• The Man Who Interrupted Jesus.
• I like Generous People- they are fun to be around- getting gifts, getting meals paid for
• Do you know what I love even more? Being the one giving gifts, paying for meals, doing nice things for people
• Crystal and I went out to lunch this week……
• Have you ever been interrupted? Its annoying- if you’re in the middle of a thought or in the middle of sentence and some interrupts you, it bugs
• People do it to me all the time- I’ll be talking with someone and they’ll come straight up and ask me a question in mid-sentence
• My kids are notorious for it- I try to get them to stand there and wait for their time to talk, but they wont do it
• Why shouldn’t we interrupt? Its rude and it makes us look foolish
• I got some encouragement this week- A scripture where a guy interrupts Jesus
• Yes- Jesus was talking and a guy butts in and wants to ask Jesus a question-
• But the condition of this Guys heart is laid bare and Jesus has the remedy for him
• I want to look at this story and talk about this guy- and why its important for us to pay attention to him and what we can learn from him
• I’m sure that 2000 years ago when this guy interrupted Jesus, he wasn’t thinking- hey, maybe I can make it in the bible!
• Its like one of those guys that jumps in on the news camera!
• This weeks sermon- The man who interrupted Jesus, why it matters, and what we should do
• READ-Luke Chapter 12
• Here’s what interesting-
1. His condition, or desire is so strong he doesn’t care that he is interrupting
2. His argument is with his BROTHER- someone with whom he should be loving towards
3. He expects Jesus to fix the problem- this happens so much- God, fix it!
4. Somehow, he feels as though life is unfair, so much so that what someone else has, which he doesn’t have, in some way is affecting his ability to live his life effectively
5. He was so passionate about his fear of not getting what he thought was ‘due him’ that he was willing to interrupt Jesus and ask him to get between him and his brother in regards to an inheritance (I know someone who when their sister was on their deathbed they wouldn’t talk because of an inheritance problem)
6. The problem with this guy wasn’t his inheritance the problem was his heart- he was greedy!
• So here’s what Jesus says to him
• Its not my problem- its your problem pal
• He says-You don’t have a God problem you have a heart problem
• Many many time people want to put their problems on God that in some way God has forsaken them, or that God has punished them and the problem in their own heart and their own issue
• This man’s issue was not the inheritance, it wasn’t God it was HIM
• It was his HEART- do you get that?
• He operated from fear- I wont get what I think is mine
• He operated from greed- My brother will get more than me
• He operated from lack of trust- This wont work out- my brother wont change his mind
• So much so that he called out Jesus and said- YOU NEED TO FIX THIS PROBLEM!!!
• Jesus says one sentence about to this guy- its your problem, not mine
• Did you get that? Jesus didn’t help the guys immediate situation
• He didn’t jump into his problem
• He didn’t come into rescue him
• He could have said, ‘see me after service and we’ll get with you and your brother’
• He would say to the brother- “hey, you’re being kind of greedy here, you should share with your brother, I’m God and all, so I think you should do it”
• Interesting point- Jesus expected this guy to deal with this personal problem in a spiritual way
• In verse READ vs 12:4-7 Jesus just got done telling them to not be afraid and this guy is AFRAID!!!
• He wasn’t going to get in the middle of it.
• Ilust- sometimes we expect God to handle our physical circumstance when we have a spiritual problem
• God cares more about your spiritual problems than your physical problems- he cares, but the heart is what matters!
• and then he turns to his disciples and uses him as a sermon example
• Watch what you do and say! You could be a sermon Example
• Then Jesus turns to his disciples and says, lets pick on this guy who just illustrating a perspective on life with his disciples
1. Don’t be greedy
• Vs.15 watch out! Be on your guard against ALL kinds of GREED- a man’s life does not consist of the abundance of his possessions-
• Jesus is making the point that what we have does not equal who we are
• Say it- WHAT I HAVE IS NOT WHO I AM
• In the Army- I knew this COL who spent all this money building this huge house, and pool and 70 acre estate- he had no one to spend it with- he got what he wanted, but it came at a cost
• We do it all the time- judge people by what they wear, what they have, what they do
• We make assumptions about them based on how they look
• People get upset when someone is more successful than them ‘must be nice’ they say
• I wasn’t born into money- I didn’t come from a rich family. I don’t have a name or an inheritance
• Here’s the deal though- I don’t care- I am who I am
• Politically, and this is me, this is why I voted against raising the income tax on the rich- its their money! They earned it!
• There are some political types that have this feeling well, you have more, so you should have to pay more
• That’s greed- worrying about who is paying what and who is giving what and who has what and clamoring to get more!
• This guy, the interuppter, was sooo worried that his brother was going to have more than him!
• The guy doesn’t say- Jesus I’m not going to be able to eat today- he says there is an abundance waiting for me and I’m afraid I’m not going to get any of it. Someone else will
• Watch what happens at walmart- they are going to turn doorbusters into a PPV event! GREED
• When his father, or whomever had the inheritance was alive- his life was exactly the same! He was worried about something he didn’t have!
• He didn’t trust that his own needs would be taken care of
• Here’s what’s crazy- back then, there wasn’t anything electronic, there wasn’t anything that ran on gas, there wasn’t nice clothes, their wasn’t nice houses, no appliances, no video games, NO VACATIONS
• Disneyland didn’t exist!
• The only think that you have in your possession today, that existed in antiquity is probably food and a blanket- clothes weren’t even the same
• But hearts back then were still the same- I WANT WHAT I DON’T HAVE and SOMEONE ELSE HAS IT
• It’s a HEART condition not a possession condition.
• So Jesus tells the story of this rich fool to describe what the answer is
2. What about me?
• There is this guy, who is rich and in his richness, he produces a good crop READ Vs 16-17
• Immediately when he surveys this wonderful abundance, his first thought is towards himself
• What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops?
• The rich fool had the same heart condition as the interrupter- What about me, what about mine?
• “what shall I do”?
• Have you seen that movie Dumb and Dumber?
• The part when they are driving on the scooter in the cold, and Lloyd and Harry are at the fire after this long trip
• Lloyd says- you want this extra set of gloves, my hands are getting hot!
• Its funny because he was wearing them the whole time
• Most people, when blessed, their initial response is ‘how can this help me’
• It happens to all of us
• We get an extra 100 dollars and we think “ I deserve a treat’ not, ‘whom do I know that could use this more than me’
• Crystal and I had some friends who got a really big blessing, or at least it must have been big, because they gave us a check for 1000 dollars
• They don’t go to this church- they weren’t looking for a tax write off, they simply wanted to give us a thousand dollars
• Makes me think about my money and what I do with it
• Do you spend more time thinking about how to get more money? Or spending time on how to give more money away?
• I struggle with giving away money- its not my first instinct
• We tithe- 10% on the gross- you wouldn’t expect anything less, would you?
• If I didn’t tithe, that would be hypocrisy
• Crystal and I have our own “money” its our fun money I only had 20 dollars left of mine-
• Qui and I and the homeless guy
• Eating garbage- my first thought- I only have 20 dollars- I was going to go out to lunch- I was going to buy a charger for my phone-
• HE WAS EATING GARBAGE- he wasn’t even asking for help and my heart response was, I wish I had change for my 20 so I would only have to give him 5.
• I’m despicable! I was so concerned with my 20 dollars TWENTY DOLLARS
• 20 dollars is nothing- its lunch for 2 at teriyaki- it’s a DVD- you can’t really do much with 20 dollars.
• After I thought about it, I wonder what would have happened if it was a rare occasion I had a 100 dollar bill
• What about me? It’s a common theme in all of our lives- it affects everything we say and do
• What about my money, my time, my feelings, my wants, my needs, my desires. WHAT ABOUT ME?
• If I give, I wont have- if I give I wont have enough- If I don’t, I wont get taken care of- brings us to the next point9
3. Hoarde
• He’s worried about his stuff- so vs. 18-19 READ
• This guy’s response, was to tear down his big barns, and create bigger barns so that he could store his abundance!
• Not, maybe I should give some away Maybe I should bless someone else
• No, I’m going to tear down some perfectly good barns, and make bigger barns, so I can hoarde what I have so I can take care of myself-
• And here’s why-
• Vs. 19 “and I will say to myself- you have plenty of good things laid up for many years, take life easy, eat, drink and be merry”
• He wanted to hoarde, so he wouldn’t have to worry, but also so he wouldn’t have to have FAITH
• Its easier to have faith when you have your needs taken care of and you have money in the bank the problem is that is not FAITH
• IF its taken care of, you don’t have to worry about it anymore
• Here was the rich crop owners issues-
• I want to take care of me
• I want to be comfortable
• I want to be able to relax
• I want to make sure that I have what I need, I don’t care about my neighbors- they should have planned better, its not my fault.
• He wanted to ‘take life easy’
• God never intended for this life to be easy- the bible doesn’t use the word ‘retirement’
• Bible makes it clear- if a man will not work, he will not eat
• Do you notice the connection? Jesus had just got done talking about fear, and in this parable, the guy is operating from FEAR- he is AFRAID of God not providing! He must hoarde! He must cover! He must take care of him self
• Now we see Jesus response to the Rich crop owner
4. A fool!
• Vs 20- READ- God calls this guy a fool God, called this guy a FOOL
• Jesus doesn’t tell this parable and say, “I think” he says that God himself spoke about this guys heart condition in regards to his possessions
• Its almost as if he says, hey stupid- let me tell you something you should already know
• I’m in control here, not you
• You can do whatever you want with your crops- but guess what dude, I’m the one who decides when you come home
• This crop owner thinks, if I can take care of myself, I’ll be ok,
• and God says, do whatever you think is going to make you happy, but I could call you home tonight, and then what?
• God says- you worked so hard for yourself, but when you die? Who will get it?
• You’ve made yourself the focus, and when you die, no one will get it, because you can’t take it with you!
• This was the problem with the interrupter-
• The interrupter had a problem- but the bigger problem was the man’s father whom had the inheritance
• If he would have shared what he had when he was on this earth- he wouldn’t have turned brother against brother
• Or the interrupters life wouldn’t be so dire that he would feel the need to interrupt Jesus
• If the interrupters father had shared before he died, he wouldn’t have created problems
• If his father had taken care of him while he was alive, he wouldn’t be so needed
• The answer for the interuppter, the crop owner, and us is clear-
• When we try to take care of ourselves, versus taking care of God, our lives become contentious and God calls us foolish
• VS- 21 This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich towards GOD
• Do you interrupt God?
• Would God call you a fool?
• Don’t be so concerned with your own needs that it costs you your life
• I wonder if God demanded his life that night because he wanted to make a point- that God is in control, and that what we have doesn’t define who we are
• One out of one people die- and you can’t take anything with you- the only thing you can take with you is the investment that you make in the kingdom of God
• The investment of Your time, you resources
• Your possessions will have a trail of influence- what you either did or didn’t do with them, and how they were used
• What you did with your possessions, and what you didn’t
• So- how to not be an interrupting fool?
• Be generous- with what you have- don’t hold back
• Don’t hoarde- hoarding is a fear problem
• Don’t be greedy- don’t worry about who has what and what you don’t have-
• Don’t interrupt Jesus or he’s going to use you as an example
