Money, Meaning, & the Myth of More | Charles Zimmerman | Calvary Church

Well, we're going to read from a few p a

few chapters of Ecclesiastes and then

I'm going to uh try to help you tie the

theme together of uh money, meaning the

myth of more. So, if you turn to chapter

4, all these aren't on the screen. Turn

to chapter 4 and I'm going to read a few

verses there. I'm going to start with

verse five and I'm going to read through

verse eight. And here's the parable that

we're going to percolate on in just a

few minutes. So you want to think about

this.

Fools fold their hands and ruin

themselves.

Better one handful with tranquility than

two handfuls with toil and chasing after

the wind. Again I saw something

meaningless under the sun. There was a

man all alone. He had neither son nor

brother. There was no end to his toil.

Yet his eyes were not content with his

wealth. "For whom am I toiling?" he

asked. "And why am I depriving myself of

enjoyment." "This too is meaningless, a

miserable business." All right, turn

over to chapter 5. And in that same

vein, I'm going to pick up reading in

verse 10.

Whoever loves money never has enough.

Whoever loves wealth is never satisfied

with their income.

This too is meaningless. As goods

increase, so do those who consume them.

And what bit benefit are them are they

to the owners except to feast their eyes

on them? The sleep of of a laborer is

sweet, whether they eat little or much.

But as for the rich, their abundance

permits them no sleep. I have seen a

grievous evil under the sun, wealth

hoarded to the harm of its owners. or

wealth lost through some misfortune, so

that when they have children, there is

nothing left for them to inherit.

Everyone comes naked from their mother's

womb. And as everyone comes, so they

depart. They take nothing from their

toil that they can carry in their hands.

Now, jump over to chapter six and let me

read the first few verses there. I have

seen another evil under the sun, and it

weighs heavily on mankind.

God gives some people wealth,

possessions, and honor so that they lack

nothing that their hearts desire.

But God does not grant them the ability

to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them

instead. This too is meaningless, a

grievous evil. A man may have a hundred

children and live many years. Yet, no

matter how long he lives, if he cannot

enjoy his prosperity and does not

receive proper burial, I say that a

stillborn child is better off than he.

It comes without meaning. It departs in

darkness, and in darkness its name is

shrouded. Though it never saw the sun or

knew anything, it has more rest than

does that man. Even if he lives a

thousand years twice over, but fails to

enjoy his prosperity, do not all go to

the same place. Everyone's toil is for

their mouth, yet their appetite is never

satisfied. What advantage have the wise

over fools? What do the poor gain by

knowing how to conduct themselves before

others? Better what the eye sees than

the roving of the appetite? This too is

meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

All right. How was that?

Well, before we get into some questions,

I want us to percolate on a parable.

I'm old school, so I remember the old

electric percolating coffee pots.

Remember those? Um, they actually made

the best coffee. Here's how it worked.

You plug this sucker in. You put the

coffee grounds up top. You filled the

bottom with water. And it had a long

tube that went down. The water at the

bottom would be heat to a boiling point.

it would rise through the tube and the

water would continue to circulate and

fall over the grounds. So over and over

and over again the water was getting

every last delicious morsel out of those

coffee grounds. Unlike a K cup, unlike a

drip coffee pot, just one time and it's

done. No, a percolator over and over and

over again. That's what we need to do

when it comes to the Bible. In fact,

that's not a bad metaphor for

meditation. How do we meditate? Well, we

percolate on it, right? Over and over

and over again, we run and we run. Okay.

Well, here's the parable I want us to

percolate on. When you think about

money, meaning in the myth of more,

here's the parable

from chapter 4. Fools fold their hands

and ruin themselves.

Better one handful with tranquility

than two handfuls with toil and chasing

after the wind.

Now, the context of that parable is of a

worker. And I read that early. I'm not

going to read it again. What did the

worker do? The worker toiled from sun up

till sun down. In fact, before the sun

came up, he was working. After the sun

went down, he was working. He had two

handfuls of work. He was a workaholic.

He never stopped. But he was alone. He

had no brother, had no son, had no one

to inherit. He worked and worked and

worked to accumulate. That was the

that's the context of the parable. What

does the parable say? If you fold your

hands and do no work, you'll come to

ruin. How many proverbs speak to that?

How much of the Bible speaks to that?

It's not wise to be idol. We were built

to work. We're made in the image of God

and God's a worker. What does God do in

the beginning of the Bible? He works. He

creates everything that exists. He

works. He then makes human beings in his

image and he calls those human beings to

work. He gives them purposeful, honest,

hard work to do. So if you fold your

hands and you don't work, you'll come to

ruin because we're built to work. God

gave us gifts. God gave us passions. God

gave us abilities. And he calls us to

work. Work to serve him and work to

benefit and serve other people. And if

you're not working at all, you'll come

to ruin. I kind of jokingly said at the

beginning, some of you may have

inherited a whole lot. And what do you

do? You fold your hand. How My guess is,

we're not going to name names. My guess

is each of you know someone or you've

heard stories of those that inherited a

lot. They don't work. What do they do?

They fold their hands and pretty much

ruin their lives.

Isn't that right? When you fold your

hands and do no work since we were built

to work, you come to ruin. Now, on the

other extreme,

this is the example of the worker in the

verses that surround this. He has two

hands of work. He's working all the

time. Sun up, sun down, every hour. He

has no time for people, no mention of a

spouse, no mention of family members, no

mention of friends, no mention of

acquaintances because he's working.

Two hands for work. But what's better,

one hand full of work because we're

built to work and one hand to enjoy

people, love, and serve God beside the

work. So one hand for work, one hand for

relationship.

That is the best picture. Don't fold

your hands and do no work. Don't work

with two hands so you have no time and

energy for anything else. One hand for

work, one hand for enjoyment, one hand

for rest, one hand for Sabbath, one hand

for people. See how that works? God

knows what he's he built us. He tells us

how to live in sync with that design.

All right, here was all we're going to

do for the rest of our time together.

We're going to ask some uh penetrating

questions. We're going to have some

penetrating inquiries on the basis of

the parable and on the verses of all the

on the basis of all those verses I read.

Now, we don't have time to reread it.

So, I'm going to ask you to try to

remember if you weren't sleeping when I

read it. I'm going to ask you to try to

remember. Maybe I'll tease out a verse

or two and mention it. But these

questions come right from the verses

that I read and they're really important

for us to wrestle with because this

whole money me meaning and the myth of

more thing, it shows up in scripture all

the time and the parable actually helps

us understand how we should live. Here's

the first thing penetrating inquiry.

Do you enjoy

what God has given you?

Do you really enjoy it? Um, now here's a

verse that actually brings that to mind.

God gives some people wealth,

possessions, honor so that they have

nothing that their hearts desire. They

lack nothing their hearts desire. But

God does not grant them the ability to

enjoy it. Now, here's the reality. God

has given every one of us some wealth.

Maybe you wouldn't call it that. That's

your wealth. He's given you some

possessions and he's giving you honor,

respect, other people look up. Are you

enjoying those things?

Do you really enjoy them or are you uh

so busy striving for the things that you

don't have that you're not content?

That's the next question. You're not

really enjoying them. Uh let me ask you

a few questions. You probably heard of

this conversation. Uh one day uh this uh

visitor went up to this man who was

working very hard and he said um uh sir

can you tell me why are you working so

hard day and night? Cuz I'm working hard

to make money. Well, why are you making

money? So I can buy stuff. What are you

buying stuff for? So I can accumulate

and hoard it and give it to somebody

else when I die.

Isn't that funny how it works? I don't

know what God's given you. I'm guessing

he's I'm guessing he's given you like

he's given you a house or an apartment.

Are you enjoying it? Maybe he's giving

you a motorcycle. He didn't give me a

motorcycle. In fact, he might, but Kim

won't. Um, did he give you a boat? Did

he give you a car? Did he give you

vacations? Do you have golf clubs? Do

you have a pickle ball racket?

Do you have a pool? Do you have friends?

Do you have a membership at a What do

you have? What wealth? What possessions?

What honor do you have? And are you

enjoying them?

God gives possessions for us to enjoy.

Now, that's not your number one

priority. Your main goal in life is not

to enjoy the stuff God gave. Your main

goal in life is to honor him. But he's

the giver of all of that. Do you

acknowledge he gave you this stuff? And

do you enjoy the stuff that he gave?

Question number one, do you enjoy it or

are you just kind of accumulating,

hoarding it, saving it? Uh how many

times did we read in those verses, um

you came naked, you're leaving naked,

you didn't bring anything with you, not

taking anything out. And so what's going

to happen? Uh you're going to leave all

that stuff. you've been accumulate, you

leave it to somebody else and they'll

have to throw it out.

Funny how that God knows what he's

doing, right? All right. Second

question.

Are you content

with what God has given? Are you

content? Really content. Um here here's

how this story works. Um

you have some things in your hand.

Different than the parable, right? It

doesn't work. Some your possessions,

your stuff, your honor, your wealth in

your hand, and other things you see with

your eyes.

Which do you focus more on?

Enjoying being thankful for the stuff in

your hand or living and striving and

being envious for the stuff you see with

your eyes. So maybe it goes like this.

Um,

I have a car, but boy, I see that guy's

car. I need that car. Maybe you uh you

have a spouse.

Don't look next to you. You have a

spouse, but you see that spouse

and you long for are you content with

what you have? Um you have a bank

account, checking account in your hand.

Are you content with that or are you

striving and living for something else?

See how that works? We have some things

in our hands. Other things we see with

our eyes. Are you living a thankful,

grateful life? And are you content with

what's in your hand? Are you striving

and living for the things that you see

with your eyes?

Last week, um,

my youngest daughter, Megan, and her

husband, Mike and I, took our two

grandsons, Carter and Jeffrey, to the

reptile expo in Oak Oaks.

I've learned a few things that reptile

people are really strange. I found out,

I mean, they're stranger than the

reptiles that are there. And people are

there buying these rep, they're buying

snakes, they're buying alligators,

they're buying all kinds of this. Now

thankfully to boy they we didn't buy any

a living reptile. But while we're

walking around Carter the younger Carter

has become fascinated with axelottals.

How many of you know what an axelottle

is? Good. Okay. A few of you. If you

don't know you check that out this

afternoon and Google axelottle. Um well

he's fascinated. In fact he has four

living axelottals at home. He also

probably has 20 or 30 axelottle

keychains that he hangs on his school

backpack. He's got a bunch of um stuffed

axelottles. He's even got some

articulating axelottles. As we're

walking around, he notices an a

multicolor articulating axelottle at the

reptile expo.

And his life will not be complete unless

he has in his hand that articulating

axel.

So have we. I tried reasoner.

You have 40s living suckers at home.

This thing's not living. Yeah, but pop.

Uh, you have a bunch of key. But pop,

you've got a bowl that you made in your

3D printer with an axelottle head on.

Yeah, but pop I really pop. If I have

this articulating axelottle, I will

never ever want anything again in my

whole life. I'd be willing to bet today

he may not even know where that

articulating axelottle is which we

purchased on the way out of the reptile

expo at Oaks. Um,

we're just like that though, right? We

have things in our hand, but our eyes

see things that are not in our hand that

other people have and in the store and

online and we just have to have the

we're not content with what with what's

in our hand, but boy, if we just had

what we see with our eyes, we would be

content forever.

And can I let you in a little secret?

And this is not like Charles wisdom.

This actually comes from the Bible. Uh

here here's how this works.

If you're not content with the

technology you have, if you're not

content with the apartment or house you

have, if you're not content with um the

family you have, more technology,

another car, another hobby will not

satisfy you and bring you enjoyment.

You'll soon have those things in your

hand. You'll see other things with your

eye and you'll be living for the things

that that you see with your eye, not

with the things in your hand. Do you

enjoy what God has given? Are you

content with what God has given? Writer

of Ecclesiastic asking hard questions.

Who does he think he is asking us all

these things? Um, all right. Here's

another question right out of

Ecclesiastes.

Do you share what God has given you? Do

you enjoy what God's given you? Are you

content with what God's and do you share

what God's given you? You know, one of

the themes that run through the whole

scripture is um we are to be generous

and give, right? And uh you I I kind of

hesitate even to say this because you

were all incredibly generous during that

part of our service. Every week, someone

up here thanks you for your sacrificial

gift. Thank you. I mean, Calvary Church

couldn't run, couldn't exist if not for

your sacrificial generosity you share.

And you all need to know the gifts you

give to Calvary Church are not kept in

here. In fact, research is done by the

missions team. What needs are there

around the world? What what needs are

are out there in our surrounding

communities? What youth needs are there,

student needs, children needs? And so,

the gifts you give not only support

Calvary Church, but support lots of

other ministries. And so one gift here

actually supports a whole bunch of

stuff. You're all incredibly generous.

Do you share what God has given? So let

me uh let let me tell you about two

different kinds of math.

Uh first of all, there's money math. Now

here's how money math works.

If I have $10

and I give you one,

I now have less.

If I keep all 10, I have 10. If you give

me two, I have more. That's money math,

right? Now, you can extrapolate from the

10 to 100,000, whatever you want. Right?

But money math is if you keep what you

have, you keep it. If you get more, you

have more. If you give it away, you have

less. And so, money math says sharing

means you have less. That's money math.

But, you know, you ever realize there's

another math mentioned in the Bible? Um,

let's call this math a gospel math. Now,

here's how a gospel math work. It's kind

of very unconventional wisdom. Here's

how it works. Um, Jesus says it like

this.

Give

and it will be given to you. Good

measure pressed down, shaken together,

and over. Huh? That's not money math.

Money math says give, you're going to

have less. Jesus says, "Give and it will

be given to you. Good measure pressed

down, shaken together." Or how about

this? Here's gospel math. He who sws

sparingly

will reap sparingly.

He who sws generously will reap

generously.

See, gospel math is kind of related to

farming, which I know nothing about, but

that won't stop me from talking about

it.

Here's how farming math works. Um,

suppose I have a handful of seeds here.

I've got a big decision to make, right?

If I put those seeds in the ground, I

lose the seeds. Now I have less.

I can eat the seeds right now and I'll

be hungry again a little bit, right? How

does farming math work? If I take the

seeds and I put them into the ground and

I wait,

pretty soon each of the plants that

grows from each of the seeds will

produce many seeds.

Well, that's rather different than money

math, isn't it? Money math says if you

plant the seeds, you have less seeds.

No, no, no. Gospel math, farming math

says if you take what God's given,

right, if you take some of the seeds,

put them in the ground, you actually

wind up with more. Now, the Bible

doesn't say that if you um give tomato

seeds, you're going to get back

tomatoes. God will God's not a debtor or

anyone. He's going to give back. It may

not be in the same form of currency

you've given it. But give and it will be

given to you.

Sow and you will reap.

That's gospel math. You know, I just

wonder how many of us uh

are following the conventional wisdom of

money math

and living on less than God wants to

give us

because we we're following the money

math paradigm rather than the gospel

math paradig paradigm. Um you know, God

says, "Okay, your your choice. you do

whatever you want, but I've designed

this universe. I've designed people I've

calling all of you to follow the gospel

math paradigm,

not the money math paradigm.

Your call, you'll determine whether you

believe that or not this week by whether

you share what God has given.

You enjoy what God's given.

Are you content with what God's given?

Do you share what God has given? Now,

we're not quite done yet. I've got a a

couple more questions which kind of

summarize those. So, here's one.

Why are you here? Think about that.

Here's a verse I want to read to you.

And some of you probably have this um

highlighted in your in your book. Here's

what it says. Go into all the world and

have really successful careers.

Accumulate as much as possible to

fulfill every comfort and enjoyment you

have. You know where that's found?

Hallucinations 17.

Isn't it funny though?

We may not have memorized Hallucinations

17, but we live by that verse more than

we live by the gospel mass math verse.

Why are you here?

Well,

we're here to uh

see who God is, see him accurately, and

respond appropriately. That's called

worship.

We're here to love God and to love

people.

We're here to take the hints that we see

around us below the sun and lift our

eyes above the sun to see who God is and

what he's done for us.

If you have children, you're here to

raise

gospel-driven kids.

If you have a business, you're in

business to

serve and provide for your team members

so that they can serve and provide for

the community around them.

You see, if we take a minute to think,

we can all answer the question why we're

here,

but it's not according to hallucinations

17.

It's according to what God says. Do you

enjoy what God's given?

Are you content with what God's given?

Do you share what God's given?

Why are you here? That's what the

teacher is doing in Ecclesiastes trying

to say, you know, I've run all these

experiments. I've run down all these

roads. I'm trying to figure out how life

works and I it's all meaningless and

it's broken under the sun. Well, he's

done a lot of the homework for you.

Well, we have one last question.

This comes right out of what we've been

reading in Ecclesiastes.

What will you leave?

The verses that we read all all say

we're going to leave. We're going to

leave whatever we've accumulated. You're

leaving it.

What else you going to leave?

I've lost some really good friends these

last couple months

and I've had the privilege and the

difficult job of speaking at their

funerals.

And um God just providentially I think

um

has brought to my mind a song that I've

heard numerous times since then. If you

want to look it up, look it up and

listen to it today on YouTube. It's

called MacArthur.

And the chorus goes like this.

When you pass on,

what are you going to pass down?

Now, the first part of that is a reality

for every one of us. We're all passing

on.

Second part, what are you going to pass

down?

That's kind of up to us.

You aren't passing on all your stuff.

What else are you passing on?

A perspective that lives life above the

sun. A perspective that enjoyed the

gifts God gave. Was content with what

God's gave. Shared what God's gave. You

knew what life was really about. You

lived like that.

When you pass on,

what are you going to pass down?

I've started every message on

Ecclesiastes that I've done by telling

you about the author.

The author was really smart and he was

really rich

and was really powerful

and he ran these series series of

experiments and came back and said,

"Yeah, when all said and done,

you should live fearing God and keeping

his commandments."

I want to end today by telling you uh

about another teacher that you know of.

This teacher

is infinitely wise.

This teacher

infinitely rich.

This teacher infinitely powerful. In

fact, he is sovereign over the universe.

And you know what that teacher did?

He entered life below the sun

so he could punch a hole from below to

above the sun

so you and I can see and hear what's

above the sun.

Oh yeah. and he provided the way for you

and for me to spend eternity with him.

The ultimate teacher's name is Jesus.

He's the one they called

infinitely greater

than Solomon.

Let's pray.

Father, we confess that

we often don't take time to think. We

don't take time to percolate.

Percolate on parables. Percolate on

Ecclesiastes. Percolate on life. Per

percolate on life under the sun or over

the sun.

Lord, thanks for the the teacher here

that forces us to wrestle.

And so, Lord, when it comes to money,

wealth, and meaning,

help us to percolate on the parable.

What are our hands doing?

and help us to ask the teachers

questions.

Do we enjoy what you've given? Are we

content with what you've given? Do we

share what you've given? What are we

really living for? And what are we going

to leave?

Jesus, thank you for answering every one

of those questions perfectly

and sharing your riches with us through

the mission you went on called the

gospel. We pray in your name. Amen.