The Two Sides of Money Part I: The Dark Side
Introduction
Good morning. [Talk about the covenant]
Our scripture this morning is taken
from Luke 16:1-13
1Jesus told his disciples: "There
was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2So
he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account
of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.'
3"The
manager said to himself, 'What shall I do now? My
master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to
beg— 4I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people
will welcome me into their houses.'
5"So
he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, 'How much do
you owe my master?'
6"
'Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,' he replied.
"The manager told him, 'Take your
bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.'
7"Then
he asked the second, 'And how much do you owe?'
" 'A thousand
bushels of wheat,' he replied.
"He told him, 'Take your bill and make
it eight hundred.'
8"The
master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their
own kind than are the people of the light. 9I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for
yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal
dwellings.
10"Whoever
can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much,
and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11So
if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with
true riches? 12And if you have not been trustworthy with someone
else's property, who will give you property of your own?
13"No servant can serve two
masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted
to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
Let’s pray.
I would like to open with a
question. In thinking about Jesus’
teaching in the 4 gospels, what topic did Jesus address most?
[Pause]
Well, the answer is the
But there is another aspect of money
and material possessions that I am calling the “Dark Side” which I will talk
about this week. The dark side includes
both how Money and wealth compete with God for our affections but also to the
strong statements that Jesus makes about them.
·
“Woe to you that are rich.”[2]
·
“Do not lay up treasures for yourself on earth.”[3]
·
“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for
a rich man to enter the
·
“Beware of all kinds of greed.”[5]
And Paul’s powerful
interpretation of Jesus’ words that
·
The love of money is the root of all kinds evil[6]
And today’s passage
·
“You cannot serve both God and Money.[7]
These are strong words and they
speak to us about a “dark side” of money and possessions.
I don’t know about you, but anytime
a pastor speaks about Money and giving there is always a level of awkwardness –
it can appear self serving. I have found
that this is a very difficult topic for many Pastors to speak about because the
topic is so mis-used in so many churches and
ministries. You know the line:
“Brothers and
sisters. God wants to set you free from your pocket book”
and we in the pew are
thinking – “so that it can go to you.”
Given this mis-use,
it is not surprising that many non-Christians feel that “getting you to give
your money to the church” is all that churches are about. The Barna Group
reports that 58% of non-Christians believe that the “churches are too concerned
about raising money.”[8] I want
you to see this bumper sticker I found today on Amazon.com [9]
And so it is understandable for
pastors to avoid this topic.
But it is an important topic – Jesus’ second most
important topic – and not being a professional pastor – I am speaking again
this week from the perspective of one from the congregation – one who sits in
the pew - one who has nothing to gain from setting you free from your pocket
book. So fasten your seat belts again for these next two weeks. By God’s grace we’re going to go some places
that conscientious pastors often don’t go.
The Demonic Power of Material Wealth /
Money with a Capital “M”
There is a lot in this parable – but this week we are
only going to look at verse 13. We’ll
cover the heart of the parable next week.
But after telling the story of the dishonest manager, Jesus launches
into this teaching:
13"No
servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other,
or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both
God and Money."
I want you to notice the way Jesus is talking about
Money – He is saying here that Money can be our master. Money can be something we serve. Money can be something that we love and be
devoted to. I don’t know of any other
material object spoken of this way in the scripture.
Interestingly, in this parable we find Luke using not
the Greek work for Money or material possessions – but he uses the Aramaic word
– Mammon – because he wants to convey the heart of what Jesus is saying. And Luke wanted to convey that Jesus was not
just speaking about ordinary worldly possessions. Mammon is not just another word for wealth or
material possessions. But it’s a word
that to the first century hearers was the personification of wealth or the
deified version of avarice. The NIV
attempts to capture this idea in verse 13 when it makes it a capital M –
money. There is no place else in the NIV
that a material object is capitalized.
You see – Jesus is trying to help us see that money
is not neutral. It competes with God for
our affection and attention. When Jesus
uses this term, He wants us to know that there is a principality and a power
behind it. “You cannot serve God and
Money/Mammon.” Jesus is saying that
Money/Wealth/Possessions are a rival god.
I find this teaching of Jesus fascinating. There is a real power behind our possessions.
Today, among those that worship demons – yes you heard me right – there are
groups and organizations that worship demons - Mammon is one of the demons they
worship – the demon of avarice. He has
name. He has a personality – and guess what – he wants your pocket book.
As surprising as that it to us – it really shouldn’t
surprise us that Money /Possession and material wealth are not neutral. Look at what people do for money. Who doesn’t know a story about how seeking
after worldly possessions has destroyed individuals and families. Think what
seductive powers it has.
The Seductive Power of Wealth
A.
The hunger than can never be satisfied
For example, I never
cease to be amazed at how the more we have – the more we want. Doesn’t that tell us that there is something
other worldly about wealth.
Some of you have heard of Scottie Pippen. One of the Chicago Bull’s basketball stars
during Michael Jordan’s reign. After he
was traded to the Portland Trailblazers, he was making $15 million a year plus
millions in endorsements.
But even that much money didn’t keep him from wanting more.
A Sports Illustrated feature said: "Before
every home game, Pippen let his gaze drift over to
the courtside seat occupied by Paul Allen, cofounder of Microsoft and owner of
both the Trail Blazers and the Seattle Seahawks, a man with a personal net
worth of $40 billion…. 'What does he have?' Pippen
asked. 'Forty billion? How can I make just one
billion? I just want one of them! What do I need to do?'"
Not just once. But every game. But let’s not just pick on the rich. If we are honest with ourselves – If we look
seriously at our wants and desires – most of us find that we are never
satisfied – there is never enough of this stuff. “I just want one of them.” This insatiable
appetite that we have for things strongly affirms to us Jesus teaching the
there is a power behind money.
B.
The treasure that wants your heart
There is another
aspect of Money that affirms Jesus teaching.
There is something about Money and material possession take prevent us
from letting go of them. And the more we have the harder it is to give away.
Jesus said:
“Do not store up for
yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves
break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth
and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal . For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also.”[10]
Money is the
treasure that wants your heart.
I just love
children – they are so transparent – and can teach us so much about
ourselves. What parent isn’t shocked
when darling Jeremy grabs his toy and says with intensity “mine.” We wonder where that comes from.
Our youngest granddaughter once was playing with two
souvenir coins – one was hers and one was her brothers. One of them fell into
an unreachable spot and was lost for good. She said "Boy am I glad that one was my brothers. You see, I still have
mine." Barbara was trying to make this a teachable moment and asked,
"What do you think would be the kind thing to do since you were the one
who lost it?" The response, "I don't know and I'm not going to do
it."
We laugh – but
would that we would be so honest. We
laugh – but let’s learn from the little ones that Money and possessions are
personal and have agenda to capture our heart.
Martin Luther
said that:
"There are three conversions a person needs to
experience: The conversion of the head. The conversion of the
heart. The conversion of the pocketbook."
And then he went on to comment that the conversion of the pocketbook is the most difficult. We need our heads, our hearts and our pocketbooks baptized.
C.
The drug that leads to deception
Another indication that there is more to Money /
Possessions than meets the eye is how often our attitude towards Money can lead
us into deception.
Right after we were married, we, like most couples
starting out, were tight on Money. And
the first year that I did my taxes, I didn’t report some of the income that
Uncle Sam was entitled to know about and tax.
When the Lord convicted me of this deception, I was
shocked at how I could forfeit my integrity for such a little bit of
money. It was the first time that I
realized that there was more to it than meets the eye. The power behind money not only says to us
·
that we need more and more and more AND that
·
that we should never let it go BUT that
·
“its okay to lie” “you deserve it”
Again – this shouldn’t surprise us since the root of
money’s power lies with the father of lies.
It is no wonder that Paul said that the
“love of money is the
root of all kinds of evil”[11]
Overcoming the Power of Wealth
So how do we break
this demonic power that possessions and money have on us? The first thing is to be aware of the role
that the principalities and rulers of darkness play in money and wealth. Jesus rightly identified that Money and our
possessions want to be our master.
Recognizing and acknowledging that fact is a key first step.
A.
Being “On your Guard”
Jesus told us this when he
said:
Then he
said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a
man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Luke 12:15
Watch out – be on
guard – Be alert – be aware of Satan’s schemes and the trap of material
possessions and wealth. Be constantly
vigilant. As a regular prayer discipline
– “Ask God to show you where your treasures are.” “Ask God to show you areas where you are
serving Mammon and not him.”
There are two other
practical steps that I have found work in breaking the power of accumulating;
they are really quite simple to grasp even though difficult to carry through.
B.
Generosity – the Gentle Giant
There is nothing
that the demon of Material Wealth hates more than being given away. Richard
Foster says that “Giving has a way of routing out the tough old miser within
us.” Give, give, and keep giving.
Not only for a good
cause – not just to the church – not just to alleviate world hunger– just
giving it away. God is inviting us to
give as creatively as we gain. John
Wesley’s famous maxim says:
Gain all you can! Save all you
can! Give all you can![12]
Sometimes we use
giving to make us feel better. “I am
doing my part to alleviate world hunger “– and that’s a good thing – we’ll talk
about that more next week. But God is
inviting us to use extravagant giving just to break that power of hoarding and
clutching and accumulating. In the Old
Testament, most giving produced no visible good. Most of their giving was not practically
helpful. Their giving went up in
smoke. God is inviting us to learn from
their example.
There is another
important piece to this. An essential
element to breaking the power of Mammon with the Gentle Giant of Generosity is
to give in complete anonymity. Jesus said:
But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know
what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward
you.[13]
Part of us really
wants others to know that we are giving.
But that’s part of this seductive hold that money has on us. If you want to give Satan a double kick in
the teeth – give and give and give – but do it completely in secret. Oh how Mammon hates that.
I have a long way
to go in this area. I am sure that some
of you do too. We live in an age of
avarice – of material accumulation. And
we easily get entrapped by it. Jesus
told his disciples that they were to
Give to everyone who asks[14]
What would it take to grow this
Gentle Giant of Generosity among us? I want to encourage you right now to take
a minute and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you.
Father where is my heart captivated
by possessions?
Where have I allowed the demonic
power of money to serve money rather than You.
Lord, how have I allowed that
demonic power to bring deception along with it?
[Silence]
[Close the time with prayer]
C.
“It’s only money” – with a lowercase ‘m’
Finally I want you to repeat this phase after me:
It’s only money
It’s only money
What I have found very effective in breaking the
stranglehold that money and possessions have in my life is to spell money with
a lowercase ‘m’ Don’t
even give it the privilege of a capital M.
A number of years ago I used to spend hours at the
end of the month balancing my checkbook.
The first part went quickly – but then there was that $.15 that I just
couldn’t find. I would sometimes spend
an hour looking for it.
Then one day the Lord said to me:
So
what if the bank made a $.15 error?
Would you spend an hour of your time to retrieve it? Bob, it’s only
money.
That has been my mantra at combating my own unhealthy
attitude towards money and worldly wealth.
It’s
only money
Mammon hates it when you say that.
There is a story told of a rich man who was
determined to take his wealth with him into the next life. The Lord finally
gave in to his fervent prayers. There was one condition: he could bring only
one suitcase of valuables. The rich man decided to fill the suitcase with gold
bullion.
The day came when God called him home. St. Peter
greeted him but told him he couldn't bring his suitcase. "Oh, but I have
an agreement with God," the man explained.
"That's unusual," said St. Peter.
"Mind if I take a look?" The man opened the suitcase to reveal the
shining gold bullion.
St. Peter was amazed. "Why in the world would
you bring pavement?"
Let’s pray:
Lord lift
the veil from our eyes to see what You value.
Lord help
us not try to bring along pavement in our journey towards you
Deliver us from the desire to
accumulate pavement.
Set us free to generously give away
pavement.
Amen