Matthew
6:25-34; 1 Timothy 6:6-10; Ecclesiastes 5:10-11
Matthew 6:25-34
“That is why I tell you not to
worry about everyday life – whether you have enough food and drink, or enough
clothes to wear. Isn’t live more than food, and your body more than clothing?
Look at the birds. They don’t
plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them.
And aren’t you for more valuable to Him than they are? Can all your worries add
a single moment to your life?
And why worry about your clothing?
Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make
their clothing yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as
they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today
and thrown into the fire tomorrow, He will certainly care for you. Why do you
have so little faith?
So, don’t worry about these
things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’
These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your Heavenly Father
already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live
righteously, and He will give you everything you need.
So, don’t worry about
tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough
for today.”
1 Timothy 6:6-10
“Yet true godliness with
contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when
we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it.
So, if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.
But people who long to be rich
fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that
plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all
kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true
faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.”
Ecclesiastes 5:10-11
“Those who love money will
never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!
The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is
wealth-except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers!”
Are you this type of
person or do you know of
at least one person who always seems to have to have the best of things?
·
And are you or do you know of at least one person who feels that
they need to top our purchases by at least a little.
·
You know, you buy something and then soon afterwards, they show
up, showing off theirs – not being an equal with yours but just a little better
one?
We
call this, keeping up with the Joneses.
It
isn’t hard to see that keeping up with Mr. Jones becomes a huge priority within
their lives.
THEIR CALLING CARD. That is who I am, type
of thing.
And that is just, Totally
- So sad.
It is sad
·
Because they make it
become such a priority
o
Means that they end up
thinking that who they are,
o
Their value as a person,
§
Is determined by how much
§
Or what they have.
And it is not just how
they evaluate themselves but also how they value others.
Man, that sad!
The most wealthiest people in the world
o
Are also the most loneliest
o
And the most emptiest
people.
Have
you ever seen the bumper sticker which reads:
"The one who dies
with the most toys wins?”
My
guess is those who truly believe this,
·
Are very lonely.
·
Greed. Greed is never satisfied with
·
"There is never ever
enough." No!
Greed
says, “More is always better,
·
Because you can never have
enough”.
Greed sees life not as a gift from God,
·
But rather “As a race to acquire,
·
To get more,
·
To have a bigger house,
·
To a bigger bank account,
·
To have a fancier car,
·
To have a bigger career position,
·
To have better, more successful
kids,
·
To have a more perfect spouse with
all the trimmings, and so on…”
Greed
means “We have to accumulate as much as we can,
In
the shortest amount of time.
The
race is on…
·
“Much like the squirrels,
·
We gather and gather nuts
·
Because when we need them,
·
We will have forgotten
where 95% of them are stored.”
Greed
means “We Need to Have more exciting vacations,
·
And more Luxurious Clothing
and Stuff”
But
the Truth about ‘Living in Greed’ is:
·
“We learn that we can
acquire all that we want
o
But regardless how much we
have,
o
We will still feel
empty."
But
Greed is Not just a matter of accumulating things.
·
Greed also turns people
·
From being Excited about
life
·
Into being bored within themselves
and their lives.
How
True would you say this statement is:
“In Today’s World, People
seem to think Everything in
·
As well as In Every-way,
their lives are so boring.”
And this type of thinking results in
·
Many people being totally dissatisfied
o
And frustrated with their lives.
·
Then they try to change things
o
But as usual, we do it the wrong way
o
Often, as a fix, we don’t fix ourselves,
o
But we try to fix others
People sit in front of
their television sets,
·
Flipping through all the channels with their remote controls,
·
Hunting, Trying to find something that will entertain them
o
Because they – are – just
- so - bored.
In
response to all this Boredom,
People
try to fill up their lives with more and more Stuff:
·
More exciting vacations,
·
More expensive cars
with all the extras,
·
And with more cars comes bigger
houses.
·
And more and more and more debt….
Just Like an additive
drug,
·
It continues to take more
and more
·
Just to get to that same high-feeling
of ecstasy and sense of security.
·
The same thrill!
More
and More,
Bigger
and Bigger,
There
just seems to always be a need that Will
Never Go Away.
Just
take a look at our so called “Christmas Season,”
Advertisements
that are hitting us this time of the year.
You
know, the ones which says:
“She won’t Love you like
this unless you buy her this….”
I suppose it is true, every one of us suffers
from some form of “Greed”.
·
Envy and Greed are found not only among the rich, but also among
the very poor as well.
They once interviewed some
farmers in South America
·
Who seemed to have nothing
·
But they also seemed to be at peace within their lives.
·
When the 1st farmer was asked if there was
anything that he desired to have, and he said
o “Yes, like my neighbor
down the road has, Yes, I would like to have a pig.”
·
Then as they were interviewing that neighbor with the pig
and asked him if there was anything that he desired to have and he also said,
o “Yes. I would like to have a shelter for my pig like my
neighbor down the road has.”
·
Then when they interviewed that neighbor who had the pig
and the shelter for the pig, he said
o “Yes, I would like to have a pen for my pig like my
neighbor down the road has.”
·
I believe if you ask
anyone,
o
Everyone - in one form or another
o
Would say that some extra money
o
Yes, that would make life easier.
What about the BIG Money
of Lottery Winners?
Here are some facts which
you may not have known.
·
When the Lottery
reaches between $200 and $400 million,
· The Lottery Companies no longer feel the need to advertise.
·
That is when the
Lottery Officials STOP advertising
· Because at that Hype, even the one-time-a-year-player shows
up and plays.
·
And When the payout
stays small,
·
Fewer people purchase
tickets.
·
However, once the
payout gets in the High Serious Dollars,
·
That is when huge
numbers show up to play
·
Which ultimately, again,
pushed the payouts to an even higher payout.
·
So, does that mean it's worth getting a ticket?
·
No-Maybe not.
·
With numbers like
this,
o
The odds of winning
are still extraordinarily low.
·
And there is an even
higher Likelihood that
o
You will have to split
your winnings among other players.
·
Nonetheless, lottery
officials depend upon the
o
Huge Jackpot Numbers
to get more people
o
To Play the lottery
every week.
·
And their strategy —
so far — is working.
Did
you know that the Largest Powerball
Lottery Prize was awarded on January 13, 2016?
·
It was a $1.586 Billion Payout.
·
There were 3 tickets that came up with the winning numbers
o
However, one of the tickets had two owners.
·
After winning their payout,
o
Each of the winners gave a comment concerning
o
Their new-found wealth of
o
$533 Million before taxes
for each ticket.
The
1st Two winners elected the lower 327.8 million payouts before taxes:
1.
The Robinson’s said “There is no guarantee of tomorrow”.
2.
The Smith’s and Kaltschmidt said, “We plan on getting massages, upgrade their truck and retire.”
3. The Acosta’s remained
anonymous for months but finally released a statement saying “We are so thankful for
the ‘rare gift’ that has been placed in our care.”
So,
what do we do when we are faced with
“Big Money?"
·
The apostle Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 6:10, “The love of money is the root of much evil”.
·
Did you notice that Paul
DID NOT say that:
o
“Money is the Root of much Evil”?
o
He said that the “Love Of Money is the Root of much
Evil”.
What
he meant was this:
·
That it is OUR Love of,
·
Or the Consuming Desire for money which creates evil WITHIN people.
But
Why?
Why
did Paul say that?
Do
you Remember the warning Jesus gave us about “Serving or
Loving Two Masters”?
·
Money and God.
In
Paul’s letter to Timothy,
·
Paul said that those who wanted more and more money didn't stay
in the church long.
In
Paul's experience, he saw that this
·
Love for money
o
Created people who would do almost anything
§
To have more and more,
§
And in doing so, they would not let anyone stand in their way,
·
Not friends,
·
Not family,
·
Not even God.
Of
course, This Craving for Money is
·
Encouraged,
·
Supported,
·
And promoted everywhere. Is
it not?
Interestingly
enough,
·
Currently still within our state,
o
It is illegal to be addicted to Marijuana,
o
Cocaine,
o
Heroin, and other of those types of drugs.
·
However, addiction to
o
Television,
o
Gaming
o
Shopping malls & outlet stores
o
And putting all of your hopes and dreams into the Lottery
All of these additions are
considered acceptable behavior within Kansas
o
As well as they are Encouraged
o
And there is some serious Marketed going on
o
To try and encourage even more people to even purchase more.
Are there Warning Bells
Going off in our Heads?
There should be.
For
a number of years, there has been surveys taken of the students at Duke
University.
The
students were asked to write out their
o
Personal Life Plans and Life Goals.
The
question which was posed to them was,
o "What do you want
to be when you grow up?"
o
With very few exceptions,
§
They wanted 3 things out of life:
§
Money, Power, and Things (Stuff) –
·
And their stuff was very big stuff, like:
o
Large Home but in addition - Vacation Homes,
o
Expensive European Cars,
o
Yachts, and Airplanes.
Their
primary concerns were
·
The growth of their Financial
Portfolios.
·
Their personal goals in life very seldom included:
o
Family,
o
Intellectual Development,
o
Spiritual Growth,
o
Nor Social Responsibility.
Our craving for STUFF and even more Stuff
·
It is not like other
cravings within
the world.
For
instance,
·
If you have a craving for
food you can join a club like "Weight
Watchers" that will help you to stop eating.
·
If you have an alcohol
craving, you can join an "AA"
club to beat the habit.
·
But have you ever heard
of a club to stop your craving for money?
o
No! Because there isn’t any.
Instead,
there's just the opposite kind of clubs,
·
Ones which HELP YOU GAIN
more
·
By Buying in Bulk,
·
But none to overcome
compulsive buying.
·
And then there are those Clubs which promotes
o
spending, where you have to have such a “Status” to join.
o
Or you have to drive such a vehicle to belong.
There aren't even any
books out
there (Except for one)
·
To help you overcome the desire to have more.
·
Greed promises us a full and happy life.
·
But Greed also Lies.
How
many times have you heard it being said,
·
"If I only had more, life would be so much better."
The
truth is, You can acquire all you want and still feel empty.
GLOVE BEGINS
I am not sure about you, but I like visuals Aids.
I
have a glove here.
By
itself the glove is just that, a glove
·
It is limp and lifeless;
·
It can't pick up anything.
But
when you slide your hand into it
·
It now has the power to do all kinds of things.
Money
is much like a glove,
·
On its own, by itself, it is neither good nor bad,
o
But put it into the hands of a person
o
And now it has a personality.
o
It takes on the personality of that person.
Money
in somebody's hand can create
·
A Grasping Hand – a Greedy Hand
·
Or a Giving Hand – A Godly Hand
o
It is all up to You.
GLOVE ENDS
I
believe it begins in our lives while we are children.
·
It seems that a child is taught that
o
He or she will never have enough toys,
o
And some other child could have more or even better toys.
·
That's what our children learn when we buy them toys after toys for
every occasion.
Early
in life we learn to say,
·
"I want that,"
·
And "That's mine!"
·
Early in life we are taught
o
That having things will make us Happier.
·
But is there Truth in that?
See,
Having the possessions, the STUFF
·
That is NOT the problem.
We
all need STUFF.
Even
Jesus said, "Your heavenly Father
knows that you need all these things," such as food, shelter, and clothing.
But Greed begins when we are having our Needs met
·
And yet, never being satisfied.
So,
we have people who have
·
Sustained Enormous Credit Card Debts
·
Because they have come to believe
o
That in order to be happy, you have to buy.
As
the Sticker says, they are "Born to Shop."
That is really saying, “They have to
have, and yet they never have enough.”
There are 2 different
types of Greed but in ways,
·
They are the same,
o
Which at first glance,
o
We would most likely not recognize them as GREED.
First – There is The Miser.
·
The miser is Eager-to-Have-by-or
through-“Saving”.
Have
you ever known someone who could never throw anything away?
o
Aluminum foil from packages,
o
Newspapers,
o
And Odds and Ends of all kinds.
Why
are these things saved?
·
Not because he or she is environmentally aware about overflowing
landfills,
·
But because he or she is so worried about not having enough.
For
the miser, greed means Our-Possession-Possess-Us.
They
Control Us.
And the second, as Another hard to
define as greed is the Gambler.
·
This kind of Greed Lives-For the idea that you can get rich
quick.
·
The lottery is funded by this idea.
o
It promises us riches,
o
And all it takes is just a few dollars.
It is a High Gain for Low
Investment type of Greed.
o
You only have to hear about a few people winning it BIG,
o
And you can get hooked into thinking,
§
"I could be the very
next Big Winner."
o
All those millions of dollars are just sitting there with my
name on them.
o
Then, images of all that you could own with those millions,
§
Yep, Gotta Go, where is the kid’s piggy bank.
o
Yes – Greed – Greed Kills.
Every
day we are bombarded with the Idea
·
That there are only two goals in life:
·
1. To be successful;
·
2. To feel Gooooood.
·
And The Only Way to be a success and to feel good is to have More
and More and More Stuff.
But
is having more and more Really Good?
·
Perhaps - the ancient Greeks had it right.
o
They minted their money in heavy iron disks,
o
Rather than like us:
§
In Small Silver coins and in forms of paper.
If
we were Greeks, we would have a constant reminder that having wealth is also a great
burden.
In
2000, the average American had 72 wants and had 18 of them were essential or
“Needs”.
In
2018, the average American has 496 wants and thinks that 96 of them are “Needs”
for happiness.
That
is a Six-Times Increase in just
18 years.
This
is our young adults coming up into the world!
As
that generation moves forward,
·
Where do you think ‘Their’ Interests will be?
·
Just To satisfy their Craving for “The More”!
·
Our Country will have to build
o
Twice as many shopping centers
o
As we do high schools.
You
complain and yes, I even complain some,
Some
of our complaining is more on how they handle what they have;
·
But, If our taxes are raised to educate our children
o
For the well-being of the future, theirs and ours
o
That type of growth brings forth
§
Discussions and some Discomfort
·
But if a new shopping center is constructed
o
Who complains there?
§
Isn’t it just the opposite?
§
The shopping centers are welcomed
·
As another opportunity to
·
Have Greater access
·
So we can all get even more and more Stuff.
What
is happening here?
We have totally-bought-into-this-myth that as long as I have even
a chance to get more Stuff, life is better.
An elderly couple who owned an attractive
75-acre island in British Columbia which is located on the Western Coast of
Canada.
With health issues, they needed to
sell their home and move to the city.
·
It was a gorgeous
island with the natural beauty of large trees, meadows, deep coves.
·
This island would be
ideal for yachts and multi-million-dollar homes situated on hillsides with
panoramic views.
·
In fact, this couple
was offered 13 Million dollars by a developer for the island.
·
$13 Million
·
But can you believe
it, they said NO.
·
It isn’t like they are
holding out for more money.
o No, not at all.
o It is that they wanted the island to become a Natural Preserve.
They had asked the Canadian
government what they could pay for the island and they Replied 3 million.
·
That would mean a loss
of $10 million.
·
But this couple wanted
to leave behind
o Something for everyone to enjoy;
o They wanted to leave a Heritage.
Well, As it happened,
·
The Canadian Government
o Didn't have the money to buy the island.
But this couple persisted and found
another group
·
Who could pay the 3
million dollars,
o And who would preserve its natural beauty as an undeveloped
public park.
Tell me.
·
What would you have
done in their place?
o Would you have gone for the $13 Million,
§ And sold it to the land development company for luxury
homes,
o Or settled for $3 Million dollars and have a nature park?
An interesting question, isn't it?
Indeed,
§ Imagine what you could do with $10 Million Extra do.
(Are you allowing yourself to Dream just a little?)
§ However, could you live without it? And live on only $3 Million?
(Everyone is supposed to shake heads "Yes.")
§ And I believe most, if not all, are saying;
o
"Sure, we could live
on $3 Million."
§ Now - Could you live on $1 Million?
o If that meant you could leave a heritage to your children
and grandchildren?
§ Now - How about half a million,
§ Or $100,000
§ Or maybe just even $20,000?
Could you live on that?
§ If you could leave behind a heritage to your children and
others?
Now everyone is probably thinking:
§ "What do you mean?
§ Of course, I could. I do it every day."
My question for you then
is this:
Is Making and Having “Money Everything”?
Is Money Everything?
People
tend to see life in 2 Ways of living or in 2 Forms.
§
There
is the "Having"
is one way of living.
o
This way of living means you have a job,
o
Which gives your meaning
o
You can even have a career
o
Which offers you much more, retirement and Security.
o
Then you can buy Stuff and Things.
o
This gives you status with the other Stuff Seekers.
And
On the other hand,
§
There's the “Spiritual” way of life.
o
Here you pray for the meaning in life
§
God gives you values that are tangible in terms of loving
others,
o
You help others to have enough food, shelter, and work.
§
This helps you to truly love others as God loves you and them.
o
But you don't really have anything to show for this spiritual
level. It is not on the outside but rather it is within you where your stuff
is.
§
At the spiritual level you don't have things as such.
But tell me WHY, WHY do we value others
by what we See on the outside or through what type of JOB they Have?
§
Oh, you are a Police man.
Well you must feel special wearing that gun on your hip and you must like
driving and sitting in the car a lot.
§
Oh, you are a farmer.
So, you have your winters, off don’t you?
§
Oh, you are a pastor.
How does it feel to only work one hour a week?
Are
we not like this?
Don’t
we value the quality of someone by what they do for a living?
As if the J – O – B makes
the man or woman.
And yet,
§
If you ask anyone:
o
“What is the Single
MOST Important thing
§
In their lives”,
o
Undoubtedly – they would tell you
§
It is The Matters of the Heart
·
Those are the most
valuable things.
Let me ask,
How many of us here
·
Have lived through a flood
·
Or even Just the Threat of having a flood?
When that
happened, What did you do?
Hopefully, no one was put at risk
·
But provided you had enough time to react,
·
What did you move to safety first?
First
and foremost, it would be the things
of the heart.
·
The family pictures of
your Children, Parents, and Grandparents.
·
Those precious things, always come before
·
The furniture, the washer and dryer, and the china.
Did you know that fire marshals, when they are evaluating
if a fire is the result of arson or not, they first check for the personal pictures
within the rubbish?
Have you ever wondered
·
Why do we do the things we do?
·
What is our reasoning behind them?
·
What will we do in the future?
·
How will we react when put under whatever type of pressure?
Jesus
created this world So-So Perfect for you and me to live within
·
And I know it may catch a few of us off guard,
·
But Jesus Did Not divide the world into two halves or in 2 ways
of life.
o
Into one being a way of life for our Material things
o
And the other for our Spiritual Domain or Kingdom
Jesus
said that it is “EVEN IN The Way which we THINK about Things”,
o Just IN the THINKING OF,
o Not alone in the how we
react upon them,
o All of these things not only occupy our time,
o But they also affect us so deeply
o That it creates the very Being
o Of who we are within our lives.
Just “IN the THINKING”, it
Changes us!
Jesus
gets DIRECTLY TO this Point by saying,
"Where your Treasure is,
there your Heart will be also" (Luke
12:34).
·
So, are you DOOMED for HELL if you are RICH?
·
Does the RICH have the best part of their
Eternity on Earth -Now- Just because of their RICHNESS?
No!
Just
as Jesus accepted and counted upon
the poor,
·
He also accepted and
counted upon those who had much wealth as well.
Just
to mention two of Jesus friends who had wealth and they are Lazarus and Zacchaeus.
·
Lazarus, Mary and Martha’s
brother who Jesus brought back from death. Lazarus was also most certainly
among the wealthy.
·
And Let us not to forget about Zacchaeus.
He was the Priest who
while in the Temple, an Angel appear and announce to him that would be the father
of John the Baptist.
Yes,
Jesus accepted their hospitality and friendship.
·
However - Jesus told the Truth all of the time
o
And He was critical of
anyone who thought
o
That the value of life could be measured
o
By how much he or she had.
Jesus
told of a parable concerning a man who
·
Built more and more barns to hold his wealth,
·
And in this, Jesus warned us to be Rich ONLY to
God.
The
question for us every day is this:
"Will I strive to
value my life on what I have,
·
Or will I strive to value
my life on who I am
·
That is, As one who
belongs to God?"
See - “It is the matters of the heart!
·
It is your relationship
with God and with other people
·
That is what is most
valuable and meaningful in life,
o
And it is not, it has
nothing to do with
o
How much stuff you have.”
So, EVERYONE OF US SHOULD BE ASKING, SO THEN,
HOW do we overcome greed?
·
I believe the first thing to do is to reflect on some of
the biblical passages dealing with greed.
Think
about what Jesus is meaning when He says and declares that,
o
"Wherever your treasure
is,
§
There your heart will be
also." (Luke 12:34).
Elsewhere
Jesus said,
·
"Give to anyone who asks
you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back." (Luke 6:30).
And
again, Jesus said,
·
"Do not be anxious about
your life, what you will eat, or drink, or your clothing. Life is more than
food or clothing. Your heavenly Father knows your needs." (Matthew 6:25)
Reflecting
on passages like these can help us
o
Put into perspective that while God intends
o
For us to work and to enjoy the things of life,
o
Enough is most certainly, enough.
Another helpful thing to do to combat greed is to develop
·
A contrary attitude toward having more and more.
·
Should we jump at any chance on becoming richer, or to have more
stuff. No, not all of the time.
·
Sometimes there is a great cost on earning more.
o
It could be more time away from home.
o
Putting ourselves into situations where our values have to be
questioned.
o
And the list can go on and on.
Another contrary attitude is to be more generous in
giving your money to various causes.
·
We are taught from childhood how to make,
·
How to save, and then how to spend money.
·
But Jesus taught us how to give money.
·
Making, saving, and spending money appeal to our greed nature.
·
Yet knowing how to give balances
o
The Greed Nature
§
To make,
§
To save,
§
And to spend.
·
It is by the ‘Learning to Give” that we are spiritually
nurtured.
But Here is the thing.
Money
is here for us to use.
We
can possess it;
But
we should never allow it to possess us.
Finally,
it helps to remember that you cannot take it with you.
As
the apostle Paul says, we are born into the world with nothing, and when we
die, we take nothing with us.
Paul
however does say that there is something
·
We do take with us:
o
It is the good things we have done in the name of Jesus Christ.
o
As Jesus said, "Seek the kingdom of God
and his righteousness."
o
It is not in satisfying your craving
§
Of having more and more
·
So that you have abundant life.
o
No, it is in serving God and loving others
§
As you love yourself,
·
That abundant life is gained and lived.
Amen
