Intro
Today, we talk about something that requires wisdom and diligence to handle correctly. It is something we have all held in our hands at one time or another. It has the power for good, but it also has the power to destroy. Despite its power, it is something we all need. I’m talking about money. It is a truth in this world that you and I cannot live in this world without handling money.
In handling money we see another truth. In the world there will be those who are rich compared to others.
Wealth has never been and likely never WILL be evenly distributed. Good or bad it is a truth in this world. Since we are in the world, it’s a truth even in our churches.
Illustration:
Think about this in terms of vehicles in the parking lot. There are those in the church who have the means to buy brand new cars. There are some who think a car with 100,000 miles on it is just broken in. There are some who have the latest gadgets and add ons. There are some who are afraid to scrape the rust off for fear the car will fall apart. There are a few who don’t even own a car. Because we live in the world, there will be those who have more than others even in the church. There will always be those who have more than others.
So what do those who have more need to do? Is it okay to have more? How should we handle our wealth?
My fear is that the have nots will target the haves in the congregation. Let me offer this. In preparing for this message, I found a web site that compares American income to the world’s income. The Web address is http://www.givingwhatwecan.org/why-give/how-rich-am-i. I was curious. So I used the site to calculate my own income compared to the world. When I plugged in my numbers, my salary and benefits package, I learned that at I am currently in the top 12% of the world’s wealthiest people. I was shocked. And my first thought was that I need more money because things are more expensive in the United States. The website takes the cost of living into account in their equations. The website compares what is needed to buy basic necessities to survive.
I scrolled down and discovered another more shocking analysis of being in the top 12% of the world’s wealthiest people. Right now, I make 7X more than the average person in the world to buy things that I need to survive. I learned that I am quite rich compared to the world! When I’m thinking about not having enough to eat out, the world is thinking about not having enough to put food on the table. Please understand, I am not grotesquely paid.
But let me drive home the point with another number. I found out that a family of 2 making $15,500 a year (that’s poverty level) is still in the top 18% of the world’s richest people. A family of two at poverty level in the U.S. makes almost 6X as much as the average person in the world to buy things they need to survive. I say this not because I want us to compare, but because I want us to realize something. As Americans most of us are extremely wealthy compared to the world.
Is that something we should feel guilty about? Should we get rid of our wealth, shed everything we have and give it to the poor in order to be followers of Jesus. Should we feel guilty about vacations and hobbies? What does the Bible says about wealth and how followers of Christ should use it?
The first thing we need to address today is the heart.
Heart Text
Mark 10:17-31
Mark 10:17
17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Stop and consider that this is a burning spiritual question in the man’s heart. The man recognizes the existence of the spiritual world because he asks about obtaining eternal life. And this man obviously believes that Jesus is a solid authority to listen to when it comes to the question.
Mark 10:18
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”
20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
This man had obviously lived what he believed to be a morally exemplary life. But he also realized that he lacked something. Ironic because we learn a few verses later that this man is very wealthy.
Mark 10:21
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
We shouldn’t let our familiarity with the passage cause us miss the impact of Jesus answer.
Illustration:
In fact consider it this way. How would you feel if I said, “In order to follow Jesus, we need to do the following?” If your house is larger than 1000 square feet, sell it.
If you are no longer working, sell your car. Yes. Sell the one with heated leather seats. Quit making plans for that yearly vacation. Quit your expensive hobby. Don’t buy Christmas gifts this year. Give up eating out for a year. Take all that money you will save and give it to a missionary so that he or she can rescue orphaned children. Then you can really be a follower of Jesus.
Some of you might look at me like I’m insane. Does Jesus really mean for us to not enjoy this life? I don’t think that’s the point.
The difficulty of Wealth
I. We don’t have to be materially poor in order to follow Jesus.
We don’t have to feel guilty about being wealthy. That said, how we handle the idea of parting with material wealth will quickly indicate our heart toward money. I know from personal experience that one does not have to be wealthy in American culture to have a problem with an unhealthy heart toward material possessions.
I think that was the problem with the man who asks Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life.” Because rather than following Jesus, Mark tells us in verse 22…
Mark 10:22
22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Notes
The wealthy man could not separate himself from material things that he could see and enjoy in order to enjoy spiritual things he could not see. His possessions were more important than eternal life. His wealth controlled him.
Jesus was addressing a heart where wealth had taken control. How the rich man viewed his wealth was a spiritual problem that was not just preventing him from finding fulfillment, it would ultimately deny him eternal life. He was owned by his possessions.
How terrible the day of judgment will be for those who are controlled by temporary things -- things which moth and rust destroy and things which thieves break in and steal.
The Difficulty of Wealth
II. Material things can make it more difficult to see the spiritual.
Listen to what Jesus tells his disciples in verse 23.
Jesus looks at his disciples and he says….
Mark 10:23
…“How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
Jesus seems to be making the point that it is hard enough to enter the Kingdom of God when we are poor. It becomes even more difficult for someone who is wealthy. The more material things we have, the more we have to be able to use wisely so that those things don’t own us.
This idea that wealth could be a curse confuses the disciples. After all, it was a prevalent Jewish belief was that God wanted his family (Israel) to be healthy and wealthy. They believed that a rich Jewish person was living squarely within God’s will. To be poor or unhealthy meant you had somehow sinned against God. It’s a New Testament Health and wealth value system.
What Jesus does is he takes this view and he turns it on its head. And the disciples are thinking, “If the rich can’t enter the Kingdom, who can?” Listen to their question in verse 26.
Mark 10:26
26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
It is not wrong for someone to be wealthy (as long as the wealth was not built on the backs of the poor). I would suggest that we be vigilant in how we build wealth. Very few things stir up God’s wrath than building our own empire on the backs of others.
That said, it is not impossible for a wealthy person to enter into the Kingdom. It’s the same door as the person who is poor. But the wealthy person cannot be blinded to the spiritual world by his/her material possessions.
We should always keep an ear clearly tuned to the eternal, spiritual world.
The failing of the rich young ruler was to miss the spiritual reality of the question he was asking, “How do I inherit eternal life.” And he sadly walked away from the answer to his own spiritual question because of his wealth. Don’t miss the eternal.
As a church, I suggest we give not because we want to keep the doors open, or to pay a full time minister, or so that I can keep cable T.V. and my cell phones.
We give because we have a broader view of eternity. We pray that the money given is used for eternal purposes. Don’t miss the answer to the question that Jesus provides.
When the rich young ruler walks away, I think Jesus’ heart is broken it. But then Jesus disciples miss what Jesus is saying.
Peter realizes the sacrifices that he and his fellow followers have made. Unlike the rich young man who had left, they literally gave up everything.
Mark 10:28
28 Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”
Listen to Jesus’ reply.
29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Jesus tells his disciples that by following Him, they have made an investment in an eternal future. That should be the way it is with everyone who chooses to follow Jesus. It takes a heart that can see eternity to sacrifice everything. The person who lives in this world and is part of it simply won’t be able to make the sacrifice.
And if this passage is any indication, how hard we cling to wealth and possessions is a key indicator of our view of eternity. I think that’s the whole point that Jesus is making.
Don’t let wealth cost you your inheritance in the Kingdom.
We can love our material possessions or we can love Jesus.
That’s the heart of what Jesus is saying. Since you and I are wealthy compared to the world’s standards, how do we keep ourselves from being owned by wealth? Let’s switch to our second text.
1 Timothy 6:17-19
1 Timothy 6:17
17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing (ready) to share.
As I read this I realize that God doesn’t mind if we enjoy this life. I think he allows us to enjoy this life. Paul says God richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
The problem is that wealth can make us arrogant. That word “arrogant” in verse 17 in the Greek literally means high minded -- placing oneself above someone else in our mind.
How to Handle Wealth
I. God provided it; don’t be arrogant
The second instruction for handling wealth is assumed. Let me illustrate this way.
When I was a kid and someone gave me a gift, what do you suppose my parents taught me to say? I was taught to say, “Thank You.” In fact, some of you when you were young, you parents made you sit down after Christmas or after a birthday to write thank you notes. Even if all you got was underwear from grandma, your parents made you write a thank you note. Why? Because you would not have what you had if it wasn’t for that person’s generosity.
In the midst of this passage, Paul gives an implied thank you to God.
II. God provided it; be thankful.
One of the things wealth does is it quickly leads us to be self centered. I’ve earned it; or I deserve it; there is a sense of entitlement that can come with it. So Paul tells Timothy to command those who are wealthy to do what?
To do good, to be rich in good deeds, to be generous and ready to share.
Many church ministries and services depend on financial resources. We know that Paul drew on the financial support of benefactors for his travels and missionary activities. I challenge each of us to pray about being a support of a ministry in the church. This isn’t just finances. We can have a plethora of time. There may be some who need to quit working overtime to give God some prime time.
The word generous is a communal word. Be generous and ready to share. Those who have much, God says “I expect to have a community spirit.”
III. God provided it; have a community spirit.
It may not seem fair that those who make more are expected to support more of the work of the Kingdom. But when we do, we find ourselves thankful for what God has provided to us. We find value in a unique ministry that few people can do.And Paul says this will take place.
1 Timothy 6:19
19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
If all we do in using our wealth is to enjoy this life, we miss it. We miss the life that is truly life. Do not use your wealth as a means to enjoy this life, but the next.
Vision:
What if we trusted God with our wealth so much that we didn’t have to do fundraisers in order to finance ministries and missions? What if we didn’t have to beg for help in Kingdom projects? What if instead of raising funds we were raising faith? What if we trusted God as the real provider -- the owner of cattle on a thousand hills? What if the funds we give led to eternal life, not just for ourselves, but also to countless others who hear the good news of Jesus? To me this is the best way to not just enjoy this life, but to enjoy the next.
