Alien adventures pt3
The Treasure Principal
Alien Adventures pt3
1 Peter 2:10 for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. 12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.
A couple of New Jersey hunters are out in the woods when one of them falls to the ground. He doesn't seem to be breathing, his eyes are rolled back in his head. The other guy whips out his cell phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps to the operator: "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator, in a calm soothing voice says: "Just take it easy. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a shot is heard. The guy's voice comes back on the line. He says: "OK, now what?"
The topic of money is kind of like the hunter, he definitely over reacted.
1) Treasure key #1: “God owns everything. I am His money manager.”
a) It is God who prospers us
Bible examples (Deuteronomy 8:18 ): Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, David, Solomon.
b) The genius of Christian spirituality is to integrate (the) spirit of possession with the spirit of dispossession.
· The spirit of dispossession implies that all the good and delightful things of this world are never allowed to own, possess, or shackle me.
· Dispossession implies that I am always free, my own person, liberated from the tyranny that possession can easily exercise over us.
Psalm 24:1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.
Haggai 2:8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord Almighty.
Deuteronomy 8:18 Always remember that it is the Lord your God who gives you power to become rich, and he does it to fulfill the covenant he made with your ancestors.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT)…You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
e) Everything we own, including ourselves belongs to God.
An atheist was spending a quiet day fishing when suddenly his boat was attacked by the Loch Ness monster. In one easy flip, the beast tossed him and his boat high into the air. Then it opened its mouth to swallow both. As the man sailed head over heels, he cried out, “Oh, my God! Help me!” At once, the ferocious attack scene froze in place, and as the atheist hung in mid-air, a booming voice came down from the clouds. “I thought you didn’t believe in Me!” “Come on God, give me a break!,” the man pleaded. “Two minutes ago I didn’t believe in the Loch Ness monster either!”
d) If God is the owner, then I am His manager.
God has entrusted us with things. A steward manages assets for the owner’s benefit. It’s His job to find out what He wants done with the assets.
- A steward carries no entitlement to the assets he manages.
The late Bishop Edwin Hughes once delivered a rousing sermon on “God’s Ownership” that put a rich parishioner’s nose out-of-joint. The wealthy man took the Bishop off for lunch, and then walked him through his elaborate gardens, woodlands, and farm. “Now are you going to tell me,” he demanded when the tour was completed, “that all this land does not belong to me?” Bishop Hughes smiled and suggested, “Ask me that same question a hundred years from now.”
e) God loves a cheerful giver. (2Cor 9:7)- This doesn’t mean we should wait till we feel good and happy about it. Cheerfulness comes after the act. Don’t wait till you feel like giving, it could be a long wait. Give and watch the joy flow.
· Giving isn’t a luxury of the rich. It’s a privilege of the poor- The Macedonian church understood the joy of giving.-
2 Corinthians 8:1-2 (NASB95) Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, 2 that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.
2 Corinthians 8:2 Though they have been going through much trouble and hard times, their wonderful joy and deep poverty have overflowed in rich generosity.
· What a contrast to us who have so much, yet have endless excuses for not giving.
It’s Old Testament- God loves a cheerful giver- That’s all the church wants. (Mt. 23 it’s the only place Jesus commends the phrases’, Jesus tithed- Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and God what Is God’s). I don’t have enough to tithe- all excuses to justify a life of hoarding.
· When the tabernacle was being built, they had to restrain the people from giving. (Exod 36:5-7)
· David’ heart about giving-
1 Chronicles 29:14 (NLT)
14 But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you have already given us!
Despite all this, some people’s attitudes are still, “I’d rather use my earwax as lip gloss than give.”
In the New York Times, Frank Bruni writes:
The man who lavished his time and energy on many a Renaissance masterpiece did not lavish his money on many people, including himself. Michelangelo, beneath it all, was a miser.
That is one conclusion of a recently published book, The Wealth of Michelangelo, by a professor of art history who found in Renaissance archives a surprising financial profile of unacknowledged wealth and unwarranted thrift.
Although Michelangelo bellyached aplenty about deprivation and has often been cast as somewhat poor, he died in 1564 with the modern equivalent of tens of millions of dollars, according to the professor, Rab Hatfield, an American who teaches at the Syracuse University program in Florence.
That money was not some late-in-life windfall. Professor Hatfield's research shows that for most of Michelangelo's nearly 89 years, he was marginally, moderately, or massively rich. But he often refused to show it, and often declined to share it.
"He was the richest artist of all time," at least until that time, Professor Hatfield said in an interview.
"He took in huge amounts," he said. "It was phenomenal."
And yet, Professor Hatfield said, Michelangelo would complain to family members about how short of money he was, melodramatically bemoaning his lot while warding off their requests for help.
On the road with a pair of assistants, Michelangelo would get just one bed for all of them, and the reason, Professor Hatfield said, was not erotic but economic. The artist was hoarding his lucre.
2) Treasure key #2: “My heart always goes where I put my money.”
- God promises us generous heavenly rewards, in a magnificent New Heaven and New Earth.
- Nevertheless, many Christians have a hard time leaving this place. Why? Because so many have stored up treasures on earth and not in heaven.
John Wesley- Visited a vast estate in England. They spent the day riding horses and eating lavishly. At the end of the day the estate owner asked Wesley “What do you think about all of this?” Wesley’s response, “I think you’re going to have hard time leaving all this.”
The first paragraph of a recent U.S. News and Report article titled, "The Junk Mail Deluge" says: "The people who fill your mailbox with 34 pounds of junk [mail] each year know what you paid for your moose-hide slippers and whether you paid by credit card or check.
They know how much you owe on your house, whether your hobbies are fly-fishing or fiddling, whether you buy used golf balls, whether you are most likely straight or gay; they may even know what chronic illness you have. They know all this, simply, because it is their business to know. Whatever it is--amusing nuisance, trash-can stuffer, or welcome bedtime read--direct mail is a booming industry because it targets us with scientific precision" [December 8, 1997, page 40]. Now that caught my attention! Not only are there people out there paid to track my spending habits, they can use that data to determine my likes and dislikes and the types of things I might be tempted to purchase!
The junk mail moguls have discovered something that Jesus taught a long time ago when he said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6).
· Paraphrased: the way we use money (as evidenced by the thousands of transactions we make each year by check, cash, or credit cards) gives the best evidence for the things we value and cherish the most.
a) Jesus said in Matthew 6:21 “Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be.”
· Our hearts follow our treasure
· I want more of a heart for….then give towards it.
· Do you wish for a heart that is more for eternal things? Then reallocate some of your money, from temporal to eternal.
· God wants your heart. He wants people that are so enthralled with the eternal that they wouldn’t dream of not investing their money, time and prayers where they matter most.
· He who lays up treasure in heaven looks forward towards eternity. Death is a gain.
· He who lays up treasures on earth, death is a loss.
· You have shaken money's power over you if you become generous.
- Illustration: Keller quotes the ancient Letter from Diognetus that early Christians were stingy with their bodies but promiscuous with their money.
3) Treasure key #3: “Heaven, not earth, is my home.”
Luke 12:15 Then he said, “Beware! Don’t be greedy for what you don’t have. Real life is not measured by how much we own.”
Q. We know that Jesus commands us to give. And we know He offers us great reward for giving. So why is it so hard to give?
A. Because of the illusion that earth is our home.
Hebrews 11:13 All these faithful ones died without receiving what God had promised them, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed the promises of God. They agreed that they were no more than foreigners and nomads here on earth.
A man died and went to heaven. He was met at the Pearly Gates by St. Peter who led him down the golden streets. They past mansions after beautiful mansions until they came to the end of the street where they stopped in front of a shack. The man asked St. Peter why he got a hut when there were so many mansions he could live in. St. Peter replied, "I did the best with the money you sent us."
a) Where we store our treasures is where we believe our home is. Suppose your living in England and you’re visiting America for three months, you’re living in a hotel. But you can earn money and mail deposits back to your bank in England. Would you fill your hotel room with furniture and wall hangings? Of course not. You’d send your money where your home is. You would spend only what you needed on the temporary residence, sending your treasure ahead so they’d be waiting for you when you got home. Jesus is a builder by trade; don’t you think that the house He is building for us is incredible?
b) Paradox- Our home is a place we have never been nor seen. But it is a place that we are made for and it is made for us.
c) Story-(picture of a dump) You’re driving along the road and suddenly you see a man take his computer and throw it out the window. Next he drives his motorcycle off the roof. This has your attention. What is going on there? You drive up and notice that there is a cliff and all this stuff is going over the cliff. Finally you understand, this is a land fill, a junkyard- the final resting place for the things in our lives. Sooner or latter everything that we own ends up here: Christmas and birthday presents, cars, boats, hot tubs, clothes, stereos, and barbeques. The things that kids quarreled about, people got in fights over, people killed over, and people divorced over, all end up here.
Ever see the bumper sticker, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” Millions act as if it where true. He who dies with the most toys wins- and never takes his toys with him. Just ask King Tut.
A few years ago, a couple I know lost their house in a fire. Fortunately, they were able to snatch all the kids out just before the whole thing collapsed. They stood out on the sidewalk hugging and kissing and thanking God. Why? Because despite the fact that they had lost their shelter, they had not lost their treasure, which was their kids.
