Real Greed & True Riches

Take your Bibles this morning and turn to Luke chapter 12. Starting next Sunday, we're going to do a series on fear and worry. There's a number of reasons why we're doing that. Number one, as shepherd here, I've noticed that we've got a lot of worried people in this congregation. And I can tell you, as a veteran of the worry wars, that I know the horrible nature of worry and fear.

So that's one reason. The other is that it intersects with where we are today in terms of living now in this country in horrible fear and worry. and I think it's an appropriate topic and so we're going to spend a few weeks talking about fear and worry starting next Sunday. Honestly, you know, this is a subject that's dear to my heart because I used to be the world's worst worrier or the world's best worrier.

I don't know how to state that. and so I think it's necessary that we talk about it. Today we're looking at Luke chapter 12. Let's pray before we look into God's word. Lord God of heaven, we are here today because we want to worship you. There is something within us that compels us to come and to worship you and that compelling force is love for you because of what you have done for us in Jesus.

And so now I pray that you would satisfy that compulsion to worship you by the worship of you as we listen to your word. Give us ears to hear. And Lord, when these words of our Lord Jesus strike us, help us to remember first of all that he is the redeemer who has come to pay for our sins and when we see that we do not measure up we pray that we would yet look to jesus as the one who alone because of what he has done can forgive us for that But then again that you would help us to remember that we can grow and we can begin to obey Jesus And we can, in faith, believe the gospel, know that we are forgiven, and move on to live for Jesus.

So help us now as we look at this passage. In Jesus' name, amen. You know, you claim to be a follower of Jesus, one who claims that Jesus is Lord, the one who is his disciple. How do you follow Jesus in the midst of prosperity? How does Jesus exercise his rule? Listen now, how does Jesus exercise his rule over your spending habits? how does Jesus exercise his rule over your investment strategy or when you buy a car or when you're looking at clothes how is the lordship of Jesus expressed in those ways can you say that you are radically different than your unbelieving neighbor in the way you handle your money and your possessions would you be able to be distinguished in the way you handle the prosperity that God has given you as opposed to the unbelievers around you.

Now Jesus, our Lord, addresses such issues in the Gospel of Luke chapter 12. And yes, Jesus is Lord over everything and he makes demands of you even when it comes to money and possessions. By the way, when I say he makes demands of you, that is he comes to us as the Lord who has saved us and who says, this is how I want you to live. He doesn't come and bang you over the head with it.

He says, this is how I want you to live. Okay? So often when we come to the very, very radical things that Jesus says, we say, I'm not radical enough, and we despair. That's not what Jesus wants. He wants us always to remember. He is the Savior of those who don't measure up.

And he's also the Lord who says, so now let's grow. So as we read these things as we understand this passage I already can see that some of you if not all of you are going to despair Do not do that This is coming from the one who died for you So when you don measure up you find forgiveness and then you find the power to say so that what I going to do Lord Jesus help me Okay Now let look at what Jesus has to say Luke chapter 12 beginning in verse 13 Someone in the crowd said to him, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. But he said to him, Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?

And he said to them, Take care and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. And he told them a parable, saying, The land of a rich man produced plentifully. And he thought to himself, What shall I do? For I have nowhere to store my crops. And he said, I will do this. I will rent more space at the self-storage at the edge of town.

I just want to make that just a little bit more contemporary for you, okay? All right? Here's what he says. Here's what the inspired text says. What shall I do? For I have nowhere to store my crops.

And he said, I will do this. I will tear down my barns and build larger ones. And there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years. Relax, eat, drink, be merry. But God said to him, fool, this night your soul is required of you and all the things you have prepared.

Whose will they be? So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich towards God. And he said to his disciples, Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food and body more than clothing. Consider the ravens. They neither sow nor reap.

They have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do a small thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? consider the lilies how they grow they neither toil nor spin yet I tell you even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these but if God so clothes the grass which is alive in the field today and tomorrow thrown into the oven how much more will he clothe you oh you of little faith and do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink nor be worried for all the nations of the world seek after these things and your Father knows that you need them.

Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with money bags that do not grow old, with a treasure in heaven that does not fail where no thief approaches and no moth destroys for where your treasure is there will your heart be also so jesus first of all talks about covetousness when we have a lot then he talks about anxiety when we don't have much and then concludes we want to look at the prosperity part this morning so let's think about this what's happening here what what brings all of this about?

Well, while Jesus is teaching, a man approaches him concerning a legal dispute with his brother. Dad has died, and the man's brother is hoarding the inheritance. He's keeping it all for himself. And this man who comes to Jesus is not getting what is rightly and legally his. it's legally and rightfully his now in Jesus day rabbis would often act as judges or arbiters in deciding issues from an ethical point of view they didn't have legal status like a legal judge but they would come to them and say all right this is what's happening from the law what's right and what's wrong here so I can go back and persuade my brother it's much like a friend of mine who I grew up with or a friend of mine, I'm sorry, who's a pastor and a couple families in his church sold the family farm and there was tons of, tons of money now to divide and they got into a discussion about how should we invest this?

Should we invest this? What should we do? And they couldn't come to grips about that and so they went to my pastor friend And one of them did, who was in his church and said, hey, this is what's going on in our family. What's right and what's wrong here? Right? Now, my pastor friend would have no legal ways of doing this, but what he was asking him was, so biblically, what's right or what's wrong?

That's what this man is doing. He's coming to the rabbi and saying, biblically, what's right or what's wrong? I need to go talk to my brother. And Jesus sees right through that. issue here. This is not about a legal inheritance. This is about what produces the good life.

What produces the good life. And as Jesus addresses this man, he tells us what his followers ought to be like when it comes to the stuff of this world. To the stuff, the possessions that we have in this world. Do you want to be radically different in this crazy materialistic age. If you want to be different in this materialistic age, then listen to what Jesus says.

First thing is, get a radical perspective on Jesus. Get a radical perspective of Jesus. Look what he says in verse 14. He says, man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you? We are not radically different from the world because we don't have a proper perspective of Jesus. We often make the mistake of saying, of seeing Jesus as the one who comes to rearrange the status quo.

All right? Listen to me now. We often look at Jesus as the one who's going to rearrange the status quo. Do you remember several years ago, WWJD? When my boys were in high school, I think that was real popular. You wore the little bands.

WWJD. Some of you young people are going, what? What's that? What would Jesus do? What would Jesus do? Right?

And so we come up with this hypothetical Jesus. What would Jesus do? Well, you know what he'd do? He'd go to the older brother and he'd say, now look, don't be so selfish. You think of your brother. Give him his share.

That's what Jesus would do, at least a hypothetical Jesus that we would come up with in our minds. You know, it reminds me of two little brothers, Sam and Josh. Sam and Josh were eating lunch together. And as they finished the lunch, they see that there's only one piece of pie left. Right? They see one piece of pie is left.

And they both want it. And so they start bickering and they start arguing about who has the right to have that pie And they make their arguments to one another They want the pie Each one wants the pie So mom happens to come in and says now boys what would Jesus do in this situation And they can think of what he would do so she says to them Jesus would say to his brother here you can have that piece of pie That's what Jesus would say. Now be like Jesus.

The boys stop for a moment, and Sam looks at Josh and says, you be Jesus today. now that's how we see Jesus right he's going to rearrange things so that you know we get what's rightfully ours and so forth too often we think of Jesus as just another addition just an addition to our life an additive for a better quality of life we make him in our image formed by our desires. That's what we do. What would Jesus do?

Well, he'd do what I want. But when you read this, you see Jesus is too radical for that. Jesus is way too radical for that. He's not going to fit into that mold. Why did Jesus come anyway? Why did Jesus come?

He says, man, who made me an arbitrator over you? I'm not here for that. Why did he come? He says, It's not my purpose to settle these disputes among you. Jesus did not come to see that there was an equitable distribution of all goods to everybody. That's not why he came.

But he did not come either to make sure that the free market economic system stays and tax cuts are permanent. He didn't come for that either. Right? God the Father appointed and sent Jesus as a redeemer of sinners. He came to cleanse the heart of people from their idolatry. He came to take people who lust for possessions and riches and stuff and make them into people who serve God and serve others.

That's why he came. This Jesus did not come to make sure that fairness reigns in getting what you want. Now let me say that again. When I read this, Jesus is saying, I didn't come so that everybody would treat you fairly. I didn't come to make sure everybody gets treated fairly. I came to die on the cross and free you from your love affair with money and possessions That why Jesus came That why Jesus came And from that redemption comes new hearts and new ways of thinking.

The good life does not consist in an abundance of possessions, but in radical obedience to Jesus. That's the good life. That's the good life. God sent Jesus not to rearrange our wealth. He sent him to cleanse our hearts. And we have to get that.

We've got to have that radical perspective of Jesus. Now the next thing you see is that you need to get the radical perspective of the good life. played out before you is a parable about the good life as some see it a farmer had an abundant crop and that abundance produces a dilemma what am i to do what should i do there's no place to store my crops i've got so much what am i going to do it produces anxiety on his part Now, he could have looked for ways to serve God and others with all that he had, but he considered all of this stuff his own. He thought it was all his.

Okay? The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, what shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops? They're all his. All right? and instead of choosing the way of wisdom and of life he preserved them for his own exclusive use he's preserving them for his use what does he say oh man i'm going to store it so what i can party right what does he say so that i can so that I can, in verse 19, and I will say to my soul, soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years.

Relax, eat, drink, be merry. Okay? That's what he wants to do with it. His exclusive use. Now, I want you to notice, Jesus does not condemn riches, but those riches expose the heart of this sinner It exposes his heart He doesn condemn the riches He condemns the man The farmer decides to live the good life. Relax, eat, drink, be merry.

I'm going to live a self-absorbed, self-focused, self-indulgent, leisurely life, oblivious to others. And to him, the good life consists of what? accumulation of possessions to be enjoyed, to be enjoyed by you. That's what he's saying. The good life is a life of leisure, a life of gratifying our desires. We store up our goods so we can have a fun, leisurely, pleasure-filled life.

Listen, I'm not wrong about this. I'm not wrong. all of us at least when you start getting older you start thinking about what am I going to do when I don't have a source of income I need to start saving my money I need to start investing my money but what do most people do I need to start investing and saving my money so I when I'm done working I can finally have fun I can go walk on the beaches I can go traveling I can go every year to Disney World even this year since they just opened up the other day. Right?

Isn't that what most people think about in retirement? Let's invest, let's save, so that when I don't work anymore, I can finally have fun. Leisure, pleasure, right? Now, the prosperous farmer raised the right question. What shall I do? But he had the wrong answer.

He had the wrong answer. So God responds in verse 20. God responds in verse 20. Fool! This night your soul is required of you and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? God responds with a rebuke.

You are a fool. You've worked all this time. You've got all this stuff. You say, I'm going to enjoy myself and what's going to happen? You're dying tonight. you're going to die and all the self-centered self-indulgent plans for the good life come crashing down and who gets all that stuff You don't get it. Who gets it?

You know, one of my favorite psalms, and I would say in about 80% of the funerals that I do, I read Psalm 39. Most of the time, when I have the funeral of someone that I don't know, someone who evidently was not a Christian, I know I've got an audience there. And I almost invariably go to Psalm 39, because it says this, Show me, O Lord, my life's end and the number of my days.

Let me know how fleeting my life is. You've made my days a mere hand breath. The span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure, right? How long is life? That big.

Hand breath. That's it. We think we have a mile. We think we have ten miles in a life. That's really how long life is. How long is life?

This long. That's it. You're done. You're gone. And then the next phrase, surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom. In vain they rush about heaping up wealth without knowing whose it will finally be.

You think about that. We accumulate all kinds of stuff. And who gets it? You take it with you? Two guys were talking about their friend who was very rich. and someone said, one friend said to the other, how much did he leave behind? And the other one said, all of it.

This man had built up incredible wealth and then he dies that night. Who gets it? He doesn't. What good does it do to spend your entire life building up wealth? And someone else is going to get it. If you were the main character in this parable, what would the story look like?

What would the story look like? Would we all hear a story of how you worked tons of overtime for that piece of dream property or that dream vacation? Would we hear a story of one who was never satisfied with his house or with his car or with the job he has? Would we hear a story about someone who saved up all that he had and really worked hard and that the rest of his life he kicked around on a beach, finally able to do what he wanted to do? what would your parable look like Well what the point of this parable Verse 21 Here the point So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.

You find the good life not in accumulating and consuming goods, but in being rich toward God. That's the good life. That's the good life. All right? So we need a radical perspective on Jesus. We need a radical perspective on the good life.

The last thing is we need a radical perspective on real riches. We need a radical perspective on real riches. What are they? Verse 15. Take care and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. Verse 21.

The one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God has wasted his life. God says, be rich toward God in an age of greed. Be rich toward God in an age of greed. If you want to follow Jesus, then take care, he says in verse 15, take care and be on your guard against all covetousness. Now, how do we define covetousness? Now, if you haven't heard anything up to this point, snap up and pay attention.

I want you to see what Jesus does here. How do we define covetousness or greed? Here's how we define it. Wanting to acquire something we cannot afford. That's greed. I want something, but I can't afford it.

But I'm going to go into debt, and I'm going to get it anyway. Oh, you're coveting. or seeking to acquire something by unethical means. I'm going to cheat in order to get it. Nope, that's greed. That's coveting. Or when we want something we don't need.

I don't need a new car. My car is good enough, but I want a new car. Ah, greedy, coveting. That's how we define greed. One of my grandsons one time, his mom had made this big pan of cinnamon rolls. I think I've told you this story.

And he sat down and ate five of those rolls right And when he was asked about it he said well I was going to eat six but I didn want to be greedy Right That greed Getting more than really I should. That's how we define greed. But that is not how Jesus defines covetousness here. Now you want to see how radical Jesus is? Listen to me. How does Jesus define covetousness here?

Who's the greedy brother in this encounter with the man? Well, of course, we would say it's the brother who's hoarding the entire inheritance. He's the greedy man. He's the covetous man. And that's not what Jesus says. Jesus says that the brother who wants his fair share is the greedy one.

Now, my guess is the other guy's greedy too. But Jesus is making the point, don't look at him as greedy. You're greedy too. How is he greedy, we say? Because he believed the lie that greed whispers in everybody's ear. Get just a little bit more and then you'll be happy.

Because what does he say? Right? This man sought justice, but his heart throbbed with greed. I want my fair share so that I can have the good life. I want my fair share because I'm going to miss out if I don't get what's mine. because what does Jesus say to him? All right?

Notice, again, notice verse 13. Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with him. But he said, man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you? And he said to them, take care and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. Who's he talking about there? He's talking about the guy who's come to him, and he saw right through to his heart, And he's saying to him, this guy wants his inheritance because he thinks the good life consists of an abundance of possessions.

You're greedy. Would you call that man greedy or covetous? No, we wouldn't. But Jesus does. Oh, my. Let that sink in for a moment.

That's who Jesus is calling a greedy man. The one who wants his fair share. But notice as well. the farmer is guilty of covetousness You say how can that be He owns the lands and goods He not coveting the neighbor lands or goods which by the way that is coveting But he saying that the farmer is greedy and covetousness Jesus says he's guilty of greed or covetousness because he refuses to sacrifice his prosperity for others.

Verse 33, drop down to verse 33. Sell your possessions and give to the needy. provide yourselves with money bags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. He's saying the farmer is greedy. He's saying the farmer is greedy because he has so much, but he thinks it's all for me, and he doesn't care about anybody else.

That's a greedy man. Now, I don't know about you, that scares me. That scares me. I am greedy if I'm not willing to renounce if I'm not willing to renounce what is rightfully mine if I believe that gaining it is necessary for the good life if I'm going to fight to get what I deserve because it's mine and I can't have a good life without it I'm guilty of covetousness if I'm unwilling to sacrifice my resources to help other people.

You know, greed expresses itself in so many subtle and sometimes respectable ways. We have these financial goals in mind, and so we're going to work, we're going to both work, we're going to get the money we need, and then when we get there, then we'll be able to raise kids and serve God and do what he wants us to do, right? You know, that house would be a good investment.

Well, of course, our house is fine. but right when someone we know is in need and although we have the resources at hand to help we say oh no oh no no no no that's for me for later in life i can't dip into that to help somebody listen you know what proverbs struck me many years ago was proverbs chapter 3 verses 27 and 28. Here's what it says. Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in your power to act.

Do not say to your neighbor, come back tomorrow and I'll give it to you when you are. already have it with you. When you already have it with you. You know, I remember one time, and this happens, sometimes I wish, sometimes I wish I could have a video camera with me. You could see what a week in a pastor's life is like, right? You know, he plays golf all week and then throws something together on Saturday.

Oh no, Friday, because Saturday you want to play. And then gets up and preaches, right? One of the things that happens is people will just stop at the church and say, hey, I'm traveling from Denver to Albany, and I'm out of gas. I need some. I need some help. Right?

Typically, typically that comes in a phone call, and I say, okay, call, you know, call Jim Bennett. I give him the name of a deacon, and then the deacons can talk to him and everything. I remember one guy sitting here. I something happened where I had like two hundred dollars in my wallet which to me was like I got two hundred dollars in here this is great and this guy stops in and we get to talking and it's obvious he's a brother and he's not trying to rip me off and and we talked for quite a while and I'm thinking this guy needs help proverbs chapter 3 when you have the resources with you don't tell them to come back tomorrow you help them today and i'm thinking lord you just you just gave me this gift so i gave him the 200 i mean that's what the bible says now i'm not trying to blow my own horn here okay it's just that's the sort of thing the bible talks about you have it help you've got in your power to help right now but you know we spend so much time stockpiling for retirement and planning for our leisure that we miss ministering for christ now by ministering generously we miss those opportunities guard against greed keep an eye on your heart not on your possessions and your acquisitions.

Here's the radical yet correct perception. Be rich toward God for the good life This is a truth that contradicts the lie The lie is if only you had more if only you had a newer car if only you had a bigger house if only you had this if only you had that then you'll be happy. Then you'll be happy. And this contradicts it and says, no, no, happiness is not found in possessions and consumption.

It is found in being rich toward God, following as a disciple of Jesus. And so what happens is we substitute too often temporal riches for eternal riches. Make no mistake, those who seek life in the abundance of possessions will find themselves lost for eternity. Those who give themselves to the abundance of possessions will be lost for eternity. Many who strive for riches will find themselves poor before God on Judgment Day. now even Christians whose hearts have been changed have been transformed at times believe the lie that greed whispers in our ears and we for a time lose our minds we can do that but we have to keep reminding ourselves what are true riches verse 33 provide for yourselves with money bags that do not grow old with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

Those are the riches you want. Heavenly, indestructible riches. That's what you want. How do you make those investments? How do you make those kinds of investments in heavenly reward? Look at the first part of verse 33.

Sell your possessions and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with money bags that don't grow old. Taking care of other people. you lay up treasures in heaven by not hoarding here on earth but using your possessions sacrificially and generously that's how you do it selling your possessions and helping those in need now that's not carl mark saying that and that's not tim pasma saying that that's jesus saying that but pastor we live in america if you're poor it's probably because you've been lazy You know what?

I think you would find most of the time that's the case. So use your money then. Invest it to provide jobs. Invest it in ways of teaching people how to work I know what Let invest it in ways so that those lazy people get converted and we can disciple them in what a hard worker is like for Jesus. That's what we need to do then. Besides, there are millions upon millions of poor people all over the world who are poor not because they're lazy, but because of oppressive governments or because their lands have no resources. how about sending missionaries on their way do you know how much time a missionary spends trying to get on the field now I want you to listen about this from the time someone says I want to be a missionary and then goes to candidate school and then is ready to raise support how long is he going to be at home before he gets on the mission field you know how long three to five years now let me ask you is that because we're poor why does it take a missionary an average of three to five years of going to church after church after church after church to raise support well because our economy's bad no it's not my brother was a missionary for several years in asia okay um would come back and just be flabbergasted at, they go visit a church, they go stay with someone who's got a boat in his backyard, and nice palatial home.

It's not that we don't have the resources, it's where we're spending our money. How else do we, how else do we lay out treasures in heaven? loving our neighbors, loving our neighbors. I'm going to tell you a story now. And I've been debating all day long whether to reveal the person in this story, and I'm going to do it, because he's dead. And his wife is gone, both of them who are members here.

Now some of you newbies aren't going to remember Bob Beckel. Bob Beckel was one of our elderly saints here Now when you go out to Meir in Marian you got 23 running there right 23 used to run through Marian which is now 423 That big highway 23 runs on the east side of Marian and you got Meir right And across the street you have a building that supposed to be for grooming dogs and washing your car I've never quite gotten that combination, but there that building sits. Where that building sits is where Bob Beckel had his pattern shop.

He owned a pattern shop, okay? now before 23 ever was out there his shop was there and they wanted they were starting to make rumblings about building 23 outside of marion and he sat on prime property and he was approached saying we're going to give you so many thousands of dollars for this property so we can build this road here he said no and they offered him more and more and more maybe you don't know this story he could have made a killing with the money he would have gotten for that property. I mean, they were willing to pay an unbelievable amount of money. And this is what he said, I can't do that.

If I do that, these guys will be out of their jobs. And he never, as far as I know, the pattern shop wasn't sold until Bob was dead. If I remember right. he couldn't do that he loved those guys right he loved his neighbor he wasn't going to take the money that's how you build treasures in heaven that's how you do it how about caring for those with disabilities or people who are sick and there's no money in it There's no money in it, right?

You're willing to do that. You know, my mother-in-law, when I first got to know Beck and I first got to know her mom, her mom had this habit of adopting an old person in the congregation. Before I showed up, it was Walter McKinley, right? Walter McKinley, guy who lived in the county home. She would come and get his laundry, do his laundry every week. and I remember Beck saying he smoked a pipe and he's always dropping ashes on his clothes and burning holes in his pants and all that kind of stuff.

And her mom would take and repair it and wash it and take care of him. And then when I showed up on the scene, it was Mrs. No, it was Aunt Birth, right? And so she took care of Aunt Birth until Aunt Birth died. And then she adopted Mrs. DeFord.

She'd make sure they got to church. Sunday, she would help them with their laundry, she would do all kinds of stuff, never got a penny for it. But that's what she did, right? That's how you build treasure in heaven. That's how you do it. Use your resources or give up your resources.

If it means that you can help somebody, then you won't be covetousness and you will be investing in heavenly treasures. But that's impossible, you say. Impossible unless you believe the radical news that Jesus speaks in verse 32. Fear not, little flock, for it's your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. To give you the kingdom. Jesus says it is God's joy, His desire, His want, His wish, His hope, His pleasure, His gladness, His delight to give His kingdom to the flock, to His little flock.

I'm going to give you the kingdom, right? That sets us free to sell our possessions and to give generously and sacrificially. We have the kingdom. Why do we need anything else? And God delights to give it freely. You know what?

He doesn't say, I'm going to make you a good offer on the kingdom. Okay? What do you have to offer? Oh, I got so much more. So I'll take what you got and I'll give you what I got. Now, he gives it freely.

You know, my brother-in-law, Alan, man, that guy. he's always angling for a better deal. And that's not bad. He's a businessman, right? But I remember how it clearly came out one night. We were all, our families were together. We were coming back from the state fair or something.

It was kind of getting late at night and Uncle Allen decided he give the kids a treat So he goes into Hy which is a big store out in Iowa He goes in there and he sees the donuts Now it late at night He walks up to the guy and he says how much are these donuts Can you believe this How much are these donuts The guy tells him he says look I make a deal with you See I know that probably no one going to buy these donuts tonight And tomorrow you put them on sale for reduced price as being day old I take them now at tomorrow's price. What do you think? Now, I can't imagine going in and haggling with a grocer about the price of donuts, right?

Now, look, God is not like that. God is not saying, hey, I got a great offer for you. What do you got to offer? I got more. No, no, it's free. It's all yours for nothing.

He doesn't say, I'm going to make you a good deal on the kingdom. What does he say? Fear not, little flock, for it's your father's good pleasure. He loves to do this. to give you the kingdom. Listen to the words of John Piper. Jesus does not say, sell you the kingdom.

He does not say, trade you the kingdom. He says, it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. God is a mountain spring and not a watering trough. Get that in your mind. God is a mountain spring and not a watering trough. He wells up self-replenishingly.

He delights to overflow. It is the nature of an eternal fountain of life to give, give, give. The good news is that God does not need a bucket brigade or sweaty pumpers. He demands water drinkers not water haulers Following Jesus means getting down on our faces and satisfying our soul thirst with his perfect love isn that a great isn that a great picture God not about you working real hard he's about you just getting down on your stomach and just sucking up the water that's what he promises how can I not give generously and sacrificially with that kind of good news right?

God delights to give freely his kingdom. God doesn't promise to give us money. He doesn't promise popularity, fame, or admiration. He doesn't even promise us, you know, financial security in this life. He promises to give us freely the kingdom of God. Simply put, he promises the omnipotent rule and authority of the king of the universe and it will be engaged on behalf of his little flock god's looking out for you the all-powerful god of the universe is giving you his kingdom where he rules and so the promises of the gospel can free us from the slavery of possessions so that we can sacrifice earthly treasures and invest in heavenly riches.

So these are the words of Jesus, the Lord of all our wealth and possessions. With the promise of the gospel, we can live a life radically different in this materialistic, live for leisure self culture Now does your attitude toward money and possessions line up with his If not it very simple Lord Jesus you died for me You died because I don measure up I going to rest in what you've done. And because of that, Lord Jesus, I want to grow.

Help me to grow. Teach me every day how to be different so I can be like you. You know, Jesus is serious here. And we need to take Him seriously. Father, thank You for Your Word. Would You please help us, first of all, not to wallow in our failure.

Help us, instead of wallowing, to look to the cross. where Jesus died for those who do not measure up. But then help us to look to the cross to know that we're forgiven, that we have a clean slate, that we can continue to grow. And when we fail, we confess it, pick ourselves up, and keep going. Father, we pray that you would teach us to live this way.

Teach us experientially. bring things into our lives that would cause us to live in this way. Help us so that we can be the kind of disciples you would have us to be. Grant that we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.