Wealth & the Fool

we use money and possessions are at the heart of being a disciple of Jesus. There is a deep

spiritual reality to them. Coming into relationship with Jesus changes your relationship to money

and possessions. And we're doing this series at a time when we're not seeking to raise funds

for anything in particular. It's just all about doing heart work. That's what it is.

And so we're not looking at specific application except to go away and search your hearts and ask

yourself, what is it that I truly value in life? And so we're winding up our series in Luke 12 and

this parable of the rich fool. Jesus' statement, verse 15. If you've got your Bibles open, come with

me on this. You can also get it out on the St. Paul's app. You'll find the sermon outline there

in the Bible passage as well. Jesus' statement, verse 15, couldn't be any clearer in terms of

perspective on this issue. He says, watch out. Watch out. Be on your guard against all kinds of greed.

Greed is a spiritual problem. It's a chronic spiritual sickness. It's linked to money,

but money doesn't cause it. And you see that because earlier in the Bible, you've got people

like Abraham and Job and David who are fabulously wealthy, but do not have money sickness.

It's also possible to have money sickness, but in fact have very little money. Rich people may not

have it and poor people may have it. The sickness is money centrality. It's a materialism. So I've got

three points that I want to look at today. And the first one is watch out for money blindness.

What sets off this whole teaching on money with Jesus and money and greed is because of this

interaction that Jesus has with this bloke in verse 13. It says,

It's most likely that the older brother in this case has inherited the entire estate from the parents

and he's not wanting to share it. It's probably not the first time that money's caused an issue

when it comes to inheritance, all sorts of family feuds. And so he wants Jesus to make

his older brother pay up as if Jesus is an estate's lawyer. And Jesus refuses, not because it isn't right

that this issue needs to be settled fairly and through the courts if necessary, but because it isn't his mission.

It's not my focus is what he's getting at.

But then Jesus launches into what is a much deeper issue to deal with.

He sees that there is a heart issue that needs addressing. And you see that because he closes off

this section at the end about where your treasure of your heart is. This family is being torn apart by greed.

His statement in verse 15 is him pinpointing the key issue that needs to be addressed.

It's greed. And he issues a clear warning. He says,

Watch out!

It's like

there's an assumption that's behind this warning.

And the assumption is you can't see the danger. You can't see it.

If you were about to back your car into someone else's car out here in the car park,

and it's in full view, other people are walking by and you see you're just getting closer and

closer and closer. At some point, hopefully, someone will call out, look out!

It's because they're working on the assumption that you haven't seen the car.

Money dis-eases us. It has a power to fool us. And a great deal of the power that money has over us

is it blinds us to the power that it has over us. Blindness to the sickness of money is part of the sickness of money.

Greed is a sin that blinds you to its presence.

Nobody who is greedy thinks they are greedy.

And nowhere in the New Testament do you have Jesus saying,

Watch out!

For all kinds of adultery.

Now, it's not because adultery is any less sinful and destructive.

It's because we're blind to greed in a materialism in a way that we're not blind to adultery.

Greed is more deceptive.

Jesus doesn't say, Watch out!

You might be committing adultery and not know it.

Of course you know you are.

Of course you know you are.

No one thinks greed is their problem.

But if we take the text of the Bible seriously,

then the first thing we should do this morning

is work on the assumption that we are blind.

Now, I'm not saying it's necessarily true for you.

I'm saying that the only way to give any credence to what the Bible says

is always be checking for it.

Always looking over your shoulder, looking for it.

Ask yourself questions about it all the time.

Do you really, really, really need more?

Sex might have slain its thousands,

but money has slain its tens of thousands.

I've been involved in Christian ministry for over 25 years now,

and I cannot seriously think of anyone

who has ever come to me in that time

to confess they've got a problem with greed and materialism.

In one of the wealthiest countries of the world,

at the time of our greatest wealth,

can't think of anyone

who has ever come to me and talked to me about that issue.

Everything else, virtually,

but not that one.

That's why we have to watch for it.

Secondly, how do we diagnose this money sickness?

What is it, this money sickness, that we're blind to?

Put simply, greed is where money, possessions, wealth,

is just too important to us.

That's basically what it is.

Too central to us.

The issue is, how do we know when we've crossed the line?

There must be a line somewhere.

So how do we know when we've crossed that line?

And it is an issue for us.

Well, Jesus gives us, in this text,

a number of guideposts to help us diagnose

whether we have succumbed to money sickness.

First guidepost is in verse 19,

where the rich fool says,

What he's doing in that moment

is he's boasting in his wealth

and his security

and, if you like, his retirement.

He's boasting in it.

He's boasting in his possessions

and what he has

and feeling comfortable with his security.

Maybe that's you.

Another guidepost is worry.

It's interesting that right after

the parable of the rich fool,

we have this whole section about worrying.

And Jesus makes the issue clear in verse 29.

Do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink.

Do not worry about it.

If we worry about money,

worry about our livelihood

and food and clothing

and living standards,

then we have fixated our heart

on material things

just like the rich fool.

Now, it's possible to have money

but not to have the sickness.

But it's also possible to have the sickness

but hardly any money.

Worry.

Boasting worry.

Third side post is in verse 15

where Jesus says,

Be on your guard against all kinds of greed.

Now, he's helping us see here

that greed doesn't look the same

for every person.

Greed is different.

It has different forms and varieties.

For some, their greed is revealed

in the spending on clothes and cars

and travel and renovations and entertainment.

Money itself, as we know,

is just simply paper

or whatever it is that they make it out of nowadays,

some plasticky stuff.

And metal.

The value that money has for us

is that we take these bits of paper and metal

and we exchange it for what we truly value.

That's the value we have.

And when we spend

and keep on spending on possessions,

then we are looking to those things

that we truly value

to get that sense of desirability

and acceptability and lovability

and awe and experiences

rather than looking to God

and the knowledge of God

and the love of God

for our sense of wealth,

worth and significance.

And so the passage says,

consider the wildflowers.

God is the one who adorns them,

not money.

And as he adorns them

with wonder and awe and beauty,

so he is the source of those things for us

because we are much more valuable than they.

But there are those

who look at people spending money

on clothes and homes and cars

and travel and entertainment

and they just sneer at those people

and go,

well, there's the greedy ones.

They think these people

are just so greedy

and so materialistic.

And sometimes these people

are proud that they've been wearing

and repairing the same pair

of underpants for 10 years

and they reuse their tea bags

and they don't own a mobile phone

and they're just so frugal.

I'm not greedy.

The ones who are spending money,

the greedy ones,

instead what they're doing

is putting it all away

in retirement funds

and savings and investments

or for a rainy day.

Jesus says,

that's just a different kind of greed.

Just a different kind.

There's all kinds of greeds.

If we find it very hard

to give money away

but very easy to save it,

then our bank balance

is our source of security.

We are looking to our bank

to give us control

in a very, very chaotic

and unpredictable world

rather than God.

The rich fool here

stored up his wealth

and stored it up

more and more and more

for the sake of his security.

And the point of this story

about the rich fool

is it's an illusion.

Money cannot give you security.

It can't stop tragedy.

It can't stop broken relationships.

It can't stop your life

and it can't even stop financial ruin.

It's an illusion.

Money can't give you security

but God can.

Consider the ravens.

Consider the ravens.

They don't have money

to give them security

but they are well cared for

and fed by God

day in and day out.

So greed is where we get

beauty and acceptance

and security and identity

from great clothes,

houses, experiences,

instead of God.

It's where we get control

because of great investments

instead of God.

Just different kinds of greed.

And the fourth guidepost

is verse 30.

For the pagan world

runs after all such things.

What this means is

the running after them

is a sense of being driven.

I'm driven to get these things.

It may result in overworking,

driving yourself and others

around you into the ground

to get it.

Money sickness is where

we resent people who've got it,

worrying about not having it,

running off our feet

in order to get it.

It's where we look to money

to give us what only God

can give us.

And when we see these signs,

it's obvious,

really,

that a lot of us

have got money sickness.

If you think it's now possible

that you've got at least,

you know,

you're not in your hospital bed,

but you've got money sickness,

then Jesus is suggesting

that your problem

and my problem

is a lot more

than just a

not feeling great today.

It's a much deeper issue

than that.

We are blind

to how big

this issue is.

So how do we recover from it?

I've got two ways

that we recover from it.

The first solution

is to have a radical experience

of the grace of God

in the Lord Jesus.

Hopefully,

you've picked that up

in the last number of weeks.

We have constantly heard

that the gospel

is the solution.

Jesus himself

is the solution to this.

And we need to,

as I said last week,

keep driving,

driving it in

again and again,

driving the gospel

of the Lord Jesus Christ

into our hearts

again and again.

It's no different today.

We have to keep coming back

to God's grace

to us in Jesus

and savoring his gospel

to us again

and again

and again

and again.

And can I say,

sorry,

translators,

you may have been

sitting in church

for 30 years

but you have not

been driving

the gospel

of God's grace

into your heart.

Just gathering,

doing your thing,

giving 10%,

just settled with that.

You need to have

a fresh experience

of God's grace.

We need to see Jesus,

what he's done

for us on the cross

again

and again

and again

until he becomes

our greatest treasure.

We need to preach

the gospel to ourselves

every single day.

And God's grace to us

is again here

in this passage.

Notice that Jesus

doesn't say here,

as he did

with the rich young ruler,

that if you sell

all your possessions,

give them to the poor,

then God will forgive

your sins

and let you

into his kingdom.

He doesn't say that.

What he says

is in verse 32,

do not be afraid,

little flock.

I love it

when he says that.

Do not be afraid

because he knows

that he says

don't trust money,

trust me instead

with everything in life.

Our first instinct

is

fear.

fear is the response.

He says,

do not be afraid,

little flock,

for your father

has been pleased

to give you the kingdom.

Sell your possessions

and give to the poor,

provide purses

for yourselves

that will not wear out,

a treasure in heaven

that will never fail,

where no thief

comes near

and no moth

destroys.

The order

is crucial.

The little flock

have been given

the kingdom

apart from

any effort

on their behalf.

When we see

that we start,

when we see that,

when we see

that we have it first,

we start to become

free to give

in radical ways.

And Jesus says

a similar thing

in verse 21.

This is how

it will be

with whoever

stores up things

for themselves

but is not

rich towards God.

Rich toward God

means

counting God

of greater worth

than anything

in this world.

Rich toward God

means using

earthly riches

to show

him,

the world,

our own hearts,

how much

we value God.

And this is what

the prosperous farmer

failed to do.

And the result is

God calls him

a fool

and he lost

his soul.

A fool.

Jesus considers

money hazardous.

It lures us

out of love

for God.

It lures us

away from

treasuring Jesus

above everything else.

The issue here

isn't that this

man,

this rich fool's

land was

prosperous.

It's just

that God

ceased to be

his supreme

treasure.

Anyone who

stores up

things

rather than

giving it away,

they do it

because they're

not rich

towards God.

It's a lack

of inner

wealth.

If you

worry about

money,

you're resentful

towards those

who have

money,

running after

money,

hoarding it.

It's simply

because Jesus

says you're

not rich

towards God.

There is a

lack of

inner wealth.

What I mean

by this is

basically what

1 Peter 2

1 Peter 2:9

verse 9

says,

but you

are a

chosen people

a royal

priesthood,

a holy

nation,

God's

special

possession,

which literally

means in the

original language,

you are God's

treasure.

What do you get

the person who

has everything?

everything?

What sort of

gift would

cause the

person with

billions and

billions of

dollars to

go,

wow?

Well,

that's God's

question.

What do you

give him

who's got

everything?

literally,

absolutely,

everything is

his.

What do you

give him?

Peter is

saying here

that with

everything he

possesses,

his people,

his disciples,

the ones who

trusted the

Lord Jesus

Christ,

are his

greatest

treasure.

That's what

it's saying.

God

treasures

us.

That is a

life-transforming

truth.

It's a

life-transforming

truth that's

confirmed in

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 8:7

chapter 8

verses 7

and 9.

See that you

excel in the

grace of giving,

for you know

the grace of

our Lord Jesus

Christ, that

though he was

rich, yet for

your sake he

became poor,

so that you

through his

poverty might

become rich.

Paul doesn't

say that if

you give your

wealth away to

God, God

will give you

eternal wealth.

He says that

you will never

be free,

never be free

of eternal

treasure,

sorry, of

earthly treasure

until we see

that God has

given us eternal

treasure as a

free gift.

His eternal

treasure is

Jesus.

And when he

came to

earth, Jesus

quite literally

lived in

poverty.

He said he

didn't even have

a place to

lay his head

as a grown

man.

And this is

just a small

glimpse, just a

small glimpse of

the much, much,

much deeper

poverty that he

endured on the

cross for us.

He did

exactly what he

is asking us

to do here

at the end

of Luke 12.

He's already

gone before us

and done it.

He's fulfilled

it for us.

He is the

richest one.

He lost

everything for

the poorest

ones.

He did it to

pay for our

sins on the

cross.

And the

inner wealth

comes to

us when we

know that we

have been

treasured

treasured

by the

treasure

worthy.

He was

willing to

give up and

pay anything

to treasure

us.

Every single

one of us

sitting in this

room right now

as everyone

who's outside

this room

has something

that they

treasure at the

center of their

heart.

Every single

one of us

there is

something that

we treasure

that we

look to

consistently

for our

security,

for our

approval,

for our

significance.

The way you

know it's

there and

what it is

specifically

is when

someone

challenges it

in your

heart,

it will

result in

anger.

You'll

want to

defend your

treasure.

Every single

one of us

has those

treasures that

will demand

us.

We will

surrender

for it.

This

treasure

drives us

to run

after it

consistently.

In fact,

we will

die in

order.

In fact,

that's what

it calls

us to

do.

It runs

us into

the ground

and requires

of us to

die for

it.

And Jesus

is the only

treasure who

dies to

purchase us.

The treasures

of our

heart drive

us to

surrender and

sacrifice

absolutely

everything in

order to

achieve it.

And yet

Jesus is the

only one who

dies so

that we

might be

his treasure.

See that

he has

treasured

you.

See how

he has

treasured

you.

And then

you'll be

free from

money,

blindness,

and sickness.

You need a

radical experience

of God's

grace.

grace.

You also,

there's one

more thing

to add

here.

It's also

crucial to

be a

member of

a radically

grace-changed

community.

See this

back in

verse 32.

Have a look

at this.

Do not

be afraid,

little

flock,

for your

father has

been pleased

to give

you the

kingdom.

This is

in a

moment of

fear and

worry which

strikes it

whenever we

think about

money and

stuff and

handing over

to God

instead.

This verse

is such a

tender verse.

God knows

that we are

scared to

trust him.

We're scared

to live like

this, too

scared to

step out and

trust him and

to give our

money away.

He calls us

not to be

afraid and

to remember

that we get

to call God

our father and

we are his

little flock.

But notice

that this

promise here,

this promise

to give the

kingdom is a

plural promise.

Little

flock.

For those of

us who are

Westerners,

Christians think

so much as

individuals,

that's not

what's happening

here.

There's a

place in

Mark chapter

Mark 10 · chapter mention

10 where

Jesus spells

it out just

a little bit

more detail

for us what

he's referring

to here.

The rich

young ruler

walks away

too afraid to

trust Jesus

with his

wealth.

And at that

point,

his disciple

Peter pipes

up and he

says,

we've left

everything to

follow you.

And then

Jesus says,

no one

who has

left home

or brothers

or sisters

or mother

or father

or children

or fields

for me

and the

gospel

will fail

to receive

a hundred

times as

much in

his present

age.

homes,

brothers,

sisters,

mothers,

children and

fields along

with persecutions

and in the

age to

come eternal

life.

What's

getting at

there,

what's

referring to

here in

God providing

for our

needs is

that in

the Christian

community you

get a new

family,

you get new

relationships,

you get eternal

relationships.

We will

love each

other forever.

Forever.

If you're

struggling to

love me

now,

you won't

in heaven.

Isn't that

good news

for me?

But there's

also a

tendency I

think to

forget the

bit in

this passage

in Mark

10 about

the fields

and the

homes.

Try to

explain that

away a

little bit.

But in

Mark 10

and Luke

12,

along with

the new

community of

relationships,

comes

homes and

fields.

And we

must not

read these

terms any

differently than

we read the

brothers, the

sisters, the

mothers and the

children in this

passage.

You can't read

any differently.

That would be a

major error in

biblical

interpretation.

Jesus' view

is that in the

new community of

grace,

we not only

share and

engage with

one another's

families,

but we

also share

and engage

in one

another's

homes and

possessions.

You see

this in the

book of Acts

in the early

church.

And the

reason

Christians in

Mark 10

and Luke

12 are

free to

give away

money when

needs are

evident is

because it

is an

assumption in

those passages

that they're

part of a

community

that will

do for

them as

they do

for others.

That's the

assumption in

those passages.

That's the

assumption of

the new

community.

We need

to be a

community

that is

so humbled

our pride

that we are

willing to

let people

know when

we've got a

need.

And we

need to be a

community where

the grace of

God has so

transformed us

that our

money sickness

is disappearing.

A community

that gives,

shares,

receives.

We have a

long way to

go before we

really become

this kind of

grace-filled

little flock.

But the

point here

for us

today is

get a

vision for

using your

wealth.

with

eternity in

mind.

To be a

community of

love and

sharing in

such a way

that we

reveal that

Jesus truly

is our

greatest

treasure.

And the

solution to

that is

keep looking

to Jesus,

our great

treasure.

love and

love and

love and

love.

The heavenly

vision is

a hymn that

was written

in 1922 by

Helen Lamelle.

It's more

widely known by

the first line

of its chorus

and it sums up the thrust of this whole series on wealth in purpose, wealth with purpose.

Wealth, possessions, money and riches with eternity in mind.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus.

Look full in his wonderful face

and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.

One of the things we get to do this morning

to remind ourselves of God's grace to us in the Lord Jesus

is to share in the Lord's Supper together.

I think it's a great way to focus again that Jesus is our greatest treasure.

We have these two elements.

Let's see if I can navigate this.

We have these two elements.