“WHAT DID JESUS SAY ABOUT MONEY?” Luke 12:13-34
INTRO – Folk story of the bandit Jose' Rivera, who became notorious in several little towns in Texas for robbing their banks and businesses. The townsfolk, weary of the constant plundering, hired a ranger to track down Jose' Rivera in his hideout in Mexico and retrieve the money. The ranger at last arrived at a desolate, ramshackle cantina. At the bar saw a young man enjoying a beer. At one of the tables, hands over his ample stomach, hat over his eyes, snored another patron. With much gusto, the ranger approached the young man at the bar and announced that he was on a mission to bring back Jose' Rivera, dead or alive. “Can you help me find him?" he asked. The young man smiled, pointed to the other patron, and said, “That is Jose' Rivera."
The ranger walked over to sleeping bandit, tapping him on the shoulder, “Are you Jose' Rivera?” The man mumbled, “No speak English." The ranger asked young man at bar to help him communicate his mission.
The ensuing conversation was tedious. First the ranger spoke in English and the young man translated it into Spanish. Jose' Rivera responded in Spanish, and young man repeated the answer in English for the ranger.
Finally, the ranger warned Jose' Rivera that he had two choices; the first was to let him know where all the loot he had stolen was hidden, in which case he could walk away a free man. The second choice was that if he would not reveal where the money was stashed, he would be shot dead instantly. The young man translated the ultimatum.
This got Rivera’s attention. Pulled himself together and said to the young man, “Tell him to go out of the bar, turn to the right, go about a mile, and he will see a well. Near the well he will see a very tall tree. Beside the trunk of that tree is a large concrete slab. He will need help in removing it. Under the slab is a pit in the ground. If he carefully uncovers it he will find all the jewelry and most of the money I have taken." The young man turned to the ranger, opened his mouth...swallowed...paused, and then said, “Jose' Rivera says, 'Go ahead and shoot!'"
There aren’t many things in our lives that get our attention more quickly than money issues in our lives. Most of us, if not all of us, have had those times in our lives when there was more month than there was money. We have good intentions in trying to manage our money, but sometimes it seems like we just can’t get it together.
- We try to save a little, but then something breaks, or the kids get sick, or our electric bill unexpectedly goes up. Someone once said, “Nothing brings on an emergency as quickly as putting aside money in case of one.”
- We try to be more frugal, but then that new pair of shoes gets our attention, or that new set of golf club calls out to us, or that new exercise machine advertised on TV entices us (after all, we all need another place to hang our clothes, right???).
- We try to be more understanding & patient, but not many things cause more friction in marriages than money issues.
Most folks are decent folks who are living paycheck to paycheck, trying to pay their bills, trying to keep food on the table & a roof over their heads. In these days of uncertainty & unrest, money concerns seem to take the lead in gaining our attention.
And not only does it happen in our personal finances, but those concerns bleed over into our church finances.
- Ministries go undone or are postponed due to lack of funds.
- We have less resources for reaching the lost world & growing disciples.
- Missionaries are either called home from the mission field, or are not able to go to the mission field at all due to lack of funds.
- Staff members find themselves distracted from more important ministry endeavors & discouraged due to financial concerns.
The bottom line about money, in both our personal lives & in our church’s life, is that it is a heart issue. Sure, there are legitimate financial struggles that many people are having, but the bottom line is that our issue w/ money are issues w/ our hearts. Had a Christian bank president tell me once that most of the people he counseled w/ concerning financial problems were dealing w/ spiritual problems. When they got their spiritual lives in order first, they were much more able to get their financial lives in order.
Jesus had much to say about money. 16 out of 38 parables that He told during His earthly ministry were money-related, & around 15% of His total teaching had to do w/ money. He also taught that money is the #1 spiritual indicator of where a person’s heart is.
So, just as we said last week in the sermon on hell – If it was important to Jesus, it’s important to us. If He preached on it, I’m going to preach on it. If He taught about it, we need to teach about it.
Today, we are going to look at what Jesus said about money. Not going to do a Dave Ramsey presentation today on snowballing your debts. Not going to give you 10 easy steps to making a budget. Why? B/c Jesus didn’t say anything about those things. They’re important & we can help you w/ those. But we are going to look at a couple of deeper issues that Jesus dealt with. In this passage in Luke 12, there are 2 main concerns about money that Jesus emphasized:
- Greed will destroy you.
- Worry will debilitate you.
GREED WILL DESTROY YOU – God is SERIOUS about greed. We may brush it off as not a big deal, but Jesus said “Watch out” for it, & be on your guard against it. Listen to these verses:
- Prov. 15:27 – “Greed brings grief to the whole family…” (NLT)
- Rom. 1:29-30 – “Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents.”
- 1 Cor. 6:9-10 - Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.
- Eph. 5:3, 5 - Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people… You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.
Why is greed such a big deal, so big that it is placed in same category as homosexuality, idolatry, murderers, & God-haters? B/c greed causes a person to be much more concerned w/ getting rich for himself that he fails to get rich toward God. Greed shouts out that we want what we want when we want it & it doesn’t matter what God or anyone else says about it.
- Homosexuals give in to the false belief that it doesn’t matter what God’s Word says about this sin – They’re greedy for a perverse relationship w/ someone of their same sex, & they’re going to go after that relationship, no matter what. Doesn’t matter what God says – This is what I want!
- Idolaters give in to the false belief that their gods are better able to meet their needs & grant them their wishes & desires. They’re greedy for a god who will let them do & believe whatever they want, no matter what, which corresponds w/ their being a “God-hater.” Doesn’t matter what God says – This is what I want!
- Murderers take another person’s life, not caring about what pain & heartache they will bring. Doesn’t matter what God says – I want to take this person’s life, so that’s what I am going to do!
Greed controls you – The Bible tells us that when we know Jesus, the Holy Spirit works in us to give us self-control. But greed takes over your self-control as your excessive appetite cries out for more & more money. Obviously, the farmer in the parable was controlled by his desire for more stuff. Wasn’t satisfied w/what he already had.
Greed consumes you – As greed grows in your heart, it blossoms from controlling you to consuming you. Getting more & more money becomes all that you think about, all that you work for, to the point that you give up your relationship w/ family, friends, & Jesus. It devours your time, your energy, your resources – your life! The farmer’s life & time was consumed as he spent $ & energy tearing down barns simply to build bigger ones.
Greed condemns you – One long sentence to give you: The Scriptures make it abundantly clear that a person who is controlled & consumed by greed is a person who does not truly have a relationship w/ the Lord Jesus, b/c instead of living for Him, the greedy person lives for themselves, meaning that their hope for salvation lies in themselves, which is the unpardonable sin, leading to eternal condemnation. There’s not a single person in hell today who is thinking to themselves, “Man, if I could have just closed that last deal!”
WORRY WILL DEBILITATE YOU – “Debilitate” – to make weak or feeble.
There’s probably not a person here today who has not at some point found themselves worried & anxious about money. And while there are times that you & I can have some legitimate concerns about $ issues, Jesus makes it clear that, if we allow worry & anxiety over $ to take over, it will weaken & cripple our lives.
Worrying about $ shows that our trust is misplaced. Jesus very clearly, simply, & succinctly commands us to stop worrying about material possessions. The tense of this verb means that we are to continually, habitually follow this command. It’s a long-term commitment. It is to be a way of life for us. And the only way this can happen in our lives is if we truly understand where to place our trust, & that is in our Heavenly Father. He is going to take care of us in His time, in His way, & for His glory. So we’ve got to trust Him.
Worry shows that our desires are misdirected. If we are constantly knotted up w/ worry about $, we are displaying to all those around us that our desires are misdirected. We are acting more like the “pagan world” (v. 30) whose desires are definitely not directed toward the things of God. Many of us would recoil at any suggestion that our lives are mirrors of the pagan world – We don’t party all weekend. We aren’t sexually promiscuous. We don’t cheat people & lie to people – Or whatever horrible things we think pagans do. But we do worry about $, which is another horrible thing that pagans do.
Worry shows that our hearts are misguided. Who or what is truly guiding your life? If you are truly being guided by God & the truths found in His Word, then your money worries & our church’s money worries will be gone – PERIOD! But if anything else is guiding the decisions we make in our lives regarding our $ or anything else for that matter, we are showing that our hearts are misguided. And when we are misguided, we will be deceived & misled. We will make foolish decisions, harmful decisions, even dangerous decisions. We will become unreasonable, unconcerned about the things that concern God, & will lead unfruitful lives that do not bring honor & glory to God.
That’s why Jesus said “Do not worry” (v. 22); “Do not worry” (v. 29); “Do not be afraid” (v. 32). That’s also why He said, “Seek 1st His K’dom” (v. 31); & “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (v. 34).
