Other People's Money
Pt. 2 - Possessed
I. Introduction
I have learned there are certain things that just don't go well together. Some of this I learned in school and others just by observation. Dennis Rodman and politics. Tin foil and microwaves. Butter and deep frying. Lying and a believer. Apathy and a Christian And at least in the modern version, the church talking about money.
So last week we said that even though money issues are the number one reason couples get divorced and if the truth was told It is the number one reason most of you are struggling, afraid, and stressed out in your life right now we still seem to get very nervous and even angry when the church addresses money! I understand that the church has brought some of this on itself due to the crazy and outlandish things preachers have said in order to line their own pockets. However, I think we also have used that craziness as an excuse to keep the church from addressing this area because most of us struggle mightily to allow God to speak to this area of our life.
So, since I know that this topic makes people nervous and I also know that Jesus addresses finances more than any other topic (twice as much as heaven and hell combined), have titled this series "Other People's Money"so that as we talk about this topic you can relax because I am not talking about your money. I am talking about your neighbor's money. Touch your neighbor right now and tell them, "Hey you should really listen because he is talking about your money not mine!" OK, now that you are off the hook maybe you can relax and listen. In fact, make sure you take good notes so that your neighbor doesn't miss anything that they might have needed to hear.
I want you to join me in an account you are very familiar with. We are going to talk about the possessed man. Instantly your mind probably races toward Mark 5 and 6 where Jesus encounters the demon possessed man living in the cemetery. However, that isn't the possessed man I am referring to. Instead I want to talk about the other possessed man. His story is found in
II. Text: Matthew 19:16-26
Another day, a man stopped Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” Jesus said, “Why do you question me about what’s good? God is the One who is good. If you want to enter the life of God, just do what he tells you.” The man asked, “What in particular?”Jesus said, “Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as you do yourself.” The young man said, “I’ve done all that. What’s left?” “If you want to give it all you’ve got,” Jesus replied, “go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me.” That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crestfallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn’t bear to let go. As he watched him go, Jesus told his disciples, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is for the rich to enter God’s kingdom? Let me tell you, it’s easier to gallop a camel through a needle’s eye than for the rich to enter God’s kingdom.” The disciples were staggered. “Then who has any chance at all?” Jesus looked hard at them and said, “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it.”
Before we deal with the money side of things may I remind your neighbor a couple of truths that I have shared with them before . . . partial obedience is complete disobedience. Obedience in one area doesn't cover disobedience in another area. This young man was obedient in several areas but lack of obedience in another area cost him his soul.
a. Your neighbor has to be on guard because what you hold on to can begin to hold onto you.
Notice the struggle here. Here is a young man who has done his best to live holy, follow the commandments, toe the line and yet he is so possessed by possessions that when given the opportunity to have life eternal he allows his love for the temporal to cost him the eternal. What he can see becomes a trap that keeps him from gaining what he can't see.
This man was possessed. He didn't live in a cemetery and didn't walk around dragging chains in the natural. However, although he was surrounded by abundance and supply, silk and caviar he was still living dead and abundantly bound.
He asks for an answer and gets the answer but because it isn't the answer he wants he rejects the truth.
If your neighbor isn't careful possessions will possess. That is why Jesus takes time to address the possessive nature of possessions when he said "You can't serve two masters. You will either serve God or you will serve money." Jesus understood that when you are dealing with money it comes with strings. There is control at stake. Possessions don't just get in your hands they get in your heart.
Jesus did not extol poverty as some great virtue. He simply gave this young man a test to see whether God was more important to him than his things.
The truth is God created us to love people and use things. There is nothing wrong with having possessions and a successful career. The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 6:17, “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy". God can bless a person. In fact, we read in the Bible of those who had wealth, such as Abraham, Job, David, and Barnabas.
Money is not the root of all evil; the love of it is. The problem with wealth is not in having it. The issue is if we let it have us. In other words what is important and must be constantly monitored is how we get it . . . how we guard it . . . And how we give it.
“Earthly goods are given to be used, not to be collected…. Hoarding is idolotry.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Nothing I am sure has such a tendency to quench the fire of religion as the possession of money. ~ J.C. Ryle, Bishop
What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? I wonder about your neighbor this morning . . . are they possessed?
It comes down to this if your neighbor gives ownership to things they will struggle to give lordship to Jesus.
b. Your neighbor has to be on guard because hope migrates.
The conversation that Jesus has with his disciples after the rich young man departs is eye opening. Jesus sees the young man forfeit eternity and then He states that it is harder for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven than it is for a camel to walk through the eye of needle. The disciples respond that if that is the case, then we are all doomed. Jesus says that is correct with one exception. We can have possessions and make it into the kingdom if we put our trust in God.
Jesus is revealing something that we must learn. Hope migrates! When we are dealing with money if we are not careful we allow our hope to fixate on what we have or want to have rather than trusting God.
Paul reiterates this when he says "that the wealthy have to be careful to put their trust in God."
Jesus knew and Paul knew that the chief competitors for your neighbor's heart is God and money. Remember what Jesus said, "Where your treasure is your heart is."
Wealth can become a substitute for God. You can't allow your hope to migrate to money.
The wisest man knew this would be an ongoing battle. Listen to what he says in Proverbs 30:7-9. "O God, I beg two favors from you before I die: First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs! For if I grow rich, I may become content without God. And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name."
The wise man knew that wealth can lead you to separate from God. Wealth can become a wedge between you and God. If your neighbor isn't careful riches/things/possessions can cause them to depend more on those things than God. Riches become a substitute for God. He also knew that when we don't have enough the desire for more can lead us to do things we would not do otherwise.
He is trying to teach us to place our hope in the Provider rather than the provision.
So the encounter that this young man has forces us to ask two questions about our neighbor this morning. Is your neighbor possessed? Where does your neighbor place their hope?
Have you given ownership and now lordship is hard? Have you given hope away?
