- I want to begin this week with the ULTIMATE QUESTION OF TRUST
- I believe how we manage or steward our lives is really a matter of Trust: Learning to trust God.
- Stewardship isn’t about how God raises money; it’s about raising children.
- God has brought home to me again and again how TRUST is the key issue to walking successfully in his purposes.
As I watched the fires sweep through the many areas of Southern California this week, it stirred a number of sad feelings, as I’m sure it did for you
- I felt sad at the amount of loss
- I wondered about friends who might be in those areas
- I was inspired about some of the human efforts to help
But also, as I stared at the ruins of so much investment, and it stood as a sobering reminder that, ALL THAT WE BUILD IN THIS LIFE WILL COME TO AN END.
Raises the question:
- What is really secure?
- What do we ultimately trust in?
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)
1. CONSIDER YOUR LIFE’S INVESTMENT
- Came across this modern version of the bedtime prayer…
YUPPIES’ PRAYER (From the Washington Post)
“Now I lay me down to sleep,/ I pray my Cuisinart to keep,/ I pray my stocks are on the rise,/ And that my analyst is wise,/ That all the wine I sip is white,/ And that my hot tub’s watertight./ That racquetball won’t get too tough,/ That all my sushi’s fresh enough./ I pray my cordless phone still works,/ That my career won’t lose is perks./ My microwave won’t radiate,/ My condo won’t depreciate./ I pray my health club doesn’t close,/ And that my money market grows./ If I go broke before I wake,/ I pray my Volvo they won’t take.”
- IN TRUTH, WE ALL HAVE INVESTMENTS ON EARTH THAT WE CAN WORRY ABOUT.
- What Jesus is saying is that he agrees with the old line ‘What you see is what you get.’
- So, he says, BE CLEAR ON WHAT YOU SEE.
- Jesus is saying, in particular, look at the permanence of your life investments, as he notes how vulnerable they are
o Moths—In the east, part of one’s wealth consisted in fine and elaborate clothes
o Rust—better translated ‘eating away’ and likely referred to the mice and rats and rot that got into the corn and grain stored away.
o Thieves—who can break in and steal
- The things of this world are not great as primary investments
- Not to say they are bad; they’re fine to serve a function, but their value always diminishes.
- Not only true of things, but pursuits (i.e. Sports, Positions)
- Fine as interests, but not your life’s investment
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? (II Peter 3:8-10)
- No luggage racks on a hearse.
- Jesus goes on to say “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
2. CHOOSE THAT WHICH WILL REMAIN
- Dr. Anthony Campolo tells about a sociological study in which fifty people over the age of ninety-five were asked one question: "If you could live your life over again, what would you do differently?" It was an open-ended question, and a multiplicity of answers came from these eldest of senior citizens. However, three answers constantly reemerged and dominated the results of the study. These three answers were:
o If I had it to do over again, I would reflect more.
o . If I had it to do over again, I would risk more.
o . If I had it to do over again, I would do more things that would live on after I am dead.
- Actually a most basic principle of consumerism
o Get things that will last, whether clothes, appliances, or carpeting
- Jesus simply applies the principle to the big picture by saying, “choose that which will eternally last, and be a part of eternal life.”
- YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU, BUT YOU CAN SEND IT AHEAD.
- Speaking of the kingdom of God, which will last
o One way to understand the kingdom of God is as the reign of God
o Everywhere I invest and extend the reign of God it will be an investment that will never end.
o Whether I extend reign of God in my own heart thru surrender and prayer, thru building up others in God’s love and calling, or thru giving my resources to serve that which will reach lives.
o Not just stored up in a safety deposit box, but there will be rewards and fruit as we see the Glory of God we sowed on earth.
William Barclay (?) -
The Jews had a famous story about a certain King Monobaz who became a convert to Judaism. Monobaz distributed all his treasures to the poor in the year of famine. His brothers sent to him and said, ‘Thy fathers gathered treasures, and added to those of their fathers, but thou hast dispersed yours and theirs.’ He said to them, ‘My fathers gathered treasures for below, I have gathered treasures for above; they stored treasures in a place over which the hand of man can rule, but I have stored treasures in a place over which the hand of man cannot rule; my father’s collected treasures which bear no interest, I have gathered treasures of money, I have gathered treasures in souls; my fathers gathered treasures for others, I have gathered treasures for myself; my fathers gathered treasures in this world, I have gathered treasures for the world to come.’
Both Jesus and the Jewish Rabbis were sure that what is selfishly hoarded is lost, but that what is generously given away brings treasure in heaven.
That was also the principle of the Christian Church in the days to come. The Early Church always lovingly cared for the poor, and the sick, and the distressed, and the helpless, and those for whom no one else cared. In the days of the terrible Decian persecution in Rome, the Roman authorities broke into a Christian Church. They were out to loot the treasures which they believed the Church to possess. The Roman prefect demanded from Laurentius, the deacon: ‘Show me your treasures at once.’ Laurentius pointed at the widows and orphans who were being fed, the sick who were being nursed, the poor whose needs were being supplied, ‘These,’ he said, ‘are the treasures of the Church.’
The Church has always believed that ‘what we keep, we lose, and what we spend, we have.’
- It’s a shifting of ultimate trust from things which are life-less and even life-consuming, to that which is truly life.
But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. (Jeremiah 17:7-8)
- God wants so much for us to trust him, to cast our lot with him, so that He can fill our souls with real life.
- In the coming weeks we’ll look at how we can learn to trust God more and more thru our practical handling of life… but here our focus is on the question of ultimate trust: WHAT IS OUR LIFE’S INVESTMENT? OUR TREASURE?
- Jesus concludes… ‘Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.’
3. YOU ARE WHAT YOU GIVE YOURSELF TO
- Many of us may want to describe where our hearts lie, and assume we give to that; but Jesus turns it around, ‘Where our treasure is (what we’re most invested in) is where our heart lies.’
- We make a living by what we get; We make a life by what we give (ourselves to).
- Jesus frames the issue even more pointedly, saying: For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. (Matthew 16:25)
- Are we prepared to lose our lives, our ‘treasures’ whatever they may be; in order to discover life?
Philippines—Monkey is a delicacy. You catch it by boring a hole in a coconut and filling it with rice. The monkey puts its hand in and grasps the rice, but can’t remove his fist. He can’t climb a tree with it, can’t break it by banging it against a tree. Villagers hear the banging and easily capture and kill the exhausted monkey. Hanging on to something he can never enjoy… gives his life for it…We say ‘stupid monkey’. Tragedy is that our own lives face the same dilemma.
- “For whoever wants to save his life…will lose it.”
- If we say to God “God make my life meaningful” he will say “Then give it to me” (You must trust me)
GOD HAS OFFERED US AN EXCHANGE PROGRAM, NOT AN ENRICHMENT PROGRAM.
- The Gospel isn’t about simply adding to our lives.
- He says,
o ‘Only when you realize there’s no treasure here, can I have your heart.’
o ‘Only when you lose your life, let go, can you find it in me.’
- It is a question of ultimate trust
- It’s an all for all deal
- He’ll forgive and forget all the past and work with us to destroy all the old in exchange for all the inheritance of new lives as sons and daughters…
- Unlike the scams that say they have made billions of dollars by calling and saying “You’ve won, but first send…”
- GOD GAVE HIS LIFE FIRST
