Fool's Gold (Pastor Greg Hudson, 06/28/25)

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for

this Sabbath morning, for this time that we can

be together. We thank you for showers of blessing.

We know that the rain that falls helps things

to grow. And we know that the Holy Spirit falling

in our life helps us to grow spiritually to be

more and more like you. Be with us as we open

up your word this morning. In your name we pray.

Amen. So the year was 1996. A new invention,

a new medication, a new miracle drug was going

to be released to help people, especially those

who had debilitating pain and illnesses. And

the company Purdue Pharma said, you know what,

we've got this new wonder drug that's going to

make all the difference, OxyContin. And they

told doctors, they even rewarded doctors, if

you give this out, the more you give out, the

more you'll get a little kickback. You'll get

a little reward if you prescribe this medication.

And there's good news because this medication,

this painkiller, it's not addictive. That's what

they told doctors. And that's what the doctors

told patients. And that's what they prescribed

pill after pill. And soon, well, Well, Doc, that's

not quite enough. I'm still hurting. Well, let's

give you a little higher dose because there's

good news. This isn't addictive. But the reality

was it's extremely addictive. And I imagine that

many of you know, like I know, people who got

caught up in this so -called opioid epidemic,

which led to more and more people being addicted.

dying of overdoses, especially in the area of

the Appalachian area, Kentucky, West Virginia,

Virginia, and that region of our country. But

even here in North Georgia, we know that there

are many people, and I would be shocked if you

don't know of at least one person or one family

that was affected in some way by this so -called

wonder drug. preying on people's needs of pain

relief and medical relief, and yet it was twisted

to cause something much worse. It was sacrificing

others for the almighty dollar. We might refer

to that as greed, as the Sackler family was leading

the Purdue Pharma in a greedy incident. We know

of stories of greed in Scripture. The rich young

ruler, we'll come back to him a little bit later.

But if you just look up that word greed, what

does that word mean? Now, if you look it up in

Merriam -Webster dictionary, greed is a selfish

and excessive desire for more of something than

is needed, more of something usually referring

to money. That's what greed is. You want more

than is needed. It's an excessive desire. Or

if you look it up in dictionary .com, it says

it's an excessive or rapacious desire, especially

for wealth or possessions. And I'll be honest,

when I looked up that definition, I had to look

up another definition because I wasn't sure what

that rapacious word meant. And if you look that

up, that means it is inordinately. greedy, predatory,

extortionate, excessively greedy, wanting more

and more and more. We're going to turn today

to Luke chapter 12. We had our scripture reading

Luke 12 · chapter mention

today from Luke chapter 12, and we're going to

Luke 12 · chapter mention

look at that story as we continue our series

on the parables. I think this is the third parable

we've gotten to. But in Luke chapter 12, verse

Luke 12:1

1, it says there was a great multitude that had

gathered together. As Jesus was teaching, as

he was preaching, the people wanted to come to

be by him. And it even says in verse 1 that they

trampled together. There were so many people

gathered in that place to hear him that they

began to trample each other. And as Jesus is

teaching them, one of these people from the crowd

shouted out and asked him a question. And we

see that in verse 13. We start in verse 13. It

says, Now, in the Bible, in the Old Testament,

it specifically talks about passing on property

and wealth from the head of the household to

the next generation. And the firstborn son, had

the best position you could have because he got

a double portion of the inheritance. And then

the rest of the property, the rest of the value,

was divided among the remaining siblings, at

least the remaining sons. And so we don't know

this whole story, but maybe somebody was not

acting the way that they should in some way or

the other. And so the voice says, tell my brother

to divide this inheritance with me. And Jesus

is like, you know, I'm not the probate. I'm not

the judge in this matter. I'm not the one to

worry about that. But then he begins to give

some instruction in verse 15. Notice what he

says. He said to them, take heed and beware of

covetousness. Covetousness. Now, some versions

there say, beware of all covetousness. Beware

of all greed, all kinds of greed, some versions

will say. So what does that mean, all covetousness,

all types of greed? What are some types of greed?

Well, the one that generally pops to mind first

would be that greed over money or wealth, some

way in that area of greed. But there's also,

you know, some might be greedy for fame. I want

to be important. I want to be more important

than somebody else. I want to have more friends

than other people. I want people to notice me.

I want to have more authority over the people

I work with or the family members, whatever it

might be. I want people to recognize who I am

or appreciate what I do. And the key here is

the excess because, you know, we need money.

We need... different things. But the key here,

like we read in those definitions, the key is

the excessive greed, the excessive coveting of

what others may have. In fact, if you turn over

to Colossians, we're going to come right back

to Luke chapter 12. But in Colossians chapter

Luke 12 · chapter mention Colossians 3 · chapter mention

3, Paul gives us another definition. Colossians

Colossians 3:5

3 verse 5. Paul is talking about some of the

different sins in our life. And he says, therefore,

put to death your members which are on the earth.

And he begins to list off some things. Fornication,

uncleanness, passion, evil desire. And then he

says, and covetousness, which is, what is that?

Idolatry. We usually think of idolatry as bowing

down before an image or a golden calf or something

like this. But Paul says, no, idolatry can be,

covetousness can be this. Greed can be putting

anything before God. That can even mean putting

ourself before God. So we need to beware of this

covetousness, which is idolatry. So with that

in mind, let's come back to Luke chapter 12.

Luke 12 · chapter mention

Because Jesus says, take heed and beware of all

covetousness or all kinds of greed. And then

notice what Jesus says. As he goes on in verse

15, he says, For one's life does not consist

in the abundance of the things they possess.

He or she possesses. One's life does not consist

in the abundance of the things that you possess.

That's pretty fascinating. Because in our society

today, it seems like everywhere we look, Every

advertisement, every billboard, every commercial

we may see is trying to tell you and to tell

me that you need something else. You need something

that you don't have. You need the newest or the

thing that's new and improved or the latest.

Or if you just have this thing, it will make

you smart. It will make you pretty. It will make

you popular. It will make you important. If only

you had that item, then your life would be changed

and it would be changed for the better. But Jesus

says life is more than the things that we have.

Life does not consist in how much we have. Life

is so much more than that. And then Jesus begins

to tell a parable to them. Jesus begins to share.

And the subtitle in my Bible says the parable.

And so one of those things, one of those descriptors

might be good. We probably would all wish we

had a little more financially. So sure, rich

sounds good, but fool, that is not a good descriptor

there. But he goes on and it says, Remember,

this is in the context of one's life does not

consist in what you have. And it says, Yielded

plentifully. Now what yielded plentifully here?

The ground. So I know many of you have gardens

or farms that you're working on and you prepare

the soil. We've talked about that the last couple

weeks. And you put the seeds in and you fertilize

and you may water it. But it says the ground

of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And

so as we're looking at this story, let's remember

that it's the ground that's yielding. It's the

ground that's doing the work, right? It's God

that makes something grow. You can prepare the

environment. You can get rid of the weeds and

the rocks. You can make sure that the soil has

the right fertilizer and enough water. But you're

not making the seed grow. That happens naturally.

That's God doing that through the things in the

ground. And it says the ground is yielding forth.

And we need to remember that even our ability

to work, to have a job, to have a garden or a

farm or whatever it might be, that's not from

us. All of that is from God. Notice in the Old

Testament, Deuteronomy chapter 8, it reminds

Deuteronomy 8 · chapter mention

us that All of this capability, all of this knowledge

that you might have, all of this skill that you

might have in your job, it comes from God. Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 8:18

8, verse 18, it says, You shall remember the

Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the

power to get wealth. Even the capability or the

ability that we may have to have a job, to hold

a job, That comes from God. That he may establish

his covenant which he swore to your fathers as

it is this day. That wisdom you have, that skill

you have, that ability you have to gain wealth,

that comes from God. And so this rich fool, it

says the ground yielded plentifully. And it's

the ground that is doing the work. And so he's

got all these crops. And we go back to chapter

12, and we pick up the story, the next verse,

in verse 17. It says, He thought within himself,

saying, What shall I do, since I have no room

to store my crops? I've got too much. I've got

the ground yielded all these crops, and I've

got too much of it. I don't have enough room.

Have you ever said in your life, in your world,

in your house, we've got too much of this? Have

you or someone you love ever looked in a closet

full of clothes and ever said, I just have nothing

to wear? You've got all of this. You've got too

much. And yet, it's not enough. Something else

is needed. And that's what he says. What can

I do? I've got no room. And he comes up with

a solution. So he said, I will do this. I will

pull down my barns and build greater barns. I'm

going to build bigger barns. And there I will

store all my crops and my goods. I've got too

much stuff. What shall I do? I don't have enough

room to store it all. So let me tear down the

rooms that I have and let me build bigger rooms.

I don't have enough room, so I'm going to make

more room. Now, I imagine that many of you are

like most of society, and no matter how much

room you have in your house, you're going to

fill it up. You slowly expand. Maybe you move

to a bigger house, and it's not going to be long

before you have filled up that space, and maybe

you've filled up more. You've filled up an attic

or a crawl space, or that guest bedroom is just

full of things, or that second... Garage just

has lots of things in it. And you can drive around

almost any community, including this one, and

like, oh, there's a new building being built.

Is it going to be a new restaurant? Oh, maybe

a new office? There's a good chance it's going

to be some storage units. You can drive anywhere,

and our landscape is littered with storage units.

So here's an idea. I'm just going to throw this

out. If you don't have enough room for your stuff,

the solution may not be to have more room. It

may be to have less stuff. Most of the time don't

need storage units. Sometimes we do, but maybe

we need less stuff. And if you don't have need

of something, I guarantee there's people not

far from you that probably do need the things

that you have. So that was his solution. I'm

going to tear down my barns and I'm going to

build bigger barns. But look at verse 19. He

says, I will say to my soul. And notice as we

hear him having this self -talk that he likes

to talk about himself. I'm going to do this.

I have too much stuff. I don't have enough room.

So he says, I will say to my soul. Soul, you

have many goods laid up for many years. Take

your ease, eat, drink, and be merry. I don't

need to do anything else. I have enough. I don't

need to count on God. I don't need to depend

on the things that God gives me. I don't even

need to work anymore. And yet, that's not how

God has created us, is it? God created us for

a day of rest. Praise the Lord for that. But

if we have a day of rest, That also means we

have days of work. It says six days you shall

labor and do all your work. But we're grateful

we have the seventh day as the Sabbath of the

Lord your God. And so yes, we appreciate a day

of rest, but what are we resting from? This gentleman

didn't... have a need of working anymore. He

didn't have a need of depending on God. And so

his vision was skewed because he was only thinking

of himself. And notice verse 20. It goes on.

But God said to him, fool. I don't think you

ever want God to say that to you. God said to

him, fool, this night your soul will be required

of you. Then whose will those things be which

you have provided? God says, okay, this is the

end of your life. This is the day that you die.

What then? This isn't what the sermon's about,

but I'll just throw it out there. Everybody should

have a will of some kind to determine what's

going to happen with your stuff, but that's not

really what this is about. But it says, when

you die, what then? Notice it goes on in verse

21. So is he who lays up treasure for himself.

and is not rich toward God. Instead of depending

and counting on the things that we have built

up, on our bank accounts, on our storage units,

we need to make sure that we are laying up treasure

in heaven, that we are putting the most important

thing, and we are being rich towards God and

not towards ourself. There's a story about Sam.

Sam had left. Ohio. It was 100 years ago or more.

And he was headed towards California because

he heard that in California there was a gold

rush going on. So probably 1850s or so, 1849.

And he made his way across the United States

in that era, maybe on a wagon. The railroad didn't

make it all the way across. Across the plains.

across the Rockies, the heat of the desert, the

cold of the mountains, and finally he made his

way to the gold fields of California, and he

was able to stake his claim in a particular place.

And as he was panning for gold, he was so excited

because he found a nugget, a gold nugget. This

is what I left home for. This is what I went

through all those trials for. This is what it's

all about. I have found this. piece of gold,

and he went to his friend, the neighbor who was

a much more experienced miner, and he showed

him, look, I found gold. And his friend Thomas

said, that's, sorry, that's not gold. That's

fool's gold. That's a metal called pyrite. It's

shiny. It looks like gold. It's got some value

in the industrial world today, but it's not.

What you were looking for. It's not what you

were seeking. So we have to ask ourselves, what

are we seeking after? Are we seeking something

that glitters? Something that's shiny? I think

it's Shakespeare who said, all that glitters

is not gold. We need to make sure that we're

not seeking after gold. Fool's gold, because

life does not consist in the abundance of things.

So what could be a remedy for our personal greed

that we might have, our personal covetousness

as we are seeking things for ourselves? Well,

right here in this chapter, we can go down to

verse 31. Luke 12, verse 31, it says, but seek

Luke 12:31

the kingdom of God. In Matthew, it says, seek

first the kingdom of God. and all these things

shall be added to you. So what can we do? We

can make sure that we are seeking God's kingdom.

And God's going to provide those other things,

because believe it or not, we do have need of

things. We need to have financial means. We need

food. We need shelter. We need to care for family.

We need all of these things. But the greed comes

in the excess, the putting it first in your life.

And so I want you to think about your life plan.

What is your life plan for the next month, the

next year, the next five years? Is your life

plan all about bank accounts and success and

business plans? Or does it begin with seeking

God every day? Yeah, make those plans for business.

Make those plans for your job, what you're doing.

But first and foremost, make sure that you are

seeking God, that you are seeking His kingdom

and allowing God to direct your path and show

you where you should go. So first we need to

be seeking God's kingdom. And then as we're doing

that, we can make sure that we are serving. others.

It's not just about you. It's not just about

me. And verse 33 kind of hints at that. It says,

sell what you have and give alms. Now what is

alms? Alms is about giving to the poor, help

providing for those in need, giving to somebody

else so we can be serving others. And this echoes

a little bit, we mentioned it earlier, that rich

young ruler. You remember that story when a young,

important, wealthy person came to Jesus? Turn

over to Luke chapter 18, we're going to look

Luke 18 · chapter mention

at that real quickly. Luke chapter 18 and verse

Luke 18 · chapter mention

20. Luke 18 and verse 20. This young man said,

what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And

Jesus said in verse 20, you know the commandments.

What shall I do to inherit eternal life? Do not

commit adultery. Do not murder. Do not steal.

Do not bear false witness. Honor your father

and mother. Jesus listed off some of the commandments.

He didn't list all of them. He didn't say, thou

shalt not covet. That's one of them. And perhaps

the challenge with this young man. And the young

man's like, I've done all those things. I've

done that. Yay, I've checked those boxes. And

then notice what Jesus said in verse 22. He said

to him, you still lack one thing. Sell all you

have and distribute to the poor and you will

have treasure in heaven and come and follow me.

Now, as far as I know, this is the only person.

that I recognize in Scripture that Jesus instructed

and told to sell all that you have. This is the

only person Jesus told that to. So we need to

be careful and not say, well, Jesus is telling

me or telling you to sell everything. Maybe he

is. I don't know. If you feel God's telling you

that, well, that's between you and God. But maybe

God is telling you that we need to make sure

that we are serving. other people, that we are

helping those that are in need, that we are caring

about other people. If you lack that same thing,

maybe Jesus is saying it to you. Most of us aren't

going to sell all that we have, but all of us

can serve somebody else. That's what the early

church did. That's what they did in the book

of Acts. We studied Acts last year, but if you

look at Acts chapter 2, we'll just remind ourselves,

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 2 and And verse 44, this is right

Acts 2 · chapter mention

after that day of Pentecost when 3 ,000 were

baptized. It said, now all who believed were

together and had all things in common and sold

their possessions and good and divided them among

all as anyone had need. The early church did

that. They did the same thing in chapter 4. Barnabas

did the same thing. Maybe God isn't calling you

and me to sell all that we have. but can we open

our eyes to the people in need around us to help

them, to serve them as we are seeking first the

kingdom of God so we can seek and we can serve.

And then perhaps another way to make sure that

we are overcoming this greed that we might have

is to store our treasure in the right place.

Back to Luke chapter 12. And verse 33, sell what

Luke 12 · chapter mention

you have and give alms. Provide yourselves money

bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the

heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches

nor moth destroys, where the stock market doesn't

matter, where tariffs don't matter, but store

all of that in heaven. It says in verse 34, for

where your treasure is, there your heart will

also be. That's where we want our treasure to

be. We want our heart to be stored in heaven.

We want our treasure to be stored in heaven.

Yes, we need to care for ourself. Yes, we need

to care for our family. But let's also seek to

let our heart be broken for those around us,

for those who are in situations that breaks the

heart of God, as those are in need. We can see

that and we can help other people because life

does not consist in the amount of things that

we possess. So let's make sure we are seeking

God. We are serving God and we are storing our

treasure where it matters most. I want to tell

you a story about San May, San May Ver. This

happened back in about 2015. He was going through

the internet. looking at different domain names,

you know, internet sites. And he saw there was

a site that was available for sale. And he placed

it in his little cart there online, and he made

the purchase for $12. He bought the domain name.

And it just so happened it was the domain name

google .com. One of the most valuable and the

biggest websites in the world somehow. That had

come available for sale on this domain site,

and he purchased it for $12 and basically got

access to the webmaster -type things. He got

all that. What did he do with it? Now, he could

have redirected it to a different site. He could

have sold it back to Google for lots and lots

of money, but he didn't do that. He had worked

at Google a few years. before that, and he knew

the person to contact, and he contacted the person

and said, hey, I think there's been a mistake,

and the site was returned to Google. Now Google

wanted to reward him. They wanted to give him

money. Apparently they do that. If you find some

loophole in their website and let them know,

they'll fund a little bit. And so they wanted

to give him a reward, kind of a strange amount,

$6 ,600. dollars and 13 cents. Any ideas why

it might be that? I see Kevin laughing over here.

What? If you squint your eyes just right and

turn the three around, that kind of spells Google.

So they wanted to give him $6 ,000 in reward.

But San May said, you know what? I don't want

that money. Instead, I want you to donate that

money. And there was an educational foundation

which funded about 1 ,200 schools in India to

provide education to young people in India. And

he said, why don't you donate it to this foundation

which funds education in India? And when Google

heard that that was his plan, they actually doubled

the amount. So $12 ,000 was donated to this foundation

to educate young people in poor, rural India.

Sanmei had the opportunity to be greedy, to ask

for more, to try to get something for himself,

to try to get something of value for himself.

But instead, he used his opportunity to help

somebody else. What do we do with our opportunity?

Are we seeking first God's kingdom? Are we seeking

to find ways that we can serve others around

us? Are we making sure that we are storing up

our treasure in heaven? I hope that will be the

desire for you this week to seek first God's

kingdom. Let's bow our heads. Dear God, thank

you for this promise, a reminder that the things

we have, the possessions, the ability to work,

it's not our own. It's yours. And Lord, help

us in all that we do to put you first, to seek

you, to seek your desire. Help us to find ways

that we can serve somebody else. And help us

to store up our treasure in heaven as we live

our life for you and find ways to help others.

Be with each one of us here this week. May we

live our life in a way that reflects your love

and glory to someone else. In your name we pray.