Greed in Christian preaching highlights the destructive desire for more than what one needs, often leading to spiritual emptiness and harm to others (Luke 12:15). Illustrations commonly use vivid images of covetousness, miserly behavior, and the futility of earthly wealth to warn against allowing material cravings to dominate the heart (1 Timothy 6:10).
Christians, of all people, should understand that the MasterCard mentality
is not the way to master life. The pattern Jesus established was one of
deferring desires - not because the fulfillment of desire is wrong, but
because "my time has not yet come." Most of us think our time has come five
minutes after the desire first pops into our minds.
*
If you really want to see what people are like, you have to put them in extreme situations. Such a situation occurred during World War II. As the Japanese conquered country after country in Asia, hundreds of foreign missionaries and businessmen were captured, along with their families. Many of them were Americans.
All of these civilians were herded into concentration camps, mostly in China. One of them was a little boy named David Storey. Today he is the pastor of the Burt Ave. Wesleyan Church in Coshocton, Ohio. Another prisoner was Eric Liddell, the Christian athlete the movie "Chariots of Fire" was based on.
In these concentration camps the civilians were not tortured or killed. But they never knew what was going to happen to them. Living space, food and security were all in short supply.
Since many of these civilians were Christians, how did they measure up? Some of the evidence is pretty discouraging.
As more people were crammed into the camp, families were asked to give up the extra rooms in their living quarters. In this way the others would have a place to live. Nobody disagreed with this - as long as their rooms weren't taken away.
One missionary offered this excuse: He said the other missionaries often asked him to preach in the camp's church services. Then he said, "It is for their sakes, and for that of the camp as a whole, that my family needs a little extra space. This way I can have quiet to think out these sermons."
This sounds very religious. But actually, he's just being selfish. The non-Christians were equally selfish, but believers had an advantage - they could wrap their selfishness in God's will.
The missionary's excuse was not an isolated incident. Many of the most devout Christians ended up cheating, lying and groveling to get their daily necessities. If they were new Creatures in Christ, the others weren't impressed.
[Compare the 1997 movie "Paradise Road," about female civilians in a Malaysian POW camp.]
Sermon for Columbus Day, 500th anniversary.
"THE VOYAGE OF THE CHRIST-BEARER"
I. The many faces of Christopher Columbus.
II. Christopher Columbus as devout Christian.
A. Religion was the center of his life.
B. He saw his journeys to the Americas as missions from God.
C. Motivated by a desire to evangelize Asia.
D. He dreamed of using his profits to reconquer the Holy Land.
III. Columbus as a man of great faults.
A. His greed and arrogance.
B. Slavery and slaughter of Indians.
IV. What we can learn from Columbus.
A. One person can make a difference.
B. Columbus attempted great things, against great odds.
C. Even Christians have flaws.
Sermon on earthly vs. heavenly treasure. Possessions rust away, possess us and replace God. Christians need to be obedient to God's instructions on money.
An elderly man on the beach found a magic lamp. He picked it up and a genie appeared. "Because you have freed me," the genie said, "I will grant you a wish." The man thought for a moment and then responded, "My brother and I had a fight 30 years ago and he hasn't spoken to me since. I wish that he'll finally forgive me."
There was a thunderclap, and the genie declared, "Your wish has been granted. You know," the genie continued, "most men would have asked for wealth or fame. But you only wanted the love of your brother. Is it because you are old and dying?"
"No way!" the man cried. "But my brother is, and he's worth about $60 million."
#1001 *
A newspaper ran a contest asking kids for their profound thoughts (akin to the old “Deep Thoughts” segment on Saturday Night Live). Here are some submissions:
“I believe you should live each day as if it is your last, which is why I don’t have any clean laundry because, come on, who wants to wash clothes on the last day of their life?” (Age 15)
“Give me the strength to change the things I can, the grace to accept the things I cannot, and a great big bag of money.” (Age 13)
“Democracy is a beautiful thing, except for that part about letting just any old yokel vote.” (Age 10)
“For centuries, people thought the moon was made of green cheese. Then the astronauts found that the moon is really a big hard rock. That’s what happens to cheese when you leave it out.” (Age 6)
“As you make your way through this hectic world of ours, set aside a few minutes each day. At the end of the year, you’ll have a couple of days saved up.” (Age 7)
“If we could just get everyone to close their eyes and visualize world peace for an hour, imagine how serene and quiet it would be until the looting started.” (Age 15)
________
From a newspaper contest where entrants age 4 to 15 were asked to imitate “Deep Thoughts By Jack Handy”
*
[Original illustration at this number was deleted for being obsolete]
The clergy had a rather difficult time getting started in the gold fields around Denver. The earliest service held in the area was in June or July 1860, with several hundred miners sitting in the open air on logs and stumps. The earliest church was thrown up in a single Sunday building bee. At the first funeral service one of the prospectors, Pat, standing with the mourners, leaned down to examine the dirt shoveled from the grave and instantly staked out a claim. The minister, watching him, ended his prayer,
"Stake me off a claim, Pat, this we ask for Christ's sake, Amen."
The first Methodist minister in Denver, without a church building, preached from behind the bar of a saloon. His sermon began, "Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, come buy wine and milk without money..." while behind him were signs reading:
NO TRUST. PAY AS YOU GO.
Realizing that this unholy alliance of saloon and church could come to no good end, the town directors of Denver donated four lots each to the Presbyterian and Methodist churches. Auroria countered with a free lot to the first four denominations that would build churches, regardless of their faith. Denver bounced back into the lead by donating, as a Christmas present, ten lots to the Hebrew congregation and then, a little later, eight lots to the Catholics, sixteen to the Episcopal church and six each to the Presbyterians and the Baptists. No one has suggested what this prodigal though uneven distribution of real estate was based on; but the grants were made on Denver's coldest day in history.
"Fortune" magazine quotes a comment made by billionaire H. Ross Perot:
"Guys, just remember, if you get real lucky, if you make a lot of money, if you go out and buy a lot of stuff -- it's gonna break. You got your biggest, fanciest mansion in the world. It has air conditioning. It's got a pool. Just think of all the pumps that are going to go out. Or go to a yacht basin any place in the world. Nobody is smiling, and I'll tell you why. Something broke that morning. The generator's out; the microwave oven doesn't work.... Things just don't mean happiness."
=============================================
A similar illustration from Rev. Brett Blair:
Andrew Tobias, the financial author put it this way. Go down any day to the waterfront, and you will find a crowd of unhappy people. Someone will be having trouble getting the motor on their yacht to crank. Someone else will be scraping barnacles. Another will be repainting. Things just don't make you happy. Property brings problems. It is like an alligator that takes a bite out of your pocket every time you turn around. Don't be burdened by too many material things. As you go through life, one of the secrets of success is to travel light.
Clovis Chappell wrote in his book of sermons “Feminine Faces”:
“When Pompeii was being excavated, there was found a body that had been embalmed by the ashes of Vesuvius. It was that of a woman. Her feet were turned toward the city gate, but her face was turned backward toward something that lay just beyond her outstretched hands. The prize for which those frozen fingers were reaching was a bag of pearls. Maybe she herself had dropped them as she was fleeing for her life. Maybe she had found them where they had dropped by another. But, be that as it may, though death was hard at her heels, and life was beckoning to her beyond the city gates, she could not shake off their spell. She had turned to pick them up, with death as her reward. But it was not the eruption of Vesuvius that made her love pearls more than life. It only froze her in this attitude of greed.”
The March 1988 "Rotarian" tells about a bounty of $5,000 offered for each wolf captured alive. It turned Sam and Jed into fortune hunters. Day and night they scoured the mountains and forests looking for their valuable prey.
Exhausted one night, they fell asleep dreaming of their potential fortune. Suddenly, Sam awoke to see that they were surrounded by about fifty wolves with flaming eyes and bared teeth. He nudged his friend and said, "Jed, wake up! We're rich!"
______________________________________
A version from the Fredericksburg collection:
An organization in Montana offered a bounty of five thousand dollars for every wolf captured alive. Two hunters named Sam and Jed decided to head for the hills and make some money capturing wolves. Day and night they scoured the mountains and forests searching for their valuable prey. Exhausted after three days of hunting without any success, they both fell asleep.
During the night, Sam suddenly woke up to find that he and Jed were surrounded by a pack of fifty wolves, with flaming red eyes and bared teeth, snarling at the two hunters and preparing to pounce.
Sam nudged Jed and said, "Hey, wake up! We're gonna be rich!"
Sometimes when we are surrounded by what appears to be many difficulties, we may in fact be surrounded by many opportunities. The Chinese symbol for the word "crisis" actually combines the two words "danger" and "opportunity." When a crisis occurs, we can choose to be frightened and cowardly, or strong and courageous. It's all a matter of perspective.
Next time you find yourself in a jam, remember: "You're gonna be rich!" You have the opportunity to learn and grow, and to experience the grace and power of God in that situation. Situations like that don't come along every day!
__________________________
Edited from More Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks by Wayne Rice. Copyright 1995 by Youth Specialties, Inc.
Ben Patterson writes in “The Grand Essentials”:
“I have a theory about old age... I believe that when life has whittled us down, when joints have failed and skin has wrinkled and capillaries have clogged and hardened, what is left of us will be what we were all along, in our essence.
“Exhibit A is a distant uncle... All his life he did nothing but find new ways to get rich... He spent his senescence very comfortably, drooling and babbling constantly about the money he had made... When life whittled him down to his essence, all there was left was raw greed. That is what he had cultivated in a thousand little ways over a lifetime.
“Exhibit B is my wife’s grandmother... When she died in her mid eighties, she had already been senile for several years. What did this lady talk about? The best example I can think of was when we asked her to pray before dinner. She would reach out and hold the hands of those sitting beside her, a broad, beatific smile would spread across her face, her dim eyes would fill with tears as she looked up to heaven, and her chin would quaver as she poured out her love to Jesus. That was Edna in a nutshell. She loved Jesus and she loved people. She couldn’t remember our names, but she couldn’t keep her hands from patting us lovingly whenever we got near her.
“When life whittled her down to her essence, all there was left was love: Love for God and love for people.”
Two shopkeepers were bitter rivals. Their stores were directly across the street from each other, and they would spend each day keeping track of each other’s business. If one got a customer, he would smile in triumph at his rival.
One night an angel appeared to one of the shopkeepers in a dream and said, “I will give you anything you ask, but whatever you receive, your competitor will receive twice as much. Would you be rich? You can be very rich, but he will be twice as wealthy. Do you wish to live a long and healthy life? You can, but his life will be longer and healthier. What is your desire?
The man frowned, thought for a moment, and then said, “Here is my request: Strike me blind in one eye!”
One sign of jealousy is when it’s easier to show sympathy and “weep with those who weep” than it is to exhibit joy and “rejoice with those who rejoice.”
I once heard of a child who was raising a frightful cry because he had shoved his hand into the opening of a very expensive Chinese vase and then couldn’t pull it out again. Parents and neighbors tugged with might and main on the child’s arm, with the poor creature howling out loud all the while.
Finally there was nothing left to do but to break the beautiful, expensive vase. And then as the mournful heap of shards lay there, it became clear why the child had been so hopelessly stuck. His little fist grasped a paltry penny which he had spied in the bottom of the vase and which he, in his childish ignorance, would not let go.
Recently I laid a small circle of poison around a hill of stinging ants. Thinking the tiny granules of poison were food, the ants began to pick them up and carry them throughout the colony.
I returned later to see how well the poison was working. Hundreds of the stinging ants were carrying the poison down into their hill. Then I noticed a hole in the circle of poison. Some of the poison was moving the opposite way away from the hill.
Some smaller, nonstinging ants had found this “food” and were stealing it from their ant neighbors. Thinking they were getting the other ants’ treasure, they unwittingly poisoned themselves.
When we see someone with more than we have, we must beware. The hunger to beg, borrow, or steal our way into what is theirs may poison us spiritually.
#2081
*
”In Other Words,” a publication of the Wycliffe Bible Translators, recently told a story about Sadie Sieker, who served for many years as a houseparent for missionaries’ children in the Philippines.
Sadie loved books, though she gladly loaned out some, others she treasured in a footlocker under her bed. Once, in the quiet of the night, Sadie heard a faint gnawing sound. After searching all around her room, she discovered that the noise was coming from her footlocker. When she opened it, she found nothing but an enormous pile of dust. All the books she had kept to herself had been lost to termites.
What we give away, we keep. What we hoard, we lose.
Cartoon series on Calvin's turmoil over having to be good for Christmas:
1) "Calvin & Hobbes" cartoon on Thursday, December 17, 1992:
CALVIN: I'm having a lot of holiday stress.
HOBBES: Why? You don't shop for anyone.
You've got two weeks off from school.
And your parents do all the cooking, cleaning and
decorating.
How could you have holiday stress?
CALVIN: Deep down, I doubt my greed for presents can overcome my
desire to misbehave.
2) "Calvin & Hobbes" cartoon on Friday, December 18, 1992:
CALVIN: OK, Hobbes, I've got a plan.
HOBBES: Yeah?
CALVIN: If I do ten spontaneous acts of good will a day
from now until Christmas, Santa will have to be
lenient in judging the rest of this last year!
I can claim I've turned a new leaf!
HOBBES: Ten spontaneous acts of good will a day?
That's pretty many.
CALVIN: Don't remind me.
HOBBES: Well, here's your chance. Susie's coming this way.
CALVIN: (making a snowball)
Maybe I'll start tomorrow and do TWENTY a day.
3) "Calvin & Hobbes" cartoon on Wednesday, December 9, 1992:
CALVIN: (writing letter)
Dear Santa, Why is your operation located at the
north pole?
I'm guessing cheap elf labor, lower environmental
standards, and tax breaks.
Is this really the example you want to set for us
impressionable kids?
HOBBES: (reads letter)
CALVIN: My plan is to put him on the DEFENSIVE before he
considers how good I've been.
Will Rogers on greed and debt:
"Too many people spend money they haven't earned,
to buy things they don't want,
to impress people they don't like."
What would you do if you had a free wish?
There is a story about a married couple that had a terrible fight. The wife stormed out of the house and vowed never to return. On the driveway she tripped over something she had never seen before - an Aladdin's Lamp. She picked it up, rubbed it, and sure enough, a Genie popped out.
"I am at your command," the Genie says. "I will grant you three wishes for whatever you desire." Naturally, she is over-joyed. But the Genie tempers her enthusiasm: "I must tell you, that whatever you get, your husband will get twice as much." The wife wasn't too thrilled with this, but decided to go along.
"First," she said, "I would like a million dollars." POOF!! Just like that a million dollars lay at her feet. She leaps for joy, but comes back to earth when the Genie reminds her Ol' Meanie in the house received two million. "Are you sure you want to go on?" he asked.
"Sure," she says, with a little less enthusiasm. "Next, I'd like a pile of diamonds, three feet high." POOF!! Right next to the money, a mound of sparkling diamonds appears, a yard high. "I don't mean to dampen your fun," the Genie cautions, "but your husband is sitting in his Lazy Boy recliner with a pile of diamonds on both sides of him. "Would you like to forget that last wish?"
She thought for a moment or two, but then said, "No, Genie, I'd like that last wish. "What I want you to do is ... scare me half to death!"
Illustration continues:
Death as solution. It's just a joke, of course, and we chuckle over it, but is it all that fanciful when we know there are those who will kill for less, and those who will use death to solve an unhappy situation, and try to take away wealth?
==================================
Another version by Roddy Chestnut:
A depressed woman was walking along the beach when she saw a bottle on the sand. She picked it up and pulled out the cork. Whoosh! A big puff of smoke appeared and out came a genie. “You have released me from my prison,” the genie told her. “To show my thanks, I grant you three wishes. But be careful, for with each wish, your mate will receive double of whatever you request.”
“Why?” the woman asked. “That jerk left me for another woman.”
“That's just the way it is,” replied the genie.
The woman said, “O.K, give me a million dollars.” There was a flash of light, and a million dollars appeared at her feet. At the same instant, in a far-off place, her jerk husband looked down to see twice that amount at his feet.
“And your second wish?”
“Give me the world's most expensive diamond necklace in the world.” Another flash of light, and the woman was holding a valuable necklace. At the same time her husband received two.
“Genie, is it really true that my husband has two million dollars and more jewels that I do, and that he gets double of whatever I wish for?” The genie said it was indeed true.
“Okay, genie, I'm ready for my last wish,” the woman said. “Scare me half to death.”
A vivid example of worldly philosophy is shown by the "Billionaire Boys Club." A group of smart, rich young men led by Joe Hunt. Their company speculated in stock and commodities futures. On paper, they made $14 million. Flashy cars, women, extravagance.
Joe Hunt's view of life was summed up in what he called the "Paradox Philosophy": "Black is white, white is black. It just depends on how you want to look at it." They made up their own morality.
But what goes around, comes around. A client of theirs ripped them off. The boys plotted to kidnap him, get him to sign over his money, then murder him. But it didn't work that way - he died in the scuffle.
Shortly afterwards, their paper profits evaporated and they were deeply in debt. The paradox philosophy wasn't paying off. So they conspired to kill a wealthy Iranian immigrant. His own son set him up. Once again, they accidentally killed him before they could extort any money. They were caught, convicted, and imprisoned.
Calvin and Hobbes are walking from a mailbox.
Calvin: Thanks for helping me mail my letter to Santa.
Hobbes: It sure was heavy.
Calvin: Those big envelopes only hold a couple hundred pages. That's why
I used a box.
Hobbes: I hope Santa doesn't throw his back out when he gets it.
Calvin: All I can say is, THIS year Santa had better bring everything on my
list. I've been extremely good all year!
Hobbes: What about the noodle incident?
Calvin: (Indignantly) NO ONE CAN PROVE I DID THAT!!
Rich and poor alike can be obsessed with having more and having it NOW.
1. Money is the number one obsession in America.
a. The struggle with materialism.
b. Too much care for the world.
c. Not possession, but obsession.
2. Warning signals, but no formulas.
a. Loving, longing, losing.
3. The cure is contentment.
a. How many necks do you have?
b. No overnight contentment.
The giver thinks the saver is stingy. The saver thinks the giver is shortsighted. Who's right?
1. Facing up to money problems.
a. Savers vs. spenders.
b. Sensors and intuitors.
c. How should we view money?
2. Building financial harmony.
a. Never try to work through money problems while angry.
b. Always try to understand your spouse in money fights.
c. Read about what other people have tried.
d. Take time to discuss and thoroughly understand your finances.
e. Set aside a monthly amount for personal spending.
f. Let the books be open.
g. Make mutual decisions.
h. Adopt a working plan, priorities, and an outline for the future.
i. Recognize your strengths and weaknesses.
j. Learn to live within your means, have something left to give.
k. Seek guidance from God.
G. K. Chesterton on satisfaction:
"There are two ways to get enough. One is to continue to accumulate more; the other is to desire less."
Final sermon in Ten Commandments series. Coveting. Exodus 20:17
===================
WATCH WHAT YOU WANT
===================
I. The lust to own.
II. Tenth Commandment deals with man's inner heart. Rom 7:7-8
III. The effects of coveting.
A. We wreck other people's lives. 1 Kings 21
B. We wreck our own life.
IV. Where the Tenth Commandment comes from.
A. Not all coveting is wrong. 1 Cor 12:31
B. To wrongly desire delightful things is sin.
C. Coveting is based on a fallacy.
D. Happiness is an inside job.
V. The alternative: Contentment.
A. Contentment is not passive acceptance of whatever comes.
B. Contentment is realizing what has true worth.
VI. What do YOU covet?
A. Repent for desiring what others have.
B. Put God first. Luke 12:29-31
C. Do you cherish your relationship with God? Heb 13:5
#3310
*
There were once two men, both seriously ill, in the same small room of a great hospital. Quite a small room, it had one window looking out on the world. One of the men, as part of his treatment, was allowed to sit up in bed for an hour in the afternoon (something to do with draining the fluid from his lungs). His bed was next to the window. But the other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.
Every afternoon when the man next to the window was propped up for his hour, he would pass the time by describing what he could see outside. The window apparently overlooked a park where there was a lake. There were ducks and swans in the lake, and children came to throw them bread and sail model boats. Young lovers walked hand in hand beneath the trees, and there were flowers and stretches of grass, games of softball. And at the back, behind the fringe of trees, was a fine view of the city skyline.
The man on his back would listen to the other man describe all of this, enjoying every minute. He heard how a child nearly fell into the lake, and how beautiful the girls were in their summer dresses. His friend's descriptions eventually made him feel he could almost see what was happening outside.
Then one fine afternoon, the thought struck him: Why should the man next to the window have all the pleasure of seeing what was going on? Why shouldn't he get the chance? He felt ashamed, but the more he tried not to think like that, the worse he wanted a change. He'd do anything! One night as he stared at the ceiling, the other man suddenly woke up, coughing and choking, his hands groping for the button that would bring the nurse running. But the man watched without moving - even when the sound of breathing stopped. In the morning, the nurse found the other man dead, and quietly took his body away.
As soon as it seemed decent, the man asked if he could be switched to the bed next to the window. So they moved him, tucked him in, and made him quite comfortable. The minute they left, he propped himself up on one elbow, painfully and laboriously, and looked out the window.
It faced a blank wall.
Moral of the story: The pursuit of happiness is a matter of choice...it is a positive attitude we consciously choose to express. It is not a gift that gets delivered to our doorstep each morning, nor does it come through the window. And I am certain that our circumstances are just a small part of what makes us joyful. If we wait for them to get just right, we will never find lasting joy.
The pursuit of happiness is an inward journey. Our minds are like programs, awaiting the code that will determine behaviors; like bank vaults awaiting our deposits. If we regularly deposit positive, encouraging, and uplifting thoughts, if we continue to bite our lips just before we begin to grumble and complain, if we shoot down that seemingly harmless negative thought as it germinates, we will find that there is much to rejoice about.
________
Author Unknown (moral found in a version in the Fredericksburg Collection of illustrations). Submitted by Ronald Dahlsten and Harriette Lindsey, from A 2nd Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul, copyright 1995 by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen [Snopes.com says the plot of this "legend" is so beloved of fiction writers that it was included in a 1946 round-up of shopworn storylines. According to "101 Plots Used and Abused," the original was written by Alan Seager and published in Collier's.]
================
Another version from PreachingNow newsletter, May 12, 2009. This one removes the hint of murder:
Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room’s only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.
The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.
The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.
One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn’t hear the band, he could see it in his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.
Days and weeks passed. One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch; and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.
Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the world outside. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it for himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed.
It faced a blank wall.
The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, “Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.” (from Mikey’s Funnies)
Rev. Roy Medley came home tired. Supper was on the table, but after eating, his appetite still wasn't satisfied. Did you ever have a craving for something - but you didn't know what? So after they had gotten up from the table, he began rummaging through the cabinets. Then he found it! - a bag full of chocolate nonpareils (you know, those scrumptious little chocolate bells covered with little white sugar dots.) Taking them out, he popped a couple in his mouth.
Before he could even bite down, his wife Pat, with a disapproving look, began waving her hand at him to stop. Filled with all the self-righteousness of a clean-plate club member he shot her a defiant glance, and bit down. At just that moment she managed to splutter her warning: "Doggie Chocolate! Doggie Chocolate!"
Unbeknownst to him, a member of his wife's congregation who was a dog fancier had just given their dog this bag of chocolate doggie treats. He made a beeline to the garbage can - who knows what may be in doggie chocolate.
His problem that evening, in part, illustrates the problem with sin. Sin is the great deceiver, the great masquerader which is always other than what it appears to be. Greed masquerades as security. Lust masquerades as love. Hate masquerades as justified anger. And we are taken in - from Eden to now. And all the while, God is yelling at us, "Doggie Chocolate, Doggie Chocolate!"
#3633
*
Sermon in Family series. Finances. 1 Timothy 6:6-12
===================
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY
===================
I. Money troubles.
II. Jesus and Money.
A. Money is like a competing god. [CT, 5/12/89, p.28]
B. Balancing statements.
C. Wealth creates a false sense of security.
III. Understand money.
A. Where does your money go?
B. Men and women look at finances differently.
C. A buck is a buck.
D. Get control of your finances, before they control you.
IV. Debt and Savings.
A. Debt involves surrender. Prov 22:7
B. Loans vs. Savings.
C. Build savings.
D. Savings in the Bible.
V. Learn contentment.
A. Are you obsessed with money?
B. Get your priorities straight.
C. Live simply.
VI. Practice generosity.
A. Financially free people are usually generous.
B. Be rich toward God. Luke 12:21
C. Invest in God's stuff. Luke 6:35
VII. Break free.
A. If in bondage, decide to do something.
B. If bondage is to money itself, consider God's claim on you.
John G. Wendel and his sisters were some of the most miserly people of all time. Although they had received a huge inheritance from their parents, they spent very little of it and did all they could to keep their wealth to themselves. John was able to influence five of his six sisters never to marry, and they lived in the same house in New York City for 50 years. When the last sister died in 1931, her estate was valued at morre than $100 million. Her only dress was one that she had made herself, and she had worn it for 25 years!
When West German industrialist Friedrich Flick died, he left a personal fortune estimated at 1.5 billion dollars, a business empire that embraced all or part of some 300 firms and a reputation as perhaps the crustiest, craftiest magnate ever to operate on the German business scene. Flick was dedicated wholly to his work (he buried his wife at 3 p.m. one day in 1966 and was back at his desk two hours later). At his death, the Flick empire generated annual sales in excess of $3 billion. But for all his enormous power and wealth, the old man had one very human shortcoming: he could not control his family. By last week a Flick family fight over der alter Herr's empire had employees, bankers and politicians alike shuddering over the eventual impact it might have on the West Germany economy. As one observer put it: "Flick hit home runs at the office, but he struck out at home!" (Newsweek, Sept. 25, 1972)
Stumpy Grider and his Wife Martha were from Portland, Maine. Every year they went to the Portland Fair, and every year Stumpy said "Ya know Mahtha, Ah'd like ta get a ride in that theah aihplane". An every year
Martha would say, "Ah know, Stumpy, but that aihplane ride costs ten dollahs...and ten dollahs is ten dollahs". So Stumpy says "By Jeebers Mahtha, I'm 71 yeahs old, if I don't go this time I may nevah go".
Martha replies, "Stumpy, that theah aihplane ride is ten dollahs...and ten dollahs is ten dollahs".
So the pilot overhears them and says, "Folks, I'll make you a deal, I'll take you both up for a ride, and if you can stay quiet for the entire ride and not say ONE word, I won't charge you, but just one word and it's ten dollars".
They agree and up they go...the pilot does all kinds of twists and turns, rolls and dives, but not a word is heard; he does it one more time, still nothing...so he lands.
He turns to Stumpy as they come to a stop and says, "By golly, I did everything I could think of to make you hollar out, but you didn't!"
And Stumpy replies, "Well, Ah was gonna say something when Mahtha fell out...but ten dollahs is ten dollahs!"
A lawyer opened the door of his BMW, when suddenly a car came along and hit the door, ripping it off completely. When the police arrived at the scene, the lawyer was hopping up and down with rage, complaining bitterly about the damage to his precious BMW.
"Officer, look what they've done to my Beeeemer!!!" he shrieked.
"You lawyers are so materialistic, you make me sick!!!" retorted the officer, "You're so worried about your stupid BMW, that you didn't even notice that your left arm was ripped off!!!"
"Oh no...." replied the lawyer, looking down and noticing for the first time the bloody stump where his left arm had once been. "Where's my Rolex???"
A Cincinnati radio station wanted to kill some time one evening. The DJ asked listeners to call in and give their idea of what it meant to be RICH. Here are some of the responses: “You know you're rich if:
(1) You frequently get locked out of your house because of a faulty security system;
(2) You attend a symphony because you actually like that kind of music;
(3) You collect art and you're not afraid to admit you don't know anything about it;
(4) When it's cold you can go where it's warm;
(5) When it's warm you can go where it's cold;
(6) Your plumbing never backs up;
(7) You develop a serious interest in sailing;
(8) You never have to call a tow truck;
(9) Your Porsche is in the shop days out of each month but you don't mind because there's always the BMW or the Lincoln.”
*
One day Lucy and Linus had a chicken wishbone and were going to pull it to make a wish. Lucy was explaining to Linus that if he got the bigger half of it his wish would come true. Linus said to her, "Do I have to say the wish out loud?" Lucy said, "Of course, if you don't say it out loud it won't come true."
So Lucy went ahead and made her wishes first. She said, "I wish for four new sweaters, a new bike, a new pair of skates, a new dress and one hundred dollars."
It came time for Linus to make his wishes, and he said, "I wish for a long life for all of my friends, I wish for world peace, I wish for great advancements in medical research."
About that time, Lucy took the wishbone and threw it away saying, "Linus, that's the trouble with you. You're always spoiling everything."
*
I remember a story of a rabbi who was famed for his orderly thinking processes. One day, during philosophy class, a grinning student asked, "Rabbi, would you rather have five daughters or five thousand dollars?" "Five daughters," answered the rabbi instantly. "But that is based on emotion, not cold reason," protested the student. "My preference is based on pure logic," the rabbi said evenly. "First, human nature being what it is, if I had five thousand dollars I would undoubtedly want more. Secondly, should I desire to have five thousand dollars it would not happen anyway; simple desire without practical application does not produce money. Thirdly, young man, I would rather have five daughters because I actually have eight!"
*
Dr. Russell Conwell of Temple University delivered a lecture in which he told of a man in Titusville, Pennsylvania, who sold his farm for $833 to look for oil in Canada. The fellow who left Titusville never found oil, but the man who bought his farm did -- and launched a billion-dollar industry.
Today, with faster communications and transportation, it's not so important where you are, or that the grass might be greener in the next field. What counts is the piece of real estate between your ears. Is it rich, fertile, productive? Or is it a wasteland? If it's either, a change in geography won't matter. Unpack and take a closer look at your own backyard.
_____________
(A message as published in the WALL STREET JOURNAL by United Technologies Corp., Hartford, CT 06101.)
[Holwick: this is a modern version of Conwell's famous "Acres of Diamonds" story. The one who bought the Titusville farm would be John D. Rockefeller.]
*
MONEY: Obscures Our View (Illustration)
In "I Talk Back to the Devil", A. W. Tozer reminds us: "Money often comes between men and God. Someone has said that you can take two small tencent pieces, just two dimes, and shut out the view of a panoramic landscape. Go to the mountains and just hold two coins closely in front of your eyes--the mountains are still there, but you cannot see them at all because there is a dime shutting off the vision in each eye." It doesn't take large quantities of money to come between us and God; just a little, placed in the wrong position, will effectively obscure our view.
-Cedric Gowler. Leadership-Vol. 8, #2.
TRUE ITEM: There is a newsletter called THE TIGHTWAD GAZETTE dedicated to "promoting thrift as a viable alternative lifestyle." Monthly is filled with money-saving ideas like vacuuming furnace filters & reusing them; using shredded newspaper for cat litter. Those who follow their suggestions can probably save a lot of money.
One day Abraham Lincoln was walking down the street with two small boys who were both crying loudly. A neighbor passing by inquired, "What's the matter, Abe? Why all the fuss?"
Lincoln responded, "The trouble with these lads is what's wrong with the world; one has a nut and the other wants it!"
Years ago, an enterprising mechanic in Texas found a great new way to drum up business. Every so often, the man would load up some old car parts in the back of his truck and drive three or four miles up the highway from his gas station. He would then scatter the car parts along the highway. Sure enough, drivers flying by at 60 or 70 mph would hit the parts, damaging their cars and forcing them to get off at the next exit, where just by chance, they would find (would you believe it?) this man’s service station. The man would then charge them for the repairs and send them on their way.
What would make someone do something so senseless? Money. Or rather, the love of money. Jesus called this particular love “the root of all evil.”
If Jesus were preaching today, he would probably be labeled as a preacher who is always talking about money. After all, according to one count, he talked about it more than most of the “doctrines” we tend to focus on. This chart shows the number of Bible verses on each topic:
baptism: 30
prayer: 225
faith: 300
love: 700
money, finances, material possessions: 2,350
It seems like Jesus was pretty concerned about this topic.
And rightly so. Money will make you do things you would never do otherwise. A man of apparent integrity, faced with losing his business and his career, will almost always lie to try to save his business. A woman, given a chance to receive some money she is not really due, will many times decide to “fudge” the facts. In fact, a startling survey found that enormous numbers of people would lie, cheat, steal, or even kill if offered $1 million to do so.
Jesus summed it up simply: in each person’s life, there can be only ONE Lord. The throne of your life cannot be shared by both your Bible and your bankbook. In the end, when push comes to shove, either your faith will win, or your greed will.
Which will it be?
I read of a short French
film that was made some time back about an empty village and a stranger who entered this deserted town. "Where are all
the people?" he wondered. All signs of life were there, nothing was
locked, food was on the table, smoke curls from the chimneys, stores were open but
there are no customers. He doesn't understand, but he proceeds to take
advantage of
his opportunity. Pretty soon he is too drunk and too giddy to realize
that the villagers are all on a nearby hill and are desperately trying to
signal to him. They had rushed outside the town because word came to them that a
huge bomb in the town square was about to go off. They had left everything
behind in order to save their lives. From this safe distance they were trying
vainly, by gestures and shouting, to warn the stranger. As they watched him
eat their food and drink their liquor and try on their clothes they forgot the
eminent danger. The happy wanderer went into the bank and started flinging
their money up in the air. They forget everything but their greed. They rushed
back to the village, beat up the stranger and drove him out. At that moment the
bomb explodes. They all die except the stranger. Source Unknown
A few years ago in
Boston, the bodies of two elderly women were discovered in their small apartment. They had died a few days earlier. An autopsy
revealed malnutrition was the cause of death. But hidden in the mattresses and
sewn up in pillows and draperies was nearly $200,000 in cash! The ladies died
because they didn't use what they had to meet their daily need for food.
Some time ago a magazine article gave a dazzling account of a scuba diver who had recently discovered the treasures of a sunken Spanish galleon in just twenty feet of water off the balmy coast of Costa Rica. Eleven million dollars worth of gold was waiting to be claimed. Day after day the scuba diver secretly brought up perfectly preserved gold pieces of-eight. The lure of that scene probably will cause about 75% of you to spin off into some monetary fantasy while I am trying to preach. Let me add to that story and say that even though we think such an occurrence would answer all of our problems for life, that riches often brings poverty instead. Just 10 years after this man discovered the Spanish galleon, he was brought to misery, disillusionment, broken relationships, and bitterness. Riches did not prove to be the answer.
YUSSIF THE TERRIBLE TURK
It might help to remember Yussif, the Terrible Turk! Yussif
was the three-hundred-and-fifty-pound wrestling champion in
Europe a little over two generations ago. After he won the
European championship, he sailed to the United States to beat our
champ, whose name was Strangles Lewis-- a little guy, by
comparison, who weighed just a shade over two hundred pounds.
Although he wasn't huge, Strangler had a simple plan for
defeating his opponents. It had never failed to work. He'd put
that massive arm of his around the neck of his opponent. He'd
pump up that bicep and cut the oxygen off, right up there near
the Adam's apple. Many an opponent had passed out in the ring
with Strangler Lewis.
The problem he had when it came to fighting the Turk was that
the European giant didn't have a neck! His body just went from
his head to those massive shoulders. Lewis could never get the
hold, so it wasn't long before Yussif flipped Lewis down on the
mat and pinned him. After winning the championship, the Turk
demanded all five thousand dollars in gold. After he wrapped the
championship belt around his vast middle, he stuffed the gold
into the belt and boarded the next ship back to Europe. He was
now the possessor of America's glory and gold. He had won it
all... all except immortality.
He set sail on the SS Bourgogne . Halfway across the Atlantic,
a storm struck and the ship began to sink. Yussif went over the
side with his gold still strapped around his body. The added
weight was too much for the Turk, and he sank like an iron anvil
before they could get to him with the lifeboats He was never
seen again.
pages 127-128, Living on the Ragged Edge by Charles Swindoll
"Too many people miss the silver lining because they're expecting gold."
- Maurice Seitter
- _Instant Quotation Dictionary_, p. 97.
One afternoon during his time as governor of New Jersey, Woodrow Wilson received news of the sudden death of a personal friend, a New Jersey senator. He was still recovering from the shock when the telephone rang again. It was a prominent New Jersey politician. “Governor”, he said, “I would like to take the senator's place.”
Wilson replied, “It's perfectly agreeable to me if it's agreeable with the undertaker.”
A BOY put his hand into a pitcher full of filberts. He grasped as
many as he could possibly hold, but when he tried to pull out his
hand, he was prevented from doing so by the neck of the pitcher.
Unwilling to lose his filberts, and yet unable to withdraw his hand,
he burst into tears and bitterly lamented his disappointment. A
bystander said to him, "Be satisfied with half the quantity, and you
will readily draw out your hand."
Instead of attempting to grab too much at life, we should be content
with what God gives us.
A COTTAGER and his wife had a Hen that laid a golden egg every day.
They supposed that the Hen must contain a great lump of gold in its
inside, and in order to get the gold they killed it. Having done so,
they found to their surprise that the Hen differed in no respect from
their other hens. The foolish pair, thus hoping to become rich all at
once, deprived themselves of the gain of which they were assured day
by day.
"The love of money is the root of all evil." I Tim. 6:10;
\reference{Heb. 13:5}{Hebrews 13:5}.
A WOMAN possessed a Hen that gave her an egg every day. She often
pondered how she might obtain two eggs daily instead of one, and at
last, to gain her purpose, determined to give the Hen a double
allowance of barley. From that day the Hen became fat and sleek, and
never once laid another egg.
"The love of money is the root of all evil." I Tim. 6:10;
\reference{Heb. 13:5}{Hebrews 13:5}.
Once in medieval Rome there stood in one of the squares an
image with an outstretched hand. On the forefinger of the image
was a golden ring inscribed with the device "Strike Here." Men
often stopped to look at the image and read the device on the
finger, but they did not know what it meant. However, a learned
clerk, often passing the image, was careful to observe the place
on the street where the shadow of the finger fell.
Coming one night at midnight, he began to dig in that spot, and
soon came upon a secret stairway, leading underground until it brought
him into a spacious hall which was lighted by a flaming jewel on the
wall. Opposite the flaming jewel there was a statue, a man holding a
bow and shaft ready to shoot, and upon the forehead of this image were
the words, "That which I am I am. My fatal, aim none can escape."
Midway in the hall there was a table upon which the cloth, the
cups, the plates and knives, and all the meats and bread, were gold or
studded with precious stones. Around the table, silent, motionless,
and sad, were seated knights and ladies and men from every rank of
life. But they were turned to stone.
The clerk looked at the scene in amazement and then, stirred by
greed, began to gather up the silver and the gold. Whereupon the
figures seated about the table suddenly leaped to their feet, the
archer shot his arrow, and the clerk lay dead on the floor in the
midst of darkness.
The image is the adversary, the tempter whose finger points to the
realms of gold. The downward stairs our lusts and passions, the archer
is death. the flaming jewel, i.e.. the table heaped with gold and
silver is the things of this world, the knights and ladies those whose
flesh and bone have been hardened into stone by avarice.
Tolstoi has a powerful tale of a young Russian who fell heir
to his father's small farm. He was no sooner in possession of
this land than he began to dream eagerly of how he could add to
it. One morning a stranger, evidently a person of power and
authority, came to him and told him, as they were standing near
the old homestead, that he could have, for nothing, all the land
he could walk over in one day--but at sundown he must be back at
the very place from which he started. Pointing to the grave of
the young man's father, the stranger said, "This is the point to
which you must return."
The youth looked eagerly over the rich fields in the distance and,
throwing off his coat and without waiting to say a word to his wife
and children, started off across the fields. His first plan was to
cover a tract of ground six miles square; but when he had walked the
six he decided to make it nine, then twelve, and then fifteen--which
would give him sixty miles to walk before sundown!
By noon he had covered two sides of this square, or thirty miles.
But eager to get on and compass the whole distance, he did not stop
for food. An hour later he saw an old man drinking at a spring, but in
his hunger for land he brushed aside the cup which the old man offered
him and rushed on in his eager quest for possession of land.
When he was a few miles from the goal he was worn down with
fatigue. A few hundred yards from the line, he saw the sun approaching
the horizon and knew that he had but a few minutes
left. Hurrying on and ready to faint, he summoned all his energies for
one last effort and managed to stagger across the line just as the sun
was sinking.
As he crossed the line he saw a cruel, cynical smile on the face of
the stranger who had promised him the land, and who was waiting for
him there at his father's grave. Just as he crossed the line, the
master and possessor, as he thought, of fifteen square miles of rich
land, the youth fell dead upon the ground which he had coveted.
The stranger then said to the servants, "I offered him all the land
he could cover. Now you see what that is: six feet long by two feet
wide; and I thought he would like to have the land close to his
father's grave, rather than to have it anywhere else." With
that the stranger, who was Death, vanished, saying as he did so,
"I have kept my pledge." "Whose shall those things be?"
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