Title: You Gotta Serve Somebody
Place: BLCC
Date: 9/18/16
Text: Luke 16.13
CT: We all will have to serve somebody or something but as followers of Christ we serve Him.
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FAS: Wall Street Journal had this article in January of this year.
There is, apparently, a stigma attached to carrying credit card debt. More than a third of Americans say they would be embarrassed to let others know that they are not paying off their credit card debt in full every month, more than 40 percent say they believe they will be judged by family and friends because of credit card debt. The surprising thing is that Americans' average credit card debt is $15,355. Talk about the elephant in the room.
An executive for the firm that completed the survey said, "It's no surprise that shame about debt isn't necessarily productive in preventing or eradicating it. … Shame doesn't guarantee success. The only way to pay off debt is to face it head on and make a plan to get rid of it."
LS: Interestingly, the Bible has a lot to say about how we as followers of Christ are to plan about our money or should I say our stuff.
Paul Ausick, "Americans Are Ashamed to Admit Credit Card Debt," 24/7 Wall Street blog (1-19-16)
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I. There is an old song by Bob Dylan that nails it on the head about how we are to look at our money and our stuff. Dylan was a poet and this song is basically a poem. (Sing)
You may be an ambassador to England or France
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls
But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes
Indeed you're gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody
You might be a rock 'n' roll addict prancing on the stage
You might have drugs at your command, women in a cage
You may be a business man or some high-degree thief
They may call you doctor or they may call you chief
But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes you are
You're gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody
You may be a state trooper, you might be a young Turk
You may be the head of some big TV network
You may be rich or poor, you may be blind or lame
You may be living in another country under another name
But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes you are
You're gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.
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That’s about half of the song. It was the grammy best rock vocal performance of 1979.
I remember the song but I remember its message even more. We gotta serve somebody. Whether we want to admit it or not we will serve something or some one.
What do you serve? What do you serve to make you happy?
Have you ever asked yourself, [Screen 4] “What makes me happy?”
[Screen 5] NO thing.
Only our whos make us happy. Our relationships with God and people.
Have you ever thought,[Screen 6] “Boy I would be happy if I only had…
That car, that house, that job, more money, more stuff.
Does money make us happy? You may say well Jim I don’t know, but I would sure like to give it a try.
There is a connection between money and happiness.
There is a connection between money and our freedom and peace. [Screen 7] Society teaches us.
More money=more happy or maybe more peace.
So here is the question.
How much more money would it take to make you happy?
How much more money would it take to give you peace?
The answer is “More than you have now.” 1
It is not how much money you have that makes you happy. I know millionaires who are miserable. And I know folks with little to nothing who are as happy as a lark.
It is not how much money we have it is how we manage what we got.
Money itself doesn’t make you happy.
Your happiness is based on how you manage it. [Screen 8]
Money can lead to being happy if you manage it well.
Now before you get bent out shape wondering what does a farmer part time preacher know about managing money. I sure don’t have a financial degree or accounting degree. I have made my share of money mistakes. I am sure no stock market guru.
But I do know this. [Screen 9] Anything that undermines your peace will take away your happiness.
All truly happy people are at peace. They are at peace with themselves. They are at peace with others. And truly happy people are at peace with God.
What I do have is a book that speaks a whole lot on the subject of managing our money and stuff. Not a self help or get rich quick book.
Here it is. Bible.[Screen 10]
Luke 16.13, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money”.
Why is Jesus saying money instead of Satan or the devil here? Isn’t that the enemy for us?
The truth is the chief competition for our devotion is not Satan or sin. It is our stuff, our money. Our desire for our stuff.
You may say, “But Jim I don’t serve my stuff or money.”
I’ll let Jesus answer that. Lets look a little closer to his statement here.
Jesus says we will hate one and love the other. No way we can serve two masters. He says we will only be devoted to one. [Screen 11]
Devoted-to be obsessed, to be intense in your attachment to one thing. To one thing only. The thing we look to when we make decisions. It becomes the filter for all our life decisions.
Here is a question. [Screen 12]
Has your desire for something ever caused you to do something [Screen 13]…stupid? [Screen 14]
Has your desire for something ever caused you to do something…you regret? [Screen 15]
Desire for=devotion to.
You may say oh I don’t bow down to my stuff. I don’t worship my money, but Jesus is saying here that anytime you put anything ahead of Him we worship it instead of Him. We give our devotion to what we desire.
Whatever we are devoted to will become our master.
Our money, our stuff has the power to enslave us when we give it our devotion. We are going to serve what we desire. What we are devoted to. We are going to serve somebody.
Lets look at why we cant resist our desire to acquire that enslaves us. [Screen 16]
Discontentment-This is where it starts. Not satisfied with what I have and I know what I could have. Better car, upgraded phone, new stuff for house.
The most dangerous thing we do is look at magazines or websites of new and upgraded stuff. It takes us from we don’t need something because we don’t even know about it to I gotta have it now that I know about it.
You gonna serve something. You gonna serve your desire for stuff.
Awareness breeds discontentment.
Greed-Now of course none of us are greedy.
Tim Kellar said this: Some years ago I was doing a seven-part series of talks on the Seven Deadly Sins at a men's breakfast. My wife, Kathy, told me, "I'll bet that the week you deal with greed will be the lowest attendance." She was right. People packed it out for "Lust" and "Wrath" and even for "Pride." But nobody thinks they are greedy.
As a pastor I've had people come to me and confess that they struggle with almost every kind of sin. Almost. I cannot recall anyone ever coming to me and saying, "I spend too much money on myself. I think my greedy lust for money is harming my family, my soul, and people around me." Greed hides itself from the victim. The money god's modus operandi includes blindness to your own heart.
Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods (Dutton, 2009), p. 52
We without maybe even knowing it have the assumption that everything is for our consumption. By Jesus’ definition that is greedy. Welcome to following Christ.
Our desire for stuff cannot be satisfied.
Debt-It is better to say I want than to say I owe.
When we want it is between us and God. When we owe, it is between us and our new master the creditor. As followers of Christ we have to pay the creditor.
Don’t borrow to have something you don’t need. Don’t trade your peace for something that will never bring you peace. Stay out of debt.
Which one of these make you happy?
Discontentment. The more I want the happier I am.
Greed. Consuming makes me happy.
Debt. I love looking at my credit card bill and see how much I owe.
The simple one word application for all three of these words is [Screen 17]…STOP!
Take these three things out of your life. That is what Jesus is saying to us.
But you say Jim how can we do this? We are just human we have wants and needs. Doesn’t God want us to be happy?
He sure does and that’s why He gives us what we need to be happy with our money and our stuff. How we manage. Who we serve.
Lets look at two more words. [Screen 18]
Generosity- [Screen 19]
Solomon- Pro. 11.24, One person gives freely, yet gains even more;
another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.
Pro 21.26, All day long he craves for more,
but the righteous give without sparing.
Pro.28.27, Those who give to the poor will lack nothing,
but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses. [Screen 20]
Jesus- Matthew 10.8, Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. [Screen 21]
CHURCH Acts 2.45, They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.
[Screen 22] PAUL 2 Cor. 8.7, But since you excel in everything —in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you —see that you also excel in this grace of giving.
2 Cor. 9.7, Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Generous. If we follow Jesus we are called to be generous. [Screen 23]
Wisdom, James, James 1.5, If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
As followers of Christ we are to manage our money and our stuff. These two words sum up what Jesus says has to happen to be happy and free from the slavery of our money and stuff.
It comes down to this. I heard others use this. [screen 24]
Give-Save-Live
We give first. We show our money and stuff who is in charge. We give to God and His kingdom first. He is the boss.
Then we save. We take care of our kingdom. We put money in the bank for peace of mind. Penny saved is a penny earned.
Live. We live according to what we have left. [Screen 25]
Giving results in joy. Does discontentment. No!
Saving bring peace. Does greed bring peace? No!
Live on the rest makes you free!!! Does debt bring freedom? Of course not. It brings a new Master into our life. [Screen 26]
Jesus in His words is inviting us to a new freedom. A new way to live by following and making Him the manager of your money and stuff. This is life changing and taking you to God’s ideal for you.
I could get all that stuff I desire, yep I could become a slave, but I would rather be free.
More money wont set you free.
How you manage it will.
Imagine if you had been doing this for the last 20,30,40 years. Imagine how much freedom and peace you would have. You would be happier in the area of your finances.
Say no to discontentment. Be content with what you have. I’m all about improving ourselves and being successful, and investing and doing well, but its not money that does it.
Say no to greed. It is not all for your consumption.
Say no to debt. Let your only Master be God not Master card.
Be free. Let your stuff know you don’t serve it.
Let it be known you serve only one thing and that is God.
Let God manage your stuff, your money. Its all His anyway.
You are going to serve somebody. Let it be the One who will set you free.
Bibliography:
1 Stanley, Andy, Happy Session 4
