Have you been following the entire Martha Stewart thing? It was just a year ago that the allegations surfaced that the Queen of Gracious Living was involved in an insider trading scandal. The prosecutors are saying that Stewart sold 4000 shares of ImClone Systems after finding out that there was bad news on the way from the government concerning the company and it’s main product.
Stewart originally denied the charges and a year ago in her regular appearance on CBS’s "The Early Show" Stewart said, "I think this will all be resolved in the very near future and I will be exonerated of any ridiculousness."
Comedian Dennis Miller said "Martha Stewart denied allegations that she had been given inside information to sell 4,000 shares of a stock in a biotech firm about to go under. Stewart then showed her audience how to make a festive, quick-burning yule log out of freshly-shredded financial documents."
And Conan O’Brien said “The corporate scandals are getting bigger and bigger. In a speech on Wall Street, President Bush spoke out on corporate responsibility, and he warned executives not to cook the books. Afterwards, Martha Stewart said the correct term was to sauté the books.”
In Spite of her claims of innocence prosecutors have charged her with five counts of conspiracy, making false statements, obstruction of justice and securities fraud. Now I don’t know what you think of Martha Stewart, and it really doesn’t matter, one CNN report said this about the lifestyle Guru The public has long had a love-hate relationship with Stewart. She is widely admired for her design and business acumen even as she’s disparaged for her perfectionist impulses and sheer omnipresence.
Our attitudes toward Martha have probably been formed from statements she’s made like “I catnap now and then, but I think while I nap, so it’s not a waste of time.” Martha Stewart, in McCall’s or “Life is too complicated not to be orderly.” Martha Stewart, quoted in Harper’s Bazaar
The reason Martha Steward is being charged though has nothing to do with her home making skills instead it has everything to do with how she handled her investments.
Investments, in this day and age everyone is talking about the right investment, the best investment, everyone wants a perfect investment. And with the Stock market the way it is those perfect investments are hard to find. But there are all kinds of investments, good investments and bad investments.
Every once in a while you’ll hear that someone like Martha has been convicted of insider trading, that is that they used confidential information to buy and sell stocks at an unfair advantage. In this particular scripture Christ is giving us some very important and valuable inside information concerning our investments. And this isn’t illegal.
In the first three verses that Bonnie read this morning Christ counsels us as Christians to sell some stocks and cut our losses, while at the same time he is advising us to purchase stock that has a very high yield. In our temporal state we’d jump at that wouldn’t we? If we had impeccable information concerning our investments we would make sure that we acted on that information. And yet this is far more important then mere money this is our eternity.
1) A Bad Thing In vs. 19 Christ tells us that bad investments are the ones that can be lost Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where they can be eaten by moths and get rusty, and where thieves break in and steal.
Now what Jesus was talking about were things that rusted, rotted or were ripped off. Today you don’t have to wait that long for things to become worthless, only until the warranty runs out. There is nothing in this life that is invincible, nothing that cannot be worn out, broke or destroyed.
Everything we earn, everything we buy everything we collect is susceptible to damage. And Christ is basically telling us that if that is where you make your investments then you are doomed to disappointment. In Christ day people associated material blessings with God’s blessings. Now that’s silly isn’t it, I mean we would never be guilty of that would we?
In other words ifn you could buy a new chariot every year then people would be convinced that God was rewarding you for something. Now I don’t believe that Christians ought to be destitute. You see I believe that we are children of the King, and as such we are not to inherit poverty. On the other hand I don’t necessarily agree with the Prosperity theology that is swept through the Evangelical Church a few years back. It been referred to as a cargo cult and that is pretty close to the truth. I’ve met some devote Holy Spirit anointed Christians who can pray heaven down, but who have really done no more then exist financially over the years.
And I get real concerned when I see Christians getting caught up in the world’s philosophy that was summed up on a bumper sticker I read once, “The man with the most toys when he dies wins.”
Think about it how often do we buy toys just to have toys? My daddy used to say, working at a job you don’t like to spend money you aint got to buy things you don’t need to impress people you don’t like. Think about it, you may be able to buy it but you can’t keep it. Now if that’s bad enough may I remind you that even if you do keep it, if it doesn’t rot, rust or get ripped off, even if it don’t die the day after the warranty runs out, friends listen up because this is important, friends some day you gonna die and they’re gonna put you in a hole in the ground and throw dirt in your face, and then your kids are gonna go back to the house and fight over everything you left behind.
Because as Job said, Job 1:21 “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be stripped of everything when I die.” Billy Graham said something very similar when he said, “There won’t be a u-haul following your hearse.” And Edmund Burke said, “everything you own will at the end of your life belong to somebody else.” friends you can’t keep what you have, the only thing that will be yours for eternity is what you are.
Jack Benny said “If I can’t take it with me then I’m not going,” well he went anyways and he didn’t take it with him. Even when we try to take it with us we fail, a few years back a lady in California was buried sitting behind the wheel of her rolls Royce silver shadow, wearing her fur coat and a fortune in jewellery. Man she didn’t take it with her, if you went back there today and dug up that grave she’d be gone but what ever hadn’t rotted, rusted or been ripped off would still be there.
The things of this earth aren’t blue chip stocks; they are not the best investments. You may not lose you shirt but there is a pretty good chance that you might lose your soul.
Luke 12:15-20 Then he said, “ Beware! Don’t be greedy for what you don’t have. Real life is not measured by how much we own. ”
And he gave an illustration: “ A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. In fact, his barns were full to overflowing. So he said, ‘ I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store everything. And I’ll sit back and say to myself, My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry! ’
“ But God said to him, ‘ You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get it all? ’
Don’t you just hate it when he says stuff like that? It’s real easy though to come to depend on our financial resources instead of our spiritual resources, to trust in our money more then our God. But if what we possess in this life is earthly treasure and doesn’t last then what is the secret? How do we obtain that heavenly treasure? Well funny you should ask because Jesus was asked an almost identical question.
2) A Good Thing
Matthew 19:16-22
Someone came to Jesus with this question: “Teacher, what good things must I do to have eternal life?”
“Why ask me about what is good? ” Jesus replied. “Only God is good. But to answer your question, you can receive eternal life if you keep the commandments. ”
“Which ones?” the man asked.
And Jesus replied: “‘do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not testify falsely. Honour your father and mother. Love your neighbour as yourself. ’ ”
“I’ve obeyed all these commandments,” the young man replied. “What else must I do?”
Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” But when the young man heard this, he went sadly away because he had many possessions.
Now remember the Jewish culture was much like our in as much as it equated material wealth with God’s blessings. Here comes one who it would appear God has blessed greatly and he asks a question, “Teacher, what good things must I do to have eternal life?” this young man made the same kind of mistake that we’re so often guilty of, listen again “Teacher, what good things must I do to have eternal life?”
Did you catch it, the question he asked was “what must I do?” instead of “what must I be?” he didn’t want to change himself, he wanted to pay his penitence so he could get on with life. And so Jesus asks him to do just one thing, not a whole pile of things, just one solitary act of goodness. Listen to vs. 21 If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor that’s the investment, now listen to the return on the investment, and you will have treasure in heaven Now somehow I get the feeling that this wasn’t the answer that this young fellow was looking for. But when the young man heard this, he went sadly away because he had many possessions.
He is the only person in the bible who is recorded as leaving Christ sad. But why did Christ command this man to sell all of his belongings. Because Christ knew that possessions would always rule this man’s life and that Christ would have to take a back seat to this man’s wealth.
In our original scripture passage, in Christ had already taught that very same principle. Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
It was at that point that the rich young ruler becomes acutely aware that he didn’t own his possessions that they owned him.
Let’s be real frank for a minute Ok? What would your response be to that commandment? What if the price for following Christ, the price of eternal life, the price of treasures in heaven was surrendering all of your material wealth? What if the choice was this, Christ or all of your accumulated possessions? What would your answer be?
3) Is it Your Thing?
The fact that Jesus didn’t command all of his followers to sell everything they have only gives comfort to the kind of people to whom he would issue that command. Did you catch that, the fact that Jesus didn’t command all of his followers to sell everything they have only gives comfort to the kind of people to whom he would have issued the command. You say that you’re glad he didn’t require that of you he’s not through with you yet.
This story though has very little to do with money and a whole lot to do with attitude. The only reason that Christ demanded the young man’s money was because that was the most important thing in his life. There is only room in your life for one #1 priority, and if that isn’t Jesus Christ, then no matter how good and noble that #1 priority is it is the wrong one.
The whole issue is not so much a question of wealth as it is a question of loyalty. What demands a greater degree of loyalty in your life? And if it’s Christ then there will be times that that need to be demonstrated.
The act of surrendering everything doesn’t always entail losing that which you surrender; many times it is simply the act of surrender that is required. That’s what sanctification is all about. It means giving everything to Christ. To sanctify means to set apart for holy use. Just as in salvation your part is repentance, you can’t save yourself, and all you can do is repent and ask for forgiveness, and Christ saves you, it’s that simple.
In sanctification your part is consecration. You go to the altar and start stacking stuff. Your car, your home, your job, your future, your family, your habits, your desires, your dreams, your children, your pride, your reputation, your tongue, your temper, and when you get this great big, humongous pile you climb up on top of it and say ok God, here it is and it’s all yours.
Now the last part is the most important and the most difficult the climbing up on the pile yourself. But it is essential. Remember Romans 12:1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask?
When you get that pile complete, and you’re on top and you consecrate it or turn it all over to God, then that is your investment. Heart purity or sanctification is your reward. But you will never be sold out to God as long as you continue to be sold out to self. You can’t simply take Christ as a fire escape from hell and still worship at the altar of self.
Now then in saying all that let me say this, one of those investments that bears heavenly returns is the local church. You see throughout the New Testament and throughout history the church has been God’s agency for change in the world. The very first account of the church of Christ is found in Acts 2:44-45 And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had. They sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with those in need.
The early Christians made an investment into that which would change the world and would ultimately effect the eternal destiny for literally millions of people. And your investment into Bedford community church will have eternal ramifications. If the church can offer a further reaching ministry through your giving and a thousand people get saved it was a worthy investment, if a hundred people get saved it was a worthy investment, if ten people get saved it was a worthy investment, as a matter of fact if one person gets saved because of a sacrificial investment made
By you won’t the investment be worth the return?
Every area of our churches ministry cost something, sometimes it’s money and sometimes it time but every ministry we offer cost somebody something. And every one of us has to be willing to share the cost. But not every one of us has to give the same, I believe in the concept of not equal giving but equal sacrifice. If you’re giving to the kingdom is going to be worth anything it will need to cost you something.
What is a sacrifice to me may not be anything to you on the other hand it may be way out of your reach, only you and God know what entails a sacrifice for you, right.
And we are going to need a commitment from every one in the church if that is going to become a reality. Maybe you haven’t been giving to your full potential but you say I’d give more to see us more effective in that type of ministry, let me know if that is where you’re at.
The choice my friends lie with each one of you. You can invest your time and money in things that won’t last, and will at the end of your life belong to somebody else or you can invest them into those things which will last for eternity.
PowerPoint may be available for this message. Contact me at denn@bccnet.ca
If you could build a church for a dollar. . .
would you?
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