SIMPLICITY AND WISE INVESTING

SIMPLICITY AND WISE INVESTING Matthew 6:19-24 With grateful acknowledgement of these sources of direction and inspiration: the Holy Spirit; the Word of God; Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah; Max Lucado, Traveling Light; Charles Swindoll, Simple Faith; Helmut Thielicke, Life Can Begin Again August 1, 2004 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introductory "Your ten-year old is worried. So anxious he can't eat. So worried he can't sleep. 'What's wrong?' you inquire. He shakes his head and moans, 'I don't even have a pension plan.' Your six-year old looks deeply concerned. You ask, 'What's wrong, sweetheart?' With a furrowed brow, she laments, 'Is the market ever going to turn around? I'm concerned about our growth funds!' Your eight-year old is crying in bed. You go to comfort her and she confides that the price of gas has her worried about whether she'll ever be able to drive. Fortunately most kids don't have such thoughts. But we adults have more than our share. But worry is the big enemy of the life of faith. In the next few verses, and the next few weeks, we're going to learn what Jesus says can fix worry and restore peace. Look at Matthew 6:33-34: "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." On the way to that comment, Jesus starts out talking about wise investments. As we look at verses 19-24, I would ask you to consider two things: the value that we attach to the things of this life in contrast with their true value, and secondly, the connection between a fixation on the "stuff" of this life and a life of godly peace. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." Interestingly, the unspoken assumption in this scripture is that people have an investment instinct. Whatever they have, they are going to invest it somewhere. Something in our nature drives us to save and treasure and store up-to value something. That desire is not bad. Jesus insists that the key question is what are you saving for? What are you storing up for? Where are you investing your resources of time, talent and treasure? One translation reads this way: "Don't keep making big investments for yourselves here on earth. Instead, make big investments in heaven with God." This is an old, old story. A woman of immense wealth dreamed she went to heaven and was met by the angel Gabriel, who proceeded to give her a tour of the celestial city. First, she saw a palatial estate that belonged to her former maid. Then Gabriel showed her a mansion, where her former chauffeur lived. Finally, Gabriel gave her a sneak preview of her home - a shack in the back of the maid's palace. Taken aback, the woman protested: But I lived in a palace on earth! The angel Gabriel replied, I'm sorry. This is the best we could do with the material you sent up. Jesus gives us investors the hottest tip ever. He says don't invest your life, your time, your money and your energies in earthly treasure-it's a bad investment. Sooner or later, the moths, the rust or the thieves will get it. Jesus adds that cryptic comment about the eye being the lamp of the body. The word that Jesus uses for "good" ("if your eyes are good") is not the word that is normally used for good, but another word that means generous. Likewise, the word He chose to use for the opposite (if your eyes are "bad") means stingy or the opposite of generous. What is clear is that Jesus is talking about our focus in life. If our focus is on ourselves and the accumulation of "stuff" our lives will be darkness. If, on the other hand, we are kingdom people with our eyes on generous living that glorifies God and helps others, our lives will be full of light. A helpful way of seeing the point here is to consider a self-centered life that is pre-occupied with earthly treasure a life out of focus. The focused life is one of being generous with the resources one has been blessed with. It is the life that is focused on the things of God's kingdom. Out of focus people invest in earthly treasure; in-focus people invest in heavenly treasure. So how does one make heavenly investments? I mean, we know how to make earthly investments-we buy stuff, store it and "have" it. And we try to get our security from it. But we can't-it just won't do. So we get more stuff thinking we just don't have enough. We see another gadget or article of clothing or vehicle or furniture or sports equipment, and we think to ourselves, "Wow, if I had that, then I'd be happy!" "Yes, that's it-that's the purchase I've been waiting to make. I just know that when I own one of those I will be truly satisfied." But it never happens. I've wasted my resources, the idol sits in my garage and I'm still not happy. Why? Earthly treasures are a bad investment. Not only do out-of-focus investors always want more, but they worry more. Have you noticed how people get nervous and edgy when they get more stuff? One guy confessed to being a nervous wreck, because he's spending all his time cutting the lawn on the huge property he had to have. Of course, having the new riding mower helps, but the payments have cut into his vacation budget. And the new car has him almost neurotic, washing it weekly, waxing it monthly, parking it on the far end of the lot to avoid door dings… Got a new boat, too, but can't get out to the lake because of the overtime he's been accepting to help pay off the house that's more than he needed. We start out thinking we own our stuff, but soon we discover it owns us. We never have enough, brings us worry and enslaves us, and it draws our attention away from the things of the kingdom. When we have stuff it makes us think we are something. We begin to draw our significance and security from it-or at least we THINK we're significant and secure. Well, the point is clear. Investing in earthly treasure is foolish and doesn't bring a good return. If you invest in earthly stuff, you'll not only lose the stuff, but you'll lose your own soul. Jesus said we ought to rather invest in heavenly treasure. Again, how do we do that? First, make sure you are a kingdom person. If you are not in the kingdom of God, you're not going to want to invest in heavenly treasure. It will seem stupid to you. But those who are kingdom people have good eyes, generous eyes. They understand the value of kingdom investing. If you want to invest in heaven's treasure, first make sure you're going there. Receive Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. Let Him forgive your sins, put His Spirit in you and change your heart. Then you will value heavenly treasure and will want to invest generously in it. I'm saying this is the first step, because I don't want anyone to think that you can get to heaven if you're a generous person. You cannot earn the kingdom of God-it is a gift and it must be a gift. As a kingdom person, then, take on kingdom values and follow them. The Word of God teaches the Christian that he is to be generous in furthering the kingdom by investing his time, talents and treasure. Here's what Christ wants His followers to do-figure out what God is up to and invest yourself there! Be generous toward God's kingdom work in this world because it is an investment in the next world. Give your time and your abilities serving God and other people in His name. This is heavenly investing. Give generously of the resources God has blessed you with. This is heavenly investing. God helps His children get a new and generous vision of their possessions. The clearest evidence that a person is in the kingdom of God is that he is generous. He gives of his resources to the cause of the gospel and the church as a matter of first priority. Why? Jesus said it: "Where your treasure is there your heart will be also." Kingdom people, love what God loves, and you'll have no trouble being generous. And when you give into the work of God's kingdom and the sharing of the gospel you will know that you are making a valuable investment. One more thing. Jesus stresses this point. You can't love God and Money at the same time. They're oil and water-they just don't mix together. This is a strong teaching. He says if you will not relinquish your hold on the stuff of this world (better, it's hold on you), you cannot serve God. It's either/or. He didn't say it's a bad idea to serve to masters; he said you cannot. If you would be devoted to God, you cannot go on being devoted to the stuff of this world. You can belong to God as His child and His servant, or you can go on loving, amassing, hoarding and clinging to this world's stuff, but you can't have both. The best antidote to materialism is giving, and giving generously. When we let go of money we are letting go of part of ourselves and part of our security. But this is precisely why it is important to do it. It is one way to obey Jesus' command to deny ourselves…. When we give money we are releasing a little more of our egocentric selves and a little more of our false security…. Giving frees us to care. It produces an air of expectancy as we anticipate what God will lead us to give. It makes life with God an adventure in the world, and that is worth living for and giving for. Richard J. Foster, The Challenge of the Disciplined Life See "Epicureans" What do you value? That's the real question, isn't it? Do you love God? Is your eye good, generous? Or are you a disciple of the kingdom of thingdom? If you are then you have made your choice against God. If your eyes are bad, if your heart is black, and you wish to stay in that place, you can choose to do so. But you can have none of God. He won't share the throne of your heart with you or your stuff. But you can choose to serve God and His kingdom. Come into fellowship with Him through the grace of Jesus, and let Him change you from the inside out. Come to Him admitting that you are not the generous, godly person you want to be, and let Him make you whole. He alone can do it. He will bring you into a place of desiring to be generous. Will you give Him first place in your heart? "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." God alone has the answers to your worry and your sin. One author put it into perspective when he wrote "We're all on a little ball of rock spinning through space. It's called earth, and who knows if we're going to run into something. But even if we don't, some day under each one of us is going to open a trap door, and everybody's going to fall through it and fall right through the bottom of this little ball of rock. And underneath will be the everlasting arms or nothing at all. And you think an attic full of stuff is going to give you some security? "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." 1 Timothy 6:17-19   [Back to Top]