Opening Activity
Begin this message with a fun activity. The following items are needed:
1. An empty, old bottle
2. A large key made of cardboard and spray painted gold. The key will have the
verses of Matthew 6:19-21 printed and attached to one side.
3. A treasure map with the following directions: Find a person wearing red. Move three people to the left. Go two rows back. Find the closest personwearing glasses. Move one row forward, then take five steps toward the center of the building. Go to the closest person with a birthday in this month. Look under that person’s seat for the treasure.
Instructions:
1. Hide the key under a chair prior to the church service.
2. Roll up the map and put it in the bottle. Take it to the pulpit to begin the sermon.
3. Say: I am so excited because I found this bottle with a note inside. It must be a treasure map! Read the title, which says, “The Key to Riches.” Would anyone like to see where it leads? Select a volunteer, then let them start following the directions. Have fun!
4. Of course, the key probably will not be under the chair that they land on. Say: Maybe we misread the directions. Everyone look under your seat and see if you can find the hidden treasure!
5. When someone finds the key, ask them to come forward and read the verses.
*Adapted from Bore No More by Mike and Amy Nappa, Vital Ministry (1995), p. 75.
Transition
Friends, that passage of Scripture really is a treasure. It has the greatest instruction that we could ever receive regarding our finances. It shifts the focus from saving up treasures here on earth to saving up treasures in heaven. It advises us to shift from worldly, materialistic things to the things of God.
Money, wealth, and materialism are cancers that eat away at the character of Christians and the ministries of the church. Our culture is saturated with materialism. From the moment of our birth we are encouraged to make the most money that we can, buy the most stuff that we can, and gain the most power that we can. We are constantly bombarded with the message that more wealth and more stuff are the answers to our problems in life … they are the things which bring true happiness.
But this is not a problem that is limited to the western culture. It infects almost every society.
Illustration
A financial advisor named Ron Blue visited a rural village in Africa. He asked one of the villagers, “What is the biggest problem in your village?” He fully expected to hear about a food shortage or lack of medical supplies. He was hot prepared for the response he received. The man said, “materialism.” He explained, “If a man had a mud hut, he wants one made of stone. If he has a thatch roof, he wants a tin roof. If he has one acre, he wants two. Materialism is a disease of the heart.” You see, friends, even in a place that is completely lacking in all of the luxuries that we take for granted, materialism is alive and well.
*From In other Words…, Raymond McHenry, Summer 2001, p. 10.
Tragically, many Christians have bought into this philosophy of the need for more. And that quest for more money, more property, and more stuff has gotten us into financial turmoil. The quest for more things and the lack of enough money is a stressor that destroys homes and families … even Christian homes and families. It is a serious problem that, thanks to a downturn in our economy, is affecting many of us now more than it ever has before. And the temptations to go for more are constant. Four or five new credit card applications a day … everyone on the planet wanting to lend us money, help us refinance away what little equity we have in our homes … telemarketers who try to sell us windows, gutters, vinyl siding, and dream vacations. Everyone around us is pressuring us to go for more, more, more!
But, friends, Jesus has another plan for us. He has some important lessons for us with regard to our money, our finances, and our possessions. So, today, as we struggle to Survive our Finances, let’s look to the words of Jesus found in Luke’s Gospel and see if we can understand what really matters in this life.
Scripture
***Read Luke 12:13-21***
Scripture Debrief
You see, Jesus is dealing with a specific financial and material situation here. He has encountered a man who wants Jesus to make his brother divide his inheritance with him. Jesus wisely refuses to take sides, but he does make the most of this teachable moment to share a lesson about wealth, possessions, and materialism. And, as we look at this passage a little more closely, we can see how Jesus points out our fundamental problem, gives us a stern warning, and shares some great life lessons in the form of one of His parables. So, let’s look closely at these words of Jesus and see what He has to teach us today.
Lead-In Illustration
A young couple had been married for about a year. They were struggling financially and decided to do something about it. They would develop a strategy. They sat down one day to talk about their finances, and after much analysis, the young wife said to her husband, “If we miss two payments on the refrigerator and one payment on the washing machine, we’ll have enough money to make a down payment on a new television set.”
Does that sound familiar? That little story echoes the first truth that we can see in this passage.
The first thing that we need to recognize is …
Our Problem
• We always want more that we already have.
Scripture: Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” (Luke 12:13)
This brother didn’t just want what he had. He wanted part of his brother’s inheritance as well. Jewish law was pretty clear regarding family inheritances … but apparently the law didn’t fall in his favor. So this guy wanted to get Jesus, a great teacher, on his side. He was willing to take whatever action was necessary to get what he wanted. He simply wanted more!
And, friends, we are just like that guy. Probably worse. We are infected with the sicknesses of materialism and want and greed. So, it makes the sense that the first important step is for us to recognize and acknowledge our problem … the constant want for more than we already have.
But even before He shares His parable, Jesus gives us …
A Warning
• The fight against greed is a constant, ongoing struggle.
Scripture: Then he said to all of them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed …” (Luke 12:15a)
Now, I realize that we already spent some time on the subject of geed last week. We talked about the fact that greed is a sin that destroys the witness of a believer. But I need to point out to you the sternness of this warning from Jesus. This phrase, “be on your guard,” is a present imperative … it tells us that we must be constantly vigilant against greed. It simply does not go away. In fact, just when we think we have greed licked, Satan will dangle another juicy prize in front of us, and greed will once again read its ugly head.
So, we must have resolve. We must be ready to carry on a constant struggle within our hearts against the lure and influence of greed.
The Truth
• Who you are is so much more important that what you have.
Scripture: “… a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15b)
This is a lesson that most of us never really learn. Oh, we claim to … and we might win little battles against greed and materialism in our lives … but we never really seem to learn this ultimate truth. Stuff will not make us happy. True happiness is only found in doing what God wants you to do.
Friends, it’s that simple … but for many of us that happiness seems out of reach. That’s the way it was for me several years ago. I have shared this with you before. I was once completely unhappy in my life. I hated my job. I was frustrated at home. I knew that God was calling me to something more, something better, but I didn’t want that. I wanted what I wanted. So I tried to find happiness in shift changes at work, taking classes to work my way up the business ladder, and even buying a huge new house that I really couldn’t afford. It took a long time for me to learn this basic truth that life wasn’t about what I had … it was really about following God’s will.
That is an important lesson that we all must learn, so to help us, Jesus gave us this great parable.
As we consider this truth … “who you are is much more important that what you have” … look at how Jesus lays out the logic of this truth in his parable.
Lessons From the Parable
1. You already have more than you think you do.
Scripture: “…The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.” (Luke 12:16)
You see, the man didn’t get rich because he had the good crop. He was already a rich man! He already had plenty! He just didn’t know it.
You know, I used to look back on my life growing up and compare it to my wife’s. I used to sit in awe and listen to Kim tell about how her family took vacations to Florida, had their teeth cleaned at the dentist twice a year, went to doctors for check-ups, ate vegetables from the grocery store, and went to the drive-in movies and McDonalds all the time!
Then I thought about my life … how the closest thing we ever had to a vacation was a trip to Reelfoot Lake every now and then. How I never went to the dentist unless there was something hurting so bad it had to come out. How I hated going to the doctor because I only went when I was absolutely sick. How I had to pick, shell, and wash all my vegetables. How we only went to McDonald’s as a once-a-year treat when we were doing our Christmas shopping over in Jackson, Tennessee.
I remember thinking … man, we were poor. We weren’t just poor … we were “po!” I remember looking at Kim and thinking what a pauper I was, how destitute I must have seemed to her. I was almost ashamed.
But then I left this country for a couple of mission trips … and I realized how rich I really was. I saw people eating out of the trash, sick with cancer because they didn’t have iodide in their salt, and living in huts made of twigs and cattle dung … then I knew how rich I really was.
Friends, we are rich. We have things that many of the people I have met in this world can only dream about. Yes, we are rich … we already have so much more than we think we do.
2. Greed will never allow you to be satisfied. The more you get, the more you want.
Scripture: He thought to himself, `What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ "Then he said, `This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." (Luke 12:17-19)
Did you see all of the personal pronouns in those verses? I, me, my, myself …
This guy was really wrapped up in himself, wasn’t he? He had a great crop, a great opportunity, so what did he decide to do? Build more and bigger barns so that he could store all of his stuff … and more! He gave absolutely no thought to blessing anyone else with what he had received. He simply had more, and he wanted more.
Friends, that is the cycle of greed. Once it has its grip on you, it is so difficult to escape. Once you get a taste of something more, you have this unquenchable desire for even more. Greed can never be satisfied. It can never be happy and fulfilled. It can only consume and destroy.
And, sadly, whether we know it or not, many of us in this room are entangled in the grip of greed. We think we have a handle on our desires, but we really don’t. And for us Christians, this desire for more eats into our effectiveness and our passion for serving Christ.
Transition Illustration
There was a very wealthy man who died. Shortly after the funeral a one neighbor asked another neighbor, “How much did he leave?” The wise woman responded, “Everything.”
From 1001 MoreHumorous Illustrations for Public Speaking, Michael Hodgin, p. 337.
That little fable makes clear an important principle for those of us who follow Jesus:
3. No matter how much you get, you really can’t take it with you.
Scripture: 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?” (Luke 12:20)
You know, it really should make us wonder. If we cannot take the material things of this world with us when we die, why are we so totally and completely focused upon accumulating those things? Why do we invest so much passion in getting stuff?
The thing that we must understand is this final lesson from Jesus’ parable.
4. God has a much better investment plan.
Scripture: “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:21)
Christians, God has other priorities for us. Replace selfishness with selflessness. Replace stuff with people. Replace investing in our own desires with investing in the kingdom of God.
It won’t make much sense to the world … but it makes complete sense in God’s investment plan. If we could only shift our financial focus from ourselves onto the things of God.
Closing Illustration
George W. Truett, a well-know pastor in Texas, was invited to dinner at the home of a very wealthy Texas man. After the meal, the host led him to a place where they could get a good view of the surrounding area.
Pointing to the oil wells covering the landscape, the Texan boasted, “Twenty-five years ago I had nothing. Now, as far as you can see, it’s all mine.”
Looking in the opposite direction at his sprawling fields of grain, he bragged, “They’re all mine.”
Then he turned east toward huge herds of cattle, and bragged, “They’re all mine.”
Then pointing to the west at a beautiful forest, he said, “That, too, is all mine.”
Then he paused, expecting Dr. Truett to compliment him on his great success. But Dr. Truett placed one hand on the man’s shoulder and pointed heavenward, toward the sky, and simply asked, “How much do you have in that direction?”
Then the man hung his head and confessed. “I never thought of that.”
*Adapted from That reminds me of a story … Illustrations for Youth Comunicators, Inquest Ministries, Burlington, North Carolina (2000), p. 69.
Closing Challenge
Many people, even many of us Christians, haven’t taken enough time to think of that … think of things heavenward, things that really matter.
As we leave today I want to challenge you to seek God’s will in your finances and your possessions. I have called my message “Surviving Your Finances.” But it is much more than survival that God wants for you. He wants you to thrive, be happy, and have your needs met. But a big part of financial survival means understanding that often times your wants don’t fit into God’s plans.
Prayer and Challenge
*Gospel Presentation – Something that you can’t buy!
*Prayer for financial stability of the people of our church.
Life Applications
1. Stop living from month to month. Do a budget.
2. Analyze every penny that you spent last month. See what your priorities really are.
3. Compare what you blow on junk to what you invest in God’s church and in your ministry to the needs of others.
4. Separate the things that you need from the things that are simply luxuries.
5. Get rid of the stuff that you really don’t need and start some more investments in God’s plan!
