The Idol of Stuff

Intro

Recap

It has been a couple of weeks since we’ve been together for a message so let’s recap. We are in the third session of our series called “Idols.” So far, we’ve learned that if we’re not careful, we can turn things in our lives into idols. Remember, an idol is anything we view as more important than God. Anything that you go to for wisdom or advice. Anything you rely on to bring you comfort, safety, or success. Anything that winds up on the throne of your heart as the most important thing in the world is an idol. When we look at things to give us only what God can give us, they become idols in our lives.

We kicked off the series by describing what an idol is, and we talked about the “Idol of Image.” We said that we can get so caught up in creating and maintaining an image to be accepted by the world around us that we forget that through Jesus, we’re accepted by God. We don’t have to center our lives on what the people around us say or think about us. We can rest in the fact that we are who Jesus says we are. Last time, we talked about the “Idol of Feelings.” That may sound a little weird to you, but it probably affects your life more than you think. We make a ton of decisions every day. How often do you go with your gut instinct? How often do you rely on how you’re feeling at any given moment to tell you what you should say or how you should act? If you’re trusting in your feelings to lead you in the right direction, then you might be making an idol out of them. We learned that we’re made to glorify God, but we can’t do that if we don’t listen to His voice. We have to spend time with Him and learn to listen to His voice instead of our feelings.

So, tonight, we’re going to look at the “Idol of Stuff.” To kick us off, let’s start with a question… what is your dream car?

I brought a picture of my dream car. Look at that, isn’t it so nice? Do I like some other cars? Absolutely, but I said dream car so unless a miracle happens, I don’t know if I’m getting that. I heard a story when a man got a black Camaro car. He bought it and he was so happy because he’s been saving up and it was a new one. But then his sister got a red challenger, so he had to get a better Camaro. He got the newest Camaro car that just came out. But what happens next is even worse, the man ends up in huge debt because he got two cars in a quick time frame that he could barely afford. All because of competition and stuff that controlled him.

Does stuff control us? Does wanting new stuff control how we live? Is stuff a bad thing? Is wanting new stuff a bad thing? As we’ve talked about our image and feelings, possessions don’t have to be bad, but they can become destructive if they compete with God. If they take His place as the most important thing in our lives, then we have to address them. There was a story of a rich young ruler in the Bible who struggled with possessions. Go with me to Luke 18:18-23. This is what it says…

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 18

18 A ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not bear false witness; honor your father and mother.”,

21 “I have kept all these from my youth,” he said.

22 When Jesus heard this, he told him, “You still lack one thing: Sell all you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

23 After he heard this, he became extremely sad, because he was very rich.

Alright, so what’s going on here? This story tells us how we should view our possessions. This story is three of the gospel accounts: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Now, how do we get this phrase “rich young ruler”? We don’t know his name, but the man is described as a “ruler” in verse 18. It is Luke who tells us the man was rich and in Matthew’s gospel account, he tells us he was young. But the big thing is how much his stuff mattered to him.

MIT: The rich young ruler made an idol out of all the stuff he had.

MIM: We have everything we need in Jesus.

We’re going to learn from the rich young ruler that there were two things he could have done differently. But first, let’s dissect this text and see what’s going on here.

Explanation

In verse 18, the rich young ruler asks Jesus “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Now, the rich young ruler calling Jesus a “Good teacher” is somewhat unusual. The title “teacher” was used by non-disciples, but the rich young ruler asks a question that shows he has some respect for Jesus. He asks about good works and salvation, even if possibly he doesn’t realize it. The rich young ruler asks in terms of doing and Jesus answers in that way. First, in verse 19, he says “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” Now, when I read this text, I was like come on Jesus just take a compliment, what are you doing? But Jesus is not denying his goodness. Jesus knew who He was. He also knew to always point back to the Father. Jesus lets him know that no one focuses on their goodness when seeking to be right with God. So, Jesus is telling the man to focus and look at God. After setting the theological scene, he gets to the question. In verse 20, he begins to address the question of the ruler. Jesus directs him to the commandments. The commandments were nothing new to him, as Jesus said in verse 20, “You know the commandments.” This ruler was an educated Jew of his day, so of course he knew the commandments. He proudly says in verse 21, “I have kept all these from my youth.” This is true because he’s read all the Torah which is the first five books in the Bible. He is saying he has faithfully observed the Torah from the time he reached the age of legal responsibility which back then was thirteen years old. So, he assumes that he stands right with God and expects Jesus now to say he has done all he needs to do. The man sees nothing new in the commandments and he thinks he knows it all. He’s like “What else do I have to do?” Jesus gets to the core of what he’s saying in the next verse. Verse 22 says, “You still lack one thing: Sell all you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” How does he lack something when he’s rich? How does he lack something when he’s a ruler and in a place of position? Shouldn’t he have it all? Jesus challenged him to love God more than money and material things because he loved money and material things more than God. Jesus asked the ruler to give up his money because He could see money was an idol. He asked him to give it to the poor because He could see that he didn’t love others the way he should. This all came as a shock to this man because Jewish people assumed that wealth was a sign of divine blessing and pleasure and never a barrier to God. But his wealth and stuff became an idol in his life. After hearing what Jesus said, verse 23 says, “he became extremely sad because he was very rich.” Luke doesn’t say he refused but he just became sad. The other gospel accounts of the story note that he went away but Luke shows his feelings.

So, it’s easy to judge him and think “Come on, give it all up for Jesus.” But think about it for us, if Jesus were to tell you that you had to sell all that you had to follow Him, would you be able to do it? Would you be okay with not having what you have right now if it meant you could follow Jesus? Even if you don’t have much, would you be okay with giving up everything? It’s one thing to try and put us in this story and imagine how we would react to this challenge from Jesus. It’s another thing to know that He’s calling us to this today. You may not have to go out and sell everything that you have, but you do have to put your possessions in their rightful place to put Him first.

I want to give you two things I think can help you do that. Two application points, the first is…

1. Be Content

Explanation

Being content is a state of happiness and satisfaction that isn’t dependent on your current situation. Things don’t have to be going well for us to be content. We don’t have to have the best things to be content. We can be content even when life is going poorly, and we don’t have everything we want. We can be content because, in Jesus, we have everything we need.

I remember a while ago, like middle school time, I wanted this new pair of Jordans. Now y’all may not be familiar with how big shoes that are being released are because y’all are smarter than I was so let me explain. But new shoes would be on a first-come basis. Meaning sometimes you would have to get a ticket to make sure you could even get the shoes. So, when you buy the shoes, you have to show your ticket, and you get the ticket online. But this time no ticket was needed so what I had to do was on a Saturday morning I had to go to the mall and wait for the store that was selling them to open up so I could get them. My friend and I went to the mall and waited in line before the mall was even open. Shoutout to my Dad for taking us. Guys, guess what, I didn’t even get the shoes. There were too many people in line for these big shoes that were being released.

Application

You guys haven’t probably done something like that but in a way, has stuff taken over your life? Are you not content with what you have and are looking for more? Do you even need more stuff? These are some questions we can think about when trying to be more content.

2. Trust God

Explanation

Look at what Philippians 4:19 says, “And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Do you believe that? Do you trust that? Do you believe that God will supply your every need? We may not have everything we want, but God has blessed us with everything we need. I want that black Lamborghini, but I don’t need it because I have a car that works. It gets me from point A to point B. When I start it, it works.

Philippians 4:19 doesn’t say our wants but our needs because there’s a difference. There are some things we want but don’t need.And then the other way, there are some things we maybe don’t want but we do need. I did not need those new pair of shoes; I just wanted them. Here’s the difference between needs and wants: A need is something essential for survival or well-being. A want is something desired but not essential. What are some things we need in life? We need things like food, water, clothes, medicine, shelter, and things like that. Now, what are some things we want in life? ? Food, water, clothes, shelter, etc. What are some wants in our lives? There are many times God has provided for our needs in our lives, whether small or big.

A couple of Friday nights ago, my girlfriend Kaitlyn and I were going for dinner. We were going to go to Texas Roadhouse but it’s always so packed and it was a 90-minute wait, so we ended up going to Logans. Now, here’s the thing, when we were on the way and almost there, I got a signal on my car that said, “Your engine is overheated.” Now, you don’t need to know a lot about cars to know that it’s not good. Life tip for y’all in the future, when that happens, immediately pull over. Don’t even try to go anymore, just pull over. Let your car cool off and then look and see what’s going on under your hood. I saw I had no coolant. Now, coolant is what brings cool air to your engine and then also helps bring heat and a/c in your car. So, it’s very important. Guys, I was empty, no coolant at all. So, I called my mom, and she brought me some. Pulled coolant in and solved the problem. It was a small problem, now it could have been a bigger problem if I tried to keep driving because my engine could have been ruined.

Application

Think back over the past few weeks, what minor problems has God taken care of lately? Has he solved some nagging problem? Has he helped you with anything lately?

Conclusion

If we were to keep reading the story of the rich young ruler, we would see something very exciting at the end. Peter in his boldness seems to ask Jesus what will happen to those who have given things up by reminding Him that they, as in the disciples, have left everything behind to follow Him. Jesus tells Peter that no one has left anything behind for the sake of the kingdom of God who will not receive many times more in this time and in the life to come, eternal life. Isn’t that great news? When we leave behind our possessions and are willing to give them up to truly follow God, we get something greater than this world could ever give us. When we believe and confess that Jesus came to die for our sins and repent of them, then we inherit the greatest gift of all time. How often do we think that stuff can save us? How often do we think that stuff is what brings peace? Is what brings us joy and happiness? Jesus is the savior that our stuff never could be. We can put our hope in Him to fulfill us, satisfy us, give us eternal joy, and accept us because He’s already shown us that He will. On the cross, Jesus displayed God’s love for us even though we were still sinners. This is why we can be content with Jesus and trust that God is going to give us everything we need. If God was willing to send Jesus, His only Son, to die a miserable death on the cross for you and me, then of course He’ll give us what we need!

Our possessions can be tempting idols. With what this world tells us, it’s easy to want to bow down and put all our hope and trust in what we own to bring us what we want. It’s easy to think that more stuff will bring us acceptance, satisfaction, and whatever else our hearts desire. But we’ll never truly have those things until we can place our hope and trust in Jesus. In Jesus, we have everything we need.

Pray