Kingdom Economics | Store Up

We continue this sermon series, Stored Up, where

we're looking at the gospel treasures and how

does Jesus talk about money, because he does,

as much as maybe we don't like to talk about

it or it can become a real tense thing in the

church. Jesus talks about it a lot because wealth

looked different back then as it does in 2025.

We talked a little bit about that two weeks ago

and last week, but I want to start with a question.

I remember when Carrie and I were kind of thinking

we were ready to start having kids, one of the

conversations we talked about is, will we do

allowance? How many of you grew up getting, and

I was about to say making, no, getting an allowance?

How many people were expected to do things and

the money was just kind of there or it wasn't?

Yep, okay. So what kind of things did you have

to do for the allowance? Half of you rose your

hands, so yeah. Wash the car, right? You did

a poor job. So Mike didn't make much, but okay,

he had to wash a car. Carry out the garbage.

That's one the boys have to do, right? Like,

you can walk. You're doing garbage now. Karen

and I are not doing it, okay? They started that

young. Others? Mow the lawn. Do the dishes. Scrub

the toilet. All right. Wow. Yeah. Kind of like

prison. Good job. Others. Feed the dog, right?

If the dog dies, that's on you, and you don't

get an allowance. Anyone else? What kind of things,

if you were in more of the second school of thought,

you just kind of had to do it and the money was

going to be there? Kind of the same kind of things?

Or did those go a little deeper? Did you have

to do other things? How many were babysitters?

And, you know, babysit brothers and sisters.

You got paid for that normally, right? All of

those kind of things. But even at an early age.

And this is something that, you know, Karen and

I came from two different school of thoughts,

right? I had a single mom where I was in like

third, fourth, and fifth grade. And so, you know,

we had to help around the house. And the allowance

would be there if we did that. We had chore charts,

all of those things. And I remember just, you

know, putting my Walkman on my hip and just blasting

Green Day while I was scrubbing the toilets poorly.

But I still did it. Right? They were still usable.

And, you know, those kind of things were care

had more of. There were just expectations of

the house that you did. The house needs to function.

And you have a part in that. And then if you

needed stuff, then it would be there. Right?

Wants, needs, all those kind of things. But just

at a young age, how early did you start allowances?

Think about it. What age were you when that started

in your household? Just shout it out. Some of

you have to go way back. I get it. Anybody? How

old were you when allowance and chores were expected?

In the back. Five. You were five years old. Wow.

Okay. Others? Last year. Okay. That's from a

seventh grader. So sixth grade. Okay. Eight?

Yeah. So, I mean. It's not like, hey, you got

your first tooth, go vacuum, right? It wasn't

that. But at a very young age, we are taught,

work for what you will get. Right? Work for the

money and then you will be able to do things.

And again, not a bad thing. There's a stewardship

in that. Right? And I don't know about you, but

we grew up with a bank where it had like little

slots. So if we got $5, I'm going to butcher

this math, but you understand. Right? 10 % would

go in this little column. I think it was like

60 or 70 % would go in savings and then whatever

you have left. It also then grew me, my understanding

of taxes and how that felt. Especially when you

got into the work world and you're like, Like,

who's FICA? Why is he getting all my money? And

all of those kind of things. But at a very young

age, we're taught that money makes a difference.

And then you get to things like high school or

maybe college. How many of you have ever taken

a basic economics class? Maybe you had to do

it in high school or college or grad school.

But there's the law of scarcity. Does anyone

know what the law of scarcity is? I'll put lunch

on this. It's something like supply and demand.

Okay, you don't get the food. We're not even

in the parking lot. Value increases as it becomes

less available. We've ordered, but they've not

brought the food yet. Say it in a different way.

You just said basically the same thing, but that

works. I like it. There's only so much to go

around. You just said it in a far more intelligent

way than I can up here, so I appreciate that,

but you come to expect that, all of you. But

that's the economy of the world. There is only

so much to go around. But Jesus, and what we're

going to see in the Gospel of Mark, which, again,

selfishly is my favorite gospel because it's

kind of the Reader's Digest version of the Gospels,

but I like what he brings into the narrative.

Jesus operates with a completely different model.

In Jesus' kingdom, what his teaching of his kingdom

values are, money is a part of kingdom values.

Don't ever get that twisted. finances and what

we do with them and what they mean to us and

how dear we hold on to them, right, is kingdom

value conversation. In his kingdom, what you

give away is never truly lost. In fact, Jesus

says, the more you release, the more you will

receive. But about half of us just went to, well,

that's not true, because you're looking at money

differently than Jesus did. The more you release,

the more you receive, Not always in your bank

balance, but in joy, in freedom, in relationships,

and ultimately the eternal reward. Our passage

today, what we're going to read, just a simple

couple of verses in the Gospel of Mark. In this

text, we're going to follow, it kind of comes

right off the rich young ruler. Remember that

story, the one who walked away from Jesus sorrowful?

And we talked about that. That man walked away

from Jesus because his wealth felt too heavy

to let go. But Jesus now turns to his disciples

and explains just how upside down his kingdom

is compared to even the kingdom of that time.

Even more so, in my opinion, in 2025. And what

his kingdom economics really are. So let's dive

in. We're going to be in Mark 10, verse 23 through

Mark 10:23–27

27 to start. The difficulty of the rich. We had

a very similar heading last week when we were

talking about the rich man. So the difficulty

of the rich. So let's dive in, starting with

verse 23. And Jesus looked around and said to

his disciples, how difficult it will be for those

who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.

And the disciples were amazed at his words. But

Jesus said to them, children, how difficult it

is to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier

for a camel to go through the eye of a needle

than a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.

And they were exceedingly astonished and said

to him, then who can be saved? Jesus looked at

them and said, with man it is impossible, but

with God, for all things are possible. But not

with God, for all things are possible with God.

Jesus looks around. After the rich young man

goes away, sorrowful, right? He looks around

and says, how difficult will it be for those

who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God?

And they are amazed. He repeats himself for emphasis.

Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom

of God. A little Bible 101. When Jesus repeats

himself, you should underline it in your Bible.

When Jesus repeats himself, you should highlight

it in your Bible because the repetition is driving

home his point. The Greek difficult, daskolios,

does not mean inconvenient. So it's not how inconvenient

it's going to be because that puts the ownership

on the person. That's not what Jesus is saying.

But what the Greek is saying is how obstructed,

how hard to navigate, like a roadblock with barriers

it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.

So read it again a different way. How obstructed

will it be for those who have wealth to enter

the kingdom of God? How hard to navigate will

it be for those who have wealth to enter the

kingdom of God? How roadblocked will it be for

the rich to enter the kingdom of God? I don't

know about you, but that changes the verse for

me. Obstructed, hard to navigate, roadblocked.

And then he doubles down with the camel passage,

right? It is easier for a camel to go through

the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter

the kingdom of God. We addressed the hyperbole

last week. Not about the special gate in Jerusalem.

It's a deliberate picture of impossibility. Though

they would have gone there in their mind. Or

maybe some of you are going to animal, little

pin, eye of a needle, of a sewing needle. What

Jesus is talking about is impossibility. It is

impossible for someone clinging to their wealth.

To enter the kingdom of God. You can't cram self

-reliance, greed, or idolatry through the narrow

way of God's kingdom. Let me say that again.

You cannot cram self -reliance, greed, or idolatry

through the narrow way of God's kingdom. Well,

pastor, how dare you? How dare you tell me that

I am self -reliant, greedy, and idolatrous when

it comes to my wealth? And to that I say, I never

did. Jesus does. And again, it's not a sin to

be wealthy. For those that have done it and done

it the right way, for those that are benevolent

in their wealth, that understand that their wealth

is not who they are, that is a healthy understanding

of wealth. And how do you know that? It's for

all of us that are not. Because the same temptation

holds true. Woe to me, look how poor I am. Look

how I don't have enough. And that can become

an identity as well. And both can lead you into

idolatry understandings of your relationship

with Jesus. You cannot cram self -reliance, greed,

and idolatry through the narrow way of God's

kingdom. The disciples, stunned, asked, well

then who can be saved? I think that's a fascinating

question by the disciples. Because these disciples,

all but maybe one or two, They weren't wealthy.

They were kind of middle class, blue collar workers.

Tax collector aside. But understand that they

ask who can be saved because Jesus needs them

to get to the heart of his message. And the kingdom

economics is brought into their heart with one

line. With man it is impossible, but not with

God. For all things are possible with God. So

what is Jesus actually saying there? In of ourselves,

we cannot identify without Jesus. For those of

us that are believers, our identity in Christ

comes first and foremost. I say that even about

our church. When I meet new people and they ask

like, oh, what church are you a part of? First

and foremost, I say, we believe in the gospel

of Christ. We are born again believers. Right?

That's easier to say that we are regenerated

believers, because that's a whole other conversation.

And in the right context, I'll use that. But

we are a part of the Christian Reformed Church

denomination. But we are Jesus followers first.

Why do I feel I can answer that? Some might be

like, why are you not putting the brand first?

Because the brand in the kingdom doesn't matter.

Because when you all get up to glory, When your

table is set, your room done, and you're standing

before the judgment, your judgment, what is God

going to see? He's going to see the denominational

building that we just sold a couple years ago

in Grand Rapids, Michigan. No, he is going to

see our book of church order. No, he's going

to see Heidelberg Catechism. No, he's going to

see Jesus. So first and foremost, we need to

be followers of Jesus. And what he's telling

his disciples is for man alone to identify is

impossible. With God, all things are possible.

That Jesus is the one that is going to be defining

you. Peter, right? Peter's statement in classic

Peter fashion, right? Mr. Open mouth, insert

foot, I know I identify, blurts out. See, we

have left everything to follow you. Let's jump

into verse 28. Verse 28, Peter began to say to

him, see, we have left everything and followed

you. Jesus said, truly I say to you, there is

no one who has left house or brothers or sisters

or mother or father or children or land for my

sake and for the gospel who will not receive

a hundredfold now in this time. Houses and brothers

and mothers and children and lands with persecutions

and in the age to come eternal. Life. Classic

Peter. See, we've done all this. It's almost

like he's fishing for reassurance. And who is

he trying to fish against? We're following you.

We're doing the things. He's trying to juxtapose

himself to the rich guy. We're not like him.

We're not like him. We do this. We do this. I

literally just described all of us. We do that.

using other words and in other ways with other

motivations, we always like to compare our religion,

our relationship with Jesus against somebody

else's. And it can be, we think in grand kind

of puffy chest ways. Like, look what they wear

to church. I've never worn anything like that.

Or, wow, they do sports on the weekends. We've

never done anything like that. We do it all the

time. And we believe that churches are made up

of this judgmental caste system. And guess what?

That's what the world sees, friends. And that's

not a good thing. That what a church is, as I

prayed, a hospital for the sick, lighthouse for

wayward ships. If we believe that prayer, how

many of you believe that prayer? Guess what you

just called yourself? Sick and wayward. You're

in good company because we all are. Yet the disciples.

They're all, especially Peter, right? James and

John, they always try to kind of nuzzle up against

Jesus because they think they'll get some kind

of apostolic brownie points. But that never works

out for Peter. How do we know? Because at the

end, he denies him three times and gets disowned

and has to be restored. But Jesus doesn't scold

Peter for this. Instead, he affirms and expands

on the promise. Have you ever been asking something

for Jesus? from Jesus in your life, whether it's

finances or relationship or comfort or peace.

And not only does Jesus or God grant it, he gives

you just that little extra. It happens a lot

in my life. And what does it do? It causes me

to praise him and feel about this big that I

doubted he could do it in the beginning. There

is no one. who has left house or brothers or

sisters or mother or father or children or land

for my sake and for the gospel, who will not

receive a hundredfold now in this time and in

the age to come eternal life. So Jesus uses a

weird word. He uses this word a hundredfold,

and some people may look at that and go, whoa,

whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. That seems like prosperity

gospel. That seems like if I do all these things,

I'm going to get a hundredfold of... You're already

thinking it. Prosperity gospel says, if I do

the things, then I'm going to get the... Okay,

go deeper than reward. Money. That if I give,

a hundredfold it's going to come back to me.

In money. Jesus doesn't promise that. That is

not what a hundredfold means. Jesus is not introducing

prosperity gospel. He's speaking not about funds.

He's speaking of relational, communal, and spiritual

abundance. How do we know? Because, friends,

you've heard it before. I've said it, I think,

each sermon so far. When it comes to money, we

can't take it with us. Why in the world would

Jesus promise us a hundredfold dollars if we're

going to be called home tomorrow? If you're in

glory tomorrow for whatever reason, guess what

you're not bringing with you? Any of the stuff

here. So Jesus isn't talking about the money.

He's talking about relational, communal, and

spiritual abundance that comes of being part

of the kingdom of God. Yes, there's joy in giving,

but there are also new families, new purposes,

new ministries, internal securities that far

outweigh the temporary loss of giving it up.

And for some of us, We look at, a little rabbit

trail, we look at fasting that way. I just talked

with someone who's fasting about kind of getting

ready to go on mission for eight months, doing

a very unique ministry in Western Africa. And

he's doing a fast for a very specific reason.

And I asked, what are you looking to get out

of this fast? And he goes, well, at first it

was because I need, I think he needs like $9

,000 to do the mission. He goes, at first I thought

I was fasting so then that money would come in.

And he goes, within a couple days, I knew that

wasn't the case. It was having a deeper understanding

and love for the word of God because that's what

he's going to bring to the people of Western

Africa. He's not going to go and hand out checks,

right? He's not Ed McMahon. Hey -oh! How many

people get that reference? How many people don't?

You're all under 40. And so understand that he's

bringing the word of God. That's what he wanted

to, he wanted to fast so he could cling to that.

And he goes, I just trust that the funds are

going to be there. Friend, that's kingdom economics.

That's exactly what Jesus is talking about. That

when we lose or we give or whatever, we can't

worry about that. We have to trust that when

we're giving, when we donate, when we tithe,

when we do all these things, time, talents, and

treasures, God's going to use that. And we can

bank on it because his word says, Jesus says

he will. What's interesting is that now in this

time reference that Jesus has, refers to the

community of believers. It's not the individual

wants, but what the needs of the community are.

What the church is meant to be. If you lose a

family because of your faith, you gain the global

family of Christ. You ever thought about that?

Maybe that's part of your story. that you've

become a believer and maybe your family is not,

and all of a sudden those relationships become

choppy. Maybe since you've maybe been baptized

or joined a church or whatever, some of your

family are shooting arrows at you because of

it, for whatever reason. My guess is because

they were hurt by church at one point in their

life. But what Jesus is saying is that's going

to happen. That persecution is going to come,

but you will gain so much more. If you give up

your land or your security for the sake of the

gospel, you will find yourself rich in the fellowship

and provision of God's people. You see where

the economics of the kingdom are now looking

really different? And friend, you know how comfortable

it is to preach this, knowing that in probably

a month and a half, two months, we're going to

vote on a building project? Yeah, it feels good

to be up here talking about this. Because would

I love to see it happen? Sure. And do I think

God could use that? Absolutely. And could I totally

go, see, Jesus wants you to give to the building

project. That would be a total misread of the

scripture. That's called eisegeting, and preachers

should never do it. Hopefully I don't. But what

I do have to bring you is what Jesus is reminding

us of when we give, it will be returned to us,

just not dollar for dollar, but life for life,

relationship for relationship, gospel for gospel.

That is kingdom economics. In the age to come,

eternal life, the only return on investment is

something massive. It's eternal. Think about

that. When you invest in the kingdom of God,

you are investing in something eternal. I know

this much about the stock market. Right? That

much. But I know that when you give, you want

to give to things that you're going to make money

back. Right? I think I understand some of that.

Right? We have that mindset. How do I know? Because

when I was in third grade and my chore was to

do the laundry, I knew that I had to do it in

order to get my $6 or whatever it was. From a

very young age, we are taught to give or do or

work to get. You all work in your jobs. And in

some ways, pastors do too, right? To make a living.

And that's not a bad thing. There's stewardship

in that. There's hard work in that. Colossians

says, whatever you do, whatever you do in life,

do for the glory of God. And we can do that.

It's when we become misers. It's when we want

to hoard. It's when we want to sit on our wealth.

Because we think our wealth defines us, that

we lose the kingdom understanding of finances,

of time, of talents and treasures. I love how

Jesus kind of throws in there. Did you all catch

that? The word persecution? The inclusion of

persecutions. Jesus includes with persecutions

in the list. Because when you give and the kingdom

of God grows, when you invest and the investment

is found true, just like we prayed in the prayer

today, someone hates that, and that's Satan.

That's the darkness of the world. Kingdom economics

doesn't promise a trouble -free life. That's

a different level of prosperity gospel. Isn't

it funny? Even prosperity preachers don't even

go down that road because you can't. Kingdom

economics doesn't promise a trouble -free life.

It promises a full life. Sacrifice for Christ

will be met with both joy and opposition, with

both blessing and cost. Would I love it? If our

general contractor and all the subs would understand

what we're trying to do and go, you know what,

we're just going to donate everything for free.

That would be on par with Loaves and Fish Miracle

and Jim Lasaudus' lasagna. I mean, that would

be on par with all of that. How many people think

that's going to happen? Exactly. That sometimes

it's going to cost. There's blessing. There's

cost. But there's also something else when it

comes to the persecutions of life. And it's something

we all need and none of us can pay for it. I

don't care how wealthy you are. And that's grace.

That the kingdom lends, right? Kingdom economics

can be kind of said in one phrase, grace over

scarcity. The kingdom doesn't run on scarcity.

The kingdom runs on grace. And we all should

give a hearty amen because I don't care how much

money you have, you can't buy it. What does that

mean? Thank you. What does that mean? It means

three things. You can't out -give God. Your obedience

is never wasted, and the ultimate reward is not

here, but it's in the age to come. The Belgian

Confession, Article 24, reminds us that good

works flow from a true faith, and that God rewards

that. Not because they earn salvation, but because

he graciously crowns his own gifts. And that's

what you and I are. This passage reinforces that

salvation is God's work from start to finish.

The impossible is made possible by his grace

alone. And every act of surrender is caught up

into that greater plan. When we surrender our

finances, right? And that doesn't mean that you're

just living on zero. But when you surrender the

temptation to have your finances define you and

go, God, what do you want me to do with this?

You have blessed me, so let me bless others.

And maybe you haven't been blessed financially.

You still need to have the same mindset. Where

can I give? What can I do with this? How can

I be good stewards? That's all part of kingdom

economics. It's all part of his grace. So how

do we live this way? I forgot to make a slide,

so I'll go slow. How do we live by kingdom economics

today, 2025? Hold your possessions loosely. If

it's God's, you can't lose it. If it's not God's,

you can't keep it. Let me say that again. If

it's God's, you can't lose it. If it's not God's,

you can't keep it. I've used this analogy before.

Dave Sanders, one of my professors and mentors

of life, was a military helicopter pilot. And

he always gave this teaching. That a lot of times

people think when a helicopter is going kind

of crazy, you have to hold on to it really, really,

really, really tight. And he goes, that is the

worst way to pilot a helicopter. You have to

let the helicopter do its job. You can't over

grip. So hold your possessions loosely too. Trust

God's abundance. Scarcity thinking keeps us tight

fisted. Grace thinking brings us to open hands.

Third, invest in eternal dividends. Time, relationships,

acts of service, generosity toward mission, these

all have eternal rewards. Four, expect both blessing

and opposition. Why? Friends, Jesus promised

both. Don't be surprised when generosity brings

joy and costs. And fifth, rejoice. in the family

of God. Your greatest wealth is being a part

of a body of Christ. And on a personal note,

I am honored that you choose this church. You

don't have to, right? There are many other, just

going on Ridge Road, there are many other wonderful

churches. But for whatever reason, you want to

be a part of this family of faith. If we all,

if this church can live by kingdom economics,

we can have that grace and we can rejoice. Why?

Because we have Christ, the true treasure and

the greatest return. And I'll land the plane

here. Jesus himself is the embodiment of kingdom

economics. He left heaven's glory for earthly

poverty. He surrendered all so we could inherit.

inherit eternal life. He gave his life so we

could gain eternal life. If he is our treasure,

Munster Church, no loss is too great, no gift

too costly, and no sacrifice too heavy. Go back

last week. The rich young ruler couldn't imagine

life without his wealth. The disciples left everything,

yet found everything. The difference is kingdom

economics. Seeing the world through the lens

of scarcity or through the eyes of the abundance

of God's grace. So my final question before I

pray. Will you cling to what you can't keep or

invest in what you can never lose? Let's pray.