Sermon Tone Analysis

Text: Mark 12:28-34

Theme: The sin of gambling.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock the last couple of weeks, you know that America has been all a-twitter about the Mega Millions Jackpot Lottery.

By Tuesday evening of last week the prize had grown to $1.5 billion.

(Yes, that’s a “b” for billion).

Someone in South Carolina picked the winning numbers in Tuesday evening’s drawing, and if they take the lump-sum cash payment they will pocket $878 million dollars.

ILLUS.

To get an idea of how much that is, you could spend $50,000 a day for the next fifty years.

Of that $1.5 billion prize the Federal Government will get $592 million in taxes — which will fund the U.S. Government for twenty-six hours.

The state of South Carolina will get about $144 million in taxes.

The day before the drawing some people were standing in line for up to three hours to purchase tickets.

In Massachusetts stores were selling approximately 10,000 per minute.

In California players were buying 200 tickets a second.

Your odds of winning were 1 in 302,575,350.

ILLUS.

I don’t know who figures these things out, but you're far more likely to ...

• ... get murdered at the Grand Canyon.

You have a 1 in 8,156,000 chance of getting murdered at the Grand Canyon.

That’s 35 times more likely than winning the jackpot.

So watch your back.

• ... accidentally suffocate in bed.

You have a 1 in 4,459 chance of dying from accidental suffocation or strangulation in bed.

That's 65,530 times more likely than winning the lottery.

• ... have quintuplets naturally.

If you're trying to get pregnant, your odds of naturally having five babies at once is 1 in 55,000,000.

That's five times more likely than hitting the jackpot.

But don’t despair.

If your feeling that the odds are in your favor there is still the Powerball Lottery Jackpot that stands at a measly $750 million.

(Gosh, that’s hardly worth playing, is it)?

Gambling’s advocates often will be heard saying, "All of life is a gamble," as though playing the lottery, pulling handles on slot machines, or marking Bingo cards at the Legion Hall, are little different than investing in your 401K retirement plan.

The tragedy is that gambling has such widespread acceptance of the American public.

Nation-wide 69% of Americans say gambling is morally acceptable.

Even 48% of those who weekly attend religious services say gambling is acceptable.

Fifty years ago, only one state — Nevada — had casinos.

Only two -- New Hampshire and New York — had lotteries.

Now, all but a handful of states have both, and with the addition of online gambling, the industry's overall net worth has been valued at $240 billion.

And gambling appears poised for another growth spurt, with many states looking to formally allow betting on sporting events.

Friends, gambling is a sin, pure and simple.

Let me tell you why.

I. GAMBLING IS SINFUL BECAUSE IT UNDERMINES BIBLICAL VALUES

1. gambling undermines at least four major Christian values

A. IT UNDERMINES CHRISTIAN STEWARDSHIP

1. Christians are to put their trust in God for their financial resources, not in blind fate or the luck of the draw

2. the Bible teaches us that all things in this world belong to God

“The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; 2 for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.”

(Psalm 24:1–2, NIV84)

a. if everything we have really belongs to God — and it does — then we are merely stewards of the things we own

b.

we are to handle God’s resources wisely and gratefully

“Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.”

(1 Corinthians 4:2, NIV84)

3. gambling is nothing less than the reckless investment of God-given resources

a. your chances of being struck by lighting are greater than winning it big by gambling

B. IT UNDERMINES CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE

1. the Bible teaches that believers are to possess self control

“Everything is permissible for me”—but not everything is beneficial.

“Everything is permissible for me”—but I will not be mastered by anything.”

(1 Corinthians 6:12, NIV84)

2. the mere existence of Gamblers Anonymous implies that gambling can be addictive

ILLUS.

In America today there are more 10 million people who cannot control their gambling habits.

Another 15 million are at risk.

Compulsive gamblers cost society an average of $100,000,000,000 billion dollars each year.

60,000 families in Missouri have gambling addicts in the household.

3. gambling becomes a snare that traps many in a vicious cycle of addiction

a. many people begin gambling because it looks fun

1) there is an euphoria to winning in a game of chance

b. but for many of these people, it entraps them and soon they are spending huge sums on gambling

4. wherever the opportunities for gambling increase, you will find growing numbers of pawn shops and Gamblers Anonymous groups

C. IT UNDERMINES CHRISTIAN CONTENTMENT

“But godliness with contentment is great gain.

7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.

8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.

10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

(1 Timothy 6:6–10, NIV84)

1. instead of working hard for what we earn, gambling encourages us to expect huge returns at the expense of someone else

a. it encourages people to invest their dreams, and their hopes for a better future into a infinitesimal probability

2. instead of being content with what we have, gambling encourages us to be discontent and dissatisfied – always wanting more

a.

this is often the first step down the path toward covetousness and greed

ILLUS.

I’ve had people tell me over the years, “Awh, I just gamble ‘cause it’s fun.”

Yeah?

Really?

What if the winnings were removed altogether?

Would it still be “fun” to plunk down $15 bucks to scratch off numbers you know would never get you anything?

Do you think the Casinos and Lotteries would still prosper?

“Hey!

Come spin our wheel of fortune.

You’ll win absolutely nothing, but it’s fun!

If there wasn’t the prospect — however remote it may be — of winning the jackpot, how many would still play ‘just for the fun of it’? Oh yeah, I forget.

Folks are gambling so they can support their local school system.

Silly me.

By the way, the gambling proceeds that we are repeatedly told go to “support public education” make up a whopping 4% of the state's funding for public education.

b. the casino operators and lottery officials promise wealth with ease, but in reality they take wealth away – billions and billions of dollars of it

ILLUS.

If you know anything about statistical analysis, you would know that the odds of winning at gambling are stacked high against you.

It’s one of the reasons the United States leads the world in gambling losses.