God's Investment Plan

September 25, 2016 I Timothy 6:6-19 Luke 16:19-31 God’s Investment Plan 19th Sunday after Pentecost Chicago has the reputation of being one of the most segregated cities in the nation. And there are many unspoken rules to keep that segregation in place. I cant speak for what it is like to live on the south side, but I can speak for the west side and the north side. My first apartment, my first several apartments where on the northside. My boyfriend and I lived on the 7600 block of Sheridan Road. Right on the block just past Evanston on the lake. I chose that location because the rent was reasonable, but I was fairly sure that it was a very safe block. There were many young middle class families on the block, even though then it was apartments and not condo’s. But on the northside we lived on blocks, not neighborhoods. Because right across the street was Juneway Terrace, which was one of the most dangerous blocks in the neighborhood. But I was never concerned, because those people didn’t come on my side of the street, and I didn’t come on theirs. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even look over in the direction. When It walked to the el, I made sure that I walked on the safe side. Even though it was the same street, the same neighborhood, it was a totally different world that I had no reason to interact with. On the west side there is a six block neighborhood called the Island. On the west side of the street is Oak Park, on the south side of the street is Cicero, and the island is on the Chicago side on the East. It is called the Island because for most of its history it is the one section of the neighborhood that remained all white, while everything around it changed. There are other ethnic people that live there now, so the Island is not so isolated, but it still retains its character, afterall, who wants to live in an area where they know that they are not wanted. When I hear the story of heaven and hell in Luke 16- I think of Chicago. Luke speaks of a great chasm between heaven and hell that one cannot cross. In this story, you can look and see what is going on in the other place, but you cant do anything about it. It is sort of like living in one of the neighborhoods in Chicago. I think that the boundaries that separate heaven and hell are invisible. I think that the dividing lines between the living and the dead are invisible. We live in the same neighborhood, but not on the same block, and it is possible to communicate, but we live in two different worlds. So we stay in our world and they stay in theirs. This is more of a Hebrew understanding of life, where they believe that the past, the present and the future are all happening at the same time on different planes. And when you died, heaven and hell was in the same place, it was just a separate block. Which block you lived on in eternity was determined by how you lived your life. I think that in life, there is not that much difference between the person who goes to hell, and the person who goes to heaven. One just made different decisions and lived life a little differently. This story about the rich man and Lazurus would have been a folktale that the audience heard many times before. The difference is that in the original story, when the rich man asks if Lazurus can go to warn his brothers about the misery of hell, permission is granted, and someone comes back from the dead to warn the others. Jesus uses this parable to remind us that we have already been warned. And if we are not willing to listen to someone who is alive, then certainly there is no point in sending someone who back from the dead. This story reminds us that we are the brothers, the ones who have a chance to change their ugly ways and to do something different before it is too late. Once we die, it is too late to change and do something different. Once we are dead, we cant claim that Jesus Christ is our savior and think that we are going to be saved. The only ones who can be saved from judgement are the living. And the only way to be saved, is to make acommitment to listen to the ways of God while you can. Luke gives us a powerful understanding of what it means to be saved. God always gives us a second chance, but in order to use that second chance, you have to use it while you can. I have always appreciated Luke’s insight into heaven and hell. But I love this story because it is Jesus way of signifying to us Christians. A man was raised from the dead, and he did warn you about the horrors of hell, so you have absolutely no reason to say you didn’t know. Because you did But I think the message for me important message for me in this text, is that the chasm starts right here, in our lives. A lot of my colleagues today are going to talk about the great chasm in this world between the rich and the poor, or blacks and whites, or between the haves and the have nots. But I want to talk about the chasm between the saved and the saved not. That is the message that connects the text in Luke and the text in Timothy. We, the five brothers at home are being reminded to always live on both sides of the street. Our salvation is dependent on helping others who live on the other side of the street. To make sure that they too know the pathway to salvation. In Timothy we are given two concepts to live by. First, be content with what you have. And second to give what you have been given to someone less fortunate that you. And to understand that no matter how poor you think you are – there is always someone worst off then you. In Timothy – Paul says that there are two ways to get rich in this world. You have continue to get more. Or you can learn to live with less. This world teaches us to want more and more. And time and time again, people don’t have to read the bible to realize that the more you get, the less you think you have. Getting more, leads to the feeling of needing more. Some people call it the Eve factor. What was it that lead Eve to eating from the tree of life? She lived in the garden of eden, she had everything that she could imagine, she was living the perfect life. And yet satan convinced her to want more. With one bite of an apple, she gave into the temptation, and never lost her appetite for more and more. It is in our spiritual DNA. And yet the first words of our scripture today teach us – that the secret to a spiritual life is to learn to be content with what you have. The word used as contentment actually means being self contained. Realizing that happiness does not come from what is out there, it comes from what’s inside. 1. The Pastor's Story File (Saratoga Press, P.O. Box 8, Platteville, CO, 80651; 970-785-2990), February 2001 Contentment comes from an inward attitude to life. In the Third part of Henry the Sixth, Shakespeare draws a picture of the king wandering in the country places unknown. He meets two gamekeepers and tells them that he is a king. One of them asks him: “But, if thou be a king, where is thy crown?” And the king gives a great answer: “My crown is in my heart, not on my head; Not deck’d with diamonds and Indians stones, Nor to be seen; my crown is call’d content— A crown it is that seldom kings enjoy.” Sadly, in many cases it is. We can see a dangerous parallel to our lifestyle in the true story of what happened to the citizens on the island of Nauru, a tiny island in the Western Pacific Ocean. With abundant natural resources and rich fishing waters, Nauru provided its citizens with a comfortable, peaceful life. But one day, a chemist, studying a piece of wood from the island, discovered it to be from an area very rich in phosphates. It turns out the island of Nauru was a rich source of phosphate rock, which is used extensively in fertilizers. The government set about mining the phosphate rock and soon became exceedingly rich from its export. Because the government of Nauru subsidizes the lifestyles of its inhabitants, the people of Nauru also became quite rich in the process. The newly rich Nauruans became conspicuous consumers, stocking their houses with every kind of high-tech household gadget. Though their little island has only one road, most Nauruan families bought two or more cars. The government began importing large amounts of food from other countries, and made it available to the people at very low prices. Today, 90% of Nauruan inhabitants are obese, and diabetes and heart disease rates have skyrocketed. The government badly mismanaged its wealth, and now the island of Nauru is in serious debt. Irresponsible mining practices have devastated the island's habitat and natural beauty. And the phosphate stores are running out. The island of Nauru, once a place of beauty and comfortable living, has been ravaged by greed, and is a little speck of heaven no longer. (4) The same thing is happening to us, but we rarely ever see it. But Paul, like Luke, like Jesus, reminds us that we should know better than that. He starts out in Timothy by saying godliness is a great source of profit when you combine it with happiness, which you should already have. The love of money is the root all evil, but he says you man of God should run away from all of these things. Instead, pursue righteousness, holy living, faithfulness, love, endurance and gentleness. Grab hold of the eternal. In other words, let your contentment come from inside, not from what you don’t have. Luke’s message to us is in God’s investment plan, we should invest in relationships with people and with God, not in our bank account. It is nothing wrong with money, or having money. But when it drives you down a road of achieving more – that is when the trouble begins. One day, the young son of humor writer Erma Bombeck surprised her with this question: "Mommy, are we rich?" This was Bombeck's answer: "You're rich when you can have eight people to dinner and don't have to wash forks between the main course and dessert." "You're rich when your television set has all the knobs on it." "You're rich when you can throw away a pair of pantyhose just because it has a large hole in it." "You're rich when your dog is wet and it smells good." The truth is, you are really rich, when you can have a relationship with God, you listen to God. You are not only aware of those around you, but you do what you can to help them. You realize that the resources that you have been given, (and everything that you have is a gift), are given to make a difference in this world. Your true reward comes from God, not from man. Invest in people, not in material possession. A man went to a monastery on vacation for a week. As the priest led him to his room, he said, you are welcome here. And if you find that you need something during you stay here, we will teach you how to live without it. Father Leaves Legacy Through Giving When I was a kid, my dad told me two stories all the time. In the first one, a couple goes to Harvard University and asks to see the president, because they want to give a donation to the university. The president agrees to see them, but he doesn't know them, and because they're from somewhere way out west, he treats them curtly. After a few moments, the woman finally turns to her husband and says, "Come, Leland; I think there are better things we can do with our money." The man was Leland Stanford, founder (with his wife) of Stanford University. Even as a child, I understood that the moral of this story was not, "Be nice to strangers." Instead, this story was about who has real power. The moral is, "If you have money, you can tell anyone—even the most established, respected, or powerful person in the world—to go take a flying leap." The second story my father used to tell me went like this: One day a minister was invited to John D. Rockefeller's mansion. As he drove up the winding drive lined with tall trees, he said, "My, my! This is what the Lord might have done—if he'd had the money." As a child, I understood the moral of this story, too. The minister, who represents belief in God, is overwhelmed by Rockefeller's wealth. Not only that, he says God himself doesn't have as much money as Rockefeller. Implicit in this claim is that he doesn't have as much power, either. Rockefeller is more powerful than God, because money is more powerful than God. As you might guess from the stories my dad told me growing up, he spent most of his life working really hard to make money. But then he made a tactical error. My mom and I were going to an Episcopal Church service, and he decided to come along. The priest was full of old-time religion, and he gave an altar call. Something connected with my dad that day, and he went forward and began to follow Jesus. He was 60-years-old. He began to read a small, blue King James Bible, and for the first time in his life, he began giving with real interest. He told me, in what was a rare sharing of his personal life, "Kevin, I've started to tithe, and it's been a great adventure." My dad suffered a heart attack at age 70. He lay in a hospital bed for 5 days, and then he died. At the funeral home, they laid him in a casket with his navy blazer and a Lands' End tie. A woman I'd never seen came up to me and said, "You don't know me, but I was in a bad marriage; my husband was beating me, and I needed to get out to save my life. But I didn't know what I would do to support myself. Your dad paid for me to go to junior college and get a degree, so I could be a dental hygienist. He paid for the whole thing, and nobody else knew about it. Now I have a job, and I'm making it. Your dad literally saved my life." I wonder what would have been my dad's legacy if he had kept loving money and trying to be like Leland Stanford and John D. Rockefeller. He would have died with a lot of money, but not a lot of love. Instead, he took a risk. He tried to learn how to "keep his life free from the love of money." And when he died, he left behind a woman who knows every day when she cleans people's teeth that it's a miracle she's still alive. Kevin Miller, in his sermon "Financial Contentment," PreachingToday.com [ read less ] When you die, how many of your things are going to come to you funeral. How many of your things are gonna honor you when you die. But the people that you invested in, that you took time with will carry on your name forever. Fellow Christians, we know better, therefore we need to do better. Pursue eternal life, not the rat race. But as for you, man of God, shun all this; aim at righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Amen. Children’s sermon…. Object: A target. Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have ever used a bow and arrow? (Let them answer.) A lot of you have shot an arrow with a bow. How many of you have ever played the game of darts? (Let them answer.) Some of you have done this also. Now, when you use a bow or throw some darts, what do you aim at? (Let them answer.) That's right, a target. You need a target if you are going to shoot an arrow or throw a dart. Otherwise there would be no fun to it. What do you try to hit on the target? (Let them answer.) That's right. The bull's-eye. That is the most important point on the target. If you hit the bull's-eye then you have really done the job. That is the center of our target, and it means you have very good aim. The Bible tells us we should be aiming at some things also. The Bible teaches us that we should be aiming at the good things in life and not just at anything. If you are not aiming, then your shot might end up anywhere. For instance, the Bible tells us that we should try to aim at being gentle. How many of you know what being gentle means? (Let them answer.) What would the opposite of gentle be? (Let them answer.) I think that "rough" is probably the opposite of gentle. Would you like your mother to be rough with you or gentle? (Let them answer.) You want her to be gentle. We would like everyone to be gentle with us. And, of course, other people would like you and me to be gentle with them. Being gentle is in the target's bull's-eye. Another quality we find there is love. What is the opposite of love? (Let them answer.) The Bible says that we should aim at love and never hate. Loving other people and being loved is one of the very best things about life. These are just a couple things the Bible teaches us we should aim for in our lives. In the bull's-eye of the target is gentleness and love. We have to aim at the target. We may not always hit the bull's-eye, but if we are aiming at our target we will come much closer than if we forget to aim. The Apostle Paul gave this kind of advice to his young pastor friend, Timothy, and today I can pass it on to you. Try to think about doing right all day long. Think about it a lot and you will do what is right most of the time. That is what we call taking aim at the good things and having a good life. other illustrations….. ILLUSTRATION Frugal Trustee Removes Church Sign After a friend of ours took his first rural pastorate, we made plans to visit him. We wrote down careful directions on how to get to his country church. He said there would be a welcome sign at a crossroads that would indicate to us where to turn. But traveling back and forth on the road, we couldn't find the sign. Finally, by accident we located the church. When we told our pastor friend about our trouble, he was confused. He asked the church trustee what happened to the sign. The trustee explained, "I took it down for the winter, so it wouldn't become weathered." JoHannah Reardon, Sycamore, Illinois SERMON ILLUSTRATION Philip Yancey on Living Without Possessions I've become more convinced than ever that God finds ways to communicate with those who truly seek him, especially when we lower the volume of the surrounding static. I remember reading the account of a spiritual seeker who interrupted a busy life to spend a few days in a monastery. "I hope your stay is a blessed one," said the monk who showed the visitor to his cell. "If you need anything, let us know, and we'll teach you how to live without it." Philip Yancey, "What 147 Elk Taught Me About Prayer," Christianity Today (March 2006) SERMON ILLUSTRATION SERMON ILLUSTRATION Importing the Idol of Consumerism My friend Ashish came from Northern India to visit me in Chicago. We were eating at Gino's Pizzeria one day and ran into a youth pastor I know, along with his youth group. Just returned from Central America, they were debriefing. "So what did you learn from your trip?" Ashish asked. Student after student obsessed about the poverty of "those poor people." After they left, Ashish said, "Why do they think we're so poor?" "Ashish," I retorted, "you are poor compared to any of those kids. It's hard to get their minds off their consumerist passions. I'm glad they experienced some dissonance." "I'm sick of sympathy from Westerners who think we need more stuff," Ashish rebutted. "What does that have to do with our happiness? Please don't help import the consumerism idol into India." He then told about the American group that was just with him in Delhi. "They were concerned about the bicycle I use to get back and forth to church. They told me they'd all chipped in to get me a car! That was the last thing I wanted. I think I 'rained on their parade,' as you say, when I told them that members in my church could use those same dollars to help start a micro-enterprise. They thought I was just being supersacrificial." David Livermore, Serving with Eyes Wide Open (Baker Books, 2006) SERMON ILLUSTRATION St. Francis's Extreme Embrace of Poverty Among his many virtues, [St. Francis of Assisi] is known for his passionate embrace of poverty. Not only did he forbid his emerging Order to own property, he added this discipline for each of the brothers: "Let none of the brothers … wherever he may be or go, carry, receive, or have received in any way coin or money, whether for clothing, books, or payment for work." There were few exceptions. If a brother was sick or if someone needed medical attention, the brothers could beg for money to pay for a doctor or medicine. But other than that, they were never to touch money. In fact, they were forbidden from even being seen with a beggar who asked for money. Francis was passionate about this rule, jealous for obedience to it: "If by chance, God forbid, it happens that some brother is collecting or holding coin or money," he wrote in his earlier rule, "let all the brothers consider him a deceptive brother, an apostate, a thief, a robber." It was a passion without patience. According to an early collection of Francis stories, a layman entered the headquarters of the Order, Saint Mary of the Portiuncula, to pray. He also left an offering, laying some coins near the cross. Later that day, a brother saw the coins and unthinkingly picked them up and placed them on a window ledge. Later, the brother realized what he had done. He also heard that Francis had found out. He was horrified, so he immediately rushed to Francis and implored forgiveness. He told Francis to whip him for penance. Francis was not so easily placated. Instead, after rebuking the brother, he told him to go to the windowsill, pick up a coin with his mouth, and carry it outside. Then, with the coin still in his mouth, he was to deposit it in a heap of ass's dung. The brother obeyed gladly. This is extreme discipleship, to say the least. But Francis knew that money was like a drug, as addictive and destructive to the soul as cocaine is to the body. Francis did not believe money could be used moderately or "recreationally" without it eventually enslaving. He believed Jesus literally: one cannot serve God and mammon (see Matt. 6:24). In short, he was so jealous for God, so passionate about a fully realized relationship with him, that he acted in ways we consider "over the top." Mark Galli, A Great and Terrible Love (Baker Books, 2009), pp. 118-119 [ read less ] Save "St. Francis's Extreme Embrace of Poverty " Related Topics: Appetites; Asceticism; Commitment; Dedication; Desire; Devotion;Discipleship; Discipline; Extremes; Flesh; Focus; Gluttony; Law; Legalism;Materialism; Money; Money, love of; Moralism; Passion; Possessions;Poverty; Riches; Rules; Spiritual Disciplines; Temptation; Temptation, resisting;Wealth; World; Worldliness; Zeal Filters: Church History; Everyday Disciples; History; Money; Stories References: Joshua 7:21 ; Luke 8:14 ; Luke 12:13-21 ; Ephesians 5:3 ;Colossians 3:5 ; 1 Timothy 6:6-11 ; 1 Timothy 6:17-19 ; Hebrews 13:5 SERMON ILLUSTRATION "Confessions of a Shopaholic": Materialism and Its Consequences Editor's Note: This is a great scene that shows the mindset of someone consumed by materialism. A word of caution is in order, however: Toward the end ... [ read more ] Save ""Confessions of a Shopaholic": Materialism and Its Consequences " SERMON ILLUSTRATION Changes in Giving in Economic Crisis Change in giving to religious organizations and churches in 2008: +5.5 percent (a total of $106.89 billion) Change in overall charitable giving in 2008: ... [ read more ] Save "Changes in Giving in Economic Crisis" SERMON ILLUSTRATION Top Priorities of Parents in an Economic Crisis In light of the economic crisis of 2009, researchers asked 695 U.S. parents to identify their top priorities: • Fifty-four percent said their children's health care [ read more ] Save "Top Priorities of Parents in an Economic Crisis" Not rated SERMON ILLUSTRATION Man Desires the Trust of His Homeless Friend A little while ago I wandered into the wrong hospital room at Stony Brook University Hospital (New York). A middle-aged man with only a few teeth and ... [ read more ] Save "Man Desires the Trust of His Homeless Friend" SERMON ILLUSTRATION Doing Battle with the "Eve Factor" Several years ago, [my wife] and I moved out of Chicago to the western suburbs to be near our grandkids. We got this little piece of land and built what we thought was our dream house. It was not over the top by any means, but it was nice. We liked how it looked from the curb. We liked how it lived on the inside. It was far more than we deserved, but we really liked our house. I hate to admit this … but about six months after we built our house, I was driving through a beautiful neighborhood and saw a house that caught my attention. The colors, the architecture, the lot, the location all had a big wow factor for me. And my first thought was, Boy, do I wish I had that house! Have you ever wondered, What is wrong with us? It's the Eve factor in our lives. We were born with it, and it's deeply embedded in our spiritual DNA. Just one more proof of our sinfulness, in case we had forgotten. What was it that drew Eve's heart away from God in Genesis 3? What was it that seduced her into the material world, into Satan's clutches? She wanted more. What she had, although awesome and satisfying, wasn't enough. In fact, for her, God wasn't enough. She was willing to do anything for more, even if it meant turning her back on God. At its core, greed is a lack of contentment with God and with what he has provided for us. Joe Stowell, Jesus Nation (Tyndale, 2009), pp. 131-132 [ read less ] The Torment of the Mature "The torment of the dead is that they cannot warn the living, just as it is the torment of the mature that the erring young will not listen to them." Dr. Helmut Thielicke The Only Thing You Have Dr. Leo Buscalgia told of an experience he had in Cambodia many years ago. He noticed that during monsoon season the people's way of life changed. The great rains washed away their houses, so the people lived on great communal rafts, several families together. Dr. Buscalgia wrote: "I went down there on a bicycle and there they were. I thought I'd help these people move and become part of their community. The Frenchwoman whom I was talking with just laughed. `What do they have to move?' she asked. `Nature has taught them the only thing they have is from the top of their head to the bottom of their feet. Themselves, not things. They can't collect things because every year the monsoon comes.'" Dr. Buscalgia reflected upon what he saw: "I couldn't help thinking to myself, what would you do, Buscalgia, if the monsoon came to Los Angeles next week? What would you take? Your color TV set? Your automobile? The only thing you have to take is you." Timothy J. Smith, What Goes Around Comes Around Have you all heard about the Preacher who stood up one morning and told his congregation. "This morning we'll have an interactive service. I've prepared 3 different sermons for today. First I've prepared a fifty dollar fire and brimstone sermon which is about two hours long." "Second I've prepared a hundred dollar sermon on the evils of sin that should take about an hour to deliver. And finally I have a $500 fifty dollar sermon on love and generosity, it will only take about 10 or fifteen minutes. We'll take the offering and afterwards, I will let you know which message I'm going to be preaching this morning." (1) "With money in your pocket, you are wise and you are handsome and you sing well too."