Series: It’s Backwards!
To Be Rich Become Poor
Luke 12:32-34
You’ve probably seen Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper, as he depicts Jesus and his disciples around a long table, well da Vinci wasn’t the only artist to paint this event. It has been repeated over the years with some slight changes.
A pair of US academics have analyzed 52 of the most famous paintings of the Last Supper painted between the years of 1000 and 2000 -- and discovered that, over that period, the portions of food placed before Jesus and his disciples grew astonishingly.
Using computer-aided design technology, they scanned the main dish, bread and plates and calculated the size of portion relative to the size of the average head in the painting.
Over a thousand years, the size of the main dish progressively grew by 69.2 per cent, plate size by 65.6 percent and bread size by 23.1 percent, they found.
The growing size reflects the success of agriculture over the ages, the researchers said.
(www.briebart.com) But the main dishes depicted in the paintings contained fish or eel (18 percent), lamb (14 percent) and pork (seven percent). Now the lamb would have been part of meal but fish and eel? I KNOW pork wasn’t part of it, whoever painted these things clearly wasn’t Jewish! Funny how we imagine that what we see as something valuable can be the exactly opposite to another culture.
A common though in much of the world is that the greatest way to live is to be able to afford whatever you want to have. There is a certain sense that the good life can be acquired by hard work or luck of the lottery where the worries of financial demands vanish. We see the shiny happy people all the time who have the nice stuff and don’t seem too worried about how they are going to pay for it stressed about how much work they have to do to keep up. Everyone wants to be like them and the world encourages them that the ideal situation of carefree living is just around the corner. But around that corner is just another corner to go around with the same stress and worry. You either worry about where the money is going to come from or worry about how much of it is being lost every day.
Jesus spoke to the crowds of his day with the brutal hammer of truth stating they would have trouble and in fact told them that worries would be visiting them every day. The answer to their troubled soul was not going to be found on earth for no place is secure or sustaining enough to satisfy them. A whole world is looking for that place of worry free living and most believe it is connected to money and possessions. Jesus spoke to his friends about a different way to live, one which concentrates on giving more than keep and hope more than worry. He stated that it was possible for a person who had nothing to be happier than a person who had everything – to a world so focused on possessions this was completely backwards. Most of the people we know have…..
I. A Pile of Possessions.
A. One of the first tough lessons a child learns is that their toys are breakable.
*I mean you may not personally remember learning that lesson but you did and children learn it . A young child enjoys the toy and after abusing it properly it the toy breaks. The child is devastated and takes it to the parent to be fixed. When the parent is unable to fix it the child breaks down like he has lost his best friend. The toy doesn’t operate the same way or has to be disposed of – it is a tragedy when you are small, dreams are dashed and sorrow is felt for the first time. Things break, it happens and as an adult you hate to see it happen because your toys are so much more expensive! I find it amusing when products are advertized with a lifetime guarantee or they state that you will never buy something every again because this thing will last for your whole life. Nothing on this earth lasts forever but that idea of it doing so appeals to us.
1. So you can take your toys and keep them safely tucked away in order to protect them or save them for special occasions when they won’t be harmed. But then they cease to be toys because toys were meant to be played with.
2. This is a dilemma because usually the more you use something the more worn out it becomes and the less valuable it is – keep it safe and you don’t get to use it; bring it out in the open and potentially get it broken or stolen.
*So we have guarantees and insurances to protect what we have – those things cost even more and then an added pressure is applied to our finances. To make things worse is the easily attainable “line of credit,” from credit card to loans we are given the ability to borrow more than we are worth and that drives prices higher. Even our government is in hock to creditors as it tries to have it all and make sure ever person is happy, healthy, and comfortable. But it isn’t enough because there is always another threat or another need or another problem to solve.
3. And we end up with a pile of nice possession and the worries to go along with them. This is what the world says is the “good life” but it makes us wonder why it feels like we just took on a heavier burden.
4. Instead of having a thankful heart an uneasiness can settle over as the possessions do not give as much happiness or security as we would like. In fact those who have more instead tend to worry more about losing what they have.
B. Accumulating stuff is the way of the world.
1. No matter what country you visit people want to have more than they posses at the moment. For people in poorer parts of the planet that is understandable because most of them face moments where they run out of the basics of life.
• Gather all you can.
• Keep it for as long as you can.
• Use it before you kick the can.
ILL.- Mother said to her son Bobby, “Why Bobby, you ate all that cake without thinking of your little sister.”
Bobby replied, “I was thinking of her all the time. I was afraid she would come in before I finished it.”
2. What ends up happening is Life becomes a series of collecting and replacing – we end up with half a pile of valuable stuff and half a pile of broken stuff we can’t bring ourselves to throw away! Somehow we gain our security, our importance and our happiness on how much we have.
1 Timothy 6:9-10 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Those griefs could be things like worry, stress, how to protect things.
3. For most people that is the best life they can imagine – and if they actually do get the stuff they want it ends up not being enough and they are right back in the same game of chasing after something new. Instead they multiply their griefs – they know their stuff is meant to be used for a purpose and they can’t figure out what that purpose is.
4. Our life is supposed to be more than just the pursuit of stuff –
It is why Jesus wanted to warn us before hand - Luke 12:15 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."
That is the shortsighted attitude so common in the world – get it before anyone gets it – and it is easy to get caught up in that way of thinking.
*And in his counter-cultural way Jesus tells them to do the opposite of the world – everyone is trying to get rich quick, He says you should spend your time getting progressively poorer in the world’s stuff because it is the real path to true riches. To most of the world this is just plain stupid and if we don’t take some time to think deeply about this then we too will start to think that Jesus is just saying this stuff to make us do what he wants. Remember every teaching of Jesus has a deeper and life changing power – we have to trust he isn’t messing with our heads here. He states that giving is
II. A Plan for Prosperity.
A. In Luke chapter 12 Jesus teaches the people about what it means to have true riches.
1. At this point in his ministry he is a rock star: A large crowd gathers and they are so excited they are practically trampling on one another to hear what Jesus has to say.
2. One loudmouth in the crowd asks Jesus to help him settle a dispute between himself and his brother over the division of their father’s estate. Jesus tells them the story of a man who is wealthy and plans to collect even more when he suddenly dies and someone else gets everything he worked hard to gather.
*That’s such a great story because it is exactly the kind of thing that happens – a parent dies and the kids who might have gotten along before are suddenly at odds because they want to get their cut of the riches. During the time of Jesus something like this would comparative to what we might think of a retirement plan – passing along assets helped to assure the family would be financially secure, so whatever was left was all there was to keep their family from poverty – it is a serious think when it possibly involves the security of your family. Seeing this Jesus wants his disciples to have a different attitude.
32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33Sell 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. 34For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
B. What Jesus wants us to not fear is running out of what we need to make it through life.
Listen to this verse that comes a little later in the book of Luke. Luke 16:9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. No we are given wealth to use it for a greater purpose, and in the midst of that purpose we are establishing lasting treasures.
1. So there is wisdom in the backward sounding teaching of Jesus as he says that while we will be surrounded with people who are trying to get more than they have or trying to take what they think will make them happy, we need to be constantly remembering that those things will eventually fade away and flow to someone else.
2. And if we don’t used them for something lasting then those things do become completely useless. In effect things not used for God’s kingdom are without value.
*The world does not understand people who do not think wealth and possessions are the goal for a fulfilled life. God’s plan is for an eternal inheritance – the people of this world are focused on a earthly inheritance. Matthew 6:33 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Jesus has a larger plan and wants us to be blessed on more than one level. CS Lewis said it well, “Aim at heaven and you get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.”
3. The indication is not that Jesus wants every person to live a life of poverty on earth but to live like the things here do not matter as much as our integrity or character.
*The things of this world will interfere with our view of God’s plan all of the time because the temptations to compromise and just go along with what everyone else is doing will not stop. Temptation is constantly around us and trying to convince us that that having it easy here is the real mark of prosperity.
ILL.- William Lyons Phelps stated, "If happiness truly consisted in physical ease and freedom from care then the happiest individual would not be either a man or a woman; it would be, I think, an American cow."
Why is the cow being fed and taken care of so well? Because it is being prepared to be eaten – that is exactly the plan Satan has – occupy us with temporary stuff all the while preparing us for destruction. The devil knows he cannot defeat God so he takes great pleasure in destroying God’s favorite thing in the whole world, people. Jesus came saying “there is a place where treasures aren’t stolen or broken, put your hope in a place that can’t ever go away. His instruction to let go of the importance of the stuff of earth was to keep our soul reminded of….
III. A Place for Permanence.
A. And notice how he talks about the location of the things we value and the place where our heart is.
1. Because when we are threatened by death and disease and loss, the things that seem valuable now kind of go down the scale of importance. It is at that moment that most people realize that they don’t really want all the things that seemed like so much fun – they just want to live.
2. Suddenly the nice idea of heaven becomes something that they need to take seriously – it is called that “come to Jesus moment” where fear drives out every distraction and Jesus becomes the most important thing because he is the only one who can fix things.
*If everything you hold dear is on the earth then every time those things are threatened, every time there is a loss, every time there is a bad experience, then your whole world and value system is in danger of being destroyed. For instance imagine you have a car which is your most favorite thing in the world, you love it, protect it, go to great lengths to keep it save and away from harm. One day a meteor falls from the sky and completely crushes the car incinerates it to a pile of ashes. If all of your hopes, money, dreams, and time investment is in that one thing then your life is over. There is nothing more to live for. Now that is a ridiculous proposition because no one puts that much value on a car – well almost no one – but people do invest their entire life into a person or a place or a job thinking those things will be forever – but nothing lasts forever and rarely lasts for a lifetime. Jesus says value what lasts because… 34For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Your heart is safe when it is given to God. Make important what belongs to God and it won’t be destroyed.
3. Looking at the words of Jesus in this context he is saying, “Go ahead use what I have given you to help people and don’t spend your life worrying that you won’t have enough.” Instead of promising us wealthy and an easy life he is calling us to be active, generous, adventurous, and not satisfied with the short term things.
B. Storing up treasures forever. Investing in real treasure. What those are exactly is the mystery
How do we do that?
1. Devaluing the stuff here – don’t let yourself believe that things will satisfy you. There are toys to enjoy, money to spend, projects to build, and collections to be shared. We get into trouble when those things become more important than our dedication to God. When we work without worship, try without prayer, learn without the scriptures, and live without fellowship with Christ then we lose connection with our gauge of the most valuable things. What you have or want to have on this earth might be great and fantastic and fun, but refuse to let your heart be given to them because those things will betray you and they will break. Your heart wasn’t mean to be treated like that. God won’t do that to you!
2. Doing the right thing even though it costs you – Sometimes people take the popular and short route to get what they want even though it defies what God said to do. They look at what it would take to do it the right way and say, “but that takes to much of my money, my time, my effort,” and they put the value of their wants over the value of God’s instructions. Don’t cheat – the easy way of living is usually the wrong way. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted,
*And more than once I have seen people make terrible life changing decisions based mainly on how much it costs to do the right thing. They hear God call them to step away from stuff, to stop spending on activities which are clearly serving bad purposes, to pay more to keep the living arraignments in obedience to the will of Christ, or to cut what they should be giving to the church because they are struggling or unhappy with how things are going. It is a mistake to think that God really cares how much we have or that he just wants us to have so that we will be happy. God’s main concern is not for our happiness. There will be time for happiness in heaven; he cares if we are true, faithful, and assured of our eternal life.
3. Willingly give up something good for something fantastic. This is the real bottom line; are you willing to trade the little treasures on this earth for the bigger ones to come? Remember look first to what God wants and a bunch of other stuff will be thrown in because your attitude is ready to handle them.
A farmer went into his banker and announced that he had bad news and good news. "First, the bad news...""Well," said the farmer, "I can’t make my mortgage payments. And that crop loan I’ve taken out for the past 10 years -- I can’t pay that off, either. Not only that, I won’t be able to pay you the couple of hundred thousand I still have outstanding on my tractors and other equipment. So I’m going to have to give up the farm and turn it all over to you for whatever you can salvage out of it. "Silence prevailed for a minute and then the banker said ,"What’s the good news?" "The good news is that I’m going to keep on banking with you," said the farmer.
We are a drag on God’s resources, we lose them and break them and have nothing to show for them – but God still wants us, we are bankrupt in spirit on our own but he pours out his spirit and says to us “Don’t worry about paying it back, just use what you have.” Jesus paid our debt in full and plans on giving us even more in heaven than we deserve!
