Winning With Our Wealth

Greeting

Good morning Lighthouse Church!

Look at your neighbor and tell them “The Pumpkin Spice Latte is overrated…”

Oh man, Pastor is trying to start fights here in the church this morning.

Well, we start a brand new teaching series today and to say that I am excited is an understatement.

This series, and the series that follows, are going to set our church on a direction for the next two years. That said, please make it a priority to be here so that you can lean in to what I am saying as I give us a bit of a road map for the next two years. I’m going to unpack it piece by piece, but we are headed somewhere, together.

All right let’s go, we got a lot to do.

Reading

Luke 18:18–25 NIV

A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’” “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

Introduction (Text)

The young man in the Bible story that we just read is going to serve as an archetype of what it means to win on the world’s terms, and on Jesus’ terms.

In the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, they each give us a description about this man. Matthew’s gospel calls him a young man, Mark’s gospel emphasizes the wealth that he had, and Luke’s gospel emphasizes the fact that this man is a ruler.

When we synthesize their descriptions we come up with what we know him as; the Rich Young Ruler.

And, these three descriptors are the things that many people today are chasing; wealth, health, and influence.

Wealth

Let’s talk about each of these for a moment.

For the first time credit card debt has passed $1 trillion. People are financing life styles that they cannot afford.

On average, we see 4,000-10,000 ads per day telling us that we can experience more life, if we buy more stuff.

And the American Dream was once the pursuit of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” but now the American Dream has become material comfort, bigger homes, and financial security.

Health

Let’s talk about health for a second.

American spend $1.5 trillion annually on wellness, including supplements, diets and cosmetic procedures.

Anti-aging and cosmetic surgery has boomed and more people under 30 are seeking out treatment.

The paradox to all of this s that despite the spending, the US still has the highest obesity rates among developed nations revealing to us that obsession with health doesn’t equal actual health.

Influence

The influencer market is valued at $21 billion globally, and many children say their dream job is to “be a famous YouTuber.”

Studies show that these like buttons on social media trigger dopamine hits similar to gambling, meaning “likes” are addictive.

Social Media and YouTube gives people the chance to achieve “celebrity status,” in sports, politics, or entertainment.

The Tension / Transition

Now here is the tension… wealth, health, and influence are not bad things.

We should want to grow our wealth. The Bible tells us that a good man leaves an inheritance not just for his children, but for his children’s children.

We should be healthy. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and we need to be good stewards of the this body that God has given us.

And, influence is not a bad thing. We should be influencers - influencing people to follow the ways of Jesus and the way of his word. We can use our influence to direct people to Him, and that’s a good thing.

So, why is it that when this young man, with all of the potential in the world; why did he crash out when Jesus told him to leave everything behind and follow him?

Because he didn’t have wealth, health, and influence, his wealth, health, and influence had him.

This artist, Heinrich Hoffman, who painted this image does not paint a very flattering image of Jesus. You can see that in Jesus’ face he is disappointed in the young man.

Over the next few weeks we’re going to talk about each of these, and for the rest of our time together, we’re going to focus on this thought, and now here is my sermon title, Winning With Your Wealth.

Application

The first thing that you need to know is that there are over 2,000 verses in the Bible that deal with money, possessions, and stewardship. That is more than twice the amount of verses about prayer or faith.

Jesus told 38 parables and 16 of them directly address money or possessions.

About 15% of Jesus’ teaching touches on money and material possessions.

If it feels like that is a lot of touch points when it comes to money and possessions, it is because Jesus cares deeply about your relationship with money.

That’s the first thing that I want you to write down because it is very important.

Jesus cares deeply about your relationship with money.

Why?

Because money is neutral, but your heart towards money is not.

You can have the right heart and a healthy relationship with money, or you can have a wrong heart towards money, and an unhealthy relationship with money.

Money is not evil, but if you have an unhealthy love for money, then that is evil.

Money is a tool. With the right heart towards money we know that it is a tool that is used to build the Kingdom of God, advance the gospel, and help you fulfill God’s purposes for your life. Often times, but not always, I see God give more money to people who will use it to advance His plans and purposes here on Earth. God knows who to trust with more of it.

Money makes you more of what you are.

Sometimes you’ll hear someone say, “If I had more money, then I would…” you can fill in the blank.

But the truth is, if you had more money, you would do more of what you are already doing.

So if you are already a generous person, you’re going to be even more generous.

If you are not a generous person, you’re going to be even less generous because now you have more to share, but you won’t. So, money reveals more of who you are.

[Transition]

So how then are we to approach wealth so that we don’t follow the way of the Rich Young Ruler who was possessed by his wealth.

Everything I have belongs to God, and He has called me to steward it.

Psalm 24:1 NIV

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;

This is a big shift in our thinking and it goes against the way of the world and our culture.

We think, “This is my money,” and we get really upset when someone challenges us to think differently about our money.

If you could, today, make the shift from this is mine, to this is His, you would already start to move your relationship with money from unhealthy to healthy.

Could you imagine what could have been with the rich young ruler if he had this way of thinking?

Maybe, he would have joined the disciples, and maybe we’d know his name, and there would be people thousands of years later naming their kids after him like we do with Matthew, Mark, and the other disciples. But instead, we only know him by what had him, and we don’t even know who he is.

He is just, and always will be, the rich young ruler.

When we know that this belongs to God, we then have a steward mentality.

A steward is “the one who is over the house.” The house is not yours, but you’ve been put there to look over the house, and with great care and attention to detail, you are stewarding what God has given you.

When you have that kind of mindset, please trust me, you will think more carefully about how you spend your money.

Money and Wealth will continually test my heart.

Matthew 6:21 NIV

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

I want you to follow the order of this verse. It doesn’t say where your heart is, there your money will be. Instead it says, where your money is, there is where your heart is.

I don’t need to spend any time with you to know what kind of person you are, I just need to look at your bank statements.

Your spending will show me who you are.

[STORY OF GIVING AWAY MONEY]

Likewise, when you want to start to develop a heart of generosity, and a heart that is for the Kingdom of God, you start giving towards that.

As you give to that, your heart will begin to bend and to shape to the thing that you are giving to.

That is the testing of your heart.

Pursuing God keeps me from pursuing money.

Matthew 6:24 NIV

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

As we mentioned, Jesus talked often about money and wealth, and look at the place he puts money. He says you cannot serve two masters, and the second master that he names and is giving weight to is money.

The pursuit of money is a rival to the pursuit of God.

I know we talk a lot about God not having a rival, but he does in the heart of so many. He is rivaled by their love for money.

FPU

In this country, our problem, when it comes to money is not we don’t make enough of it, but that we spend too much of it. It is why we have a powerful connect group called Financial Peace University here at Lighthouse.

It is so much more than a group that’s going to teach you how to get out of debt and live on a budget, but it is going to help you order your heart so that your heart is for the things of God, and not after the pursuit of stuff.

God challenges us to live generously

Luke 12:33 NIV

Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.

This is just one verse, but there are hundreds of verses, in the law, in the prophets, in the Proverbs, and in the New Testament that call us to live generously. That we would not keep everything we have for ourselves, but that we also find ways to bless others and to believe that no one will go needing anything.

Again, if this kind of preaching causes you to clam up, I think you would have had a difficult time listening to Jesus preach, because he talked about money a lot.

Because he didn’t want your money to have a grip on you.

The very tool that God has given you to be a blessing to others, has the potential to harden your heart and to turn you away from him.

Conclusion

So how do we respond in a moment like this?

We pause and we begin to examine ourselves. Do I have an unhealthy relationship with money?

Has God given me resources that I am reluctant to give away?

Our desire for you is to live open handed.

Can we do this small exercise to show you what it means to live open handed.

Hold out your hands like this… to live open handed is to receive from God, and then to keep those hands open so that we can give to those in need.

The opposite of that is to live close handed. Can you make a fist now?

When we live close handed, the moment that we receive from God, we clinch our fists and we don’t let anyone share in what God has given us.

Consequently, you are not positioned to receive anymore from God.

[Testimony]

Just this week I stepped out of my car while picking up some coffee and I as I opened my car door, there was a $20 bill. How many of you know that it is a good day when you find some money on the floor?

But I was challenged because just the day before I wrote this sermon and at that moment I wasn’t thinking, “God blessed me…” No. Somebody lost that money. It’s not mine. If i find $20 in a jacket of mine, then that’s different, but this was someone else’s misfortune, it wasn’t a financial blessing…

So I tucked it away in my wallet, and the next day I saw a family on the street corner in need. In real need. And I handed them the 20 because I’m just a steward.

And, the God who owns it all is looking for open handed people so that he can give them more, and more, and more, and more, and more…

Call

As we end the year, we are going to launch a two-year giving initiative here at Lighthouse that we have centered around this verse in Isaiah.

Isaiah 60:1 NIV

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

The name of this campaign is Light up the City.

Church, we have had an incredible year here at Lighthouse. Truly a banner year for us and our brief existence as a church.

Our desire in this initiative that you are going to hear me talk about a lot over the next two months is that, one, every member of our church will fully engage in what Lighthouse is doing.

What does that mean?

Every person would commit their lives to Jesus in order to Know God.

Every person would join a Connect Group so that they would Find Freedom in Christ.

Every person would commit themselves to Discover their Purpose by taking Growth Track

Every person would commit themselves to making a difference by joining the Dream Team.

And the next thing that we are calling us to do is to grow in our generosity so that we can raise $2.1 million dollars over the next two years.

It is clear to us that this church is growing, and we are getting to a point that we are limited by our seating capacity.

It used to be that if we had over 500 people on a Sunday, it was special day. This year we are start to break that mark repeatedly. There is a great hunger for the presence of God in our city right now.

The need to raise this capital is so that we can complete this campus, offer more ministry to our community, and to begin looking for an additional campus for Lighthouse Church North County.

Can we celebrate that? Can we believe for that?