Back in the 1800’s there was once a 350# wrestler in Europe named “Yusuf, the terrible Turk.” Three hundred and fifty pounds is a fairly huge man, and there wasn’t an ounce of flab on the man. He was formidable. And in his four years in Europe, he was impossible to beat, holding the undisputed title as champion there. Then in 1898, he sailed to America and challenged the undefeated US champion to a match - a man named “Strangler” Lewis.
Now, “Strangler” was apparently about my size, weighing in at just a little over 200 pounds. But despite his rather small size, he was the heavyweight wrestling champion in America, having defeated many men much larger than himself. Strangler secret was a very simple hold. He would get around behind his opponent, put his massive arm around their neck and cut off their oxygen. Thus the name “strangler”. When his opponents passed out he’d “pin” them and win the match.
But when Strangler met Yusuf, he faced a problem - Yusuf didn't have a neck. One commentator noted that Yusuf’s body went from his head to his massive shoulders, with very little in between. Thus, Strangler Lewis couldn’t get his hold and it wasn't long that the Yusuf flipped Lewis to the mat and pinned him.
After winning the championship, the Terrible Turk demanded all $5000 (a fairly significant amount of money back in 1898) be paid to him in gold. He wrapped the championship belt around his waist, stuffed his gold into the belt and boarded the next ship back to Europe. But halfway across the Atlantic, a storm struck and the ship began to sink. When Yusuf attempted to get into a lifeboat, he fell into the water and disappeared beneath the waves never to be seen again.
What do you think happened?
That’s right. All his great wealth was too much even for this mighty man.
He sank like an anvil, and his great riches destroyed him.
APPLY: Now, in our story today, we read about a man whose inheritance threatened to destroy him as well. He and his brother were arguing over that inheritance and he interrupted Jesus’ ministry asking our Savior to intercede in this legal matter, and rule in his favor.
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Jesus was not impressed.
He said: "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?"
Then Jesus used this conflict between the two brothers to teach His followers a “life lesson.”
“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15
I read one internet site where some psychologist was trying to say that squabbles over inheritances aren’t really about greed – they’re about “feelings.”
He was a psychologist.
For folks like him, everything’s about feelings.
But let me be very clear here. In most quarrels over a family estate - it’s ALL about greed.
It’s all about: “I want MY share of the inheritance… and I want it first."
One Newspaper headline noted: “Where there's a will there's a war”
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/features/3637744/Inheritance-disputes-where-theres-a-will-theres-a-war.html)
And the more money or property is involved, the nastier the conflict can get.
ILLUS: My mother told of the trouble that took place in her family when her dad died.
Her 3 brothers worked together to squeeze mom and my aunt out of their share of the inheritance. In fact, their older brother – a leader in the church in town – ended up buying the farm for a song.
Now, why would her brothers do that to their sisters?
Why would that “godly” brother steal the farm for himself?
(wait for an answer from the audience)
That’s right - they were greedy.
Greed is a terrible thing.
Jesus said that Greed was one of the attitudes that can make us unclean.
“For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, GREED, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘UNCLEAN.’” Mark 7:21-23
Romans 1:29 declares that (godless and wicked men) “have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, GREED and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice.”
And Ephesians 5:3 warns us that “among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of GREED, because these are improper for God’s holy people.”
Greed is equated with wickedness, godlessness, adultery, slander, murder, etc. And amongst top 10 of just about any list in Scripture of sin… is Greed.
In fact, Colossians 3:5 condemns greed, saying it is idolatry.
Now why would Jesus call these men’s inheritance problems - a greed problem?
1st - They both wanted something they hadn’t earned. Very few kids “deserve” and have earned the money they received from an inheritance. When my mom died sometime back I got a share of the inheritance from her estate. But I didn’t deserve a penny of it. I owed her and dad far more than I could ever repay.
2nd – These brothers were willing to sacrifice their relationship with each other… for the sake of possessions and money.
And 3rd - They were putting their trust in riches rather than God.
Jesus diagnosed their problem
And then He told a little parable to describe what caused this kind of greed.
The parable was about a successful businessman.
He was a farmer whose fields were so productive that he had way more than usual. He had barns to store his crops in… but they weren’t big enough, so he decided to tear them down. But why do that? Why not just leave those barns and build others?
One scholar explained about these barns that “They were commonly made, by the ancients, underground, where grain could be kept a long time more safe from thieves and from vermin. If it be asked why he did not let the old ones remain and build new ones, it may be answered that it would be easier to enlarge those already excavated in the earth than to dig new ones.”
(Barnes Notes)
His crops were so plentiful, that not only did he make his barns larger - he began to think about his future. He said to himself: “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” Luke 12:19
Now… what’s wrong with that?
I mean, how many of you wouldn’t like to have enough money to retire and enjoy life? How many of us haven’t dreamed of being independently wealthy? Well, I have!
I realize money isn’t everything, but as one guy said:
“All I ask is the chance to prove that money can't make me happy." (Spike Milligan)
But Jesus condemned the wealthy man, NOT because he was wealthy (there are many wealthy people in Scripture), but because he wasn’t rich toward God.
"God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich towards God." Luke 12:20-21
Not rich toward God?
What could that mean?
It meant that wealthy people tend to cut God out of the picture.
They can be rich enough to pay all their bills, buy a car right off the lot, purchase a home just by writing a check. Anything they want, they can get. So if they can supply all their own needs why do they need Him?
The writer of Proverbs 30:8-9 said it this way: “give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.”
You see, Jesus isn’t condemning wealthy people per se.
• Abraham was a wealthy man with flocks of sheep and herds of cattle
• Jacob had a multitude of sheep and cattle and camels.
• David was a wealthy King. All you need to do read how much money he set aside for the building of the Temple.
• But even David couldn’t match the wealth of his son. 1 Kings 10:23 says that Solomon was even richer than he was. “King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth.”
These wealthy people were not condemned.
Why? Because they were rich toward God.
They put more trust in HIM than they did in their fortunes and possessions.
You see, Jesus didn’t condemn people for being wealthy.
He condemned them for being greedy.
Someone asked a wealthy man what it would take to make him happy and he replied: “Just one more dollar.”
Greed is the belief that if I can only get enough money, I can be safe and secure.
And Greed is created when we allow worry to run our lives.
Jesus said: “Therefore I tell you, DO NOT WORRY about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear… Who of you by WORRYING can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you WORRY about the rest?” Luke 12:22, 25-26
But we do worry.
Too often.
And if we let our worry run our lives, we can end up like so worldly people: running after money and possessions. We can even end up arguing over the amount of money we get in an inheritance.
And Greed isn’t just a problem for wealthy people.
Anybody can be greedy.
In fact, we’re taught to be greedy as children.
Have you ever played “The Game of Life.” That’s the one with the big spinner in the middle and the roads that represent the decisions folks make every day for themselves and their families.
ILLUS: Greg Nettle told about the Christmas his 7-year-old daughter, Tabitha, received the SpongeBob SquarePants version of “The Game of Life”. As they played the game Tabitha thought the person who reached finish line 1st was the winner.
But then Greg read the instructions and the rules literally say
“At the end of the game, the winner is the person with the greatest net worth.”
• Not the person who crosses the finish line first.
• Not the person who helped the most people.
• Not the person who gave the most away.
The winner is the person who accumulates the most wealth!
It’s another way of saying – the guy who dies with the most toys… wins.
We teach greed all through life.
So let’s review:
1st - Greed is a disease. It makes us “unclean”. It makes us behave like the godless and wicked of this world do. In fact – Greed is idolatry.
2nd – Greed makes us block God out of our lives. It makes us focus on the power of money rather than the faithfulness of God.
And 3rd – Greed is caused by worry. This isn’t to say that ALL people who worry are greedy. But if we allow worry to control our lives, we will become dominated by the desire to have security at any price.
That means – if I have to cheat a little, or lie a little, or fudge a little to get more money… I’ll do it. Because it’s all about ME supplying for MY needs.
That’s why so many families go to war about their inheritance.
And so Jesus identifies a problem that all of us can be tempted by.
Something called Greed.
And then He prescribes the solution – Faith.
The cure to Greed is for us to realize it’s all about GOD supplying for all my needs.
Jesus said “Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!” Luke 12:27-28
And then He said “But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:31-32
Jesus is saying to us:
Are you tempted by worry?
Are you tempted by greed?
Then “Sell your possessions and give to the poor.”
If money controls you… give it away.
You see, the main problem with greed is that it makes us worship our possessions.
ILLUS: Dr. Karl Menninger once asked a very wealthy patient, "What on earth are you going to do with all of your money?"
The patient replied, a bit reluctantly, "Just worry about it, I suppose."
Well, Menninger went on, "Do you get that much pleasure out of worrying about it?"
"No," replied the patient, "but I get such terror when I think of giving some of it to somebody else."
Notice the power money had over this wealthy man.
He had more money than he knew what to do with.
But what did he do with it? (He worried)
And his major terror was the idea that someone else might get what he has.
GIVE IT AWAY! says Jesus.
Of course, we’re trained by God to set aside a portion of giving to the church. We understand the importance of giving a tithe to God – a 10th of our income – but God teaches us to also learn to give it away to people in need.
One of the most intriguing passages in Ephesians is the advice God gives to a new Christian who’d been a thief. God says:
“He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.” Ephesians 4:28
Don’t JUST stop stealing.
Get a job.
And then give money away to the poor.
That way, money doesn’t control you… and greed can’t dominate you.
ILLUS: (Walk down into the audience and approach a man you know will “play along”).
If I’m a thief, I’ll come up to Charlie here and I’ll get him distracted by pointing to the Good Year Blimp (or something) and then lift his wallet.
Now, why would a thief do that?
Because the thief views YOUR money as being HIS. You’ve got it, he can steal it, and that’s the way life should be.
But now, this thief has become a Christian and he not only needs to stop stealing (a thief who stops stealing is merely a thief who’s out of work). He needs to get a job. But even that’s not enough, because God wants the ex-thief to enter therapy. He wants the thief to learn that his money doesn’t belong to himself… it now belongs to God and is God’s tool to help the poor.
CLOSE: I recently read the blog of a man who pretended to preach the Gospel. He spoke of inequality and the importance of being rich enough to be happy. He wrote: “recent studies that show that money does indeed make people happier.”
He tried to prove that all our society’s ills were caused by bad rich people who weren’t begin taxed and regulated enough so that their money could be redistributed to the poor.
Only then – he reasoned – would the poor be happy.
(http://modernlectionaries.blogspot.com/2013/10/all-kinds-of-evil-money-economic.html)
But that’s not what the Bible teaches.
That’s not Christianity. That’s materialism.
Paul explained that you don’t have to be rich to be contented. He wrote:
“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:12-13
Notice, Paul didn’t say contentedness came from how much money or possessions he had. He explained satisfaction in life comes ONLY when we turn to Jesus and gain His strength.
ILLUS: Years ago, THE cowboy on TV was Roy Rogers. He was a decent Godly man who sang, acted and spoke to people about how they could be better citizens and better Americans.
Does anybody remember the name of Roy Rogers’ wife? (Dale Evans). They starred in numerous movies and their own TV show. Dale Evans was once interviewed and was asked to explain why she was so happy all the time.
"All my life I searched for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but I found what I really needed at the foot of the cross."
APPLICATION: Every week of this series I’ve asked you to do some “homework.”
The first Sunday I assigned you read a chapter of Proverbs every day for the 31 days.
The 2nd Sunday I assigned you the task of looking at your checkbook and calendar to see how much of your time and treasure you were dedicating to Christ.
Today, I’m going to ask you to do something more serious.
Your assignment this week is to sell something you own (no fair wives looking at husbands or husbands at their wives) and giving the money to the poor. Sell something and give the money away.
But it will do you little good to “give away” your possessions if you haven’t given yourself first to Jesus.
INVITATION
