit. (Read)
Cultural Christians beware!
Jesus tells us in verses eleven (11) and twelve (12) we don’t need to be afraid about the right words to speak when challenged. (Read)
(Move)
Now, Jesus begins to tell us the parable, the story of the Rich Fool. Note: There is a change here. Jesus just gave us a number of warnings and encouragements. Then someone from this crowd of thousands… we’ve all heard him… the one loud voice in the crowd that has only one concern…. The “it’s all about me” syndrome… this one voice shouts out “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
Immediately Jesus responds…and you may wonder if there wasn’t a little edge in His voice when He replies with a rhetorical question: “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you? Then He issues another warning followed by a Biblical, Godly truth… (Read Jesus words vs. 15)
What do you think? How do you think Jesus’ words would be received today if He spoke to a room full of wealthy businessmen? How do you think our culture as a norm views Jesus proclamation? “Oh yeah sure, that sound’s great, but in “reality” it doesn’t work today.”
Those are the words of someone we are learning to call the “cultural Christian.” For the cultural Christian, Faith only operates within a small framework, while life is lived in a larger context. Only certain thoughts, time, resources and influences are under the jurisdiction of faith. The individual remains the master of the rest that falls outside this self-constructed box.
The cultural Christian believes in his or her heart…“Faith is for Sunday. If I meet my religious obligations, I am free to live my life as I wish.”
The cultural Christian makes a prisoner of the reality and the work of the Holy Spirit, allowing it only a very small role in his or her life. Authentic faith cannot expand and possess more of the individual’s life. The influence of the Holy Spirit becomes limited and ineffective.
When Christ is not free to possess more and more of who we are, we have a tendency over time to take even what we have placed within this smaller framework of faith and move it out into the larger context, and delude its significance. We can actually regress, go backwards spiritually instead of progressing in our authentic spirituality.
Our nature and its values of worldly “things” can press hard against what may seem restrictions of true faith. That space occupied by faith can diminish over time until it is hardly active at all. Then we become a marginal possessor of the faith we profess. And that folks is the genesis of cultural Christianity.
(Move)
“Be on guard against all kinds of greed…”
A Mafia Godfather finds out that his bookkeeper has stolen 10 million bucks from him. The bookkeeper is deaf. It was the reason he got the job in the first place, since it was assumed that a deaf bookkeeper would not be able to hear anything that he’d ever have to testify about in court. When the Godfather goes to shake down the bookkeeper about his missing 10 million bucks, he brings along his attorney, who knows sign language.
The Godfather asks the bookkeeper, “Where’s the 10 million you embezzled from me?”
The attorney, using sign language, asks the bookkeeper where’s the 10 million bucks hidden.
The bookkeeper signs back, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
The attorney tells the Godfather: “He says he doesn’t know what you’re talking about.”
That’s when the Godfather pulls out a 9 mm pistol, puts it to the bookkeeper’s temple, cocks it, and says, “Ask him again!”
The attorney signs to the underling, “He’ll kill you for sure if you don’t tell him!”
The bookkeeper signs back, “Okay! You win! The money is in a brown briefcase, buried behind the shed in my cousin Enzo’s back yard in Queens!”
The Godfather asks the attorney, “Well, what’d he say?”
The attorney replies, “He says you don’t have the guts to pull the trigger.”
(Move)
Ok, so that is an extreme example of greed… None-the-less, each of us has at sometime, probably more often that we would like to admit, struggled with our “want verses need” nature.
We have to ask ourselves when is the last time we could not afford something we needed and not just wanted. How many times have we been unable to provide a meal to our families for the day? Have we ever struggled to buy a gift for someone who seems to have everything? Or have we ever caught ourselves being envious of the nicer car, home or clothes of someone else when we aren’t lacking any of those things?
For the “cultural Christian” storing up of treasures means keeping up with the Joneses. Authentic Christians must choose to reject comparisons that lead to desires for the newer and nicer.
This is what Jesus warns against when he says to “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed” (v. 15). He knows the appetite for more is subtle, so he says be intentional about suppressing this appetite.
Jesus goes on from vs. fifteen (15) to tell the story of the Rich Fool. (summarize then close summary reading vs. 20, 21)
The problem with the rich fool in this parable is not that he was wealthy or that he had a great harvest. The problem is he did not understand the spiritual reality behind all he had.
The Bible is consistent in the theme:
• we are given — so we might give to others;
• we are blessed — so we might be a blessing;
• we are loved — so we might love;
• we are reconciled — so we might reconcile;
• we are forgiven — so we might forgive.
The problem with greed and accumulation is that rich fools…cultural Christians…then and now — forget God intended His blessings to bless others.
Have you ever considered that our Western life of success and excess needs a theological adjustment?
Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family said it very well. He wrote, “Though I can make no claim to wealth, I have tasted most of the things Americans hunger for; new cars, an attractive home, and gadgets and devices which promise to set us free. Looking at those materialistic possessions from the other side of the cash register, I can tell you that they don’t deliver the satisfaction they advertise!
“On the contrary, I have found great wisdom in the adage, ‘That which you own will eventually own you!’ How true that is. Having surrendered my hard earned dollars for a new object only obligates me to maintain and protect it; instead of its contributing to my pleasure, I must spend my precious Saturdays oiling it, mowing it, painting it, repairing it, cleaning it, or calling the Salvation Army to haul it off! The time I might have invested in worthwhile family activities is spent in slavery to a depreciating piece of junk.”
Our well-fed, sedentary, affluent lifestyle can lead us away from being “rich toward God” (v. 21). But the message of Jesus is we are blessed to be a blessing.
We might consider some simple ways to use your blessings to be a blessing to someone else and move closer to God and a Godly way of thinking, of authentic Christianity.
How about going through your closets and drawers once a year. If you didn’t wear a piece of clothing that year, give it away.
Make a list of all the things you need to live and another list of things you want for your life. Commit to purchasing only from the need list for the rest of the year.
Make a list of your monthly budget categories in order of amounts spent on each. Look at how your charitable giving compares with your accumulation line items — clothing, eating out, entertainment, grooming, hobbies, etc. Does the order need to change?
For the next month, every time you appreciate something that somebody else has, stop to pray for your own contentment with how God has blessed you.
(Move)
The admiration of other people, in all its various forms is very much a motivator to our accumulation of material possessions. We are all acutely aware that our culture measures success by an entirely different set of standards than those of God. For the non-believer, and for the cultural Christian, self-worth is equal to the opinion of others and to their own performance.
If the devil has a formula for self-worth he wants you to buy into, it is “Your self worth is equal to your performance plus the opinion of others.”
If we constantly look to our performance or the opinions of others to make ourselves feel good or worthwhile, we will constantly be chasing something we can never catch. Why? Because our performance will vary from day to day. That is reality. People are fickle. That is reality. Like our performance, their opinions change day to day.
The authentic Christian’s only desire is to please God, not other men and women, but God. To please God is a wonderful motivator toward that which is good and lovely. It does not involve the accumulation of material worth for self worths sake.
The desire to please man is full of dangers.
The Authentic Christian has his or her focus not on earthly success, but instead, on spiritual significance and the authentic Christian basks in the unconditional love of God.
Jesus Christ purchased with His life the greatest gift we could ever hope to own. The gift of life eternal. How can any material thing, any position of perceived power compare to that, the greatest of gifts. With regard to power and possessions…
“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher
“Everything is meaningless!”
13 Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.
Cultural Christian or Authentic Christian; Everyday God loves us enough to give us a choice.
1(Ecclesiastes 12:8)
2(Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)
