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Good morning.
Happy 4th of July weekend to you.
Grateful that all of you are here.
Before we get started, though, I want to take a moment and recognize some individuals
that are here.
So if you have or currently are serving in the military or one of our armed forces, would
you mind please standing?
That's both current and former.
Thank you, guys.
Thank you.
You know, yesterday was a good day around the Bradbury house.
We got to get up that morning and go operate in 115 degree heat and work a little bit in
the backyard.
And then got to eat some barbecue for lunch and got to eat some burgers for dinner and
then capped off the night by blowing stuff up.
You know, like that's what we do.
And so around the 4th of July.
And it was just a really good day.
You know, when you got in bed late last night, we were just exhausted and thinking about all
the fun that we had.
And as we're thinking through that, it's also the reminder is that we have that opportunity.
We can go to those celebrations and we have that freedom because of so many men and women
who faithfully sacrificed many of them their lives, all of them time to serve and to do
that.
And so for all of you men and women here who did that, thank you so much for your sacrifice
and what you did.
But I also want to recognize for all of the spouses and the kids that sacrificed as well.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for that.
And it really is, as we live in this country, as we talk about freedom, it really mirrors
the story of the gospel, right?
The sacrifice that Christ made so that we could experience the freedom that's found in him.
And so I just want to thank you all for your service.
And before we open up our scripture, let's go to the Lord in prayer.
We come to you this morning, Lord, and we thank you.
We thank you that as the freedom that we celebrate as a country, Lord, that you can take that and
you can leverage that to remind us of the freedom that we have in Christ.
Lord, I thank you for the many men and women, not only at this church, but all over our country
who have sacrificed so much to go and serve and to protect, Lord, so that we could experience
the freedom that we have.
Lord, I pray for all of our soldiers that are, whether they're here with us, Lord, whether
they're on foreign soil right now.
Lord, I thank you for the work that they are doing, Lord, and how they are helping to fight
for those who cannot fight for themselves.
Lord, I pray that as we open your word this morning, I pray as there's an attitude of freedom
in the air, both in the lost and the saved, we can be reminded of the freedom that we have
in Christ that is found in him and in him alone, and it's not a freedom that's defined
by borders.
It's not a freedom that's defined by a government, Lord, but it is a freedom that lasts for all
of eternity that is found in the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
So, Lord, as we open up your word this morning, may that be what rings true from our mouth,
and in our hearts, and with our lives.
And it's in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
So glad that all of you are here with us.
Thankful that all of you are joining us online.
If you've got your Bibles, go ahead and open them up to Luke chapter 12, is where we are
going to be this morning as we continue on in our study of the parables.
Well, I know we got some visitors with us here today, and we may have some online with
us as well.
So, kind of a quick recap.
What we've been doing this summer is we've been looking at parables, and parables are the
stories that Jesus told.
And Jesus told these stories for a reason, to teach a lesson, a biblical truth that he wanted
to impart on his followers.
And we've been asking ourselves three questions every single week as we go through this.
The first question is, what does this parable teach me about God?
The second question, what does this parable teach me about myself?
And then the third one, what does this parable teach me about how I interact, or how I treat,
or how I view others?
And it's been really helpful to have these questions as we navigate through all of these.
And today we find ourselves in Luke chapter 12, starting in verse 13, where Jesus is going
to address an issue, a social issue of the time, which is a social issue today.
Jesus is going to address an issue that transcends gender, it transcends socioeconomic, it transcends
education, it transcends age.
Jesus is going to deal with the heart by talking about money.
And so we'll start reading 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 guard against all covetousness, for one's life does
not consist in the abundance of his possessions.
And 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.
And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?
So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.
Jesus does a wonderful thing in his teaching, something that he often does in his ministry.
He is asked a question and he turns it into a teachable moment.
You see, Jesus doesn't ever really answer the question that is asked of him.
And it wouldn't have been uncommon for this type of question to come to an individual like
Jesus.
And here's what I mean by that.
Jesus was considered a teacher or a rabbi.
And as the result of being a teacher or rabbi within their culture, people would come to
them with ethical questions.
People would come to them with problems.
So it's almost like, hey, before the government is involved, we seek your counsel.
And by doing so, we submit to the answer in which you will give.
But Jesus doesn't answer the question at hand.
In fact, in Scripture, we don't, Scripture doesn't even tell us a lot about the question.
We have no background story about which brother is or isn't right, which brother is standing
where he should and which one is not.
But we do know it has to deal with an inheritance.
It has to deal with money.
And so Jesus, in his wisdom, even though he doesn't answer the question, he speaks to the
motivation of the question.
He begins to deal with the heart of those in the situation, but also those in the crowd.
And Jesus begins to speak about money.
Now, I want to say this, this morning as we get into this message, I'm going to talk about
money a lot.
And what I want you to think of when we, when I, when I mention money, when we, when we talk
about money is this, that money for us today is going to represent value.
So if you're a person in here today who says, you know, I really don't care about money.
I'm content where I'm at.
I'm, I'm satisfied at this stage in my life.
I'm, I'm satisfied in the earnings.
God has been good to me and I want to be a good steward of that.
Then I'd ask you, as I say, money to move away from thinking solely on money.
But let's all ask ourselves this question.
What do we most value in our life?
And for so many of us, if we want to find the trail of what we value, if we're honest
with ourselves, if we're, if we're living in an authentic life, then we would say that
what we do with our money often shows what we value with our hearts.
Follow the, the trail of the checkbook for the two of us that maybe still have one of those,
right?
Follow the trail of the bank account.
And what we will find is that where it will take us is oftentimes what we value with our
heart.
There, there's also something to kind of lay in some groundwork that I want us to understand
because I know that many different men and women sitting here in this room or watching
online or dealing with something that can feel like a weight, a burden that is holding us
back, the burden of debt.
And what I don't want us to do this morning is focus in on moments and laps of judgment,
right?
We've all had those in our life, right?
Buyer's remorse, buyer's regret.
We were online late one night and the infomercial came on and we decided for 95 payments of 99.99,
like we had to have that.
When I think about buyer's regret in my life, the biggest buyer's regret that I ever can remember
making happened right after I got my first full-time job in ministry.
It's given my salary, full, full-time salary was $21,000.
And I just, when I got that first check, I was just amazed because I'd never seen that amount of money,
right?
It was 21,000 for the year, by the way, not for the week.
I saw that check and I'd never seen anything like it.
Never seen that much money.
And I'll never forget, Aaron and I hadn't been married long.
We bought this little townhome in Aiken and I walked outside and there sat my little Chevy S10.
And that Chevy S10, little four-cylinder, five-speed, it cranked up every time you put the key in the
ignition, it got wonderful gas mileage, but it had one flaw.
You didn't know how far it would go until it cut off on you.
And that morning, I remember cranking up to get ready to go to work and about midway there, clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk.
It stopped.
And I thought, no more, right?
I'm rich.
I'm making $21,000 a year.
And so I took off and I went to a car dealership in Augusta.
And sitting on the other side of the parking lot, I could see it.
It was a nice, big, pretty, white, four-wheel drive with big tires, F-150.
And I thought, it is God's will for me to have that, right?
And so I bought it, drove it home, it had a full tank of gas.
By the time I got from Augusta to Aiken, it had half a tank of gas.
It got eight miles to the gallon.
And after about six months, I realized, I can't afford this anymore, right?
And so I had to trade it in.
I was upside down on it.
It was the worst financial decision that I'd ever made.
And what we do oftentimes when we talk about pursuits is I find that my heart and people's
heart go to stories like that.
We go to momentary glimpses of lapse of judgment.
And this morning, as we talk about what we, when we talk about money and what we value the
most, I can find that in my life and in so many others' life, if we're not careful, that's
the low-hanging fruit that we go to, the foolish mistake that we made one time or maybe a handful
of times.
I don't want us this morning to focus in on the exception of our heart, okay?
What I want us to look at this morning is not the exception, but the pursuit of where we
are, not in the one moment, but in the every day, with what defines us, with what wakes us
up and what pushes us forward and going.
So don't be like me.
Don't go to the worst decision.
Let's ask the Holy Spirit to begin to reveal our patterns of what we truly pursue.
Here's the first thing I want us to understand about money is this.
Money can be hazardous and helpful.
And Scripture teaches that.
That's not a Dave Ramsey teaching.
It's what we can draw from as we study Scripture in the conversation about money.
Pastor John Piper said this.
He said, the movement of your money signifies the movement of your heart.
Now, the first time I read that, I read that in a negative light.
And I read it, the negative movement of your money signifies the negative movement of your
heart, and that's true.
But that phrase, that statement can also be read in a positive light.
Because the positive movement of money signifies the positive movement of your heart.
So money can be either viewed in a negative manner, or it can be viewed in a positive manner
in how we use it and use it to glorify God.
So money can be both hazardous, Scripture teaches us, but money can also be helpful, Scripture
teaches us.
1 Timothy 6.10
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves
with many pains.
You see, the issue that's being dealt with in 1 Timothy is not money.
It's the love of money.
It's the pursuit of money.
In fact, this word of love for money, it is the word love that is used to describe a deep,
close friendship or relationship.
And this is this, that when you try to enter into a level of intimacy in relationship with
money, you're never going to achieve the satisfaction that you long, and instead, it's going to push
you down a path of destruction.
You see, I can't pursue money and live in a healthy lifestyle the way I'm called to pursue my life.
I can't pursue money in the same way that I pursue relationships with my kids.
I can't pursue money the way that I pursue relationships with you.
Because in that, it's my constant pursuit.
It's never coming back toward.
It's never pursuing me.
It is continually setting before me that which I cannot fully obtain.
And it begins to break down and break down and break down.
But there's a positive to it as well.
It does lead to destruction.
But we see within Scripture how God begins to take and leverage and use the resources of His people.
So we find this in Philippians.
Now, Paul writes this letter to the church at Philippi.
And Paul is a church planter.
And one of the beautiful things that we see in Scripture that Paul did was Paul embraced that
organizations don't plant churches, that individuals don't plant churches.
And if you're not familiar what we mean by planting churches, that means starting a church where there is no church.
What Paul understood was that churches plant churches.
So that as Paul would go from this town to this town to this town, as the church would grow as he went and planted,
the places he had previously been would fund the gospel work in the next town that he would be.
And so in Philippians 1, verse 3 through 5, Paul writes this to the church at Philippi.
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.
Always in every prayer of mine for you, all making my prayer with joy.
And here's the reason.
Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
And that word partnership, it relays a financial partnership that's there.
And Paul doesn't say from the time that I left until now.
But Paul says from the first day until now.
So if you go and you read Acts chapter 16, we begin to see the unfolding of this partnership that takes place as Paul comes into Philippi.
And he meets, and I love this is what the gospel does.
This is what God does.
Paul walks in and his first convert that he meets is a woman named Lydia.
Now women during that day would have been thinking, but would have been thought of as second class citizens.
But Paul doesn't view her that way.
He views her as a woman with an opportunity to hear the gospel.
And he shares the gospel with her.
And what we find out about Lydia is that she's a businesswoman.
That she's wealthy.
That she has resources and means.
And church historians believe that the church of Philippi was started in that conversation with Paul and Lydia.
And planted in her home.
That she would open up not only to her family, but to her servants and to her friends and her neighbors.
And so that in the founding of the church that was there, that Lydia, a woman who would be considered second class.
But God says there is no second class gender.
That God uses.
And we see the partnership continue.
And the partnership continues on and on from Philippi.
Specifically, we know from Scripture that from Philippi, they planted the church at Thessalonica.
And they planted the church at Corinth.
The church.
God using the church.
God using money for the benefit of the resources.
It's a reminder for us.
And I want to challenge you.
I know sometimes we get so used to the settings and the things that are around that we oftentimes don't pay attention to them.
But as we walk out of here this morning to go to our homes or wherever we're going to go, we walk out and there's a map of the globe on this back wall.
And as you walk out, you'll notice little crosses that are all over that wall.
And if you go left and go down on either side of the wall, you'll see pictures of faces, some with names that introduces you to missionary and people who are having the opportunity to hear and see the gospel and to gather in churches and do all of the things that we get to do.
Praise God.
And it doesn't just happen because we send people and say, go figure it out.
It happens because of a model here in Scripture where we go and the flock of this church sends their sacrifice and their tithes and their offerings.
And so we say it's so valuable and important that the gospel is proclaimed.
And so we fund these things.
We partner in these things.
And so, yes, God uses money for his glory.
But there's the danger in it.
And so we have to understand that we've been given this.
And as stewards, we have to be careful of what we do with this.
And so Jesus gives a warning.
And he talks about the danger of hoarding.
The danger of hoarding.
Jesus gives him a warning.
Take care and be on your guard against all covetousness.
For one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.
There's a TV show that we like to watch.
I think I've even referenced it in here before called Hoarders.
And it's about people that have the struggle and they hoard things.
And I don't mean like you walk into their house and they have a collection of a million records.
I'm not talking about people that just have the stuff they collect.
I'm talking they walk into their house and there's just trash upon trash that's just piled on top of each other.
There's waste that's there and there's waste that's there and there's animals that are living in it.
And the people, their health has declined as a result of their obsession with collecting all of the stuff that they view as stuff, that they view as treasure.
But we look at it and see trash.
Like they don't throw away, they don't throw away cans.
They don't throw away old boxes of cereal.
They keep all of these things.
And then they bring in a medical professional that tries to help them see that at some point in time in their life, in every single one of them's life, there was a trauma that happened.
There was a difficulty that was there.
And so what they've tried to do since this trauma, whether it was abuse or sickness or loss, is they tried to fill that void with stuff.
And what scripture teaches us is that since sin entered into the life of humans, that there's been a hole that's there.
And what we try to do, maybe not to the extreme, but what we try to do is we try to fill it with stuff.
And we're never going to be satisfied because it's only Jesus that brings us the satisfaction.
And so Jesus is going to address this.
And it's been the pattern and the pursuit of man, even to the point to when God's dealing with his largely nomadic people and he sets the law before him in Exodus, God has to address it.
In Exodus 20, 17, God says, you shall not covet your neighbor's house, you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.
God sets it from the very beginning that this is the pattern of our life.
I can only be happy.
I can only be content if I have that, and if I have that, and if I have that.
And we pursue, and we pursue, and we pursue.
Look at the parable that Jesus teaches.
The man didn't have a good crop and get rich.
The man was rich and had a good crop.
The man wasn't rich and then got an abundance.
Scripture tells us that the man was rich, he had an abundance, and then he got even more.
He had more than what he needed, and it still wasn't enough.
It says that he even had barns that were built with everything pressed into the barns.
And so he realized, I can't fit any more in there.
So what does he do?
He goes and he has all the barns torn down so that he can build even more barns, larger barns, bigger barns with more storage and with more space.
Why?
So that he could have his stuff.
Stuff that he would never be able to use.
All of it.
He had more than enough, but he needed more.
And in his day, custom and scripture taught him that not only was this not what God desired, but it was not what the community needed.
You see, the tradition would have been for him that when he had an abundance, that there was something to do with the abundance.
To give it away.
To find others who didn't.
And instead of storing it away, to give it away.
And so the culture even set within him that he would not have a heart of greed, but instead to have a heart of generosity to think of others.
And so it takes us back to another question that Jesus was asked in Matthew chapter 22, where a teacher of the law comes to Jesus.
And he says, teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the law?
And Jesus said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
This is the great and first commandment.
And the second is like it.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.
You see, his selfish accumulation of possessions becomes in complete contrast with true discipleship.
We can't have, I look out for me and me alone and still call ourselves disciples of God.
It's not the heart of the gospel.
Understand, we are not bringing into judgment the fact that this man was rich.
God uses rich people for his name and for his glory all the time.
We're not bringing into judgment the fact that this rich man had needs.
More than likely because he was healthy, he had more people that he had to care for.
He would have to care for his wife and his children and his extended family and his parents and his servants and the servants' families.
You see, he'd had a wide range of people that he had to care for.
It's not that he had needs that is the issue.
But what we're looking at in here is the conflict and luxury over necessity.
And he's not judged by his possession, but by his attitude toward those possessions.
You see, because the craving of more within him would never be satisfied.
Because what he needed was more of God.
It even says that his attitude was eat, drink, and be merry.
But God says, tonight, tonight will be your last.
And we use the phrase all the time, we're not promised tomorrow.
But the truth is, we're not promised our next breath.
And when God calls that, in God's sovereignty, of who he is,
what does the testimony of the fruit of our life look like?
So Jesus gives a challenge to the people.
And it's the challenge that we have today.
And it's being rich toward God.
Being rich toward God.
This is not a message, and I hope this is where you're at with me this morning.
This is not a message that's saying, you need to give more.
This is not a message that deals with a percentage.
This is not a message that deals with a portion.
But this is a message that deals with the whole.
The whole life.
To recognize that all God has given me.
That all I've obtained is his.
Every part of it.
From the car that I drive.
To the house that I live in.
To the money that's in my bank account.
To the food that's in my pantry.
That it's all his.
And that I don't view anything as a portion.
But what I view is,
God, this is yours.
Not some of it.
But all of it.
This isn't a message to make you feel guilty if you have wealth.
It's not a message to make you feel bad if you live in a big home.
Have a nice car.
Have a new boat.
Have a vacation home.
It's not a message against any of that.
It's asking the question,
Is your pursuit found in those things?
And that as we have them,
as this is what's there,
then what do we do with them?
Do we obtain them for our glory or for his?
Jesus says,
So is the one, the fool,
who lays up treasure for himself
and is not rich toward God.
Here's the thing.
I don't want to say this.
We got some students in here.
We got some college students in here.
And here's what I want to say, okay?
My kids are in this service, right?
So I'm going to look at my kids
and I'm going to say this.
Go make millions, all right?
Go make them.
Take care of mom and dad as we get old, right?
Go make them.
This isn't a message
attacking at being successful.
It's the message
of what do you do with it?
What do you do
and what are you pursuing?
So being rich toward God,
what does that mean, right?
It's all his anyways.
Everything that's there, he created.
So what does it mean
to be rich toward God?
I think it means to live in abundance.
And the abundance we desire, though,
is different than the abundance of the world.
When you and I are rich toward God,
the abundance that we desire
is the abundance of knowing him
more and fresh every single day.
That the abundance that we desire
is the abundance of obeying him
in every aspect
and of every detail of our life.
That the abundance that we desire
is the abundance of sacrifice.
That, Lord, there is nothing that I have
that is more precious to me
than you, including my life.
That the abundance that we desire
is the abundance of sharing God.
And I think there's an opportunity for us
to live in abundance.
But the question is this.
Where are you placing
the abundance of your life?
In a barn that will burn,
where mold will grow,
where decay will come?
Or do we store up in heaven
where it cannot be destroyed,
where it'll be for all of eternity?
Would you pray with me?
Lord, we come to you this morning.
Lord, we thank you
of the goodness
and the richness of the gospel.
Lord, I thank you.
Lord, I want to say,
I thank you so much for this church
who faithfully gives.
And as a result of that giving, Lord,
we see ministry done
all over Lexington, South Carolina,
the U.S.
and all over the world.
I thank you that
we're able to partner with
and work with
missionaries
all over every continent.
Lord, because of what you've done
and what you've put into place
in the hearts of faithful men and women.
But, Lord, for my heart
and for theirs.
Lord, of what we can only
be fully honest with
between us to you
is what do we value most.
And if it's anything other than you,
if it's any pursuit
other than you,
Lord, may we understand
that we are desperately,
desperately
falling short.
So, Lord, may we live
in abundance
of knowing you.
Would we live
in an abundance
of obeying you,
of sacrificing
to you
and of sharing you.
Lord, the possessions
we do have,
may we not look
at others
and covet,
but may we find
satisfaction
because it's not
found in them
but found in you.
Lord, may we look
at the homes
that you've blessed us with
as places
to do ministry,
to disciple.
Lord, may we look
at the cars
that we have
as means
to move
the gospel
from place to place.
Lord, could we look
at the money
that you've entrusted
us with
and view it
as a way
to be generous
with others
while being
good stewards
of what we're
obligated to.
Lord, may we look
at our refrigerators
and pantries
that are filled
with food
and see them
as an opportunity
to bring others
outside of faith
into our home
where we can
break bread
and share the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
Lord, may we not
view our families
as our possession
of what we have,
Lord, but as children
who have been
given to us
and entrusted
to us
as an opportunity
to continue
to live out
the legacy
of the gospel
that it will not
stop with this generation
but will continue
from generation
to generation
to generation.
Lord, thank you.
Jesus, may it all
be yours.
In your name we pray.
Amen.
Thanks again for listening
to the Willow Ridge Church
weekly podcast.
We hope that you enjoyed
listening to this week's message.
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