Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Hey, Journey, before we get started this morning, I just wanted to share with you just a quick thought, a couple thoughts. I've had kind of a wild 48 hours, to be honest with you.
[00:00:10] I was in Denver on Friday night for a funeral for a friend that died really suddenly, a pastor friend of mine, and then flew back within 24 hours into a wedding.
[00:00:24] And so it was kind of like a.
[00:00:26] I don't know if I'm supposed to cry for tears of joy or tears of sadness a little bit. You know, it was a little bit wrestling with me. And so I'm a little emotional today, I'll give you that. I'm gonna put that on the table.
[00:00:35] But, you know, as I was traveling back, I was thinking about, you know, isn't that just like the state of the world we live in sometimes, right? There's just. You open your newsfeed and it's both like really good things, things worth celebrating then things that are really scary and really hard. And so I'm just really aware that right now in this room, when you walked in here, there is people looking for hope. And you see wars and bombings and you see is AI taking over the world? And then here's the next recipe from Pinterest, right? And it's like, what do I do with all that? And so if it's okay with you, I just want to pray because we, as people of God, we are. We put our hope not in good news feeds or positive things or just if there's no wars, but if Lord, would you meet us? Would you be our hope in an uncertain world? So I just want to pray for that. Is that okay for us this morning? Okay. Heavenly Father, we bring you the real stuff of life in my life, just even being with a friend and worshiping with others and saying even in the midst of a hard time, God, you are a hope.
[00:01:36] And Lord, I know that's in the same time for a marriage. And when we see friends get married, Lord, their hope is you.
[00:01:43] And Lord, I also just recognize right now in this room, maybe with. We are all in need of hope this morning, we. We put our hope and trust in you, Lord.
[00:01:51] Anytime we see bombs and war and, and bad news that even just walked through the airport, I just felt like all the screens were lots of, lots of news about what was the most important thing in Jesus. I just want to say you are the most important thing. Would you speak to us this morning? Would your word be loud and clear in Jesus name, Amen.
[00:02:10] Thanks, Journey. Appreciate that.
[00:02:13] Now I'm Gonna hard pivot. Okay, you get ready. All right.
[00:02:16] And it's around this. I have noticed this strange observation at my household, particularly in the mornings.
[00:02:25] And it surrounds itself around yogurt of all things. Okay.
[00:02:30] And not just any type of yogurt, mind you. It is a particular type of Aussie style. Didn't know that was a thing. But Aussie style yogurt from Colorado that you can buy in Costco. This is not a plug, but just a heads up.
[00:02:46] And it comes in a mixed variety of flavors. But here's the observation.
[00:02:52] Both the adults in my house and the children have a certain particular flavor. It's lemon. And I watch them animalistically, like, I gotta get my lemon flavor right? So my 3 year old, my wife, my mother in law, they're all like, I gotta get to the lemon first.
[00:03:08] And then, you know, being the much more mature person in the house, I just sit there with whatever's left, whatever flavor hasn't been chosen. I just think, what animals, what animals of who would eat this lemon. Now that is, until it comes around. Double stuffed Oreos. And then the same instinct comes out in me. And my boys will say, what's that, Daddy? I go, don't worry about it. These are mine. I deserve these, right? I need these.
[00:03:37] And I end up taking more than I really need. I mean, how many Oreos does one need? I would argue it's a whole row.
[00:03:45] And then I all confessions. I've hid them from plain sight for my kids. I've been like, let's put them back in the secret daddy stash, you know? Or for my own wife, I'm like, she doesn't even know about this. These are my Oreos.
[00:03:59] And that is so ridiculous and embarrassing to admit in front of a thousand people this morning. And who knows online because they're just cookies, right?
[00:04:07] But here's the real question that I was confronted with this week. If I'm doing that with Oreos, what else am I doing that? Doing that else. What else am I doing that with in my life?
[00:04:17] Right now we're in a series called all in where we're trying to ask this question of what does it even mean to be on all in for Jesus? And up for today is the topic around generosity, and I would argue its counterpart, greed.
[00:04:31] And I know what you're thinking, Pastor on a stage church, we're talking about money. And you're thinking there's not a great track record there. You know, like there's real stories of hurt and damage done and there's all those have been made very public, and maybe rightfully so, or maybe some of you are thinking, wow, this was a great week to come to church. They're talking about money or invite a friend. But here's what I want to say, be really clear up front, is Jesus says a lot about money in the Bible, he talks about a lot. Like, a lot, a lot. And the Gospels, he talks about. In the four Gospels, he talks about money more than any other topic other than the kingdom of God. He talks about it three times more than love. He talks about it seven times more than prayer.
[00:05:14] 17 of 39 parables are around money, what to do with it, how we steward it.
[00:05:20] And it's been kind of estimated that around 25% of his teaching in the Gospels is around money.
[00:05:26] And so if Jesus talks about it all the time and then someone like myself is afraid to talk about it, I think there's a gap there. Right. And even I want to remind you of Jesus words, some of the last words he spoke. And these have kind of been haunting me this week. In Matthew 28, verse 20, the last, at the very end of the Great Commission, this is what he says, you know, to go in all the world and make disciples and baptizing all. Yes. And it says, and teaching them to obey everything that I've commanded.
[00:05:53] So if I'm going to listen to Jesus and if he talked about it one out of every four times, and I don't want to talk about money this morning, then I just don't see how I can live that out. Because if I'm supposed to teach you and I'm supposed to obey everything that he has taught us, then we have to obey his teachings on money. So that's what we're going to try to do this morning. Because I know what happens when we say money.
[00:06:17] That instinct in us, that tightening of our chest, that quiet urgency to be like, oh, I need to secure what's mine.
[00:06:24] That's not really about cookies or yogurt, is it? It's deeper than that. And so here's the thread I want us to pull on this morning. The question that I think we need to wrestle with is this. Am I living from scarcity or from dependence on a loving father? And I don't think that's just either or. It's kind of like a long spectrum. It's a journey of that. But just think about it. If one end of the spectrum's like, I am living from scarcity or dependence, hopefully God will move us somewhere along that line. This Morning. And we're gonna do that in three movements. The first is the lie of scarcity. So turn with me to Luke 12. It's gonna be our teaching passage this morning. It's gonna be on the screen here as well.
[00:07:02] Jesus is teaching. It says someone in the crowd said to him, jesus, teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.
[00:07:10] And Jesus replied, man, I love that. It's like, cheeky Jesus, you know? Another way to interpret that is like, sir. He's like, sir. You know, like someone just yelled out in the middle. And he's like, calm down, dude.
[00:07:20] He's like, man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you? Then he said to them, watch out. Be on guard against all kinds of greed. Life does not consist in abundance of possessions.
[00:07:33] In this passage, like I said, a man's interrupted midway through a teaching. He's just like, wants Jesus to settle his monetary dispute, right? He says, this is right here. Teacher, tell my brother. I guess he just thought, like, this guy seems like he could figure it out, like 50, 50 or whatever it might be, right? But Jesus refused to do that. Instead, he actually takes it a moment to actually teach on greed. It's not a very good line. I apologize.
[00:07:57] Let's see. Yeah, man, look at me. That was gonna bug me the whole time. Brandon knows that about me. He's like, you're the bug.
[00:08:04] Notice what Jesus does. He doesn't, like, mock the guy for having an inheritance. He's not necessarily attacking the wealth. But he does worry about greed, doesn't he?
[00:08:13] See, greed is not about necessarily haves and have nots or how much you have. But I do believe greed is about taking more than I need for myself, regardless of how it affects anybody else.
[00:08:25] And he says this. So greed's not necessarily a number per se, but it's a posture of our heart.
[00:08:31] I would argue that underneath greed is this word fear.
[00:08:38] Let me say it this way. Maybe greed isn't about how much you have, but maybe it's about how afraid you are to lose what it is that you do have.
[00:08:46] Maybe you're afraid there isn't enough. Maybe you're afraid you won't be secure in some way. Maybe you're afraid you're missing out of what everybody else is experiencing, or you're afraid that someone else is maybe getting ahead of you.
[00:08:58] And I think that idea really can be summed up in scarcity. It's like, we think that there's not enough of those Oreos do go around, so I gotta get mine and that scarcity mindset, as I see that packet of Oreos get smaller and smaller, it ends up being the ground where greed grows, right? Cause I need to get it for me. But this isn't just a New Testament thing. We can even find this in the Old Testament. If you wanna turn with me to Exodus 16, kind of the second book of the Bible. Old Testament. So this is right after Israel. The children of Israel been saved from Egyptian slavery. You know, the red seas parted, all that fun stuff. The Pharaoh's defeated. It's like, hip, hip, hooray. Everything's going good, right?
[00:09:39] For like one day. You know, it's like one day and then people start getting hungry.
[00:09:44] And you can actually see that in chapter 16, verse 2, it actually says, they're so hungry that they said, man, why don't we just go back to Egypt? I'd rather die there.
[00:09:53] Isn't that crazy? Like, they just got out of slavery. God's provided for him. But God, they would rather go back to slavery if it met more frequent meals. They're like, if it was. At least there's a consistent. You know, at least the food came in at three times a day.
[00:10:06] I would argue that's where scarcity is beginning to creep back up in their minds. For the Israelites, right? So what does God do? Well, he does. He's a. He's a father. He. He provides for them. He provides manna, which is bread from heaven. He. He miraculously provides food for them. But he gives very specific instructions. I want you to see this in Exodus 16. He says, this is what the Lord has commanded.
[00:10:29] Everyone is to gather as much as they need taken. Omer, which is like a unit of measurement for each person you have in your tent. The Israelites did as they were told. Some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the Omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered a little did not have too little.
[00:10:47] Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed to. Hear me out. God provided for them miraculously. He's bringing bread from heaven. I've never seen that. Maybe you have. Let me know.
[00:10:57] That's cool. I would like to see it. And it seems like he said, hey, you just need to take what you need for today. Don't take too much.
[00:11:05] And trust me that it's gonna be there tomorrow. That's basically God's instruction. And so people would basically get amount based on their home size and how many people they had. So it was no one had too much or Too little. Everybody was kind of taken care of.
[00:11:17] And in case you're worried of, I'm just like a long haired hippie talking about socialism. That's not where this is going. So don't worry, okay?
[00:11:25] But what God is doing is he's instructing them to trust Him. It's actually a test of trust, not of hunger. But here's the part that I want you to pick up if you jump to verse 20.
[00:11:36] That's not what everybody does. It says in verse 20, however, some of them paid attention to, did not pay attention to Moses. They kept part of it until the morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell.
[00:11:48] That's when it was like, ew, gross. Like where that's. You should be wondering, like, what is that about?
[00:11:54] Like, maybe they were just trying to be good savers. Like, are they greedy monsters? And I don't think, no, I don't think that that's necessarily what's happening. I don't think they're terrible people by means, but I do think they might have been afraid.
[00:12:06] You know, they're out there in a hard situation and they have to rely on God day by day. And I wonder if they were just afraid. What if God doesn't show up tomorrow?
[00:12:15] What if he fails us? What if he's not enough? Or what if it's not enough?
[00:12:21] And that's when they began to hoard it, right? That fear, that lie, that belief that there's not enough. So they started to take and keep it in their tent and try to even hide it from their peers, but also from God. And what happens? It rots, it stinks, and there's worms in it.
[00:12:36] See, I don't think God was just trying to feed their stomachs friends. I think he was trying to retrain their hearts because they had been in Egypt so long, they had kind of adopted that mentality of Egypt. Like, yes, they might have been physically free, but there was still stuff inside of them. The way they engaged economically or even the idea of like, I gotta take care of myself.
[00:12:59] And the idea was really highlighted this this week for me when I was like, have you guys ever noticed how many storage units there are in the valley?
[00:13:07] You know? Yeah, some of you guys are shaking your head. And now here, let me again preface, if that's your line of work, I'm not slandering your business model.
[00:13:15] I'm not against temporary storage for whatever reason. You know, maybe you're in between homes, that's great. But like, they're everywhere.
[00:13:22] They're on Huffine and Valley center and Jackrabbit and they're like multi stories, and it's like they're competing for your values.
[00:13:29] And I just was like, man, that's a lot of stuff, you know, and like, I've had a storage room before, so again, no, no shame. But, you know, I just was like driving this week, looking at the next one going up, and I was like, man, they're like modern pyramids for us, you know, like, they just. They just hold our stuff.
[00:13:47] Like, we have so much stuff, we can't even fit in our homes. And so I need another thing that I'm gonna pay someone else to hold my stuff.
[00:13:54] And if you know anything, I mean, I was a history major, so I know this a little bit. But, like, Egypt was an economy built on accumulation.
[00:14:01] It was like, if I can store more, control more, secure more, whether that be power, prestige, exotic animals, wives, you name it. They were all about gathering as many things as they could.
[00:14:15] And then they built these pyramids. And that was for their, you know, their pharaohs, their leaders. And they believed they would take it with them in the afterlife. So they would, like, bury all of that with them. Right? That's all the cool, like, night of the museum stuff that you see, you know, it's like. But that's what they thought. I'm gonna take all this with me.
[00:14:31] And I just can't believe that if you were a slave in that culture and you were building these physical representations to all that, that didn't affect you at some way.
[00:14:40] And so they had lived there. That was the air. They breathed the air of accumulation.
[00:14:46] And so, yeah, now the Israelites find them in themselves in the desert, having to depend on God. But that's not how his economy works, does it?
[00:14:53] God's economy is about dependence. It's about trust. It's about. It's about enough for today.
[00:14:59] And here's the part that we might miss in that story, if you're not a Bible scholar like Jim Keena.
[00:15:05] He laughed.
[00:15:08] Scarcity. And that part of this story here is this. When they took more for themselves, God provided enough for the whole group. But when they took more for themselves, they were actually taking from somebody else.
[00:15:21] So there was people who were looking around and made the calculation in their mind of, I'm gonna provide for me, and I don't care if it affects my neighbor. I don't care if it affects the people around me, the people in my actual literal family. I'm gonna take care of my people. And so they tried treating their peers, their family, the tribe of Israel as competition.
[00:15:43] And God's heart was broken by that. See, scarcity doesn't just disorder our trust for God.
[00:15:49] It actually disorders our love of our neighbor. Right? It's the wilderness was revealing in them how much Egypt had gotten their souls and friends. I would argue that our lives reveal where scarcity has a hold on us, because we live in a culture that loves to celebrate abundance. More is better. But at the same time, most of us feel that pain that there's not enough.
[00:16:11] There's not enough jobs, there's not enough money in the bank, there's not enough time in our schedules, there's not enough Oreos in the pantry.
[00:16:19] It's the same instinct that they are feeling, but it's just different packaging.
[00:16:23] And here's the real miracle of Exodus. It wasn't just bread from heaven, but I would argue it was God trying to teach his people what it looks like to trust him again.
[00:16:32] Is it any surprise that Jesus taught his disciples to pray almost these exact same words?
[00:16:40] Luke 11, verses 2 through 4, say this, Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each daily, our daily, or give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
[00:16:58] It's almost exactly retelling of that Exodus story in almost one page, exactly before our teaching text in chapter 12 of Luke 12. So let's go back there to Luke 12:32, jump back into the story. This is a few verses later, after he's warned against greed.
[00:17:16] And I want you to hear what Jesus says. The same crowd, same interaction. He says, do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 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, no thief comes near no man. It's really hard for me to say. And no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
[00:17:45] And I know that this is the part you're like, oh, crap, is this what Logan's about to say? Sell everything you do the poor. Like we. We read that part first, but before he talks about the instruction to sell poor. I like that Jesus, he actually says this. He actually tells them, do not be afraid.
[00:18:00] So he reassures them before he actually gives them a command.
[00:18:04] And that's. That's what a loving father does.
[00:18:08] He reassures before there's an instruction. And I think that matters. I think that matters that he does that.
[00:18:15] You're not negotiating. None of us in this room are negotiating with a stingy God who's hard up for cash and needs something from us.
[00:18:24] All of us in this room, if we've said yes to Jesus, we belong to a delighted father.
[00:18:29] A delighted father who delights in his kids.
[00:18:33] You know, as a. I talk about my kids every sermon. So just. Here you go. Check this one off your box. But this is a pro dad move. You guys ready for any new dads? Or it could be pro mom move. This is fine.
[00:18:44] But you know when I'm trying to like my little boys, when he's still six months old, so we. She still just, like, smiles at you all the time, you know? But my boys, you know, when I'm trying to, like, motivate them and, you know, really like, hey, guys, if you're being really good, if we help mom around the house, daddy will take you to the toy store and you can buy whatever you want. And they're just like, what?
[00:19:04] Anything? I'm like, anything.
[00:19:07] Plot twist. The toy store is really Goodwill, but they don't know that yet, you know?
[00:19:14] And so you walk in there, like, the most boss dad of all time, like, let's go. Where's that toy aisle? I'm like, go ahead, guys. The world is yours.
[00:19:23] You know, Pro dad move. Don't buy a Nerf gun for full price. They're like, two bucks there. You know, I find a ninja Turtle every time I find a Transformer.
[00:19:33] And it's like, you walk out and you spent five bucks. I'm like, I crushed it today. Just crushed it. And they're like, daddy's the best. I'm like, I know. You know?
[00:19:41] And I come home and I'm like, that's all I bought, you know? But I'm a dad who loves to delight in his kids.
[00:19:47] Like, I love seeing their faces, you know? It's like Christmas morning all over again, you know?
[00:19:52] And they're so excited, and they don't care. And one day that'll stop, right? They'll be like, no, dad. Dad, you're taking us to Goodwill. I'm like, yeah, the parts are kind of broken, but it's fine.
[00:20:02] It's great. But I love it. I love just seeing the kids face. And they're like, look what I found. I'm like, sweet. Let's go home and sanitize it, then play with it.
[00:20:12] This is all true story, but that's me. I'm just a very human dad with a very limited budget and just trying to make his kids happy and bring a little joy to their life without spoiling them too much, right?
[00:20:26] But it says this. I want you to underline. It says, you, Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. And please don't hear me in this. This is not prosperity gospel. This is not. God's just gonna give you stuff that's not what God's after.
[00:20:38] But we have a loving father who's not reluctant, he's not pressured, he's pleased to give us the kingdom. And what I mean by that is he gives us things that. It says that treasures that will never be rust.
[00:20:51] Moth can't get to them. They don't rust. It's where our treasure really lies. So he's really talking about what are the real treasures of our heart and scarcity. Meanwhile, it says, you need to secure your own life. You need to secure, make things happen for yourself. But Jesus is saying, no, God's given you the real kingdom. Scarcity says, I must provide for myself. Jesus says, your Father is the one that provides.
[00:21:11] And really, I think that idea of scarcity is something that can be traced all the way back to Genesis, right? With the first lie from the serpent's lips when he says, you can be like God.
[00:21:20] You can have independence from him. You don't need anybody else. You gotta figure it out on your own.
[00:21:27] Independence without relationship, you can. You know, that's the weird thing, that temptation that money really offers us, right? We can have abundance without being reliant on anybody else. I'll take care of me. I'll do for me and mine. I don't need anybody to help me.
[00:21:42] But I think this is.
[00:21:44] As a pastor, I wrestle this because I also see, like, this loneliness epidemic that we have. Like, people are disconnected more than ever. We have lots of people in groups, but we're always. How do we help people take their next step and help them get connected? And people seem so disconnected. And I wonder if part of this is because we look at this as it's mine. Everybody's competition. Like, it just gets in us like that greed is deceptive.
[00:22:06] And we insulate ourselves from needing other people because we just can pay for something. Like, I actually can. I just buy this service and I don't want to really interact with you.
[00:22:16] And that was highlighted for me in our home. I've talked about this a few times, but we bought this purple house and it was like a fixer upper that even Chip and Joanna Gaines would want nothing to do with. Like, Chip would have been here. Like, demo the Whole thing, you know.
[00:22:31] But I have very limited talents and abilities. I'm, like, dangerous enough in building that I can be kind of handy, but there's lots I don't know. And I have a very limited budget of what I could afford. So the idea of just paying someone to do it for me, that really wasn't in the cards for us.
[00:22:48] And so when the time came to do demo and renovations and stuff like that, I'll be honest with you, like, I called in favors from people in this room, people you. Who are way smarter and more intelligent than me and own more tools than me.
[00:23:00] And as I look around this room, I know there's people who, like, I. Like this morning I. I brushed my teeth in a bathroom that, like, first thing that came to mind are the people that helped me make that bathroom and paint on walls that people in this room help me paint those walls, and people who help me load out, haul out stuff in the basement and demo stuff and, like, trailers I've borrowed and, you know, drywall that fell on you or whatever. Maybe you know who that is, if that's you. But, like, I was dependent on people in this room, but I also had to say, I need help. Like, I can't just afford this myself. I actually was relationally dependent on people.
[00:23:47] And what I'd say is that greed motivates us to be scared and to be mindful of scarcity. Like, there's not enough, and I gotta figure it out. But generosity, I would argue, is motivated by love and abundance.
[00:23:59] And it doesn't just begin with selling your possessions, like Jesus is saying, but it actually begins by not being afraid.
[00:24:06] And may I add, not being afraid to be dependent on other people to intertwine our lives a little bit. So let me ask that same question one more way. Is God's story of dependence shaping your life, or is the story of scarcity discipling you?
[00:24:21] How do we move this into our real lives? Well, I think Paul helps us as he's instructing Timothy in First Timothy 6. He says this. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. For those who want to get rich, fall. Hear this. Just hear these words this morning.
[00:24:43] Maybe this is you or someone in your life. You know, Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap, into many foolish and harmful desires that plunged people into ruin and destruction.
[00:24:55] For the love of money is a root of all Kinds of evil. Some people eager for money have wandered from faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
[00:25:05] Like, I know that. Like, I know that's been in my life. I've seen it.
[00:25:09] Like a desire that goes, you know, takes you farther than you want to go.
[00:25:15] But Jesus in this. Or Paul, excuse me, in this passage highlights this idea of contentment. And I want to argue contentment is not about.
[00:25:22] It's not about being complacent. I'm not like, sitting here saying, like, just sit around, be like, lord, provide and doing nothing. I'm not saying that. But I do think that complaint. Being a content person means that I am, like, free from that lie. That, like, I need to. I need more. That more that this is not enough. That the lie of more. See, our economic system is built in a society that's basically selling you idea of, like, you need this, this season's update or this refreshed new and improved and this model and this new truck and this season's fashion that inevitably will be on a dumpster heap some other day.
[00:26:00] We just throw away things. We live in a consumer culture. We use and then we throw things away. It's the things we want, the things we don't know we even want yet, the things we don't have. And we just. I mean, how many apps do we sit around and just daydream about shopping about whatever it might be, whatever your hobby, your clothes, hunting cars, you name it, it doesn't matter.
[00:26:22] But I love that Paul brings up this. He says, but we brought.
[00:26:27] Where is it? We have brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out of it.
[00:26:33] We came in naked and we will leave the same.
[00:26:37] We came in with nothing, and we are not pharaohs, but we live like it. We try to take it all with us, and we can leave things to our kids. And that's wonderful. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but ultimately, we don't take anything with us in this world. And that's why I appreciate our team here at Journey. I know Amy and Jenny and everybody behind the scenes have worked really hard, Bob, to help folks move from this idea of us being owners to stewards. And they have a helpful graphic that you can look at this morning. I think this is the movement that we all want to take, because I think we think, oh, I'm an owner. Like, this is mine. I've worked really hard. Like, I. I am 100% of this is mine to do whatever I want with.
[00:27:16] And I think that's, like, it's such a tempting thing. Cause it's like, well, ownership's a good thing. I'm not saying it's bad in the sense of like taking, you know, working hard and having, you know, developing a business. I'm not opposed to that at all.
[00:27:27] But we want to make this movement over our lifetime to be 100% God's. And what does that mean to say, man, God, you have just. I get to borrow the things that you've given me, right? So I. And here's what I'd say for me personally today. I can't say that I'm 100%, this is God's. There are still parts of me that say, man, that's hard to let go of. But this is what I know is my income, my house, my gifts, my abilities, they are borrowed from God.
[00:27:51] And here's how I notice the things, Even in your LinkedIn profile right now that make you such a valuable asset to somebody, right? Like you're selling yourself. Like, here's all the things I know and do.
[00:28:02] Like, who gave you that?
[00:28:05] Like, where did that come from? Now, some of us went to school and we did training, and that's wonderful.
[00:28:09] But like, let's be honest, some of you guys can do math in here.
[00:28:12] That's amazing.
[00:28:14] Like, some of you guys, like, you know, the teacher was like calculus. And some of us are like, you know, like, that's why I'm a pastor. But some of you guys are like, that ain't hard. No big deal. Some of you guys are amazing with science.
[00:28:27] You're in medicine. Like, you know, you see, you know, you run into emergencies. Like, you know, you're in the ER and like, you're like, no big deal. It's just another. There's another baby being delivered. No big deal. It's fine. You're like, I did four these a day. I'm like, what? Like, I'd be stressed out, right? Cause I haven't trained for that. I don't have those abilities. Some of you guys are just wise with sales. Like, you just crush it. Like, you know, you work with people and you can build trust. And then you just. Your quarterly rates are amazing, right? Some of us in this room, you are parents and you are so patient. You're stay at home parents with your kids and like, it's like your superpower. You're like, man, how do you never get frustrated or perturbed? You know, the moms and dads in this room, caregivers. There's just so many of you. And I look around. And I would just ask you that, yes, we can train, we can add on, we can learn new skills, but who gave us that ability to be so valuable to someone else?
[00:29:21] The businesses, the own, you know, whatever you might work in, teachers, you know, whatever it might be, someone put that desire in your heart. And it's valuable. It is. It's so valuable that someone's willing to actually pay you to do it or to provide service or care for your family. And I would just say, if we're really believers in this room, then we'd say, man, God, you put that in me, that heart, that desire to even study longer and work harder, and creative ideas that pop in my mind to make it a reality.
[00:29:49] When I see myself as an owner, what I end up doing is I hoard.
[00:29:53] But when I see myself as a steward, I end up sharing it with others around. And it's a blessing to people in the world.
[00:29:59] Paul says this a few verses later. He says, 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 with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.
[00:30:19] In this way, they will lay up treasures for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. Don't we all want life that is truly life?
[00:30:32] Are any of us just a little bit, just a little bit, like, is this as good as life gets? Just more storage unit stuff?
[00:30:41] Like. Like I'll just have more weeks of vacation. Like, then I'll be really happy.
[00:30:46] If I just, you know, or if I just hit this one more financial goal, then I just don't have to think about anything. Maybe.
[00:30:52] But I'm just not convinced that's life. That is truly life that Paul's talking about here.
[00:30:56] I love this passage so much because it doesn't say that Jesus is anti fun.
[00:31:01] It says that he actually gives us all these things for our enjoyment. There's the word for our enjoyment. Like, God's not anti fun. He's not anti you anti play.
[00:31:11] That's not what he's talking about, this passage. But he is talking about hope.
[00:31:16] He's talking about hope. In this passage. He says, don't put your hope, nor put their hope in wealth, which is not. Which is so uncertain, but put their hope in God. So really what Paul's talking about is, where does your hope lie?
[00:31:28] Is it Trust in God? Or is it actually just trust in money?
[00:31:32] I find it so ironic that our.
[00:31:36] If you get like a dollar bill, what does it say on it in God we trust?
[00:31:39] But I just can't help wonder how many people are walking around with something in their pocket that really they're saying, in that I trust, it's not trusting God. It's more of just like, as long as I have enough of that in my pocket, I'll be okay.
[00:31:50] See, I don't think that Jesus is particularly scared of the dollar bill.
[00:31:55] I don't think he's suspicious of it necessarily. But I do believe that Jesus is extremely suspicious about what money does to us.
[00:32:03] He's very suspicious about the power it has over the human heart. Because money offers us security, comfort, status, identity, and even independence.
[00:32:14] Like, that's the things it offers you. It's that little whisper of, you don't need anyone else.
[00:32:19] You can be like God.
[00:32:22] Is it any wonder that Jesus prayed or taught his disciples this? In Luke 16, he says, no one can serve two masters.
[00:32:29] Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
[00:32:35] And he underlines it by saying, you cannot serve both God and money, that he's directly talking about money. In this passage, I want to highlight something. That word money in your Bible probably says money, but the direct translation could be this word mammon. We've talked about that a little bit before.
[00:32:50] And not to get too nerdy on you, but the word mammon is only one of two Aramaic words in the Bible. One is abba, father. It's a term of endearment. How we can have a relationship with him, like a loving father. And mammon, which was almost this word for basically, like spiritually charged money, like, imagine, like it has a hold on you.
[00:33:10] And so what Jesus is making really clear, like, you cannot serve God. And basically the God of money, he makes that like, almost like a little demigod kind of idea.
[00:33:19] And think about this. Money is almost like any other false God, right? It does not demand that you bow down to it physically, but it will ask you to silently trust it, won't it?
[00:33:30] Trust in me. Trust in me. You don't need God. You need more of me.
[00:33:34] And if you think that your wealth and possessions, whether it be a little or a lot, no storage unit or lots of them, is not a threat against your soul. I would argue that you are already asleep to the power that it has on you and I.
[00:33:50] Money wants something from us. And it wants our devotion.
[00:33:55] And I know this because of directly who Jesus is speaking to with this warning.
[00:34:00] One verse later, the Pharisees who loved money heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. They're literally mocking Jesus for saying this.
[00:34:09] And Jesus says to them, you are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God's sight.
[00:34:21] The Pharisees.
[00:34:23] I just want to say this so kindly, but with a pastoral word of like, I just want to be on guard in my heart of where I might be a Pharisee, because the Pharisees love to point out what was wrong about everybody else's walk.
[00:34:36] They love to be the moral police.
[00:34:38] And they're mocking Jesus for this teaching on money because they loved it.
[00:34:44] And man, I don't want to be a person that gets anywhere near that. But I want to fight against greed in my life because if it's fighting for my affections, it doesn't deserve that. It doesn't deserve that loyalty in my life. So here's how we moved into practical. This is how we're gonna close our time this morning. I wanna ask that question one more time. Am I living from scarcity or from dependence on a loving father?
[00:35:07] This isn't theoretical. This is very practical.
[00:35:10] Just think about your life right now. What do I have more of right now and who could I share it with? And this is the way I want you to look at it this week. What is 1 inch, 1%, 1 decision this week you can make.
[00:35:23] We're all on a journey of moving from feeling like we own everything to being stewards. If we're gonna walk with Jesus, what's one step, one practical change that I can make to live generously with my relationship to money and possessions?
[00:35:36] Maybe that one inch is you giving something away to someone in need. Maybe that one step is just actually, you know that coffee that you drove in here, like you have it budgeted. Like, maybe you're like, I'm just gonna take that little bit of coffee budget and, and give this to something of God's kingdom.
[00:35:52] Don't just do one act of kindness, like make a generosity decision in your life, whatever that looks like. Maybe you've never given to the local church, then maybe this is an invitation to start for some of us like myself. Like, I've given a long time to the church and other kingdom minded organizations, but it's on autopilot. Like it's literally on autopay. And I don't Know when it comes out and I don't feel it anymore, maybe this may I've plateaued. Maybe this is a chance to feel it, to stretch a little bit more.
[00:36:24] Maybe there's a neighbor that, you know is struggling. Maybe this is a chance for you to take one step, one inch, one act. Go towards them this week, lean towards them. Maybe your calendar is so hoarded with me and mine, you're like Gollum, you know? And it's like, my precious, you know? And maybe this is your invitation to open that up and give that to God, too.
[00:36:44] What I'm talking about this morning, guys, is really a surrender of the heart.
[00:36:48] We cannot be all in followers of Jesus and say, but I don't want to talk about money in my life. I just don't see it in scripture. I can't stand before you and say that. And if you don't love what I'm saying. And I'm also very aware, like, I'm a pastor and I'm planting a church, and we're like, fundraising. And all of this will be based on the fact of people, you know, being behind that. And so I walk with trepidation knowing I'm even saying, God, I'm gonna step out in faith knowing, like, you're gonna have to catch me here in this.
[00:37:16] Cause there's no, like, parachute for me.
[00:37:18] But if you don't like what I'm saying, or maybe here's. I mean this with all sincerity. If you don't want to give to Greenhouse or Drink, give to some other church or organization that you truly believe in.
[00:37:30] Because I'm telling you that the act is against greed in your heart.
[00:37:34] This is not me about trying to fund something. This is about actually freedom in your life.
[00:37:39] Please don't hear my words about, like, okay, Logan just wants us to pad the church funding budget. That's not what this is.
[00:37:47] Jesus is not trying to take something from you. He is trying to remove grief from your life. He wants to break Mammon's hold on your heart.
[00:37:55] He wants to free us so that we can actually experience him. We are sons and daughters of a delightful, a God who delights in his kids.
[00:38:04] And this is what I mean, this again, with all sincerity. We can pontificate about Jesus teachings all day long, but this is one of those things that we kind of have to act in.
[00:38:12] So however that looks, whatever that step of generosity is, start today. Start somewhere. Start where you're at. Don't theorize where you should be. Or, oh, I could be. No, just act on What God is laying on your heart, step into that next step, that one inch of generosity. And I believe when we do so, God's going to meet us, he's going to provide for us in a real way.
[00:38:36] And maybe we'll just get to experience a little bit what Paul's talking about, the life that is truly living. Would you pray with me this morning?
[00:38:47] Lord, I just. I thank you for just the man, just the humble spirit in this room, Lord. I just can sense it, Lord. I can just sense that your word, it just, it. It does something to us. Like when we hear what you have to say about this. Like, I couldn't prepare this sermon this week and not be like, God, money's got more control in me than I want to be. And Lord, I don't. I don't have very much of it. And I don't live a lap of luxury going to Goodwill for toys. You know what I mean? But Lord, I want to be a more generous person. It's not about a dollar amount. It's about like, Lord, I want to say, Lord, this is yours. What you've given me. I mean, I stand on the stage and, and share your word. This is not my words. This is not my skills, Lord. This is you. And so, Lord, I.
[00:39:28] I just pray right now, Lord, you begin to break the hold that money has in our hearts. And really, where we've. We've followed greed more than you. And so, Lord, I pray that we would just take acts of. Acts of generosity this week, one step, one inch, one decision this week, and bring it before you. Maybe we need to talk about this with you, Lord. Maybe we need to, like, you know, you know, pray about it for a long time. But, Lord, I think just right now we're just going, man, I know that this has a hold on me. And Lord, this has been a generous church. There's so many people who've given and sowed into youo kingdom that we even are standing in a space and sitting in chairs that were provided by someone else that was about yout work.
[00:40:08] And so, Lord, we just want to be the next generation of generous sons and daughters of youf.
[00:40:13] And when that begin in our hearts this morning, in Jesus name, amen.
