The Weight of Wealth | Store Up

And we're looking at one of the only interactions

prior to Passion Week, which is the week of Jesus'

death, or arrest, beaten, death, resurrection,

that holy week where we have Maundy Thursday,

Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Palm Sunday, the

Sunday before. It's one of the only interactions

that Jesus has where we would say the outcome

is not kind of consistent with... Jesus' healings

and his teachings and all of those things. Because

more times than not, those have pretty happy

endings. Endings that we go, man, look at what

he did by feeding the 5 ,000 or raising Lazarus

from the dead. After four days, we know what

that meant now from the sermon over Lent. This

is an interaction that Jesus has that unfortunately

I probably resonate myself with the most. Because

I've never died to be raised in, that's something

you eat, to be rose back to life, or however

you say it, you get it. Or my friends lowering

me down to put me in front of Jesus because I

couldn't walk. Those are wonderful stories, but

to resonate with one of those, like walking on

water, never have tried that. This one does.

And it's really convicting that this is one of

the interactions that someone has with Jesus

where that desired outcome of just grace and

mercy and to change lives isn't there. So we're

going to jump in. Matthew 19, verse 16 through

Matthew 19:16–24

24. Give you a minute to find it or to look it

up. Or again, we have it on the screen. Again,

we use the English Standard Version here, but

use whatever version of the Bible you want. It's

just going to read different. Where Matthew writes,

And behold, a man came to him, him being Jesus,

saying, Teacher. What good deed must I do to

have eternal life? And Jesus, he said to him,

why do you ask about what is good? There is only

one who is good. If you would enter life, keep

the commands. He said to him, which ones? And

Jesus said, you shall not murder, you shall not

commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall

not bear false witness, honor your father and

mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

The young man said to him, all these I have kept.

What do I still lack? Jesus said to him, if you

would be perfect, go sell what you possess and

give it to the poor, and you will have treasure

in heaven. And come, follow me. When the young

man heard this, he went away sorrowful, for he

had great possessions. And Jesus said to his

disciples, truly I say to you, only with difficulty

will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven.

Again, I tell you. It is easier for a camel to

go through the eye of a needle than for a rich

person to enter the kingdom of God. Already you

hear, you feel this weight. You have this guy

coming to Jesus asking good questions. Good questions.

We're going to break that down. But there is

a weight. And I think we can kind of sense it

in the text. And one of the things we have to

understand is wealth is heavier than it looks.

Let me just pose a question. You know, that age

-old question, what would you do if you won the

lottery? And, you know, two -thirds of you, we

got to play to win first, and I'm pretty sure

that's how that goes. But think about it. What

would you do? Let's just say the lottery is $30

million. What would you do if you won the lottery?

Now, take a second. Again, I'm not going to try

to figure out the tax stuff, but let's just say

roughly half of it, right, has to go to the government.

So that's $15 million. That's a pretty good day,

right, winning $15 million. I don't know if anyone's

going to scoff at that. But what would you do

with it? Who has the courage to answer? You wouldn't

win, so you wouldn't buy the ticket. You're part

of that two -thirds. You would buy land, okay?

Anyone else? Huh? The Vanderwood church edition

would go up. Absolutely. Right? We'd have a statue

of Nancy like Michael Jordan in the United Center.

Right? Tongue out. Thank you. Okay. We'd put

the edition on. I appreciate that. That's great.

That's a verbal contract binding in the state

of Indiana. Right? Good. What? Pay off friends'

college debts starting with your wife. Right?

Yeah, absolutely. Hannah, if you're watching,

you're welcome. Okay. Others? I don't remember

anything of what you just said. Just hire a team

to do life for you. Okay. Very good. Others?

Travel. Where would you go? Huh? Evansville.

Great. Others? Oh, anywhere. The mind hears what

it wants. Anywhere else? Own a baseball facility.

Yeah, that would be, yeah. The Adams Baseball

Academy. That sounds great. We'll put it in the

Vanderwood Arena. Anyone else? Thank you. Tithe.

None of you said tithe, right? Thank you. Give

back. You meant tithe, right? Just say yes. Yes,

you did. Okay. Like. There's a lot you could

do, but, you know, tithing 10 % on $15 million,

Dan? 1 .5, good, okay. We could do a lot with

that. Wealth is heavier than it looks because

there's a lot that goes on. You read stories

about people who win the lottery. It's not all

rainbows and sunshine. There's actually a sense

of depression that comes because of the weight

of wealth that's different than those that have

maybe worked their business and saved well and

earned the wealth that way or kind of generational

wealth of family that may have that. That is

different than all of a sudden, boom, a one lump

sum or if you take it over how many years. But

wealth is heavier than it looks. How do I know?

Because I'm going to ask the question, how many

of you in the last 48 hours of your life have

thought about your money situation at all, positively

or negatively? That's more than went to Ileana.

Okay? Wealth is heavier than it looks. Have you

ever carried something that didn't seem heavy

until you tried to walk with it for a while?

You might pick it up, and it doesn't seem heavy

at the time. It was three or six years ago. We

were at our family reunion in Ludington. Last

day we leave, and we go to the Big Sable Point

Lighthouse, something like that, that's just

north of there. And it's like, Nikki, you've

been there. What kind of walk is that from the

parking lot? 1 .5 miles. And so at that time

we had younger kids, and we're like, it'll be

fine. We didn't really bring anything, right?

Halfway through that, the sun's beating down.

I'm carrying a kid like this. Another kid's on

my back. Carrie's carrying a kid. Like, we're

a half of a, like, and this really goes in contrast

to the seven -mile hike we took this past summer.

We've grown. But we thought we were going to

die, right? Because it was like we did not plan

well for this wait. The kids didn't want to walk

anymore, so we're carrying them. Thank God my

cousin Jeremy and his wife were coming back,

and we felt like beggars. I think they gave us

$11 for water for when we go to the lighthouse.

It was not the greatest day for the Holland owners.

But the weight seemed to get heavier over time

because we didn't plan well. We didn't have a

strategy for it. The more you carry, the harder

it becomes to follow. The more you cling, the

less you trust. And that's the tension, the weightiness

that we feel in our text today. What good deed

must I do to have eternal life? Not inherently

a bad question, right? Not a bad question. This

guy is sincere. He's a moral man. He's successful.

The text gives us all of that. He's not testing

Jesus like a Pharisee. He wants a real answer.

This is legitimate. This is a legitimate question.

And Jesus gives him the answer, but in Jesus'

fashion, it's not the answer he was expecting.

It wasn't the answer he was looking for. But

friends, this story that we share today and we

want to learn from today is a warning. But it's

also a window, okay? It's a warning, also a window.

I'll get there. It invites us to ask the question

today, Munster Church as a whole, as a collective,

but also individually, what am I holding on that's

too heavy? to carry into the kingdom of God.

So let's start with the guy. Let's start with

this man. He's a good man. He's a good man with

a divided heart. The man asks, what good deed

must I do? The Greek phrasing here is interesting.

It frames salvation, this idea of what must I

do, transactionally. If I do this, then I get

this. That's not grace. Right, that's more of

a earned salvation. That is a works righteousness.

There's that transaction which if we're being

honest, we go to that in our lives all the time.

If I do this, I expect this. If I do this for

my spouse, I expect this for my spouse, even

though you never tell her and she can't read

your mind. Verbal expectations, different sermon

series. But understand that we have transactional

hearts, which is really, really sad because we're

a church and we're believers that really buy

grace. We buy into the idea of grace. Grace is

what saved us. For it is by grace you have been

saved through faith, not of your own works. Why?

So we don't boast about it because we so would.

If we've earned our salvation, I'd be standing

up on the mountaintops going, I did this for

me. I wrote a book. Buy it. So you can do the

same formula. That's the heart this guy has.

It's a divided heart. Jesus redirects him. Why

do you ask me what is good? Isn't there only

one who is good? Jesus points him away from personal

to God. It's not about you, but it's about the

character and the divine nature of God. The man

responds to Jesus' list of commandments and says,

I've done all of these. I've kept all of these.

And Jesus doesn't challenge him. Jesus doesn't

go, false. Nope, that's wrong. He doesn't challenge

him on that. Instead, he goes after the one thing

the man is not expecting. Reading scholars, reading

kind of my own, I think, and I don't want this

to step on any toes, but I have found 20 years

in, Those individuals and families, there seems

to be a theme of those that are definitely more

well -to -do, right, tend to want to step into

situations or challenge authority or whatever

in a very different way than families that don't.

That there's an understanding of wealth and socioeconomics

that can go into our mindset as far as how we

engage and interact not only in situations but

with individuals of authority. One of the things

that you see sometimes in churches is when you

have just the wealthy in leadership positions,

there seems to be a disconnect with the common

man. And a council is only as good as its relatability

to the church because it is the leadership that

speaks for the church. I'd like to think we do

that in a healthy way here at Munster Church.

We don't always get it right, but that's why

there's grace. But Jesus goes after the one thing

the man doesn't expect. His wealth. Because his

wealth has become his identity. Doing good, following

the commandments, seeking forgiveness when you

break them, should be our identity. That's grace.

That's faithfulness. That's righteousness. But

Jesus goes right after his wealth. So here comes

the command. Jesus turns this teaching real quick.

The command. If you would be perfect, go and

sell what you possess and give it to the poor,

and you will have treasure in heaven. And come,

follow me. The word perfect here, teleios, in

the Greek, means not flawless, but whole, complete,

and undivided. If you would be flawless, if you

would be whole, if you would be complete, if

you would be undivided, Sell what you possess

and give it to the poor. Jesus isn't giving a

general requirement for all the disciples, but

a personal invitation completely wrapped up for

this guy. He's giving him the personal invitation

to do something that's very, very important.

To unshackle his heart. He's kept all the righteousness.

He's done all the things. He says that to Jesus,

but Jesus goes, brother, there's still something

that is shackling your heart, chaining up you

from living the best life you can in me, in Jesus.

It's your wealth. For this man, wealth had become

not only an idol, it became his security, it

became his identity, and maybe... It became his

hope. That's why I think I can relate. The hope

of wealth, right? The hope of having eternal

security. The hope of one day not worrying about

food on the table, clothes on your back, all

of those things, whether those are irrational

or rational fears at times or things you walk

through in life. But it's the hope that is found

in what he possesses. The scriptures made it

very clear. He owns a lot of stuff. I'd love

to know what it was, right? We'd love to get

a little sneak peek into his finances or into

his, you know, the storage bins that he has.

Was it grains? Was it meat? Was it clothing?

Was it jewelry? We don't know. But the scriptures

tell us it was a lot. I kind of get the sense,

and it's probably not right, of like a hoarder,

a hoarder of possessions. He doesn't seem like

that because he seems like an upright, he seems

like a good guy. Yet his possessions, his wealth,

became his hope. Jesus is not calling him to

poverty. He's calling him to priority. There's

the difference. Sell whatever you have and give

it to the poor. He doesn't say, so you become

poor. He says, but then come and follow me. Because

what is one thing that he promises his disciples

the entire time they follow him, those three

and a half years? I've got you. Come and follow

me. The shepherd provides for the sheep. So the

wealthy man, the rich man, is being invited to

become a sheep following a shepherd. But what's

tripping him up in order to do that? All his

stuff. So if you really kind of break this down,

his security, his identity, maybe even his hope,

it's not Jesus isn't saying, hey, I want you

to engage your poverty. He's not telling him

that. He wants Jesus to be the priority above

and beyond his stuff. And not just Jesus, but

following Jesus. If I'm a Pharisee and I hear

this, I'm getting very upset because now Jesus

is placing himself. As the superseding of the

law, the Ten Commandments, the book of Moses.

So there's something else going on in the background.

He is saying, let go of what is holding you back

and trust me. And friends, we know that that's

hard. But we've all, if you've grown up in Reformed

circles at all, right? We're a confessional church.

We have this Heidelberg Catechism thing. And

my favorite one, probably all of ours, question

answer one, reminds us that I am not my own.

I'm not my own. That should be one of the greatest

clarifications, identity, definers of your life,

my life, and the life of the church. We are not

our own. I don't belong to my sinful self, though

I war against it daily, but I belong. Hey, the

lonely, I see you, you belong. Hey, the insecure,

I see you, I bring you along. Hey, the poor,

I see you, I bring you along. Hey, the rich,

sell your stuff, come and be, belong. To who?

My faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. But in my opinion,

verse 22 is one of the saddest in the entire

scriptures. When the young man heard this, he

went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

He just met with the living God, the Messiah,

the one who had done some amazing things up to

this point. And he walks away sorrowful, because

Jesus doesn't give him what he wants. I'm sorry,

I think I just defined all of our relationships

with Jesus at times. That there are times in

our lives, in our testimonies, in our walks with

the Lord, we walk away sorrowful or perplexed

or even angry or doubtful because we're not getting

what we want. That prayer goes unanswered the

way we want it answered. But the Heidelberg Catechism

should remind us always, it's not about what

you want. It's about who you belong to. Because

that is the identity and the definition of your

life that you need the most. Which is why we

have the command, but now the teaching. And the

teaching is just as hard. It's hard for the rich.

Jesus says to his disciples, only with difficulty

will a rich person enter the kingdom of God.

Why do you think that is? Let's poll the audience

for a second. Why do you think he starts with

that? I'll read it again. Only with difficulty

will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven

or the kingdom of God. Why do you think that

is? Why does Jesus start that teaching that way?

Anybody haven't, I thought? Because they're shackled

down, okay? Yeah. So back in that day and age,

you probably had to beat down. Yeah. That if

it was all in stuff, and we learned last week

where people tried to hide it in their walls

and all that kind of stuff, there wasn't big

banks, there wasn't big vaults, it was probably

a full -time job to people not steal stuff of

yours. So that's a chaotic life just to begin

with. Only with difficulty will a rich person

enter the kingdom of God. I heard over here pride.

Why pride? You think, oh, you're not done. Go

ahead. You come up and finish it. Just bring

it home. Your name is Jim. It works, right? It's

right on, right? Because when you have a lot

of stuff that's very different than having a

lot in savings, right? That's a sermon about

just being a miser. But understand that if you

have a lot of stuff, you're believing you're

the one getting it all. You're the one buying

it all. It's not, you know, the different things,

whatever it is, isn't coming down like manna

from heaven into your driveway, into your garage,

into your storage bins, whatever it is. You think

you're doing it. That's why this teaching is

so hard. Then he doubles down. It is easier for

the camel to go through an eye of a needle, right?

Whether you're looking at the needle or the little

gate in front of the city. We've talked about

that years ago in a sermon. Or an eye of a needle

of a pin. Both understandings help. One's just

cultural and one's just kind of day and age now.

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye

of a needle than a rich person to enter the kingdom.

Because they have to drop their identity. It's

like that for every sin. The image isn't about

squeezing, it's about impossibility. The largest

animal in the Palestine world going through the

smallest opening, it's a hyperbole that should

bring shock and awe. Because it's just not possible.

So what Jesus is saying, it is not possible.

for the rich to remain rich, so to speak, in

their spirit, in their identity. Now, if you're

rich and you give it away, different story. Again,

it's not a sin to be rich, but it's how you got

that way and what your identity is about it.

Jesus is not saying wealth is evil. Hear that.

But he is saying that wealth can weigh down your

soul. 90 % of you rose your hand. That, you know,

in the last 48 hours you thought or looked or

had an anxiety about your finances of some way,

shape, or form. Not all of us, if any of us,

are rich, right? But it's still weighing you

down. I've told you the story that I would start

most mornings checking the bank account and it

started ruining my day. Because all of a sudden

I just started thinking financially throughout

the day. You start with God's word. You start

with a scripture. You start with a devotion.

You start with kissing your wife. You start with

seeing your kids. Those are better ways to start.

But Jesus is not saying that wealth is evil,

but that wealth can weigh down the soul. And

that wealth often competes. Here we go. Wealth

often competes with the same space that our hearts

have. Only for God. Because God should be our

identity. God should be in that pilot seat of

your life. Yet a lot of times finances can find

their way there. Belgian Confession Article 24

reminds us that true faith is always accompanied

by surrender. And good works. Not in earned salvation,

but to reflect that we've been joined with Christ.

Hear that. It's not works righteousness. It's

surrender first. We just sung about it a couple

minutes ago. Surrendering everything. You can

have it all, Lord. Every part of my world. Why

are we giving it to God? Easy. Because with God,

all things are possible. The disciples are stunned.

Who then can be saved? Jesus replies, with man

this is impossible, but with God all things are

possible. This is the gospel moment of the text.

Salvation is not about trying harder or giving

more. It's about completely surrendering all

that you have. Only God can change your heart.

Only God can remove the idol. Only God can break

the chains of the mammon. that we talked about

last week, that demon of wealth. We're going

to get to that later in this sermon series more

specifically. But understand, it's only a tighter

relationship with God, surrendering everything

to God, even the good things in life. Not just

all of our stuff, but surrendering our families.

Right? Whether it's your first or your twelfth.

Understand. We have to surrender. I have to surrender

my kids to God. It's what we do in baptism, right?

And it's not surrendering them for them to fend

for themselves, even though I'm sure some days

they think it feels that way. But that's what

happens when you say no. Understand, we have

to surrender every aspect. Why? Because everything

in life can become an idol. Whether you want

to be the greatest worker in your field, not

a bad aspiration. Can that become an idol? Absolutely.

When you start stepping on the people under you

to get there. Parenting can easily become an

idol. Sports can become an idol. All of these

things can become an idol. Things that take you

away from the body of Christ. Anything that is

going to take your focus off of Christ, guess

what? Is trying to become your idol. It is rooted

in sin. Friends, that's the gospel answer. That's

what Jesus is trying to get at. Salvation is

not about trying harder or giving more. It's

about surrendering completely to someone who

can change your heart, change your desires. Friends,

it's not bad to work hard and to earn that money.

It's not bad to get a large inheritance. It's

not bad to have a mindset where you want to be

good stewards of that. You're called to be. We

all are. So the first thing I think we need to

do, and this is hard, and I'm saying this to

myself first in the mirror. First thing we need

to do is let go of the weight. So what does this

story mean for us? Well, the question's got to

be asked. What do you cling to more tightly than

Jesus? It's a simple question to ask. It's a

hard question to answer. What are you clinging

to? You're clinging to power and authority? You're

clinging to your name? You're clinging to climbing

the corporate ladder? Are you clinging to that

more than you are Jesus? Where's your comfort?

In Jesus or in your safety net? Again, not bad

to have savings. Not bad to have a 401k. It's

not bad to have any of that. Or are you clinging

to it more than Jesus? Are you checking your

accounts more than you're checking in with God's

word? Or checking in with God in prayer? Are

you letting go of the weight? Or do you do it

when people are watching? Just like prayer. I'm

going to put it in God's hands. Come back. Wait

until everybody's gone. And then go pick it back

up. Or letting go of the weight for good. Do

you trust Christ fully? or only when it's convenient.

Friends, this is not a call to sell everything.

It's a call to surrender everything, to live

with open hands and an undivided heart. Now,

we don't know what happens to this man. I'd love

to think he gets saved. I would love to think

he sells it one day. But what if he didn't? What

if the stuff, the possession, What if he was

buried all with it like some Egyptian king? What

an absolute waste, right? What an absolute waste.

Again, if you're saving for your kids, kids,

kids, kids, kids, kids, kids, kids, and you can

do all that, fantastic. Please tithe. But understand,

it's not bad to save up for that and to have

all that ready to go. But this got in the way

of his salvation. He was standing face to face

with the living God and he walks away sorrowful.

Friend, is the son of the living God looking

at you right now? Is he saying you gotta let

this go? Whether it's this weird obsession or

attraction with wealth or stuff or success or

whatever it is. Believe me, we've asked that

question in the council room. Let us not hold

so tightly to this potential building project,

but hold it open -handed, asking God's will be

done. Knowing that over 300 of you, we're not

all going to agree on it. But what is God saying?

When you have clenched fists and hands over yours,

you can't hear it. You can't understand it. You're

not asking. Okay, pastor, this is great. I feel

awful, right? What do I need to do? Okay, let

it go. Great. How? Well, let's look to the one

who let go first. Jesus is not asking us to do

something he didn't already do. Huh? Think about

the life of Jesus. He left the riches of heaven

for the poverty of earth. One of my favorite

comedians, John Chris, does a bit, I think I've

talked about it before, about looking at the

Lazarus story from Lazarus' point of view. Maybe

you've seen the clip. Maybe you won't. I probably

won't do it justice. But like, you're in heaven,

right? You died. We know that. You're seeing

all your relatives. You're in the golden streets

or whatever Ray Bolt's saying about in the 80s.

Like, you're experiencing it. And like, how does

that work? Does like an angel come to your door?

Lazarus, we've never done this before, but you

have to go back down. Clearly I'm not doing it

justice because they laugh and you're all judging

me, and that's totally fine. But if you think

about it, play a little bit in your mind. He's

in glory. Jesus was in heaven. He was sitting

at the right hand of God the Father Almighty

who was there brooding over the waters, who hasn't

yet died for all of us. He leaves his riches

for heaven, of heaven, for the poverty of earth.

He emptied himself, Philippians tells us, taking

the form of a servant. How did he die? Not with

money, no home, no inheritance. Well, no, he

did have an inheritance. He had you and me. He

did all of that for you and me. He gave up everything

to gain you, to gain me, to call Munster Church

his bride. And he doesn't do that to burden you,

right? He's not like that person that loaned

you money years ago and always kind of reminds

you, even though you paid them off with their

family member or friend years ago, but they're

always, you know, or you do that one favor, right?

It's like, you know, if you ask someone to move,

get ready. For help with that, get ready. You're

going to get asked nine times over. It just happens.

Jesus doesn't do any of that. He gave up everything

to gain you, not to burden you or me, but to

free us. Because couldn't Jesus do that? In whatever

sin you committed this week, couldn't Jesus just

whisper in your ear, hey, I didn't die for you

to do that. He doesn't guilt you, right? He may

convict your heart, but he doesn't place it over

you. He says, no, come to me because my burden

is light. The stuff the world's going to give

you is heavy. My burden is light. He does this

not to burden you, friend, but to free you. So

what does this look like? We'll land the plane

here. What would it look like to trust God more

than your possessions? Are you willing to let

go of anything that competes? Anything that competes

with Christ for your heart? Money, sports, status,

family, all of those things. Are you willing

to let it go? Anything that competes with Christ

for your heart? Because friends, that's what

Jesus is inviting us to do today. To walk with

Jesus, not sorrowfully, but in surrendering.

To lay down the weight of wealth and to pick

up something much, much better. The joy of salvation

in Christ following his example every day.