It’s Like This
Viral
November 24, 2024
Chris Seidman, Lead Minister, The Branch
Luke 12:13 (NIV)
Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
Luke 12:14-15 (NIV)
Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
Luke 12:15 (ESV)
“… one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
Madeline Levine, “The Price of Privilege”
America’s newly identified at-risk group is preteens and teens from affluent, well-educated families. In spite of their economic and social advantages, “children of affluence” experience among the highest rates of depression, substance abuse, anxiety disorders, and unhappiness of any group of children in this country.
Luke 12:16-21 (NIV)
And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops?’
“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain.
“‘And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink, and be merry.”’
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’”
“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
Dallas Willard Quote
John Wesley pointed out how riches are a snare to good religious people. Wesley’s ministry was so powerful that many people who lived on the brink of ruin in the lowest strata of society were redeemed.
And then Wesley noticed a pattern. When men and women lived in relationship with God, they became hardworking, intelligent, grace-guided people. And the next thing you knew, they had more money than they’d ever seen before.
But after that they devoted themselves to that money. Wesley commented that when you get right with God, you get right with the world; and when you get right with the world, you become prosperous.
Often this is true. When we stop doing the unwise things that diminish our lives and dissipate our money and energy, we have the resources we need. Thomas Aquinas is said to have noticed the same pattern.
Once, when Aquinas was in Rome and in the presence of the pope, before whom a large sum of money was spread out, the pope observed, “You see, the church can no longer say, ‘Silver and gold have I none.’”
“Truly, holy father,” replied Aquinas, “but neither can she now say, ‘Rise and walk.’” When you trust in the power that belongs to riches, it’s all the power you have. When you trust in the power of God, you’re in touch with a different order and magnitude of power.
How do we keep our hearts from drifting and guard our hearts from the virus?
- Recognize the lies
A. Lie: More fills us up.
B. Lie: More guarantees our future.
C. Lie: More means more for us.
- Acknowledge our anxieties
Luke 12:22-24, 32 (NIV)
Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.
“Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!
(vs.32) “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.”
- See God the way Jesus sees him – as “Our Father.”
Luke 12:30 (NIV)
“For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them.”
- Seek the kingdom with what we have.
Luke 12:31 (NIV)
“But seek his kingdom … .”
2 Corinthians 8:9 (NIV)
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.