The Danger of Materialism - Part 1

Our scripture reading this evening, the passage that David's going to come and speak to us from is Luke chapter 12, verses 13 to 21.

Luke 12:13–21

Someone in the crowd said to him, teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.

But he said to him, man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?

And he said to them, take care and be on your guard against all covetousness.

For one's life does not consist in the abundance of one's possessions.

And he told them a parable saying, the land of a rich man produced plentifully.

And he thought to himself, what shall I do?

For I have nowhere to store my crops.

And he said, I'll do this.

I'll tear down my barns and build larger ones.

And there I will store all my grain and all my goods.

And I will say to my soul, soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years.

Relax, eat, drink, be merry.

But God said to him, fool, this night your soul is required of you.

And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?

So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich towards God.

Amen.

This is God's holy word.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, we turn this evening to Luke chapter 12 and verses 13 through 21 to those verses

Luke 12 · chapter mention

that Chris read for us a moment or two ago.

There's an old saying that goes, where there is a will, there is a quarrel.

And certainly where inheritance is concerned, many of us know that family disputes are not unknown.

Sometimes the squabble over who gets what can be undignified, sometimes ugly.

It seems that in some circumstances, greed, covetousness has the capacity to cut through family relationships

like a hot knife through butter.

And here in Luke chapter 12, we are introduced to a man who it appears was in the midst of just such a family dispute.

Luke 12 · chapter mention

In order to find some kind of acceptable solution to his quarrel, he decides to ask Jesus to sort it out.

Accommodators ask the question, why does he ask Jesus?

Why does he bring this problem to him?

Perhaps it was because he saw Jesus as a rabbi, and that's how he addresses him here, his teacher.

But, of course, there were no secular courts or judges in those days.

That's what people did.

They took their disputes to a rabbi or teacher.

And yet I think there's more to it than just that.

If you look or read through the Gospel of Luke,

I think you would be astonished at the frequency of occasions

where Jesus is found speaking about possessions and wealth.

Jesus was someone who spoke a great deal about the subject of money.

It was a repeated emphasis of his teaching ministry.

And I think in Luke's Gospel in particular,

we find Jesus speaking about money and riches time and time again.

He speaks relentlessly about these issues related to stewardship and material wealth.

Eleven of Jesus' 39 parables are directly about money and wealth.

And I think that may be part of the reason that this man brought his question and request to Jesus.

Someone in the crowd said to him, verse 13,

Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.

What is this man saying?

Well, he's saying to Jesus,

Jesus, please help my brother with this.

Talk to my brother.

Sort him out on this matter.

All your talk about money, generosity, and wealth, Jesus,

I've got the very person you need to speak to.

My brother really needs to hear this.

Tell him to share the inheritance with me.

And Jesus' reply makes it clear he has absolutely no interest in being an arbiter between this man and his brother.

Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter over you?

And Jesus categorically refuses to rule to make any kind of judgment on this issue.

He makes it clear that he's not prepared to be used in this way.

This man effectively was trying to manipulate Jesus to get what he wanted.

Lots of people approach Jesus in this kind of way.

As if he can be used to further our own goals and ambitions.

If he can be used to serve us rather than we serve him.

Yes, you know, I'm interested in the Christian faith.

But Jesus, tell my boss to give me a raise.

Sort out that person who's giving me grief.

Attend to the needs of my family.

Yes, Jesus, I'm thinking of following you.

But do this first for me.

Tell this to happen or that to happen.

But friends, Jesus does not come to fit in or to endorse our agendas.

He comes to bring an entirely new agenda altogether.

He doesn't come to fit in with us and our goals.

He comes that we might place our lives in his hands.

And this man, as I said, was using Jesus.

Or seeking to use Jesus rather than serve him.

And so Jesus gives him short shrift in verse 15.

He said to them,

Take care.

Be on your guard against all covetousness.

For one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

And Jesus here lays bare the root of the matter.

He is warning us here about the danger of a covetous heart.

And thinking that money and wealth will really satisfy us.

Jesus wants us to understand that nothing in this world, nor everything in this world,

can ever fill the eternity-shaped needs of the human heart.

In the simplest of terms, human beings are made for fellowship with God.

Therefore, nothing else will truly satisfy us.

Augustine's famous words,

You have made us for yourself,

and our hearts are restless until they find rest in you.

Here is the great diagnostic word of our Savior.

Life is not measured by barns, by bank balances, or by the size of one's estate.

Life, real life, the life that matters, is something far deeper than that.

It is the life of the soul before God.

And covetousness is its mortal enemy.

For covetousness is idolatry.

It's the heart saying to material things,

You are my God.

In you will I trust.

And by you I will be satisfied.

And so in order to drive his point home,

Jesus goes on to tell this famous story, parable,

about a certain rich man.

It's a graphic warning about allowing covetousness, greed, and material idolatry

to blind us to what is really important in this life.

Let's look a little more closely at this man in Jesus' warning parable.

Three things.

First thing is this.

Look at the success he enjoyed in verses 16 through 17.

The man in Jesus' story enjoyed great success.

He was wealthy.

He was affluent.

He was prosperous.

Not only was he a great landowner,

but it transpires that his land produced a bumper crop.

He told them a parable saying,

The land of a rich man produced plentifully.

A wealthy man who's farming business,

a tremendous success.

Left with a huge surplus.

What a nice problem to have.

And the big question he faced was this.

What will I do with all of this?

How is he going to use this great wealth,

this great blessing that he had received?

How would he cope with this great success?

Success.

Now, I suppose most of us here would disown the title,

wealthy or rich, successful perhaps.

We might point others to our bank statement,

our overdraft.

We might claim poverty.

We might point to other people who have bigger houses

or bigger cars, better jobs, higher incomes,

and say, well, those are the rich and successful people.

But the reality I think we need to face

is that we are materially rich people.

We live in a wealthy and affluent society.

Our society's existence is rooted in wealth creation

and the power to spend.

At the very heart of the life of our cities and towns

are the shopping centers and retail parks.

One social commentator calls cathedrals and temples

of this worldly significance.

The spirit of our consumer age,

summed up by the bumper sticker,

Veni, Vidi, Visa.

I came, I saw, I shopped.

Geographically and historically,

we're amongst the richest human beings

that have ever lived.

Here in the West, we've witnessed a staggering

increase in wealth and prosperity

over the past 80 years or so.

Maybe some here,

I'm not going to point them out,

who might recall rationing during

and just after the Second World War.

I'm not included in that group,

I'm pleased to say.

But I can't remember my granddad telling me

how he was a young boy in Nottingham,

probably before the First World War,

second youngest of 13.

He went to school without any shoes.

So poor.

And today, in comparison with so much of the world,

we are wealthy people.

In comparison with our forebears,

we live lives of incredible luxury.

We have more food than we can eat.

We have more clothes than we can wear.

Our wealth opens up for us

a vast array of choice,

choices beyond most people in this world.

Choices that can keep us

from using our resources

in a way that is honoring

and pleasing to God.

And so Jesus' words here

about the dangers inherent in wealth,

riches, material success,

are directly applicable to us.

Jesus' story of the rich man is our story.

And it's a warning not just to other people,

to Richard Branson or Bill Gates,

but to us.

In our materially wealthy and affluent society,

the grave spiritual danger exists

that money and possessions and things

become our gods,

absorbing our devotion,

sucking from us time, effort, energy.

We think we possess them,

but in reality,

they possess and own us.

The real test of where

our allegiance and loyalty lies

is revealed in what we do

with what God has given to us.

It's not a sin to be rich,

not a sin to be wealthy

or materially successful.

The big question is how we are using

our wealth.

What are we doing with the resources

that God has given us?

What did this man do?

That brings us to the second thing here

I want you to notice.

From the success he enjoyed

to the selfishness he displayed

in verses 17 through 19.

Faced with the problem,

inverted commas,

of what to do with this bumper crop,

we're told of his plans.

He thought to himself,

what shall I do?

For I have nowhere to store my crops.

And he said,

I will do this.

I will tear down my barns

and build larger ones.

There I will store all my grain

and my goods.

And I will say to my soul,

soul, you have ample goods

laid up for many years.

Relax, eat, drink, and be merry.

Now, you can't help but notice

that these three short verses

are shot through

with personal pronouns.

Here was a man who thought

of himself,

of his own happiness and ease.

God, other people, the poor,

simply didn't enter into any of his plans.

Didn't enter the equation.

He talks only about my crops,

my barns,

my grain,

my goods.

No concern or responsibility

for anyone else

but himself is revealed.

And his big mistake

is that he does not understand

that his wealth and possessions

are merely on loan.

These things are a gift from God.

Yes, this man may have plowed

the fields and scattered,

but it was God who sent the sun and rain,

and it's God who had blessed him

with this bumper crop.

But he fails to see

that he is but a steward

of what God has given him.

His whole existence

is centered on himself

and the horizons of this life.

And that is the power

of money and wealth.

It is a dangerous thing.

It's an old fable

about a rich man

who went to visit a rabbi,

and the rabbi took the rich man

by the hand.

He led him to the window.

He said,

Look out there.

He said,

A rich man looked out

into the street.

The rabbi said,

What do you see?

The man said,

Oh, I see men and women

and children.

The rabbi took him by the hand

and he led him to a mirror.

Now what do you see?

Now I see myself,

the man replied.

The rabbi said,

Behold,

In the window there is glass,

and in the mirror there is glass.

The glass of the mirror

is covered with a little silver,

and no sooner is the silver added

than you cease to see others

and see only yourself.

And that is the danger

of money and wealth

and material things.

They become for us

a rival God,

an idol,

a means by which

we serve not God

or other people,

but we simply serve ourselves.

It's one of the ways,

isn't it,

that money is portrayed

in the New Testament.

Elsewhere,

Jesus says,

You can't serve

both God and mammon.

Money.

We live in a society

where mammon rules.

Money, riches,

and wealth

are seen as the ultimate good,

the ultimate goal.

Call us to worship.

Mammon calls us

to bring our tithes

and our offerings

and to surrender

our lives to Him,

to believe His promises.

And as we become more

wrapped up in ourselves,

we give little thought

to others.

And yes,

this kind of selfishness

that we see

in our own culture

can be cloaked

in very religious

and spiritual terms.

The prosperity gospel,

for example,

has many devotees,

those who believe

that it's not only

a blessing to be rich,

but conversely,

it's a sin to be poor.

You know,

the song that they sing,

O Lord,

won't you buy me

a Mercedes Benz?

Just be thankful

I haven't tried to sing that.

That attempt

to establish

a connection

between material wealth

and God's blessing

is one that I think

is offensive,

biblically speaking,

indefensible.

Because the so-called

prosperity gospel

is nothing short

of idolatry.

It is the worship,

not of the God

and Father

of our Lord Jesus Christ,

but mammon itself.

Because real men

and women of God

do not pray

for a Mercedes Benz.

Apologies to any of you

who are driving

a Mercedes Benz tonight.

They pray for endurance.

Real men and women

of God

do not seek

a life of opulent luxury.

They seek a life

of holiness.

Real men and women

of God

do not make it

their ambition

to look like millionaires.

They make it

their ambition

to look like Jesus.

Real men and women

of God

do not lay up

for themselves

treasure on earth.

Instead,

they store up

treasure in heaven.

How we give

towards God

and towards others

is a test

of what is in our hearts,

a measure

of who or what

is important

or significant

in our lives.

And our giving

and our relationship

to money

are in a strange way

at the heart

of Christian life,

the life

of discipleship.

I think that's why

Jesus spoke about it

so often.

It's a reality check

on the depth

of our faith in God,

our love for God

and for others.

How do we use

what God

has given to us?

Is generosity

our habit

or does compassion

take a backseat

to our own

selfish desires?

The success

he enjoyed,

the selfishness

he displayed,

and then thirdly here,

the shock

he received

in verses 20

and 21

because Jesus'

story comes

to this dramatic,

sudden,

shocking conclusion.

and you'll notice

this great contrast

between what the rich man

says to himself

and what God

says to the rich man.

The comparison

is stark,

long,

drawn-out

statement

of the man

with all his

elaborate plans

and projects

and then the short,

piercing clarity

of God's Word.

God said to him,

fool,

this night

your soul

is required of you.

The things you have prepared,

whose will they be?

so is the one

who lays up treasure

for himself

and is not rich

towards God.

Notice the language here.

Not you will die,

but your soul

is required of you.

The soul is on loan

from God

and the loan

is now being called in.

It's time to settle

accounts with God.

And all his

carefully laid plans

collapse

in a moment.

His bigger barns

will never be built.

His precious goods

will pass to others.

The soul that he tried

to soothe

and satisfy

with material comforts

now stands naked

before the judge

of all the earth,

his folly exposed

for all to see.

What was it

that made this man

such a fool?

Of course,

as many of you know,

fooling the Bible

doesn't mean to say

that someone is stupid

or intellectually challenged.

It relates to someone

who's out of touch

with the reality

that is out of touch

with the reality of God.

Here is the person

who ignores God,

who rejects God,

who said in his heart,

there is no God.

And it's an outlook

that rejects

and ignores God

because money

has made this man

a fool,

blinding him

to what was really,

really important.

He was a fool

because for all his wealth,

all his material success,

he wasn't the master

of his own life.

God cancels

all his schemes

at a stroke.

Tonight,

your soul is required

of you.

The madness

of materialism,

we cannot take it

with us.

This man saved

and lived,

worked out

all his priorities

as if this life

was all that there is.

Stored up everything,

thought he would be happy.

I'm sure he was.

God says to him,

you fool,

now who will get

what you have prepared

for yourself?

All that he had trusted in,

all that he had invested

his life in,

all of it disappeared

at a stroke.

And friends,

that's what money

and material wealth can do.

It can suck us in

and blind us

to the great realities

of heaven and hell.

Because the money

we spend

in ourselves

cannot go with us.

Paul tells Timothy,

1 Timothy 6-7,

we brought nothing

into this world

and we cannot

take anything

out of the world.

How much did he leave,

people ask?

The answer must be,

he left it all.

The old hymn,

Guide Me,

O Thou Great Jehovah,

was once printed

with a mistake

in one of the lines.

the misprint read,

Land my safe

on Canaan's side.

Friends,

that's one prayer

that will never

be granted.

I received a letter

a few years ago

from a colleague

who told me

of a family friend,

phoned him

from England

asking if he could go

and speak to her brother.

He was a very

successful eye surgeon.

I'm just going to read

the words that he

wrote in his letter.

She explained

that he was recently

discovered with an

extensive malignancy

in his liver,

was on his way

from London

to Houston

for treatment.

She was deeply

distressed

about his health

and in particular

his spiritual state.

I agreed,

I took a New Testament,

I went to his

temporary U.S. residence.

As I knocked

and entered the apartment,

he was clearly

distraught,

demoralized

by his terminal illness.

As I entered,

he broke down,

he began to cry,

I sat next to him,

I put my arm around him,

I asked if I could pray.

Afterward,

he explained

what was troubling him most

was the wicked irony

of this turn of events.

He'd spent the best years

of his life

working and saving

and at the pinnacle

of his career

when he was preparing

to enjoy the fruits

of his labor,

the shocking discovery

of cancer

had ruined

all his plans.

I found it so difficult

to comfort him.

His mind was absorbed

in the thought

of the deceitfulness

of the world

which had played

a prank of fate

upon him.

I was reminded

of the words

of the Persian poet

Hafez,

do not expect faithfulness

from this world.

She is the bride

of a thousand husbands.

It's in our nature

to shatter our dreams.

James the Apostle

advised,

now listen,

you who say today

or tomorrow

we will go to this

or that city,

spend a year there,

carry on business

and make money.

Why?

You do not even know

what will happen tomorrow.

What is your life?

You're a mist

that appears

for a little while

and then vanishes.

Wise are those

who beat the world

at its own deceptive game.

They give rather than grab,

lay down rather than take up.

They do not believe

its lies

are not led astray

by its allurement

of mirage upon mirage.

Blessed are those

who act before

they are robbed

of all they have.

They invest

what they can

while they can

where no thief

can reach,

especially the greatest

of all bandits,

death itself.

This dear man

was caught off guard

because he had not prepared

for the inevitable.

Beside comforting him

and feeling sad for him,

there was very little

I could do

other than earnestly

plead with him

in this trying hour

of his life

while there was still time

to flee into the arms of God.

Seek the Lord

while he may be found.

Call upon him

while he is near.

The striking thing

about the man

in Jesus' parable

was that according

to the values

and perspective

of our world,

he was no fool.

In fact,

he was very wise

and very prudent.

But what Jesus

is telling us here

is something

absolutely revolutionary

because it's the very opposite

of what our culture

and society

screams at us

day in and day out.

The world says

store up,

accumulate,

look after number one.

Jesus says

empty your barns,

give it away,

look out for others.

The world tells us

that to be someone

you have to grab

for all you can get.

Jesus says

to find yourself,

you must lose yourself.

The world says

be assertive,

push yourself forward.

Jesus says

to obtain real honor,

you must humble yourself.

The world says

indulge yourself,

satisfy your desires.

Jesus says

to find real joy,

you must repent

and believe the gospel.

The world says

push your way

to the top of the tree.

Jesus says

to exercise real power,

you must be a servant.

The world says

accumulate,

grab,

store it up for yourself.

Jesus says

to have real riches,

you must give.

Empty your barns

and follow me.

And that's the way

the gospel works.

Jesus came

with all his

spiritual riches.

He gave them away.

Remember Paul's words

to Corinthians 8,

9,

you know the grace

of our Lord Jesus Christ.

though he was rich,

yet for your sakes

became poor,

that you through

his poverty

might become rich.

Jesus Christ

gave up everything

that we might enjoy

the wealth

and riches

of a relationship

with God.

And the world says,

Jesus,

you're a fool.

But in the foolishness

of the cross,

Jesus conquered

through losing.

He gained

through giving.

He received honor

and glory

through shame

and through disgrace.

Jesus' life,

death,

and resurrection

proved the very truth

of what he is saying here.

He had no money.

He had no earthly power.

He had no home,

no publicity,

no advertising,

no big organization

behind him.

And yet he became

the most influential man

to ever walk this earth.

What are you going to do

with Jesus tonight?

I don't know if you know

the story about

the junior devils

having their final exam

before a senior devil.

And the great question

was this,

what are you going to say

to human beings?

What will you whisper

into their minds

to divert them

from faith

in Jesus Christ?

The first devil said,

I plan, sir,

to tell them

there is no God.

The devil master said,

they will not believe you.

Their work tells them

that every single human being,

no matter how he disguises it,

knows deep down

there is a God.

The second one came in

and he said,

we've heard one answer.

What is your answer?

He said,

I'm going to tell them

that there is no judgment.

The senior devil said,

we've tried that many a time,

but we know that we can

never silence

the guilty consciences

that remind them,

that break into their

settled lives

to disturb them

and tell them

that there is a judgment.

It won't work.

The third junior devil came in.

The master devil said to him,

have you got a better plan

than to tell them

there is no God

or tell them

there is no judgment?

And this one said,

sir,

I plan to tell them

there is no hurry.

And that,

the master said,

will work.

There is no hurry.

Take your time.

No need for urgency.

Friend,

do not delay.

Do not put off

giving your life

to Jesus Christ

because none of us

are promised tomorrow.

one day your soul

will be required of you.

One day you will see

and understand

the deceitfulness

of this life.

This life that can never

satisfy the human soul.

And you will see it

in heaven

or you will see it

in what the Bible

calls hell.

Yes,

Jesus Christ spoke

a great deal

about money

and wealth

and possessions,

not because he wanted it

for himself.

Jesus doesn't want

your money.

He wants far more

than that.

He wants your whole life.

His astonishing claim

is that you are

only truly rich

when he is most valued,

when he is Lord,

when he is master.

Because then money

and possessions

and things

begin to lose

their powerful grip

on our hearts.

They lose their hold

on our lives.

For Jesus says,

when I come into your life,

I'll set you free.

Give your life away to me

and you will have

real life,

eternal life.

The missionary martyr

Jim Elliot once wrote,

he is no fool

who gives

what he cannot keep

to gain

what he cannot lose.

Give your life,

your soul

to Jesus Christ

this evening.

And so be able

to declare

with the hymn writer,

riches I heed not,

nor man's empty praise,

thou mine inheritance,

now and always,

thou and thou only,

first in my heart,

high King of heaven,

my treasure,

thou art.

let's pray together.

God, our Father,

we pray that you would

keep us from being

blinded and deceived

by the lies of this world

that make us think

that this world

is everything,

that money and possessions,

while good things,

are not everything.

you are everything.

Help us to

give our lives

to you

through our Lord

Jesus Christ.

Help us to enjoy

a true inheritance

and real riches,

not in ourselves,

but in him.

Lord, help us

to live for you,

to use what you have

given us

to honor you,

to serve you,

and to serve others.

Help us to love you

and to love our neighbor

as ourselves.

And so live faithfully

as your disciples

in this world.

We pray it in Jesus' name.

Amen.