You Gotta Serve Somebody

Title: You Gotta Serve Somebody

Place: BLCC

Date: 9/18/16

Text: Luke 16.13

CT: We all will have to serve somebody or something but as followers of Christ we serve Him.

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FAS: Wall Street Journal had this article in January of this year.

There is, apparently, a stigma attached to carrying credit card debt. More than a third of Americans say they would be embarrassed to let others know that they are not paying off their credit card debt in full every month, more than 40 percent say they believe they will be judged by family and friends because of credit card debt. The surprising thing is that Americans' average credit card debt is $15,355. Talk about the elephant in the room.

An executive for the firm that completed the survey said, "It's no surprise that shame about debt isn't necessarily productive in preventing or eradicating it. … Shame doesn't guarantee success. The only way to pay off debt is to face it head on and make a plan to get rid of it."

LS: Interestingly, the Bible has a lot to say about how we as followers of Christ are to plan about our money or should I say our stuff.

Paul Ausick, "Americans Are Ashamed to Admit Credit Card Debt," 24/7 Wall Street blog (1-19-16)

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I. There is an old song by Bob Dylan that nails it on the head about how we are to look at our money and our stuff. Dylan was a poet and this song is basically a poem. (Sing)

You may be an ambassador to England or France

You may like to gamble, you might like to dance

You may be the heavyweight champion of the world

You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes

Indeed you're gonna have to serve somebody

Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord

But you're gonna have to serve somebody

You might be a rock 'n' roll addict prancing on the stage

You might have drugs at your command, women in a cage

You may be a business man or some high-degree thief

They may call you doctor or they may call you chief

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes you are

You're gonna have to serve somebody

Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord

But you're gonna have to serve somebody

You may be a state trooper, you might be a young Turk

You may be the head of some big TV network

You may be rich or poor, you may be blind or lame

You may be living in another country under another name

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes you are

You're gonna have to serve somebody

Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord

But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

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That’s about half of the song. It was the grammy best rock vocal performance of 1979.

I remember the song but I remember its message even more. We gotta serve somebody. Whether we want to admit it or not we will serve something or some one.

What do you serve? What do you serve to make you happy?

Have you ever asked yourself, [Screen 4] “What makes me happy?”

[Screen 5] NO thing.

Only our whos make us happy. Our relationships with God and people.

Have you ever thought,[Screen 6] “Boy I would be happy if I only had…

That car, that house, that job, more money, more stuff.

Does money make us happy? You may say well Jim I don’t know, but I would sure like to give it a try.

There is a connection between money and happiness.

There is a connection between money and our freedom and peace. [Screen 7] Society teaches us.

More money=more happy or maybe more peace.

So here is the question.

How much more money would it take to make you happy?

How much more money would it take to give you peace?

The answer is “More than you have now.” 1

It is not how much money you have that makes you happy. I know millionaires who are miserable. And I know folks with little to nothing who are as happy as a lark.

It is not how much money we have it is how we manage what we got.

Money itself doesn’t make you happy.

Your happiness is based on how you manage it. [Screen 8]

Money can lead to being happy if you manage it well.

Now before you get bent out shape wondering what does a farmer part time preacher know about managing money. I sure don’t have a financial degree or accounting degree. I have made my share of money mistakes. I am sure no stock market guru.