As we get started today I want us to read together a focal verse that will anchor our thoughts in this series: "Your Father already knows your needs. He will give you all you need from day to day if you make the Kingdom of God your primary concern." (Luke 12:30-31)

This Sunday we begin a three-part series on the management of our material resources, particularly our financial resources. The inspiration for this series came from a book called Start Late, Finish Rich! A No Fail Plan for Achieving Financial Freedom at Any Age by David Bach and a series of messages called "Blingonomics" by Gene Appel. Each year we take three Sundays to focus our attention on what the Bible has to say about one of the most difficult areas of our life and that is the stewardship of the material, especially the financial resources that God has given to us. All of that is "preacher talk" for telling you we’re going to talk about money!

In David Bach’s book he basically tells people that anyone can finish their life rich, starting at any age, if they are willing to spend less, save more and make more. (I’ve just saved each of your $22.95!) Not everything David Bach advises would align with the words of Jesus because Jesus’ words regarding money have a different goal than finishing our life rich based on the world’s estimate. Jesus never proposes that finishing life with millions of dollars is a goal for any of us. In fact Jesus would tell us that the way to financial freedom is not by the accumulation of material wealth but by achieving contentment with the material resources we have. In this series we are going to learn to start by applying now the principles Jesus taught about money so that we can finish life content, regardless of our age or what we have or don’t have in the bank.

The reason that a believer can finish life content regardless of what they may or may not have accumulated materially is what God has already done through the gift of his Son for us. Paul said in Romans 8:32, "Since God did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won't God, who gave us Christ, also give us everything else?" Your worth has already been settled by God at the cross of Jesus. There is nothing more that we can ever possess that will make us worth more, have more security or be more satisfied than what God has already done. Because of the gift of God’s Son for us we can live life now and finish life with contentment. If he has shown us our ultimate worth through the death of his Son than he can be trusted to take care of everything else! So what is stopping us from understanding this? Jesus will tell us it is greed.

If we are going to have financial freedom and finish our life content, the first place we need to start is by getting a grip on greed. Gene Appel says, "Too many of us are susceptible to the myth that our stuff defines our sense of self-worth, our sense of security, and our sense of satisfaction. But the reality is—stuff will never satisfy." What Jesus teaches us in Luke 12:13-21 is that having a grasp on the value that God places on my life sets me free from the grip of greed. Jesus said in Luke 12:15, "Beware! Don’t be greedy for what you don’t have. Real life is not measured by how much we own." Jesus confronts us with the reality that our desire to acquire is one of the most dangerous threats to our being able to finish our life with contentment.

While every generation has been challenged with the "desire to acquire," the current population of 18-25-year-olds is especially challenged. In a recent Pew Research Center poll 81% of this age group said getting rich is their generation’s most important or second most important life goal. Yet at the same time they list money as their most important problem. If any generation faced having their dream of becoming rich unfulfilled, it is this one because of how expensive things are today. This generation may earn more than their parents but their money buys less and less. (Source: USA Today, Jan. 10, 2007) If any generation needed to start learning now how to finish life content it is this one and to do that you begin by getting a grip on greed.

In our story today Jesus was interrupted. He has been teaching literally thousands of people. No sooner had he finished speaking than he is interrupted by a family quarrel. "Then someone called from the crowd, ‘Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father's estate with me" (v. 13). Jesus was presented with a family dispute between two brothers. The younger wanted his share of the inheritance of his father’s estate to be liquidated now in order to do as he chose.

Jesus responded sternly, "Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?" (v. 14) Jesus refuses to get involved in a family dispute and instead gives a warning in verse 15 about greed. He says, "Beware! Don't be greedy for what you don't have. Real life is not measured by how much we own." The warning was not only to the younger brother asking the question but also to us. Jesus saw through to this man’s heart and perceived that his appeal for justice was really a smoke screen for his greed. Jesus said the man’s basic problem was greed.

The verse we are using to anchor these messages tells us that God is going to take care of us by supplying what we need. Now the problem comes, however, when we decide that God’s supply, God’s "enough" isn’t enough. We decide that it is the extras that make us truly valuable. That’s why Jesus cautions us "Beware" and "be on your guard" in resisting the attack of greed. The word greed actually means, "the more to have." "The more to have" has become our standard for our success and our significance. It can come in many shapes and sizes. It’s funny, isn’t it, that it is always someone else who is greedy?

Our problem is that we’ve decided that the extras are what make life worth living and make us truly significant. Robert Thompson, a professor at Syracuse University says, one reason money appears so important is that modern American life "has a lot to do with acquisition" He says, "The way to distinguish ourselves is by our stuff…you have to carve out your identity, and one of the most obvious ways to do that is to climb the ladder…It’s about financial status." (USA TODAY, Jan. 10, 2007) If we buy into the lie that we are defined by our stuff and we are faced with the reality that we are going to struggle to have the stuff we want then we are going to continually fight a battle with greed. If we don’t get a grip on greed then we can never expect to finish life content!

Jesus makes his point clear about the dangers of greed by telling a parable in Luke 12:16-21. Let me read it again to you. "A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. In fact, his barns were full to overflowing. So he said, `I know! I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I'll have room enough to store everything. And I'll sit back and say to myself, My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!' "But God said to him, `You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get it all?' "Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God."

This parable reflects the three needs mentioned earlier that all of us have: the need for self-worth, the need for security and the need for satisfaction. The man in the story tried to meet all of them by having more stuff.

So let me ask you: What was his fatal flaw? Why did God call him a fool? It wasn’t because he had a lot of stuff. Look again at what Jesus said in verse 21, "A person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God." It is not the issue of earthly wealth. What Jesus says it is having earthly wealth to the exclusion of a rich relationship with God. According to Jesus, a fool is someone who lives with no thought of God, no thought of God’s activity in their life and in this world. Maybe the guy reasoned to himself that one day he’d begin to reflect a little more on his soul and reflect a little more on God. But that day never came. So Jesus concludes this whole parable by saying: "A person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God" (v. 21). He fell for the myth that has plagued humans throughout history—that life consists in the abundance of our material resources.

That, my friends, brings us to the three needs we all face: the need for self-worth, the need for security and the need for satisfaction. The man in Jesus’ parable was trying to meet those three needs through his desire to acquire more material resources. In spite of everything Jesus said to the contrary as believers we still do the same thing. We get caught in the grip of greed just like anyone else.

How does our greed show itself? I believe one way it shows itself is by our desire to prove our self-worth with our money or possessions. Deep within us is the desire to feel like we matter, that we’re valuable and respected by others. Money and possessions are ways we keep score of our accomplishments, but it’s a very uncertain kind of self-worth because eventually we run into people who have more than we do; and we wonder if we’ve proven our worth enough.

This past Monday we got to see some close friends that we have had for nearly twenty years. The husband and I share the same love of music, especially Bob Dylan. In conversation the wife asked me, "So, Bruce, how many songs do you have on your ipod?" I told her about 2500. She said, "So, Bubba, how many songs do you have on your ipod?" Bubba said, "Uh…about 9000." I said, "9000! How many gigs do you have?" He said, "80." I said, "80? Did you put all your CD’s on it?" He said, "Yeah, and I still have almost 40 gigs left." Now out of nowhere I started to think, "Man, I should have bought a bigger ipod!" Do I need more capacity to store music? No, but the fact that someone else had more made me feel like I wasn’t worth as much and I wanted more!

How do you find your self-worth? How valuable are you? Friend, you are worth the life, the blood, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God. If we could get this straight in our hearts, we would say, "I don’t need that thing to prove my self-worth; I’m already a treasured child of God. My worth was established when Jesus Christ died on a cross and bought me with the price of his blood. That’s how valuable I am. I don’t need to try to add value to my life by another purchase, another symbol, to feel significant. Jesus established once and for all how valuable I really am." More stuff will never make you more valuable because the greatest price ever has been paid for you. Greed loses its grip when you believe the truth that your worth is not based on your stuff.

Another way that the grip of greed shows up in our life is by thinking that our stuff will meet the need we have for security. The man in the story imagined that he had true security "stored away for many years to come." When it comes to trying to gain our security through our possessions there is a very basic principle we must understand and believe. That principle is this: God cares if you have what you need to sustain your life every single day! Jesus said in Luke 12:29-30, " And don't worry about food—what to eat and drink. Don't worry whether God will provide it for you. These things dominate the thoughts of most people, but your Father already knows your needs." Jesus said that God cares if we have food, clothes, health, home and transportation. The implication is that because he knows we need these things he will provide them. All the rest—the kind of food, the type of clothes, house or transportation is grace and blessing. Until you come to terms with this one issue you will not find contentment and greed will continue to have you in its grip. Our belief in the principle that God cares about what I need is the source of our true security.

As I told you last week, I joined my son-in-law and daughter as they moved to Wake Forest, North Carolina, for him to attend Southeastern Seminary. Jennifer called us last week and told us, after they had moved, that Daniel had finally been accepted to the seminary and to pray for a job interview she had this past Thursday. Now, if you let that sink in, it meant I moved them from Little Rock to Raleigh and all they knew was where we were going to unload their stuff. They had no assurance of school and no assurance of income.

I knew all this before hand and when I shared my concern with Kathy she reminded me how we had done the same thing in 1976. We moved from Arkadelphia to Fort Worth with no address and no job. In fact I didn’t want Kathy to even look for a job until we had gone to two museums and a baseball game! After recalling our "blind faith", all I could say was, "That was different!" She said, "What was different?" I told her that was us and this is them!

While I was in North Carolina I was reading in Genesis 22 and had the issue of my children’s needs on my mind when this verse truly jumped out at me, "Abraham named the place ‘The LORD Will Provide.’ This name has now become a proverb: ‘On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.’" I have said that over and over as I have seen God meet needs for security in their lives and ours. That whole experience has been a fresh reminder that God is the true source of their security and our security – every single day. Getting that is hard but when you do you find yourself being content and getting a grip on greed.

In the movie "The Aviator" Leonardo DeCaprio plays Howard Hughes who was one of the great success stories of the 20th century yet spent the final years of his life living alone in a penthouse in Las Vegas. Howard Hughes was so clever in investing his money that during the last 17 years of his life, this billionaire didn’t pay a dime in income tax. But if you know anything about Howard Hughes, you know how paranoid he was about germs, disease, and people taking his money. Howard Hughes died like a man in poverty even though he had billions. He had no satisfaction, no security, in death. He never understood how valuable he was to God. He didn’t even write a valid will. It makes you wonder if God didn’t eulogize him with the words, "You fool. Now who will get what you have prepared for yourself?" Friends, everything you’re dreaming of in this life, everything you’re working so hard toward right now, it can change just like that. If you have any hope of finishing life with contentment you are going to have to get a grip on the greed that drives the illusion that your stuff will bring you the satisfaction you desire.

While we may never do something so foolish are we living our lives believing that real life is measured by what we own? Are we seeking through greed to satisfy the need for a sense of self-worth, security and satisfaction? If so then you will never finish life content and greed will never lose its grip. Start now and finish life content, getting a grip on greed by finding your true worth in how valuable God says that your really are! "Since God did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won't God, who gave us Christ, also give us everything else?" (Roman 8:32)

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org