Materialism - The Proof is in the Pudding

Materialism

Intro:

Last week, what did we talk about? Does anyone remember?

Last week, what did we talk about? Does anyone remember?

That’s right, we talked about idolatry

And we talked about the fact that idolatry is primarily a heart issue, that often branches out into a stuff issue. But idolatry stems from us wanting to receive all the glory and worship.

Remember, we looked at the fact that we were all made to worship, we all have this God-shaped hole in our lives.

Poor people and rich people, we’re all the same, we all have this desire.

And we talked about how we, as a self-centered people who are quite wealthy, how we try to cram any and everything into our lives to satisfy our desire.

Essentially, we worship ourselves, trying to find satisfaction.

And we think we can find it with stuff, with positions of importance, with certain culturally driven expectations.

Well, today, we’re going to focus more on the stuff side of idolatry, called materialism.

Now materialism is basically the tendency to consider possessions and physical comfort as more important than anything else.

Materialism - An expression of a heart issue

Turn with me to .

We will be in this passage for most of the morning, and this passage, while short, is packed with some powerful words aimed at right at this idea of finding happiness in materials

John doesn’t hold back here, and what he says right off the bat in this passage goes completely against how a lot of us think. A lot of us think, well, a little here and a little there is no big deal, right? I can splurge on this, or this, what’s the big deal, it doesn’t really matter. Sure, I don’t need it, I’ve got plenty, but a little bit more isn’t going to hurt anybody.

For instance, does anybody really need the latest crazes that come at us. Savannah and I were at Livvy’s yesterday and they’re still selling fidget spinners! There are so many things wrong with this, 1: why is an ice cream shop selling them? Because people for a while, HAD to have one.

A lot of you bought them and have them, did we really need them? Or were we just chasing after a “little here” in a material sense?

Or when the newest gaming system or phone comes out, do we really need it, or did we ever need it?

Listen to what John says here in verse 15.

“Do not love the world or the things in the world.”

Wow, right? Those are pretty strong words from John

We know from the original language, what John isn’t saying here is we shouldn’t love the created world. He’s not referring to creation when he use this word here.

We know God created the world and all in it and called it “good”.

What he is referring to is this “earthly system” that has been set up in the created world. He’s referring to the fallen state that mankind has come to.

Notice he follow it up with “the things in the world.”

He’s saying don’t love this world that is made up of self-glorification and materialistic mentalities. Don’t focus on the world and the stuff!

Look with me, he didn’t say, “Don’t love it too much”, or, “Don’t overdo it”.

NO! HE’S SAYING DON’T LOVE THE WORLD OR THE THINGS IN THE WORLD PERIOD.

And, if you’re like me and you read the first part of verse 1, and you think about all the material things you have in your life, you’re probably feeling pretty low.

Seriously, I sat and thought about all the shoes I have, and clothes, and what I have in my bank account (which isn’t alot by any means, but still more than most of the world has), and the amount of food I eat, and so on, and guys, I was embarrassed. I was ashamed. I was convicted.

Are you?

But sometimes when we’re feeling convicted, we try to make ourselves feel better don’t we. We try to find a way to pat ourselves on our own back, pick ourselves up.

Sometimes we do this by pointing at someone else saying, “At least I’m not as bad as that person, that person has wwwwaaaayyyy too much stuff”.

Or other times, we try to do something good for someone to make ourselves feel better. Let me give a little bit to this organization over here, so I can feel okay about spending more and pampering myself over here.

Or how about this one, “Well, I’m not perfect, but at least I know God loves me and understands.”

I use that one a lot, where we kind of try to abuse the grace of God.

“God understands”

Well, look with me at the second part of verse 1. What does it say? “

“If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

You know what John just did there. He took away my go to excuse. He took away my ability to try to make myself feel better.

Remember last week we talked about how what we worship show where our heart lies?

That’s what John is saying. He’s telling us that it will be very clear, and it is very clear as to whose we are based on what we love.

He didn’t say if you love the world too much the love of the Father isn’t in you. He said if you love the world at all the love of the father isn’t in you.

Yikes. See, what we’ve done is misplaced the love for the Father, the love for God (which we were created for) with love for ourselves that is expressed in the things we buy and get for ourselves.

There’s no getting around this passage, you know?

We can’t try to make it say something different.

It’s very clear.....

Verse 16, “For all that is in the world — the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life — is not from the Father but is from the world.”

We weren’t created, creation wasn’t created so we can have the nicest things, or have the most money, or be the best athlete, or drive the fastest car.

NO! Everything was created for God’s glory.

We were made for so much more than the little trinkets that Satan dangles in front of us. We were made for so much more than the self-serving rhetoric that culture tells us we should have. We were made for so much more than ourselves.

But you see, tells us that we exchanged that truth about God for a lie, and we are now guilty of serving the creature (ourselves) rather than the Creator.

And tells us that “ we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath....”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

And that is what John is saying guys. He’s telling us that love of those things are and will be used against us as proof that we aren’t His.

Courtroom

And if that wasn’t enough to convict you of your materialistic mindset, John closes with this thought. Look at verse 17 with me

“And the world is passing away along with its desires”

Those things you have to have, that attention you need to receive, that Money money money money, money, you hope to earn one day.....it’s all passing away.

It’s all as good as gone, actually

“But whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

What is the will of God?

It obviously isn’t to live for ourselves in a life of luxury. So what is it?

The will of God can be summed up two ways, and we’ve seen one of them in this passage...

Love the Lord your God with all your heart

Love your neighbor as yourself

Our lives are to be evidence of the love that we have received from the Father

Earlier we talked about where we were living in the passion of the flesh, children of wrath, etc.

But Ephesians doesn’t end there, it goes on like this, “ 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in

But God, he saved us. He loved us. He gave us grace

And in the coming kingdom, He’s going to show us the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness.

He’s going to give us what we really long for. What our heart really desperately wants.

HIMSELF

We’ve received love from the Father, and we are to live in light of that love. Romans tells us we are to put to death the deeds of the body.

So, what are you going to do with these three verses we looked at today? What am I going to do with them?

Well, here’s a couple thoughts:

1. Print these verses out and put them on your mirror, in your locker, in your wallet, or anywhere you will see them before you go spend money.

Somewhere to remind you that we aren’t to be all about this world anymore.

2. The next time you want to buy something that you don’t need, or get something you don’t have to have, ask yourself this question, “How will this allow me to glorify God and show the world that I love Him?”

3. Lastly, look at what you do have. Is it too much, can it be used for God’s glory? Find ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle for the glory of God.

Remember this, the world is watching. And they desperately want more to hope in than material things. And we claim to have that hope, at least in word, hopefully in action. If we are as obsessed with material things and personal pride as they are, what are we really telling them?