A man told of buying his 7-year-old daughter a game called “The Game of Life”. It was the SpongeBob SquarePants version of The Game of Life and his daughter thought it was very cool. His daughter Tabitha thought the person who got to the end of the game first was the winner. But that wasn’t what the instructions said. What the instructions said was - at the end of the game -the winner is the person with the greatest net worth. It actually says that.
And the dad said it struck him as odd, because the winner of the game wasn’t the person who helped the most people, nor was it the person who gave the most away. The winner of the game was the person who accumulated the most wealth! He said “We play these games starting as children, and by the time we are adults, we start believing that that is how you win at the REAL game of life. (Greg Nettle)
Ted Turner (founder of CNN and worth about 2.5 billion dollars) said: “Life is a game. Money is how we keep score.”
Years ago there was a famous comedienne named Joan Rivers, who joked: “People say that money isn’t the key to happiness. But I always figured if you have enough money, you could have a key made.”
But then you have Jesus, who famously said “Not so fast”! Well, he didn’t actually say “Not so fast”… but what He did say was pretty powerful. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21
In other words: Be careful where you bank! Be careful about what institution you invest your wealth in because, there’s the “bank of earth…” and there’s the bank of heaven, and the one in heaven gives a far better rate of interest.
But before we get to that, there are a couple of questions about wealth that we need to consider. First – is there anything IMMORAL about a person being wealthy? The answer: No! Proverbs 10:22 says: “The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.” And Proverbs 21:20 declared: “The wise have wealth and luxury, but fools spend whatever they get.” Wealth and wisdom went hand in hand.
In fact, the Bible mentions several wealthy people that were righteous. Job was VERY righteous, and he was VERY wealthy. Abraham, Isaac & Jacob - they were all well off too. Then there was Joseph (2nd most prominent man in Egypt). There was also King David, King Solomon, King Hezekiah and Queen Esther (these were all wealthy people).
In the New Testament there was Mary, Martha, and Lazarus who were also apparently wealthy because Mary spent the equivalent of a years' wages to purchase the ointment that she poured on Jesus' feet – John 12:3; Joseph of Arimathea had his own tomb (which poor people didn’t generally have) and he donated his tomb for Jesus to be buried in; Lydia appears to be the 1st European woman convert, and she was a wealthy merchant; woman); then there was Barnabas – an early church leader who had a lot of land - and sold some of that land to help the poor in early church.
So, all through the Bible there were wealthy people who were righteous individuals.
That said, are wealthy people shoe-ins for heaven? I mean, if God blesses people with riches you’d think that the wealthy would be sure to get through gates. But Jesus taught (Luke 18:25) that “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God”
His disciples were appalled, and cried out: “Well, then who can be saved?” It was a common belief in that day -that wealth could buy you a way into heaven. But Jesus said… that wasn’t true!
Jesus told the story about the Rich man and Lazarus – the rich man ended up in hell because he was more interested in his OWN comfort than in helping poor. The rich man’s money didn’t do him any good, because it wasn’t his wealth that got God’s attention. It was what he DID with his wealth that caused God’s response.
Jesus told the parable about rich man who intended to tear down his barns. "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?’ 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 12:16-21
That man viewed his wealth as HIS, and it was all about him… not God. He laid up treasures on earth rather than in Heaven and he paid a stiff price for that. And… of course… he didn’t go to heaven.
Now, this brings up another question – why do people want to be rich?
ILLUS: A young boy told his mother - when he grew up he wanted to have a million dollars, a big house, and no bathtubs. His mom smiled and asked, “Why no bathtubs?” The boy replied: “Because, I want to be filthy rich.”
ILLUS: Back in 2007, Pew Research surveyed 579 young people and found 81 percent of the young people said getting rich was their generation’s most important life goal. Think about that: their important life goal was not to be able do great things, their life goal was to be FILTHY rich! (--http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-01-09-gen-y-cover_x.htm)
But WHY would they want to be wealthy? Because (they believe) that would supply them with SECURITY and PEACE OF MIND. The more money you have, the more CONTROL you have of your life and the more at peace (therefore) that you’ll be.
The problem is… it doesn’t work out that way!
ILLUS: In 2007 there was a book called Money Madness that noted that… Those who devote themselves to money… their money seems to eat them away, inside out. Inside they lose their joy and spontaneity and generosity of impulse. Outside, they seem to wither, to become pale & drawn and fragile looking. It is difficult, of course, to decide how much of the aging process. But certainly not all old men look as ravaged as Howard Hughes did or as desiccated as Rockefeller or Mellon or J. Paul Getty. These men all complained of fatigue, sleepless nights and digestive ailments. They all appeared wispy and mummified. (Herb Goldberg & Robert Lewis Money Madness William Morrow & Co.)
And the Bible agrees: Ecclesiastes 5:10-12 tells us - “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. … Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.”
The Bible repeatedly tells us money can never give peace, and it can never give us true security. As Proverbs says: “riches do not last forever.” (Proverbs 27:24) “When your eyes light on it, it is gone!” Proverbs 23:5
No matter how rich you are… you can’t count on money to protect you! That’s why Paul wrote to Timothy: “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.” 1 Timothy 6:17
So if wealth can’t give me peace of mind, what can? Well… that would be God. In our text today Jesus said: Do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after (literally “Crave) all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:31-33
Why shouldn’t I be anxious? Well, because God knows what I NEED. He feeds the birds of the air and clothes the flowers of the field. If God takes care of them… He can take care of you too.
But there is a caveat here: SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD… THEN God will add all these things to you. If we want the peace of mind that Jesus promised, then we need to decide to build our lives around His Kingdom (His church). God is essentially saying… you take care of my stuff, and I’ll take care of yours.
So how do we seek first His Kingdom? Paul warns Timothy “Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 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…. (The wealthy) are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. I Timothy 6:9-10 & 18-19
ILLUS: I’ve developed a little game a little game a few years back – and I’ll play once in a while. I call it my GAME OF LIFE. I pretend that I’ve received a huge inheritance (ROUND FIGURES - let’s say 10 million dollars – after taxes) and now I have to figure out how to use it. When I first started playing this game, I figured I should give at least a 10th to the church – right off the top. That’s a million dollars. Then I’d pay off my debts, make some repairs to the house, give some money to my kids/ grandkids, put the rest in savings and maybe go visit a few foreign countries.
But then I thought - the money wasn’t real! It was all pretend! So, why not go a little wild and crazy with it. So I rethought things - I’d still give a 10th to the church right off the top, and take a portion and pay off my debts, and give money to the kids. But that would still leave me about 8 million dollars in the account. So why not figure out how to serve God with that money? And I thought – why not put that money in an interest bearing account and give the interest to missions.
Oddly enough - that little game has changed how I’ve viewed my finances, and how I spend my money. because this “game of life” has changed my priorities.
CLOSE: I want to close with the story of the very first person to become a billionaire. He was a man who knew how to set goals and follow through, at the age of 33, became a millionaire. And by the age of 50 he was a billionaire. Every decision, attitude, and relationship was focused on building up his personal power and wealth. But three years later (at the age of 53) he became ill. His entire body became racked with pain and he lost all the hair on his head. He was in complete agony, and the world’s only billionaire could buy anything he wanted but could only digest milk and crackers. An associate of his wrote, “He could not sleep, would not smile and nothing in life meant anything to him.” His personal, highly skilled physicians predicted he would die within a year. And that year passed agonizingly slow. He awoke one morning with the vague remembrance of a dream. He could barely recall the dream but knew it had something to do with not being able to take any of his wealth with him into the next world. The man who could control the business world suddenly realized he was not in control of his own life – AND he was left with a choice.
So, he called together his attorneys, accountants, and managers and announced that he wanted to change how he spent his wealth. He was going to funnel his assets into hospitals, research, and mission work. And, on that day, John D. Rockefeller changed the course of his life. He began helping churches and needy people. He created the University of Chicago and Rockefeller University, as well as a university in the Philippines. And he started the Rockefeller Foundation, which was dedicated to medical research. The Foundation was instrumental in the discovery of penicillin, as well as cures for current strains of malaria, tuberculosis and diphtheria.
But perhaps the most amazing part of Rockefeller’s story is that the moment he began to give back a portion of all that he had earned, his body’s chemistry changed so significantly that he got better. The doctors had said he would die at 53… but he lived to be 97. He was baptized into Christ and attended church every Sunday, He even taught a Sunday school class until he died. (Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com, September 2001)
In Luke 17, we’re told the story of 10 lepers that Jesus healed, but one of those lepers returned and threw himself at Christ’s feet in thankfulness. Jesus told that leper: “Rise and go. Your faith has made you well.”
INVITATION
