The Feast of Great Joy
Too many of us worship at the “Shrine of the Golden Arches”
In Dangers, Toils & Snares, John Ortberg writes:
When we take our children to the shrine of the Golden Arches, they always lust for the meal that comes with a cheap little prize, a combination christened, in a moment of marketing genius, the Happy Meal.
You’re not just buying fries, McNuggets, and a dinosaur stamp; you’re buying happiness. Their advertisements have convinced my children they have a little McDonald-shaped vacuum in their souls: "Our hearts are restless till they find their rest in a happy meal."
I try to buy off the kids sometimes. I tell them to order only the food and I’ll give them a quarter to buy a little toy on their own. But the cry goes up, "I want a Happy Meal." All over the restaurant, people crane their necks to look at the tight-fisted, penny-pinching cheapskate of a parent who would deny a child the meal of great joy.
The problem with the Happy Meal is that the happy wears off, and they need a new fix. No child discovers lasting happiness in just one: "Remember that Happy Meal? What great joy I found there!"
Happy Meals bring happiness only to McDonalds. You ever wonder why Ronald McDonald wears that grin? Twenty billion Happy Meals, that’s why.
When you get older, you don’t get any smarter; your happy meals just get more expensive.
Citation: John Ortberg, Dangers, Toils & Snares: Resisting the Hidden Temptations of Ministry (Multnomah, 1994), pp.99-100
Matters of the Heart
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.
1 Timothy 6:6-8
Money is a major challenge for anyone who wants to be a follower of Jesus and a child of God.
That’s why so much of the NT is about money. There are 2000 verses in the Bible about money. There are 500 about prayer. Jesus told 38 parables – 16 were about money.
Why did Jesus talk so much about money? I believe it is because so many people treat it like God.
God vs. Money
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
1 Timothy 6:10
Money has godlike powers – we love it because of what it does. Money gives us priority in society, it provides for our every need, it solves every problem and gives everything we could ever want – if you just have enough of it.
But money is a caustic, jealous ruler. It causes an unquenchable thirst for more and it demands your total attention as the first place in your life. It buys pleasure but only in exchange for becoming master of your life.
In my observations over the years people want to be givers. It is in their God given nature to share good things with others. People want to be givers. They want to support the work of God’s Kingdom. They want to help out their brothers and sisters and they want to do something to help change their world.
But many of us have been swallowed up and eaten alive by the false god of our modern American culture – money. We are addicted to stuff.
The verse before this one tells us that it is the desire for what money can do that gets us into trouble. We get addicted to money and spending…
Addicted to Spending
9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
1 Timothy 6:9
Most of us are addicted to spending. Our culture is all about spending. Our world runs on advertising and marketing. We are surrounded by, immersed, soaked, pummeled by messages that tell us that we need what they have for us.
The tell us to buy stuff! All around us there are messages telling you to buy the meal of great joy – a Happy Meal for only $2.99, a shiny new 8 cylinder belchfire automobile for only $41496 or $349 monthly for 5 years, or
We are not called people anymore. We are called consumers and we consume so much that we have gone into debt to do it.
The average consumer carries 8 cards and 20% of the cards are maxed out.
So if Godliness with contentment is great gain then ungodliness with discontentment is great loss. What stands between the great gain and the great loss is one simple fact of life… debt.
Debt becomes a cruel master that holds onto and makes you into a slave.
If you have debt you need to do more than simply manage it. You need to be set free from it. But you are going to be set free from debt there is something you have to understand.
Debt is a Symptom
15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
Luke 12:15
Contentment or Covetousness
Materialism is the root problem. It is sin to seek happiness through the accumulation of material things.
Not only is it a sin – it does not work.
It is a lie that Satan uses over and over again to lure people away from the life that God desires for them.
It’s the “Happy Meal” lie. Buy this and you will be happy. Get rich and your problems will disappear. It is the lie that materialism will fill the empty place inside. What does the Bible have to say about materialism?
Luke 12:15 (The Message) "Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot."
Materialism contradicts this verse. Jesus says our lives are NOT defined by what we have. But when we spend and spend, getting ourselves into debt to have more things – what do you think that says about us? When you fall into the trap of materialism you are saying that at least to some extent you believe your life is defined by what you have.
(ASIDE: Materialism is not a rich man’s disease only. Even those who don’t have much fall into the trap of believing they will be happy if they had a little bit more – their materialistic urges are fulfilled at Walmart rather than Yonkers!)
But God didn’t make us for that kind of life – he has made us for Abundant LIFE! He has made us for REAL LIFE. If you want it, keep listening, because the scriptures tell us the secret to defeating the power of materialism in your life. Here it is…
Debt Freedom comes from Contentment
5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”
Hebrews 13:5
Heb. 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
To be free from the power of debt you must replace materialism with Godly contentment
Did you notice whose responsibility it is to do this? It is YOURS. It is MINE. It is a command from the Lord – “You! Keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have.”
The only way to get out of debt for good is to replace materialism with contentment that springs from a place of trust in God to provide for ALL of your needs. There is no other way.
Put Materialism to Death
5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
Colossians 3:5
The message version says, “And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God.
Let me put it this way: “Hey You! Put greed to death!”
It’s part of your earthly nature – not the one that God has given you that lasts forever. And when you feel that urge to find meaning in your life from spending and accumulating things – put that urge to death because it is really idolatry – putting your possessions ahead of God as the one who will bring you happiness and fulfillment in life.
And that idol has to be replaced with the good news that God will never leave us or forsake us. The lie that things will make you happy needs to be drowned out with the knowledge that only a life centered upon God and filled with the power His Spirit provides will truly be a fulfilled life.
Now – if I may be so bold, I’d like to offer some practical steps for those of you who realize you’re addicted to materialism and you want to break the bondage you’re in.
We’re talking about repentance here. Change! Change requires two steps. Put off the old and put on the new.
A 3-step plan to getting out of debt for good
Stop spending more than you have
Use the old envelope system. If you are using credit cards and debit cards use the new fangled Mvelopes system. Just this week it became free for standard use. (http://www.mvelopes.com/crown/home)
Cancel your credit cards, freeze them in a block of ice, or bake them in your oven. Use cash (debit card) only.
Reduce monthly commitments (cable, internet, home phone, magazine subscriptions are NOT necessary for most of us). Ditch the expensive car with the oppressive payment and get a quality used car.
Establish an envelope system - Mvelopes just became a free service.
Pay off debts systematically
video
Pay off high interest credit cards. Work the snowball and start with the smallest debt with the highest interest. When it’s done roll that payment into the next.
Sell unnecessary household items for cash to pay down debt. Use Craig’s list and start paying off debt!
Don’t put money in savings when you are in debt (except for Emergency fund) – get out of debt first. Be creative in finding sources of extra income.
Start giving to God’s work
Become a first fruits giver and a tither
now and once the debt is paid off use some of that money for savings and start giving even more.
The measure of the heart
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 16:19-21
Stuff doesn’t last but eternity does.
Your heart will follow where you put your treasure.
Start investing your treasure in the eternal things.
Action Steps
Give your life to Jesus - today
Be content with what you have – today
Start giving to God’s work – today
Sign up for the Good Samaritan Program – today
Sign up for a Growth Group – today
