UNDERSTAND YOUR MONEY BIBLICALLY
LUKE 12:15-21
INTRODUCTION:
In the book of Revelation Jesus Christ addresses seven churches. He has praise for all of them, but He rebukes 5 of them for not holding to the faith more fully. The Church at Laodecia, in particular, is called to task by our Lord, because of their attitude toward abundance. Jesus says to them, "You say, `I am rich and well off; I have all I need.’ But you do not know how miserable and pitiful you really are! You are poor, naked and blind." (Rev. 3:17 GN) His condemnation was based on the fact that they had made their possessions their priority. If Jesus were to address the American Church would He have a similar rebuke?
It’s certainly very clear that we as Americans have trouble handling money. The late Larry Burkett, a Christian financial counselor & founder of Crown Ministries, gives these statistics. 40% borrow more than they can make monthly payments on. The average American family is always only 3 weeks away from bankruptcy. According to Burkett and social security statistics, 85 out of 100 Americans have less than $250 in cash saved up by age 65. Why do we have such problems? Is it because we’re over generous? The statistics would deny that as they tell us that the average American gives only 2% of their income to charitable institutions We have more resources at our disposable than any people in history but somehow financial matters are a source of constant difficulty and stress. In many cases it’s not so much a factor of not having enough as it is not understanding how to handle our possessions.
That’s why as we continue in our series I want to concentrate on understanding our money from a Biblical perspective. In Lk. 12 Jesus tells about a farmer who was consumed by possessions. His fields produced an abundant crop but his reaction was typical of many. He said, "I’m going to tear down my barns and build bigger ones, then I’ll store up my goods so that I’ll have plenty to enjoy when I retire." This guy may be the "patron saint" for Americans. We would call him a great success, Jesus calls him a "fool." For his evaluation of his possessions was really out of whack. From this story I hope we will better see & understand our resources from God’s perspective.
I. A MATTER OF PRIORITY: vs:15
First, let’s see our possessions as a matter of priority. In vs:15, Jesus gives us a warning-- He says, "Beware!” Beware of what? Vs: 15- “Beware! Don’t be greedy for what you don’t have. Real life is not measured by how much we own.” Then He told a parable about a man whose whole priority was wrapped up in things. Notice what the Rich farmer did not say when he had an abundance. He did not say, "God has been so good to me, I’m going straight to the temple to thank Him." He did not say, "I have more than I need, therefore, I’m going to see who is wanting and meet their needs." What did he say? He said in Vs:18- “I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store everything.” Now, please understand, it is not inherently wrong to increase the yield or to build warehouses. The problem here was that his primary focus, his top priority for life, was in what he had. His farm mattered more than his family, his grain mattered more than God.
This man had no concept of stewardship. Stewardship is the foundational principle to seeing our possessions with a God’s-eye view. A “steward” in the Bible was a manager, one who was trusted with the things of his master or employer. And the Bible tells us that we are all stewards which makes it clear that the things we have are not really ours. Scripture teaches that the things we possess have been given to us temporarily as a loan of opportunity. Psa. 24:1- "The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him." The rich farmer hadn’t come to grips with the eternal truth that he was not the owner of his things but simply the user of God’s property. That’s clearly seen in the fact that he calls his things "my goods," "my crops," "my grain." But in order to understand our money and possessions from a Biblical perspective we must first admit, and this is the hinge pin upon which everything else rests: our things are not our things, they are God’s. That’s why this becomes a matter of priority: not how much we have but how we use what we have.
I say, "my car," but it’s not really my car, it’s the Lord’s. He has just loaned it to me to use for Him. Every bit of metal, plastic, every bit of glass and for my car, every bit of rust belongs to God. And someday my car will be dropped into some giant compressing machine, be folded up into about a 4’ square, recycled and used for someone else’s car.
I say, "my house. We just bought a house. And when you are at closing you realize the truth that even when you finish signing the mountain of papers, that house it’s only at best, "almost mine.” I mean, our new house will be “mine” in 2034, which means I only have 360 payments left. But 100 years from now I can picture my great, grand children standing in front of that house saying to their children, "Now, right along here somewhere is where great grandpa Smith used to live. He preached for a church that started in a school that was somewhere near here and his house, as best we can figure, was located right in the middle of the East Powers Mall. It had to be torn down so we could expand the landing area for our flying cars." You see, by that time, I’ll be long dead and it’s not going to matter what I had. God is going to have lent it to someone else.
I even say "my children," but they are not mine either. Psa.127:3 says, "Children are a gift from the Lord..." (GN) You see, even my children come from and belong to God. And sometimes that’s convenient because you can say to God, “You know, Lord, these children of yours...”
I say "my body," but even the body that I live in is not mine. That is one of the fundamental things wrong with the pro-choice & euthanasia movement. They say, "It’s my body and I ought to be able to choose what to do with it." But God tells us in the Bible that in reality your body is not yours. 1 Cor. 6:19 says, "Haven’t you yet learned that your body is the home of the Holy Spirit God gave you, and that he lives within you? Your own body does not belong to you, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”(LB) 100 years from now this old shell is gong to be gone. It is going to be in the ground and as it decomposes it finally will become part of the earth and "..the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it."
Please understand what this Rich Farmer did not, that God is the owner and we are but stewards, managers, temporary users of what He has given us. When you realize that, you experience a change of priorities. The story is told of a stock broker who had a genie visit and tell him he could have any one wish granted. The stock-broker said, "That’s simple. Just give me a newspaper, one year from today." He knew that if he could see a newspaper a year in advance that he could plan his investments and become a multi-millionaire. He was given the newspaper, he went to the stock index and for hours he planned his investments. When he was finished he was satisfied that he would be extremely wealthy. Then casually he leafed through the rest of the paper- the front page, the sports page, but then he came upon the obituary page and saw his name as one who was going to die in one year... all of a sudden his priorities changed.
You see, Jesus was trying to teach us that possessions really have no benefit in the ultimate issues of life. Our top priority is not to get, but to use properly what God has given us. Ron Blue defines stewardship as: "The use of God given resources for the accomplishment of God given goals." You see, that means that since God owns everything, that one day we will be accountable to Him for how we have used what He has given us. 1 Cor. 4:2 - "Now, a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful." A lot of people think that if they give the church or some ministry say, 10%, that they’ve earned some kind of “brownie points” with God. But as you read the Bible you discover that He is interested in how you earn money, how you spend it, invest it, share it, loan it, as well as how generous you are with it. Because it is all his to begin with. It is a matter of priorities.. what really comes first in your life? The things you have or how you use the things God has given you?
II. A MATTER OF GENEROSITY:
Jesus also teaches that our money is a matter of generosity. The rich farmer was incredibly selfish. In reading this section did you notice how many times he uses a form of the 1st person pronoun? In verses 17-19 he uses "I", "I’ll", "my", "mine" or "myself" 10 times. What a rank egotist! He trusted completely in himself. He thought that he had it made. But you know, the materialistic person is never completely satisfied. The more you have the more you worry about what you have. You never have enough. Ecc. 5:12- "Those who work hard sleep in peace; it is not important if they eat little or much. But rich people worry about their wealth and cannot sleep." (NCV) The more you have the more you have to insure, protect, store up, paint, remodel and guard. The rich man can easily become a slave to possessions and so develops a selfish spirit. Did you notice that there is never any thought on this man’s part that he could give away some of what he had? He just said, "I’m going to store it up and just use it for me."
The materialist usually goes to one of two extremes. The (1) extreme is indulgence, just spend everything on selfish pursuits. But the other extreme is worse, and that is stockpiling. If you’re indulgent at least the money’s in circulation & other people can benefit. But when money is hoarded it’s taken out of circulation & nobody profits. Paul Harvey told of a bag lady in New York City that died and they discovered a key to a safety deposit box on her person. In that safety deposit box was over $2 million worth of stocks and bonds. Those possessions did her absolutely no good. She may as well had been the pauper that she was thought to be. This rich farmer said, "I’m going to hoard it all-and then someday down the road, I’ll eat, drink and have fun!"
I know this man is fictional, but if he was real, I don’t believe he ever would of really spent that money. Because you know what happens when people start hoarding? You get addicted to stockpiling and it pains you to spend it. To give it away is unthinkable because the things are their security. I heard about a man with a weak heart, who won $2 million in the lottery. His wife was afraid that when he heard the news he would have a heart attack and die. So she asked their preacher to come and break it to him gently. The preacher said, "Bill, if you won $2 million in the lottery what would you do with it?" He looked the minister right in the eye and said, "I’ll tell you the first thing I would do. I’d give a million of to the church." To which the preacher died of a heart attack! We are just not accustomed to people being generous, giving it away. But Jesus said in Lk. 12:32- "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom. Give to those who have need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven! And the purses of heaven have no holes in them. Your treasure will be safe - no thief can steal it, no moth can destroy it. Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will be also."
Now, what is generous when it comes to giving to the Lord? We mentioned at the start of this message that statistics show that the average American gives 2% of their income to charitable institutions. Do you know what percentage those statistics reveal about how much American Christians gave to charitable institutions including the church? 2.5% Do we really think that is generous? When we get to our last message we are going to talk about what God uses as a standard of liberality when it comes to giving to the church or His work. But for now, simply understand the difference between what God asked of the Israelites in the O.T. and of N.T. Christians. In the O.T. the standard of liberality was a tithe, 10%. In the N.T. we are not given a percentage figure but are told in 2 Cor. 8 to "Excel in the gracious ministry of giving," in 2 Cor. 9 to "sow generously," and to "give cheerfully." Now, if the standard in the OT that God asked for was 10%... what’s generous? Certainly not 2.5%! As we mature in our relationship with God we begin to see our generosity increase. Not from obligation but from gratitude for what God has given us.
III. A MATTER OF SECURITY:
Now the third lesson that Jesus teaches us from this parable is that our money, our possessions, are a matter of security. But not the kind of security that the rich farmer and many people today expect. Why do you think, in vs:20 that God calls this man a fool? I think there are at least two reasons.
(1) He doesn’t have true contentment. Notice in vs:17 that Jesus makes the point that this man was prosperous. He says that "A rich man had a fertile farm (he’s described already as rich) that produced fine crops." (now, he’s richer.) But even though he is prosperous he is discontent. Shouldn’t he have been happy and said, "Look at these crops, what a great blessing from God!" But no, all he can do is plot how to stockpile his abundance. He’s not content with the "fine crops." One of the characteristics of a person with a materialistic mindset is discontentment. Always fidgeting, always worrying about tomorrow, always wanting more. Possessions for the materialistic person becomes a fixation that causes him to be ultra-driven, a work-alcoholic, desperate to have even to his own demise. Like Indiana Jones who tries to reason with one fixated on a possession and then becomes fixated himself. Watch.
VIDEO CLIP - INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE - 2:13.
Ecc. 5:10- "Those who love money will never have enough. How absurd to think that wealth brings true happiness." I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Jesus follows this parable with a lesson on worry. He says in Vs:22-23- "I tell you, do not worry about everyday life -whether you have enough food to eat or clothes to wear. For life consists of far more than food or clothing."
But that ’s what we do isn’t it? We do worry about the future. Now, it’s not wrong to plan ahead, but if you think that money & stuff is the answer to a contented and secure future you’re living in a fantasy land. No matter how much you have it can’t cover every contingency, it never provides total security... inflation, recession, stock market crashes, Alzheimers, accidents, law suits.. You can’t cover it all. So we have to reach a point where we say, "this is enough, and God I’m trusting you to take care of me."
A secular writer in Forbes magazine wrote: "Sooner or later I expect Americans to give up their comic faith in the miraculous power of money. Not for any preacher’s reason, but because as with any other neurosis, more and more people will soon come to appreciate the fact that substitution of shadow for substance or illusion for reality, results in behavior that’s both idiotic and dangerous." Now, here’s a secular writer saying, "When will the American people wake up to the fact that money does not deliver what it promises." We think it’s going to bring satisfaction and contentment but it brings worry and restlessness.
Several years ago I went for 10 days on a medical mission trip to Haiti. Once in the deep mountains I was overwhelmed with how contented the people were with so little. They had no cable TV, no cars, no cellular phones. You know what they did have? Deep relationships. What does our divorce rate, child abuse stats and crime numbers tell us? We are having serious problems with relationships! Could it be that we are counting on things to provide happiness and contentment? It’s a good day when we can say as Paul in Phil.4- "I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything.. How could he say that? Because next he says- " because Jesus Christ gives me the strength and makes me who I am."(Msg) He learned that things can never bring contentment but Jesus Christ can.
Now the (2) reason God calls the rich farmer a fool is because he doesn’t have true riches. He thinks he is rich but because of his wrong priorities he is like the church in Laodecia- poor, pitiful and blind. You see, the Bible teaches us that the way we use what God has intrusted to us has a direct connection to our spiritual reward. When Jesus spoke at the end of this chapter about not trusting riches he said that if we handled them correctly we would.. "Provide purses.. that don’t wear out.. save your riches in heaven, where they will never run out.."(GN) You put your heart in earthly treasures, you’ll die empty handed. You’ve never seen a U-Haul behind a hearse. And while it’s true you can’t take it with you, in a sense you can send it on ahead. Because when you invest in the Kingdom then you are showing God where your heart is. Paul wrote to Timothy- 1 Tim. 6:17-19- "Tell those who are rich not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which will soon be gone, but their pride and trust should be in the living God who always richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and should give happily to those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them. By doing this they will be storing up real treasure for themselves in heaven -it is the only safe investment for eternity!” (LB)
One final thing.. and it wouldn’t be fair to keep this teaching from you. Please understand that as for the rich farmer, one day God will require an accounting of our stewardship. Jesus asked in Lk 16:11- "If you are untrustworthy handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?" God is going to hold us accountable for how we handle the “little things”- our possessions while on earth.
There is a plaque on a church building in England that reads like this: "In the year 1653, when all things sacred throughout the land were either demolished or profaned, Sir Robert Shirley built this church. His singular praise is this: To have done the best of things in the worst of times." In 17th century England it was the worst of times. King Charles I had been tried for treason and been beheaded. Injustice was reigning throughout the land. The churches were harassed and many were closed. It was a dark time. But Sir Robert Shirley used the things God had given him and he built a church. He invested in the Kingdom, he did the best of things in the worst of times. What are we doing with our things? It’s a dark time in many respects for us right now: War, aids, abortion, divorce, child abuse, pornography.. "everything sacred being profaned." The question still must come back to each of us- When the Master returns for the final accounting, what will He realize from His investment in us? Are we doing the best of things, in the worst of times?
Where are you investing yourself? I hope that you have clearly understood from this parable that: "Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be." (Lk. 12:34) In other words, your priorities, what you treasure is a window into your heart. It shows your true values. Oh how I ask you to invest in true treasure, true riches, something that lasts through this life and into the next. And that begins by surrendering your heart to Jesus and trusting God. Because “He is no fool who exchanges that which he cannot keep for that which he can never lose.” (Jim Elliot - Martyred missionary in Equador)
PRAYER
(All Scripture is from the New Living Translation unless otherwise noted.)
