I’d like to begin this morning with a story. It involves these men [photo of Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs]. You probably recognize them: Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs. The two men who founded Apple Computer. Right? Well, no, actually that’s not accurate. Here is a photo of the original partnership agreement, dated April 1, 1976 [Apple partnership agreement]. As you can see, it has three signatures, not two. The first is Stephen G. Wozniak. The second is Steven P. Jobs. And the third is Ronald G. Wayne. Here’s a picture of him
[photo of Ronald G. Wayne]. Who is that, you may ask.
Ronald Wayne was the third co-founder of Apple, with a ten percent ownership stake. Remember that figure: ten percent. He wasn’t an engineer, but he had a significant role in the early days of the company: he designed the first Apple logo, he wrote the user manual for the Apple 1 computer, and in general he provided administrative oversight of the new venture. He was the unofficial adult in the room: he was in his forties at the time.
So why haven’t most of us ever heard of Ronald Wayne? Is he a wealthy recluse, staying out of the public eye while he sails around the world on his 300-foot luxury yacht? Perhaps he’s a philanthropist, distributing his millions to deserving charities. No. No, neither of those things is true. In fact, today Ronald Wayne is far from wealthy. Because just twelve days after these partnership documents were signed, he and the others signed a second document [Dissolution of partnership document]. And in this document, he gave up his ten percent stake, in exchange for eight hundred dollars. Eight hundred dollars.
Let me ask you, would you be willing to pay $800 for ten percent of Apple Computer today? So what happened? Well, Wayne had second thoughts. As a partner, he would have been liable for any debts incurred by the new company, and that was a risk. He had assets that creditors could come after if the company went broke. He also felt a bit out of his league with Jobs and Wozniak, these two whiz-kid geniuses. And so he bailed. Took the $800 check and parted ways with them. And the rest is history.
Now, just for fun, let’s calculate what Wayne’s ten percent stake in Apple would be worth if he had held on to it all these years. Apple today is worth about $800 Billion dollars. And so that ten percent stake in 1976 would today be worth about $80 Billion dollars. That’s right. The ownership stake that Ronald Wayne relinquished in 1976 for eight hundred would today be worth over eighty billion dollars. In other words, about a hundred million times what he sold it for. Just let that sink in for a moment. Now, for the record, Mr. Wayne says today that he doesn’t regret his decision, and that it was based on the best information he had at the time. So, he’s made his peace with it. But you have to suspect that more than once, over the years, he’s said to himself: “If only . . . “.
However, Ronald Wayne isn’t the only person who sold their Apple stock too soon.
Apple went public on December 12, 1980. And for 23 years, the stock didn’t do much. [chart: Apple stock price IPO-2013]. A lot of people sold their stock during that time. But beginning in 2013, the stock really took off. Here’s a graph [chart: Apple stock since IPO]. What that all boils down to is this: an investment of one thousand dollars in 1980 would today be worth about $400 thousand dollars. An investment of $2,500 back then would be worth close to a million today. Why is there never a time machine around when you need one?
I don’t share that story to gloat about buying Apple stock in 1980. I didn’t. If I had, I would probably be spending my winters in a warmer climate than Cleveland offers. Maybe on my own private yacht somewhere. No, I share that story to urge you not to do what Ronald Wayne did when he sold his stake in Apple for $800 instead of waiting to cash in at $80 billion dollars. I’m urging you not to do what all those Apple investors did who sold early and missed out on returns of literally hundreds of times what they had paid. I’m urging you to follow the ultimate buy-and-hold strategy.
You’ve probably guessed that I’m not really talking about stocks, or money, or financial investments. No, not per se. I’m not promising that the money you put into the offering plate will be multiplied and returned to you; at least, not as financial returns. No, what I’m talking about is actually much more valuable. It’s something you already possess as a follower of Jesus Christ, and that is a share in the kingdom of God. And what I’m urging you to do is to hold on to that, to persevere, no matter what happens, even at the cost of everything else. Because someday, that will be worth more than you can possibly imagine. If you will just hold on, and not give up.
Let’s review. What does Jesus have to say about wealth? A familiar passage; Matthew 6:19:
“19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.”
That’s the bad news. A man named Bill Rose once said: “Never invest your money in anything that eats or needs repairing.” Why? Because animals have to be fed or else they die, and then you lose your investment. Even if you do feed them, they can still get sick, or old, and die anyway. Buildings have to be maintained; otherwise, they eventually fall down, or get condemned, or burn to the ground. In fact, every kind of investment in this world is subject to loss, through decay, or theft, or natural disasters; bad weather, lawsuits, political unrest, stock market crashes, taxes—you name it. In other words, there is no such thing as an absolutely safe investment. There is literally nothing you own that cannot be lost or taken from you. Now, you certainly can do your best to protect what you own. You can invest in safe mutual funds, or even safer government bonds. You can invest in physical things that won’t be lost if the stock market crashes, things like land, or buildings, or bars of gold. You can buy insurance; you can install security systems; you can buy lots of moth repellant and rat poison. But all you’re doing is reducing risk. The fundamental point is undeniable: you cannot, no matter what you do, guarantee that you will not lose some, or much, or even all, of your investment. History is full of sure things that went bust.
For example, the folks who trusted their retirements savings to Bernie Madoff learned this. Month after month, year after year, their brokerage statements showed their account balances going up, and up, and up. No matter what the stock market was doing, whether it was going up or down, their accounts at “Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC” kept showing gains. Until one day, it all disappeared. He confessed. It was all just a huge scam. A Ponzi scheme. People went from having hundreds of millions to literally having nothing. Sophisticated, intelligent people. Bankers, lawyers, CEO’s, major investment firms. They lost tens of billions of dollars. The point is, no matter how smart you are, no matter how careful you are, no matter how diligent you are, you cannot guarantee that won’t happen to you. You can’t. You can make it less likely, but you can’t absolutely prevent it. You can’t.
Now, if at this point you want to discreetly take out your iphone to check your account balances, I’ll understand. If I’ve made you nervous, if I’ve punctured that false sense of security you’ve been placing in the things that you own or possess, then I’m glad. Because the sense of security that things or possessions give you is false. Those things can all go away tomorrow. And in fact, they will. Someday they will. That is a certainty. You will lose everything. Because someday, your life will come to an end, and everything you have accumulated, and saved, and worked for, and sacrificed for, and invested, will be gone.
In the movie Unforgiven, Clint Eastwood’s character, the gunslinger Bill Munny, makes an observations that is actually quite profound. He says, “It's a heck of a thing, killin' a man. Take away all he's got, and all he's ever gonna have.” And he’s right. When a man or woman dies, they lose everything in this world that they have. Everything.
Then what? Once you’ve lost everything you ever owned, and you will, either sometime during this life or at the end of this life, then what?
Jesus spoke about this problem: (Luke 12:16-21)
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ 18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ 20 “But 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?’ 21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
This man didn’t have the problem of moth or rust destroying his possessions, or thieves breaking in and stealing them. His problem wasn’t rats invading his grain silos and eating up his grain. No, he did a good job protecting his crops. He set out rat poison. He got some cats to chase away the mice. He constructed strong, well-built barns to protect the grain from rain, to keep it from being corrupted by rot and mildew. He had guards patrolling his property to protect it from thieves. He bought crop insurance. He did a fantastic job of risk management. And the result was prosperity. Full barns. But then what happened? He died. Suddenly. Unexpectedly. Heart attack, perhaps. He wasn’t prepared for that. And he lost everything. A dead man can’t own property. A dead man has no bank accounts.A dead man can’t enjoy the fruits of his labor. And tragically, this man had not made any provision for what came next.
You will lose everything you accumulate in this life. All of it. Guaranteed. Can you leave it to someone else? Write a will? Name a beneficiary? Sure. But as Solomon wrote, thousands of years ago, you really don’t know whether they will be good stewards of that inheritance. (Ecclesiastes 2:19-21)
“18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune.”
So. That’s the bad news. You will lose everything, whether during this life or at the end of it. You can’t take it with you. It will all slip from your grasp as you breathe your last breath, it will all turn to dust.
But there’s good news, and the good news is better than the bad news. Let’s go back to Matthew chapter six:
“19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19-20)
The good news is that it is possible to invest in things that last forever. They do not decay, they cannot be lost or stolen, they will never lose value. In fact, their value is beyond calculation, beyond imagination. All we have to do is hold fast to our faith, hold fast to Christ, and invest our lives, and our labors, and our resources in the things that matter to God. That’s the kind of investment that will truly pay off. As long as we don’t lose our nerve, or lose our focus. As long as we don’t stop seeking after Christ.
What does Paul say about the value of our investments in the life to come?
“However, as it is written: ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived’—the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.”
(1 Cor. 2:9-10)
And again,
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Eph. 3:20-21)
These Scriptures tell us that what is coming is so amazing, so wonderful, so indescribably glorious, that we cannot even conceive of it, we cannot even imagine it. All of the magic of Hollywood special effects, all the tales of mythmakers and storytellers down through the ages—none of those fantasies can compare with the reality of what is waiting for those who follow Christ.
What is it that we are looking forward to? As the previous verses told us, it is beyond imagination or description. But we know that it will be glorious, and far greater than any pleasure, far greater than any suffering or deprivation we may experience in this life.
And all we have to do in order to inherit this is to stand firm, to not let go of the hope we have in Christ.
“Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.” (1 Cor. 15:1-2)
“We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end . . . . Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.” (Hebrews 3:14, 4:14)
Are these verses saying you can lose your salvation? That’s a question for another sermon. I’m not avoiding the issue. But I can only cover so much in one message, and my focus this morning is on the imperatives in these verses, the exhortations: “Hold fast!” Don’t give up! Don’t lose your nerve, don’t lose your focus, don’t lose your will to persevere! Don’t get distracted! Don’t get sidetracked! Keep striving after Christ! That’s what we all need to do. To hold on firmly to the faith we profess.
Now, I chose this topic for today, Palm Sunday, for a reason. And that is because we have,
in the account of the Passion Week, an amazing turn of events, an extraordinary reversal of fortune. An example of people who were on the right path, but who tragically abandoned it. People who gave up too soon. People who had something of inestimable value in their hands, but who threw it away.
When Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he was at the height of his popularity.
After three years of public ministry he had established himself as a miracle-worker and a healer, a teacher and sage, a courageous opponent of the corrupt religious establishment, a man of compassion, strength, and wisdom. As a result, he was mobbed by huge crowds wherever he went. People hung on his every word. They sought his advice. They begged to be allowed to follow him. And they came to him for deliverance— from disease, from injuries, from every kind of physical and psychological suffering.
And so, when Jesus entered Jerusalem at the beginning of Passover week, he was hailed as a conquering hero, as a king entering his city. Let’s read the account in John chapter 12:
“12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the king of Israel!” 14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: 15 “Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”
Huge crowds of people—thousands, tens of thousands—were lining the roadways, spilling out into the fields, filling the streets of the city as he entered the gates, all chanting “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus! Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the king of Israel!” It was quite an unforgettable scene.
But a few days later, things were very different. The religious officials had Jesus arrested and taken before the Roman governor Pilate for trial, on charges of blasphemy. (Matthew 27:15-18, 20-26). Listen to what happened then:
“15 Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. 16 At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus Barabbas. 17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”
18 For he knew it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over to him.
20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. 21 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor. “Barabbas,” they answered.
22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked.
They all answered, “Crucify him!” 23 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!” 25 All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!”
26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.”
In the space of just four days, the thousands who had joyously welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem as their King and Messiah turned against him, demanding that he be put to death. Why? Because they lost faith in who we was. They lost faith in his mission. They lost faith in his future. They lost faith in what he meant for them. They saw him being arrested, and tried, and accused of the crime of blasphemy, and then turned against him. They no longer believed he was the Messiah. They were no longer willing to trust him, or identify with him, or follow him as their King.
Let me pause here and ask you this morning: What is it that is tempting you to abandon your hope in Christ? I’m not talking about the kind of dramatic repudiation of faith that we see in this account. You’re not screaming, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” But whether you explicitly turn your back on the faith, or run away, or walk away, or just sort of drift away over time, the result is the same. You once were a follower of Christ, you once joyfully welcomed him into your life as your king and savior, you sought to follow him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And now, you find that’s no longer the case. You’ve moved on. You’ve lost interest. Or perhaps you haven’t quite abandoned your faith, but you’re on your way to doing so. You realize that you’re not as fervent, not as committed as you once were, not as engaged, not as invested. And what bothers you, even scares you a little bit, is that even though you can see it happening, you’re not sure you care.
There can be many reasons for feeling that way. Disappointments. Struggles. Unanswered questions, unanswered prayers. Times of grief in which you found no comfort. Experiences with other self-professed “Christians” who treated you badly. Experiences with those of a different faith, or no faith at all, who treated you well. Perhaps it’s a sin that you don’t want to give up. Something you’re coveting that you don’t want to yield to God. A secret vice that’s pulling your heart and mind away from God. Desires that are incompatible with following Christ. Family pressures. The influence of friends or business associates. A desire to fit in with a different crowd. A desire to be thought of as cultured and sophisticated.
Or just general weariness, a feeling that, while all of this may be true, it just isn’t worth it.
Any of those hit home? Any of those feel familiar? I know how you feel. I do. I’ve been there too. We all have. And what I want to say is this: Don’t give up. Don’t walk away. Hold on. Hold fast. Persevere. Even when it feels like you can’t, even when it feels like it doesn’t matter. It’s hard, at times. I know that. But you don’t have to do it by yourself. Because God is there with you. And his power is sufficient.
Listen: When Paul prays for the Colossians believers he prays in this way:
“We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience”. (Col. 1:9-11)
According to these verses, where does the strength come from, the endurance and patience that allows us to persevere when we are tempted to abandon the struggle, the strength to keep praying, and obeying, and following, and trusting, when we are tempted to put our faith on the shelf? It comes from God, not us. He’s the source of our strength.
Paul doesn’t say, “I pray that you will find within yourselves the reserves of psychological and emotional strength that you need to meet this challenge”. He doesn’t say that. He doesn’t say: “You are amazing! You have everything you need, within yourself, to overcome any obstacle, triumph over any adversity, defeat any enemy”. You know why he doesn’t say that? Because it’s not true. In and of yourself, you don’t have those things. You aren’t sufficient. You aren’t strong enough, tough enough, determined enough, resourceful enough. Left to your own devices, you will fail. But that’s the point. You were never intended to rely on your own resources. God has made available to you his inexhaustible riches in Christ. And in Christ, you have everything you need to persevere. If you think you can’t go on, you’re probably right—If you’re thinking of what you can do in your own power. But you don’t have to rely on your power, and you shouldn’t. You don’t get extra points for doing it on your own. In fact, you get an F for that. Because it’s a guarantee of failure. What God wants you to do is to rely on him; to acknowledge your weakness and insufficiency apart from him so that you can receive all of his strength and sufficiency.
As Paul writes (2 Cor. 12:9-10)
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
“When I am weak, then I am strong.” That’s the key, the counter-intuitive secret. When I acknowledge that my own reserves of will, and determination, and resolve, are not sufficient; when I accept that in order to keep trusting, and keep following, and keep seeking, I need God’s power—then, and only then, will I find the strength and power I need. For those things come from God, but we can only receive them once we have come to the end of ourselves. We don’t say, “God, I’m pretty confident that I could handle this on my own—but, if it makes you feel good, you can go ahead and give me a little boost of spiritual power. After all, it couldn’t hurt.” No, that’s not the way it works. If that is your attitude, God will probably allow you to fail. So that you will understand the truth; so that you will come to him and say, “God, without you I am lost. In my own power, I will fail. Please supply what I need to meet this challenge.” Then, and only then, will you experience Christ’s sufficiency. Yes, we have to labor and strive. But we have to labor and strive knowing that all our power comes from Him.
Let me challenge you this morning: are you struggling? Are you feeling overwhelmed? Perhaps the reason is that you are still holding on to the idea that you can do this on your own. Or even that God wants you to do this on your own. You can’t. He doesn’t. He wants you to realize that you can’t do it in your own power, so that you will look to him. And when that happens, you will find his power to be not only sufficient, but abundant.
Again, when Paul prays for the Colossians believers he prays in this way:
“We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience”. (Col. 1:9-11)
Where does the strength come from that enables us to have endurance and patience, that allows us to persevere when we are tempted to abandon the struggle, when we are tempted to put our faith on the shelf? It comes from God. He’s the source of our strength.
I’ve said all this to persuade you that you can persevere, that you can hold on. But why should you? Is it really worth it? After all, people walk away from the faith, not just because they find it difficult, but because they doubt that it’s worth the cost; worth the sacrifice; worth the struggle. But remember the shouts of the crowd on Palm Sunday, hailing Jesus as king, and then their shouts calling for his death just four days later. If those who called for Christ’s crucifixion had only waited three days more before abandoning their faith, they would have seen something glorious—his resurrection; his victory over sin and death; his victory over Satan and all of his works. And if we will only hold on to our faith, if we will only draw on his power to continue believing, and hoping, and walking with Christ, then we, too, will see and experience something glorious. We too, will see the risen Christ, and we will experience resurrection ourselves, and an eternal life that so full of wonders that it can’t even be described. I’ll close with these verses:
“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12)
“When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Col. 3:4)
“And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” (1 Pet. 5:4)
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Cor. 4:16-18)
Let me close with a simple appeal. Some of you here this morning are ready to give up. You’re ready to throw in the towel. Some of you already have, in your heart at least.
Some of you are starting down that road. And my appeal to you is this. Don’t give up. Ask God for the grace and strength to persevere. Follow Christ today. And then again tomorrow. And then again the day after that. One day at a time. If you look to him, he will provide what you need. And it will be worth it all; your investment in Christ will pay an eternal return that is far greater than you can imagine.
Amen.
