The Death of god
Pastor Kyle Idleman asked this question that I'd like to share with you:
Do you remember in September of 2008 when the worst happened?
God died.
And who would have guessed? He seemed eternal. He wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. It happened at a point when his influence was global. People were surprised, basically no one really saw it coming. I'd even wager that no one was more surprised than his most devoted disciples. The aftermath of his death from the abrupt and sudden shut down of many of his most influential churches. Basically without warning, which led to many losing their religion overnight. I mean, it makes sense, right? They depended on god for their future. What were they supposed to do now?
I remember it being on national news. Weeping. Wailing. Gnashing of teeth. Not just in America but worldwide. People were talking on talk shows:
"How could we let something like this happen?"
"Why didn't we anticipate his collapse?"
"That's true, but it's not like it's even the first time this has happened. Don't worry, he'll come back good as new."
"Well - hold on. What are you saying? This isn't like the past. The only time that god ever died like this was in the 1930s."
Arguments going back and forth with such a sense of urgency. There was this sense of hopelessness, and it makes perfect sense. So many had put their hopes and their dreams in him. They were counting on him to take care of them. They were counting on him to give them significance. They were counting on him to keep them safe and protect them. Now where were they supposed to turn? God had been so incredibly powerful until now. After all, he had provided better lives, bigger houses - much bigger houses, and even faster cars.
Do you remember?
Do you remember when for so many people their god, money and wealth, when their god died in the midst of the collapsed economy and a recession was inevitable? See, the god of money, the idol of money, has been around a long, long time. Way before our time people knew him as heads of cattle. His names also included: animal skins, crops, spices, or anything that they could trade. These days he has a lot of names: bread, bacon, benjis, bank, bills, bones, cake, capital, cash, cheddar, cheese, clams, franklins, lettuce, moolah, paper, smackers, stacks... my college roommate even used to have a computer wallpaper of a sloth in a business suit, with this phrase below him, and this may be my favorite phrase, "dolla dolla bill y'all."
And for others he doesn't have the name of cattle or actual cash, but rather a little piece of plastic named "credit card." Or maybe a file or bookmark on a computer named "Portfolio."
The God of Money Has Always Been Around
This god of money isn't a new idol either. He's always been around, but I'd argue that his power now is unparalleled to any other time. There were times in the past when he was just your typical run-of-the-mill false god.
Back to the medieval ages, sure, wealth was important, but the monarchs, the kings and queens had most of it. Castles were surrounded with droves of serfs, or common people and laborers. But for these people, there was really no hope or means to ever acquire sums of money, or really all that many personal possessions. But as time passed, the world began to change. And as the world changed, so did the influence of the god of money. Democracy arose, and thank goodness for that, because it created a far more level playing field.
Western culture began to develop, and with it a term called "The American Dream" began to be commonly used and people would talk about the "pursuit of happiness." But you know, it makes me wonder if for many, when we talk about the "American Dream" and the pursuit of happiness, the god of money knows we're just in the pursuit of him.
Horatio Alger Jr.
One of the prominent authors in the 19th century was a man by the name of Horatio Alger Jr. He wrote more than 100 stories in his lifetime that were published by more than 70 different publishers. that helped the population of the U.S. believe the myth that anyone could work hard and become rich, or the phrase, "the self-made man." The story of shoeshine boy to wealthy tycoon. I think that money is one of the things that has grown so unbelievably dominant in our culture that it can be truly difficult for any of us, myself included in writing and delivering this sermon, to be able to mentally stand far enough back to get a perspective on it. So many times it's like no matter what we say, what we say we're going to do, we live as if the pursuit of wealth is the real goal in life. And then we're told things like "money doesn't make you happy," but come on. We know what's really going on there - all the super rich people just got together in a private meeting and agreed to just say that so that the rest of us feel better about it. Further, I think it'd be pretty hard to have a frown driving a Ferrari down to Florida to get on a yacht to go to a private island. Just saying.
Money by the ton (which is $1M, by the way) is the ultimate dream for so many people. I love this quote by Mark Twain about this:
"Some men worship rank, some worship heroes, some worship power, some worship God, and over these ideals they dispute and cannot unite - but they all worship money."
-Mark Twain, Mark Twain's Notebook (1935), p. 343
They all have one thing in common. They all worship money.
Settling the Dispute
We'll be looking at Luke 12. To set the stage a little before we get into it. Jesus is teaching to a crowd of thousands, and the people are just captivated as He is challenging them to be faithful to God. "But the one who denies me here on earth," He says, "will be denied before the angels of God." That's pretty clear. Right?
If you deny Christ on earth, you'll be denied before the angels of God in heaven. Or as Matthew 10:33 puts it:
"...but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven."
-Matthew 10:33 (ESV)
In our text, we're going to learn of a man in the crowd who isn't thinking about heaven. While Jesus' words are insanely clear, he has something else on his mind.
"Someone in the crowd said to him, 'Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.'"
-Luke 12:13 (ESV)
Uh, okay. Not really along the lines of anything that's being said. This phrase, "If you disown me here on earth, I will disown you before my Father in heaven."
He continues for a couple of verses on the importance of confessing Him before men and then this interruption:
"Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."
It's almost like the guy was on his phone instead of listening to Jesus.
The thought is that he was a younger brother who was concerned about the legacy and inheritance that his father was going to leave him. Because back in that time, the law stated that two-thirds of the inheritance would go to the first-born son and only one-third to the younger son. So it doesn't really make sense for an older brother to be asking this kind of question.
But I just love Jesus' response:
But he said to him, "Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?"
Now here's how I picture this. Jesus is teaching to thousands. This man stands up - or speaks up and interrupts Him. Jesus stops His teaching. And notice that this interruption isn't with a question but rather a demand from Christ to confirm something that he had already decided, sound familiar to our culture?
And it's interesting because Christ addresses him as "man," as if he were a stranger, saying, "Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?" And now He turns His attention back to the crowd armed with this teachable moment. A warning for the crowd.
"And he said to them, 'Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.'"
-Luke 12:15 (ESV)
Cutting right to the heart of the manner, Christ quotes the tenth commandment, "You shall not covet" (Exod. 20:17). Have you ever thought about why God, in His infinite wisdom included a law against coveting others in His top-ten list of commandments for us? Maybe there's a reason there?
R. C. Sproul in his commentary on the book of Luke gives this incredible insight, saying that:
"Perhaps God knows something about what leads to stealing, about what leads to jealousy, about what leads to murder and to war."
-R. C. Sproul, Commentary on Luke 12
And see, that's because when we covet what someone else has, we want for ourselves what God in His wisdom has graciously given to someone else. Or, it could be said like this, Covetousness is the opposite of being content with the goodness of God.
Christ takes this opportunity to make the point that the focus of life isn't about money. It isn't about possessions. He makes it clear in this moment that the idol of materialism is often one of God's main competitions for our heart.
I want to make it clear, money isn't the problem.
How could it be? Money isn't bad in and of itself. In fact - I'd argue that when used properly it's good. But the love of money is the problem.
"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs."
-1 Timothy 6:10 (ESV)
The danger is that money holds a vast amount of potential to become a substitute for God. When we place the importance of money in an ultimate position, when it takes center-stage in our hearts, maybe it's time to look inwardly and consider that an idol may be forming - or to see if our primary love is money.
In fact - it's interesting that during the sermon on the mount, the only mention of idolatry is in relation to money. Perhaps Christ knew that this would easily be one the easiest things to become an idol in our lives?
"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."
-Matthew 6:24 (ESV)
Like the man in Luke 12 who interrupted Jesus to have him settle a family dispute - "tell my brother to split the inheritance!", we too can easily let our emotions become controlled by our bank accounts. Whether we're in a good season of life or living in excessive anxiety about the number of commas we see when we login to our accounts.
The Parable of the Rich Fool
After warning the crowd about covetousness, Jesus then begins to tell a story known as the Parable of the Rich Fool.
"And he told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?'"
-Luke 12:16-17 (ESV)
So we see that the man is rich. He already has more than he needs. He's already living in abundance. He's surpassed what was expected for the year. So what's the game plan? Just give the rest away? Help out someone less fortunate? Help out someone in need? Nah.
"And he said, 'I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry."' But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.""
-Luke 12:18-21 (ESV)
This is exactly a description of someone who is worshiping the god of money.
"Mine"
Let's look at the middle three verses of this story more in depth and count the number of times that he refers to himself.
"...and he thought to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?' And he said, 'I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry."'"
-Luke 12:17-19 (ESV)
12 times. Across just three verses that he refers to himself.
Another number to notice: 3. 3 times he refers to success - or these amazing gifts he has in his life.
Lastly, one more number: 0. 0 times he recognizes the giver instead of the gifts. Who gave him the good crops? Who gave him the ability to acquire everything he had? Never does it occur to the man that he has all that he has because God provided it. An archbishop by the name of John Tillotson from back in the 1600s said this, and I think it's just so fitting:
"He who provides for this life but takes no care for eternity is wise for a moment, but a fool forever."
-John Tillotson
One of the first words we, and many children learn is mine.
There's not a lot of words in there, but that one word, "mine" usually seems to usually be one of them.
I'll even say this: I think if we were to get like 20 two-year olds and just put them in a room, and we give them just a few toys - enough to where it would be fun, but few enough to where sharing was required, the room would sound a lot like the flock of seagulls in Finding Nemo.
We all know a lot more words now, but "mine" is still one of them. And even though we don't say it, how often do we live it? When we approach our money, or our finance from the perspective of those seagulls in Finding Nemo, "Mine, mine, mine, mine," it doesn't work. Like we talked about last week in that one of the most loving things you could do for others in your life is to move them off of the throne, off of the center and restore Christ to His rightful place. The key to keeping money in its place is similar. Dethrone it by keeping it in perspective. It all belongs to God. And this isn't just me sitting up here telling you to believe me because I have the mic.
Solomon reminds us of this exact thing in Ecclesiastes 5:15:
"As he came from his mother's womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand."
-Ecclesiastes 5:15 (ESV)
And David in Psalm 24:
"The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,"
-Psalm 24:1 (ESV)
Here's a way to think about it:
You haven't been on a vacation in years. Money's pretty tight, so it looks like those couple of weeks you get off are going to be spent at home. The so highly acclaimed "staycation."
One day you get a text from a family friend.
"Hey! Hope all is going well. We were just thinking of y'all today and wanted to let you know - we've got a house down in Florida that we're not going to be using this month. Why don't y'all use it?"
You're just ecstatic! A free house to stay in down in Florida?! Score! They drop the key off and you head out. Just, so exited. You drive all day, get to the house that night. Upon opening the front door you flip the light switch in the entry way. Nothing happens. Flip. Flip. Flip.
"Well, I guess the bulb must be burnt out. Oh well."
You flip on the flashlight on your phone and head to the kitchen. Opening the fridge it's empty.
"There's not even any water or soda in here! Who are these people?"
You think, "You know what, it's late, we should probably just get to bed anyway." You head over to the bedroom and lay down. The bed's like a brick and the pillow is all lumpy and weird. And you know what, the beach is like 2 miles away. Hardly walking distance.
So you get on your phone, and text back to your friends, "Hey - so the lightbulb is burnt out in the entry way, there's no food or drinks in your fridge, and what's with the bed? Who lives like this? What're you gonna do to fix it?"
Hopefully that seemed semi-ridiculous. I don't think the norm is for anyone to respond that way, right? If someone just gifted us a beach house for the week, a burnt out lightbulb or some inconveniences here and there aren't getting the way of the awe that we'd have in the generosity of our friends. So then why do we treat God like that?
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19 (ESV)
It's so important to realize that God has given us the use of His resources for just a minute span of time while we're here on earth. How much in that small span of time do we have to be grateful for?
Here's an exercise that all of us can try. Actually go through your day and just recognize what's God's.
Let's try it real quick:
You wake up. Get out of your bed.
Wait - you get out of the bed that was made from materials that God provided by a person that God gave life. Okay, so you get up. Get out of God's bed.
You walk into your bathroom. Oops. You walk into the bathroom that God provided the materials for, that he gave the construction crew the skills to build, and you the money to be able to use it.
So you get up, get out of God's bed, walk into God's bathroom...do you see where I'm going with this? Turn on God's shower, use God's water, put on God's clothes, eat God's bacon and eggs, drinking God's coffee, all before getting in God's car and leaving for work.
Way better than providing a beach house.
When we start to see the things that we have in this life as God's resources, it helps to dethrone that love of money, and instead instill an attitude of gratitude that leads to worshiping Him.
Divine Attributes
With so many idols, the reason they end up taking the throne is because of the promises they make - containing divine attributes - and that we subsequently believe. They claim to do the very things that God wants to do for us. In Luke 12, the man in the parable does this, too.
There are three divine attributes that he seeks to find in his money that only God truly provides.
The Primary Source of Security
The first is that his wealth is the source of his security.
The man tells himself that he's good for years, right?
"And I will say to myself, 'you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.'"
The idol of money tells us the same same thing.
"If I could just get enough money, build up enough wealth, then I'll be set. Then I'll have no more worries." Okay.
Like I've said every week - more often than not, idols are good things elevated to an ultimate position in our lives. The same is true this week. Being a wise steward of your money by saving, preparing for emergency situations, providing for your family, those are all good things. But it's when we look to money as the primary source of our security in life, it becomes an idol. It becomes an idol when that's where you put your hope and dependence.
And here's the real danger in that - praying can become something that's nice, but ultimately may not seem really all that necessary because we can just meet our own needs.
When a root idol of power or success manifests a source idol of money, thoughts like "I can take care of everything myself. I can handle all my needs, whatever the world throws at me," can start popping up like weeds.
The Primary Source of Satisfaction
Second, the man in the Rich Fool parable views his wealth as his primary and ultimate source of satisfaction in life. "I'm almost there. If I could just get a little more, then life is easy. Then I can just sit back, relax, eat, drink, and be merry." Notice this - the good crop in the parable is the one that causes him to build bigger barns. That means he was already wealthy - but still wanted more. Just a little more...then he would be satisfied.
So lets say the parable didn't end there. He builds the bigger barns. What if they're not big enough? Maybe if they were just a bit bigger. Then I could take it easy. Actually, wait. Just a couple more barns. Then I'm done." Seem familiar?
"Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless."
- Ecclesiastes 5:10 (NIV)
Or in other words, the more you feed the idol of money, the hungrier it gets.
Again - scripture doesn't contradict itself. Having money or wealth isn't bad. It's great when God provides that in our lives. But it's the love of money, the love of wealth that things become out of order. Like we talked about last week, God is to be that top button in our lives, buttoned first, so that all the other buttons fall in line in the proper place.
The Primary Source of Significance
And last, the man from the parable views his wealth as the primary source of significance in his life. His focus is totally inward. It's totally and completely self-serving and self-consumed. His focus is on how much he was able to accumulate. So much so he needed a bigger facility. Bigger barns. His identity was in his things. It was in those bigger barns.
I just think about how many times we've Googled something like, "how much is so-and-so worth?"
What's the answer? It's a number. Have you ever wondered, why?
Google is pretty fantastic at delivering the information we're looking for within just a few results. No one goes to the second page. I'd ask you to raise your hand if you routinely go to the second page when searching for something, but I don't want to sit up here and call everyone a liar, so I just won't ask it.
But when we search, "how much is so-and-so worth?" and a dollar figure is returned as that top result over and over, it's because that's the primary thing that our culture is interested in knowing to determine someone's worth.
The danger in your primary source of significance being found in money or wealth, is that we could say something like, "I live so much better than so-and-so." Or maybe it's the opposite, "Well, I don't live as well as him or her or that couple. I live pretty modestly compared to them." But here's the thing, you can reason and think like that no matter how lavishly or modest you're living.
But when our significance is found in christ, the comparison game is over - our ultimate worth is found in Him, and Him alone. And it doesn't get better than that.
The Price of Smiling
There's a story in Billy Graham's autobiography, Just As I Am, that I'd like to share with you.
It's this story of when he had a meeting with one of the richest men alive. It reads like this:
"Some years ago Ruth and I were on an island in the Caribbean. One of the wealthiest men in the world had asked us to come to his lavish home for lunch. He was 75 years old, and throughout the entire meal he seemed close to tears. 'I am the most miserable man in the world,' he finally said. 'Out there is my yacht. I can go anywhere I want to. I have my private plane, my helicopters. I have everything I want to make my life happy, yet I am as miserable as hell.' We talked to him and prayed with him, trying to point him to Christ, who alone gives lasting meaning to life. Then we went down the hill to a small cottage where we were staying. That afternoon the pastor of the local Baptist church came to call. He was an Englishman, and he too was 75 - a widower who spent most of his time taking care of his two invalid sisters. He was full of enthusiasm and love for Christ and others. 'I don't have two pounds to my name,' he said with a smile, 'but I am the happiest man on this island.'"
Who do you think was the happier man?
That's rhetorical, by the way.
Satan's Lie
The lie that Satan would have you believe first and foremast is that your significance in life comes from what you're able to make of yourself. Because it's never enough.
The world teaches us to measure ourselves and others by their bank account. The more we make the more importance we have. So often it's not even money that we're chasing, but rather the affirmation it gives us. So don't slip into the lie that you are what you earn.
The main thing is that our true identity is in Christ, He's already claimed us as His own - and that's what gives us significance, satisfaction, and security. Our value is found in Him, and in Him alone. Our value is solidified in Christ alone. What makes us valuable, what makes more valuable than anything we could ever purchase, more valuable than anything we could ever earn, was determined when He died for us on the cross.
When we don't make the main thing the main thing, it's a recipe for anxiety and stress. If you were to rank the things that cause you the greatest stress in life, where does money land on that scale? Is it above health? Is it above family?
Maybe your financial situation is just causing a ton of stress. And that happens - but I would also ask, are you continually bringing that burden before the Lord? The apostle Paul talked about giving thanks in all circumstances, and financial stress is included in that phrase, "all circumstances." Whether he was well fed or hungry - he learned the secret of being content: giving thanks to the Lord our God in the midst of hard times. Recognizing what is God's, placing the giver above the gifts.
I'm challenging all of us, myself included, don't let the symbol of our worship be a dollar sign when it should be a cross.
