Facing Our Greedy Hearts:
1. Insecure investments make for worried minds.
- v. 19.
- 1 Peter 1:3-6; 1 Corinthians 3:12-15.
- We’re not just talking about a situation like hiding your cash under the mattress. Even when you put it in a bank with FDIC insurance, currency value can still plummet. Even when you invest in terrific companies, stocks can go down. Real estate value can drop. Even “priceless” antiques can be broken.
- This isn’t just the money we’ve got in the bank. It can also be the stress we deal with from our broken “toys” and the stress we feel because of the time required to keep up all the things we’ve brought into our lifestyle.
- Jesus notes two possible problems:
a. Time and nature (“moth and rust”).
- A couple weeks ago we were in the basement at Dad’s house when we got to talking about an old trunk that was sitting off to the side. It hadn’t been opened in probably 50 years. After fooling around with a lock that wouldn’t give, we ended up taking the bottom off. Inside were my great-grandfather’s old tools - all rusty and time-worn. They were interesting, but not valuable anymore.
b. People (“thieves”).
- Thinking of all the people who would love to take what you’ve got.
- When we invest in this world, our minds are constantly consumed with the thoughts of “What if?”.
- Can you imagine if a bank offered a 30-second CD? We’d all laugh them to scorn for thinking that anyone would want to invest their money for such a short period of time. Why then do we think it’s wise to put so much emphasis on investments that at best may last for 50 years when we’re given the opportunity to invest for eternity?
2. Having money is not morally wrong, but it is spiritually dangerous.
- v. 21.
- 1 Timothy 6:10, 17-19.
- The problem is that where our treasure is, there our heart will be. In other words, our treasure leads our heart. Our treasure draws our heart. (Of course, our heart is usually eager to go.)
- It’s not that money is wrong; money is morally neutral. The problem isn’t how much money we’ve got - it’s how much money has got us. And for most people, we don’t do very well with any significant amount without it taking us over.
- When our treasure is money or things of this earth, we are in dangerous spiritual territory because it is likely that our heart is being drawn there to. It’s not just our wallet that we’re talking about; it’s our soul as well.
3. What “I have my eye on” is a gauge of my heart’s darkness.
- v. 22-23.
- This doesn’t initially seem to be focused on money, but the fact that it’s right between two teachings about money leads you to think that this leads that way to.
- The material things (that new dress; that new boat; etc.) that I have my eye on has an effect all the way to my heart. If my eye is on things that are good, then I am going to enjoy great light within myself; if my eye is on things that are bad, then I am going to have to deal with darkness within myself.
- We like to pretend that we can spend our days looking at what all we can buy, while simultaneously our heart is totally devoted to God. The simple truth here is that what we’re looking at tells us a lot about what’s inside us.
- If I’m looking at porn, I’ve got spiritual darkness in my heart. If I’m looking greedily at what else I can buy, I’ve got spiritual darkness inside. If I’m looking at my bank account statement wondering how I can get more and more money, I’ve got spiritual darkness inside.
- If I’m looking at people and see their need for Jesus, I’ve got spiritual light inside. If I look at Wal-Mart and see things that I could buy to anonymously meet the need of someone in my church family, I’ve got spiritual light inside. If I look at my savings account and see money I can invest in the Kingdom, I’ve got spiritual light inside.
4. We’ve got to make choice: am I interested in “the good life” or “the God life”?
- v. 24.
- We can focus our hearts on living the “American dream” and all that comes with that, but if we do we need to understand that that will become the vision and passion of our lives, pushing God to the side.
- We can choose to make God the passion of our hearts, but that requires that we lay down our passion for cash and possessions.
- It’s not that we live in a cardboard box, but it’s that we don’t really see the need to buy that big of a home, because we know that our real home is not in this world. We become less concerned about whether or not people are going to be impressed with the image we’re putting forward, because we’re more interested in whether God is pleased with us. We’re not worried about how much full our checkbook is of cash, but how full our heart is of joy.
- While the specifics of how this will look will be different in each person’s life, the point cannot be overstated: we cannot be passionate about money and still have God be the love of our lives.
- We’re not talking about living on a specific income. We’re not talking about having a list of approved cars. We’re not talking about setting a limit on how many square feet an acceptable house is. That’s legalism. The specifics are going to vary somewhat from person to person, from family to family, from situation to situation, from country to country. What doesn’t change is this: God must be the love of our hearts.
- I should note that just because you’re poor doesn’t excuse you on this point. Many who are poor spend their time dreaming of what it would be like to finally have money to spare. They dream of finally “making it” with the belief that that would solve their problems. Money is every bit as much as idol to them as it is to the millionaire.
5. What’s the right question? “What could I do with this money to get more stuff for me?” or “What could I do with this money to get more glory for God?”
- v. 20.
- For most of us, our total focus is on buying more stuff. Every extra dollar we get, our minds immediately race to what we can go buy at Wal-Mart with those funds. Our god is possessions.
- When we catch Jesus’ vision here, four things happen:
a. Number one is that we get to use our resources to give back to the one who has given us the greatest gift of all: our salvation. We are supposed to find our joy in Him and this gives the proof of it.
b. Number two is that we no longer have to worry about our investments. We’re investing where moth, rust, and thieves don’t have an opportunity to ruin us. We’re investing in eternity. We’re investing securely. As Rick Warren has said, “You can’t take it with you, but you can send it ahead.”
c. Number three is that our hearts are increasingly turned toward eternal things. We begin to look beyond the shallow and temporary nature of this world to things that will stand forever. Verse 21, as we said earlier, tells us that our hearts are led by our treasures.
d. Number four is we get the joy of seeing, because of our investment of money is the Kingdom, people coming to know Jesus, hearts healed by the hand of God, and “the least of these” touched with the love of Jesus.
6. A nagging concern: “If I live a life of radical generosity, then won’t I be worried about my lack of resources?”
- The answer next week: vv. 25-34.
