From Scarcity To Security

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0:00I've been noticing as I've been looking at the story that's told in the Gospels of the announcement of Jesus' birth and the birth narrative and all those things as we were in the Advent season, how often God's people are told, don't fear, fear not. And I've also been noticing how often Jesus is saying that in this current part of Luke that we've been in. He says it a lot. I also just noticed what we sang and how well it ties into the verse today.

0:32Hallelujah, hope of heaven, precious treasure of my life. All my joy is in your presence. I am yours and you are mine. Jesus Christ, my hope forever, hope unlike the world can bring.

0:50Jim Elliott was an American missionary in the 50s to indigenous people of Ecuador. In 1949, he wrote this in his journal. This is a pretty well-known saying. You might have heard it. He says, there's a slide here for this. He says, he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. And that's a helpful truth to meditate on today, along with what we just sang, Jesus Christ, my hope forever, hope unlike the world can bring.

1:22Because by God's design, our Luke sermon series has brought us to a very timely passage for late December. I don't have to tell you that there's eight days left until Christmas. I'd say everyone here is falling into one of two categories probably. You're either daydreaming about what you're going to get on Christmas, or you are fretting about what you have left to buy and wrap. That probably covers 90% of us in the room, right? Maybe you're feeling both.

1:59As we're thinking about these things in late December, it's only natural. It happens every year. Into the room comes Jesus, the Word of God, the Savior. And what he has for us today is a reminder of how great God's promises are and how that changes how we look at our stuff and our possessions. It changes how we think about it. It changes how we feel about it and how we live. So this is a very timely sermon for today. Very timely passage. Turn with me to Luke 12, and let's see what Jesus has to say for us today.

2:34This is the Word of God. God, let's hear it as such and respond to it as such. Let's pay attention, and let's be changed by the Spirit working through the Word coming to us. Starting in verse 13. Someone in the crowd said to him, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. But he said to him, Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you? And he said to them, Take care and be on your guard against all covetousness. For one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

3:18And he told them a parable saying, The land of a rich man produced plentifully. And he thought to himself, What shall I do? For I have nowhere to store my crops. And he said, I will do this. I will tear down my barns and build larger ones. And there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years. Relax. Eat. Drink. Be merry. But God said to him, Fool, This night your soul is required of you.

3:54And the things you have prepared, Whose will they be? So is the one who lays up treasure for himself And is not rich towards God. And he said to his disciples, Therefore I tell you, Do not be anxious about your life, What you will eat, Nor about your body, What you will put on. For life is more than food, And the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens. They neither sow nor reap. They have neither storehouse nor barn. And yet God feeds them.

4:26Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you, By being anxious, Can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, Why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, How they grow. They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, Even Solomon in all his glory Was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, Which is alive in the field today, And tomorrow is thrown into the oven, How much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith?

5:07And do not seek what you are to eat, And what you are to drink, Nor be worried, For the nations of the world Seek after these things, And your father knows that you need them. Instead, Seek his kingdom, And these things will be added to you. Fear not, little flock, For it is your father's Good pleasure To give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, And give to the needy. Provide yourselves with money bags That do not grow old, With a treasure in the heavens That does not fail, Where no thief approaches And no moth destroys.

5:52For where your treasure is, There will your heart be also. Let's pray. God, thank you for delivering us From the love of money, And the obsession with stuff that we have. Continue that good work in us today. You know it's an ongoing work. I pray that you, By your spirit, Would reveal things to us about ourselves. Lord, help us not be thinking about others. Help us just be focused on ourselves.

6:29Knowing that your searching spirit Is leading us to good things. It's leading us to life in Christ, And away from things that are dead ends. So help us follow Where you lead, spirit. Be at work in us. Show us your greatness, Jesus. Show us how much of a treasure you are. Far more than we can even imagine. Do this work in our hearts For the glory of your name. We pray this in your name, Jesus.

7:03From scarcity to security, That's what God does for us Through Christ. From scarcity to security. Our Father's generosity Frees us to go after What really endures.

7:17Now in last week's passage, If you were here Or if you read it, You know that Jesus spoke Directly and forcefully About things of really Great spiritual consequence. Really important stuff Spiritually. The dangers of hypocrisy, The hidden things in our hearts Being exposed. About not fearing man, But fearing God instead.

7:41And amongst this Big important discussion, A guy interjects With a request, Teacher, tell my brother To divide the inheritance with me. Now it was common To ask rabbis To settle disputes Between family. So in one sense This was not a weird thing To ask. It's just his timing That is just Pretty thick headed. Right? This is kind of like Finishing up lunch At a restaurant Where you have Extended family there Where someone shares With the group That they have Just been diagnosed With a very rare And life threatening Illness.

8:22And then you getting The tab Your bill And saying Wait a minute Who put the mozzarella Sticks on my tab? I mean I only ate Like half of one. That's not fair. I want this Taken off my tab. That'd be pretty Obtuse, right? Pretty Dull. Not aware Of the gravity Of what's happening To be obsessing About this. But you know what? I'm grateful For this guy. Because it could Have been me. And I've been him. So concerned With stuff That I Am oblivious To the spiritual Things around me.

9:05Everyone At some point Or another Is like this guy. So let's talk About this. Our preoccupation With stuff. So Jesus uses This obtuse request To teach his disciples. Jesus is not one To let any opportunity To teach his people Pass him by. And he seizes Upon this, right? He says No to the guy But then he Immediately pivots And he starts Teaching them About what's Happening In his heart And probably In their hearts. He says Take care And be on your guard Against all covetousness For one's life Does not consist In the abundance Of his possessions.

9:42We tend to focus We tend to focus On the quantity Of our goods There must be Some line Beyond which Is just too much And that's That's bad But as long as We stay under This line Then we're good Right? We focus on The quantity But Jesus Goes straight To covetousness He goes to the heart Straight below The surface The heart That's driving Someone Let's talk about What this word Seek means Because it comes up A lot in this passage When Jesus says Do not seek What you are to eat He doesn't mean Don't go buy groceries Right?

10:21That would be Too literal An inappropriate Reading of the passage You can go buy groceries You can You can plan meals Right? That's not what Jesus means When he says Do not seek What you are to eat Seeking Biblically speaking Seeking is a Preoccupied Pursuit Of something That's what seeking is A preoccupied Pursuit It means being Consumed with something And wanting to have More and more of it It's acting like Life is found there Right? I think the word Preoccupied is really Helpful because We all know What that's like When you're Preoccupied with something Nothing else Can get in Right?

10:59You are already Occupied Nothing Everything else Just bounces right off So seeking Is preoccupied Pursuit Jesus says Don't seek What you are to Eat Or drink Seek the kingdom Have a preoccupied Pursuit with the Kingdom of God So Jesus tells a Parable to illustrate The life of someone Who is preoccupied With their stuff A man has a land That produces Plentifully Notice what it says He's a rich man He's already rich Before his land Produces abundantly So now he has Even more He scratches his head And he decides You know What am I going to Do about this Oh I know I'll build More storage Now it's a Sensible business Decision right But is it The right decision What is not Stated is the Assumption behind His decision The assumption Is this Of course I'm Going to keep All of it It's just a Matter of figuring Out how It's not even A question Should I give Any of it You know Any of it away He's not even Asking himself That question He's just trying To figure out How am I going To cope With all Of this Stuff I know Bigger barns Bigger storehouses In the human Heart Having Produces Hoarding That's the Bent of our Heart To have Inclines us To hoard Why do we Do this Well Jesus Tells us In the parable The man In the parable Says to his Soul Soul you Have ample Goods Laid up For many Years Relax Eat Drink Be merry He is Assuring himself That he's Taken care Of now And this Shows what He and We are Really after And that Is Security You want Security I want Security We all Want to be Secure We want

12:56Safety That's the Hope That's the Goal That's why He builds Bigger barns If I just Get enough Stuff And I can Look at all That stuff And I am Secure Then I can Finally relax And eat And drink And be Merry Everyone Wants Security It is A core God Created Desire In us God Put that In you To want Security It's not A problem To want Security The problem Is where We go To get it We have This animosity With God That we Also Were born Into Because of The sinful Human Condition And so We take Our God Given Desire For security And our Natural Fallen Inclination Away from God And we Say You know What I want Security But I'm Going to Go anywhere Else That I Can We We Covet We Hoard We Become Preoccupied With Having Enough John D.

14:05Rockefeller Lived from 1839 To 1937 He was the Founder of Standard Oil Company The first Billionaire In America And at The time He was The richest Man On planet Earth He possibly Could be The richest Man Ever To live If you Adjust For inflation He was Asked by A reporter How much Money is Enough And his Reply Just a Little bit More Now what I am Not Mentioning Is that He actually Was quite Philanthropic He gave A lot Of money To a lot Of different Places So I Think there Was a Struggle In his Own Heart You should Go read About him Sometime He can Come That story Makes him Sound like Ebeneezer Scrooge Or you know Scrooge McDuck Like you Know Diving Into Cash Of money He gave Away A lot A lot Of money You can Read about Him And think What would I do If that Was me But anyway His reply Is pretty It's very Telling Right How much Money is Enough Just a Little bit More That's the Human heart Speaking to Us No matter How much Or how Little you Have Ask yourself Do the Things that You go After Really provide You the Security That you Are looking For That is The question To consider The places That I go To for Security How Is it Going For You Is that Search for Security Really paying Off The thing Is I Think it Strikes a Chord In us When we Hear Jesus His Words Life Is more Than Food And the Body More Than Clothing Deep Down We know This is Right It has The ring Of truth And the Longer You live The louder That ring Gets The man In the Parable Didn't Live As long As he Expected Right Right

16:02When he Had What he Thought Was Enough God Said Now's The time He Planned For Years But He Didn't See Them His Bumper Crop Went To Somebody Else Everyone Knows You Can't Take It With You Everyone Knows That But It Doesn't Change People's Minds Does It I Read About A Guy Who Owned A 1952 Mickey Mantle Baseball Card In Perfect Condition This Is The Card It's Been Called The Holy Grail Of Baseball Cards The Only One There's Only Three Of These Cards And This Is The Only One That's A Perfect 10 Which Card This Little Piece Of Cardboard I Mean It's Worth That To Someone I Guess In 2018 The Owner Of This Card Was In The Seventies And He Was Asked What Would Happen To The Card When He Died Would It Be Sold Would It Be On Your Guard Jesus Says Preoccupation With Possessions It Creates This Kind Of Confused Thinking In Us You Think Who In Their Right Mind Would Say That Lay It Across Your Chest In Your Casket That's Where We Get To Without The Intervention Of God We Get So Confused Stuff Confuses Us Don't Think That You Can Go Far Worse Than Our Stuff Going To Someone Else When We Die Is The Fact That We Are Going To God And If We Go Down That Road We Will Be Unprepared To Meet God That's What Happens With This Man So Is The One Who Lays Up Treasure For Himself And Is Not Rich Towards God Unchecked Preoccupation With Stuff Leaves Us Be Careful With That Statement I'm Just Saying When We Seek It The Way Jesus Says Don't Seek It That Leaves Us In Spiritual Poverty Where Your Treasure Is

18:37There Your Heart Will Be Also This Is A Serious Warning What Should We Do About This It's A Heart Condition And The Fact Is Is That You Can't Change Your Heart And I Can't Change My Heart You Can't Change My Heart And I Can't Change Yours God Has Got To Do Something But He Does He Does Something He Breaks Into The Human Heart So There Is Lots Actually There Is Lots Of Good News In This Passage Let's Get Into It Now Here's What God Does God's Intervention For Our Good The First Thing Jesus Says And Doesn't Do Any Good Verse 29 He Says Do Not Seek What You Are To Eat And What You Are To Drink Nor Be Worried That Word That Word Worried It's The Only Time It Appears In The New Testament And It's You Get This It's A Word That's Very Strange It It Gives The Impression Linguistically Of Hanging In The Air In Kind Of This Perpetual Unsettled Worry Indicates A Misplaced Trust But It's So Common That We Overlook It We Have To Slow Down And We He Wants Us To See It Because We Have To See It In Order To Walk Away From It We Have To Name That Worry I've Told This Story Before But I Were Left Without Insurance And We Could Either Buy Private Insurance Or We Kind Of Looked At Some Other Options And We Looked At This Christian Health Care Savings Co-op Thing Which We Ended Up Electing To Do And As The Clock Ticked Down On Our Insurance Coverage And Before It Switched Over To This Health Share Ministry Health What Am I Trying To Say It's A Way For It's Tick Down Towards Losing Our Insurance Coverage

20:59I Noticed That I Started To Get Really Nervous I Would Like Wake Up In The Morning And It Would Be On My Mind I Was Like Are We Really About To Do This We're Not Going To Have Insurance I Trust Is In My Insurance I Just Don't Know What's Going To Happen When We're On This New Thing That We Know Is Not Insurance Isn't That Silly I Was About To Lose A Piece Of Paper Basically A Policy And Here I Am A Person That Says That I'm Teaching Other People About God And I'm Just Beset With Worry That I'm About To Not Have Health Insurance Life Where's My Trust I Was Convicted And It Was A Process Of Praying And It Still Comes Back From Time To Time This Thought Of Like Well Insurance I Know Picks Up Things I Don't Know What's Going To Happen With This New Thing But It Started With Jesus Pointing Out To Me My Worry And My Concern And Then Calling Me Out Of That And Calling Me To A Posture Which Is Still A Work In Progress Okay So Seeing That We Worry Is A Start But What Exactly Is Don't Worry Right It's Just Is That Just An Empty Phrase Is That Just Advice That Jesus Is Giving Us Or Some Kind Of Ideal That We Can't Reach Some Of You May Remember As I Do A Long Time Ago When The Song Don't Worry Be Happy Came Out It Was A Huge Hit But Have You Ever Really Listened To The Lyrics Of That Song You're Probably Singing Them To Yourself Right Now Your Life May Be A Wreck You Have No Money No Bed Your Landlord Is About To Evict You But Don't Worry It's A Catchy Melody And All Of That Covers Up The

23:25Fact That It Offers You No Real Help It's Just A Hallmark Card Don't Worry Be Happy That's It It's Got Nothing Of Substance To Actually Help You Not Worry Disney Did The Same Thing With Hakuna Matata A Few Years Later It's A Problem Free Philosophy Right It Means No Worries For The Rest Of Your Days That May Be Fine For Timon And Pumbaa But What Once The Song Ends You And I Our Lives Are Still The Same When Jesus Says Don't Worry It's Different And You Need To Get Your Heads Around That And Your Hearts Around That When Jesus Says Don't Worry He Is Not Giving You A Hallmark Card He Is Pointing You To The Reality Of Life When You Trust Him He's Giving You A Reason Not To Fear And Here's That Reason God Provides God Provides Consider The Ravens He Says They're Scavengers Ravens Eat Nearly Anything They Can Find They Eat Even Though They Don't Store Food But Not Because They're Resourceful Because God Feeds Them Jesus Says Consider The Ravens They're Really Resourceful Go Be Resourceful Too No Consider The Ravens God Feeds Them You Are More Valuable Than They Are Consider The Lilies This Is Not An Invitation To Hug A Tree This Is Saying Look Closely At God's Design Flowers Come Up Out Of The Ground From A Little Seed And They Become Beautiful We Give Them To One Another To Show Love To Each Other Because They Are Inherently Beautiful Well Designed Beautifully Decorated God Did That God Did That God Dressed Them That Way He Made Them Beautiful And Complex This Inherent Splendor And

25:31Greater Than Even Solomon's Robes And They're Like That Because God Clothed Them And You Know What You Are Worth More Than Flowers And Grass God Is Our Provider The Food We Have The Clothing We Have Our Jobs Our Homes But Listen Even The Stuff That He Gives Us Won't Make Our Hearts Rest We Have To Take Our Search For Security To Him Himself Not To The Things That He Gives Us He Is Our Security Listen To The Gospel Here From 2 Corinthians 8 9 For You Know The Grace Of Our Lord Jesus Christ That Though He Was Rich For Your Sake He Became Poor So That You By His Poverty Might Become Rich By Faith In Christ We Are Brought Into A State He Clothes Us With His Righteousness We Will Never Be Condemned Or Ashamed Again We Will Never Be Naked Security Is Found In Jesus And Listen I'm This Might Sound Like I'm Spiritualizing These Promises Oh Pastor You're Saying That The Bread Is The Bread Of Life And The Clothing Is Christ Righteousness But I'm Hungry Right Now That's Not That's Not My Go I Am Saying That The Spiritual Provision Of God Is The Most Important Thing But Listen Remember Our Security Comes From Being Adopted And United In Christ That Security Is Beyond This Life He's Preparing Us For An Eternal Future That Is Spiritual And Physical In Resurrected Glorified Bodies We Will Never Hunger Again It Is Not Just A Spiritual Promise It Is A Whole Person Promise That We Will Be Fed And Clothed And Taken Care Of Forever In The New Heavens And The New Earth This Is The Apex Of God's Provision

27:40And He Speaks About It In Verse 32 Which Is One Of My Favorite Verses In The New Testament Fear Not Fear Not Little Flock For It Is Your Father's Good Pleasure To Give You The Kingdom Look At Us We Are A Little Flock We Are We We Are Helpless Defenseless On Our Own We Don't Know Our Right Hoof From Our Left But By Grace Through Faith We And That Makes All The Difference In The World He Is Our Father Now He Gladly And Joyfully Gives Us The Kingdom The Very Kingdom We Are Told To Seek It's Not Hide And Seek He Gives It To Us He Says Seek Seek It Here It Is In My Hands I'm Giving It To You Take It Be Consumed With It Be Preoccupied With Having What I'm Giving You This Is What You Need To Be Preoccupied With He Gladly Gives It To You He's Not Stingy He's A Good Father We Share In The Blessings Of The Kingdom With Father Isn't That Good News He Gives It To Us We Don't Have To Go Looking It's Not A Puzzle To Figure Out We Just Go To Our Father Now Given All That This Is True How Do We Live Now Since God Has Been So Generous Towards Us How Do We Think About Possessions Because We Still Have To Think About It Christmas Is Still In Eight Days Right What Jesus Says Here In This Passage Can Be Divided Up Three Ways But They Are So Interrelated That I'm Just Going To Give Them All To You At The Same Time Here They Are Give Generously Live Dependently And Think Eternally That's How We're Called To Live As We Are Depending On Christ Give Generously Live Dependently And Think Eternally Give

30:08Your Resources Generously They're Not Just Given To You To Meet Your Needs They Are For That But Look Around You Who Else Can You Help Through The Good Stewardship Of The Things That God Has Given You The Very Act Of Being Generous Of Liberating Our From The Plentiful Field That Happens From Time To Time It Helps Us To Live Dependently On God To Remind Ourselves That It's Him That We Depend On He Is Our Security Not Our Pantries Not Our Bank Accounts When I Read This Parable I Am Reminded Of West End Presbyterian Church In Richmond 20 Years Ago They Were At Capacity With Two Services In Their New Building And They Faced A Choice Should We Build An Even Bigger Building What Should We Do Instead Of Building A Bigger Building They Chose To Start Planting Churches Nikki And I Were On The Launch Team Along With Abe Of The First Church Plant Up In Mechanicsville That They Sent Out People West End Presbyterian Supports New Creation The Carters Came To Us From West End The Bazelles Were Also West End Although They They Were Briefly At Another Church In Hopewell Before They Came Here But They Were At West End We Are Here Today In Part Because That Church Made A Decision In Their Abundance They Said We Are Not Going To Build Bigger Barns We Are Going To Send This Out For The Kingdom Of God To Be Furthered In Metro Richmond And The Surrounding Area That Was A Kingdom Decision To Give Generously And To Live Dependently They Had Leaders And People Go Out Their Church Was Smaller Because They

31:56Sent People Out But Here We Are A Church In Chester Because Of A Decision That Started 20 Years Ago Giving Generously And Living Dependently Is Helped By Thinking Eternally If You Sit Down With A Financial Planner Their Job Is To Help You Down The Road Now Listen There Is Nothing Wrong With That It Is Just That They Are Not Thinking Far Enough If You Ever Sit Down With A Financial Planner And They Say Okay We're Going To Use The Average Age Of 70 Say No No I Live Eternally I I'm Serious I Live Eternally Let's Plan With That Horizon We've Got Eternity To Consider Here's The Apostle Paul Principles This Is First Timothy Six As For The Rich In This Present Age Charge Them Not To Be Haughty Nor To Set Their Hopes On The Uncertainty Of Riches But On God Who Richly Provides Us With Everything To Enjoy Your Father's Good Pleasure They Are To Do Good To Be Rich In Good Works To Be Generous And Ready To Share Thus Storing Up Treasure For Themselves As A Good Foundation For The Future So That They May Take Hold Of That Which Is Truly Life We Just Need To Think Eternally The Truth Is Is That There Is Something You Can Take With You Not Food Not Your Car Not Your House But Christ And A Life That Has Been Made Rich By Dwelling And Abiding In Him That's What You Take With You That's The Treasure That Never Spoils It Never Fades When John Has The Vision Of The New Heavens And The New Earth A Multitude That Cries Out Here's What He He Hears The Marriage Of The Lamb Has Come His Bride Has Made

34:08Herself Ready It You Do Take Something With You The Kids Are Coming Back And It's Good Timing Because I'm Going To End Right Here Jesus Made Himself Poor So That You Could Be Rich It Doesn't Look Like Riches Riches Like Like The World Says Is Riches But It's Even Better Than That It's Even Better Than That Rich In Righteousness And Rich In Fellowship With God Fear Not Little Flock It Is Your Father's Good Pleasure To Give You The Kingdom Let's Live In Light Of God's Generosity And Go After What Really Endures Pray With Me Lord Materialism Is Just Something That Knocks Out Our Door All The Time It's Knocking So Loud Right Now In Late December In Peace Remind Us Of What Really Endures What True Riches Really Is Lord Help Us To Be Rich Toward You Help Us To Abide In You And Shake Off The Covetousness That Tends To Grab Hold Of Our Ankles Help Us To Shake Off That And Grab Hold Of You Jesus Knowing That You Have Been So Generous To Us You Have Clothed Us In You And In Your Righteousness And It's Your Father's Good Pleasure To Give Us The Kingdom Lord What A