Luke 12:13-21
"How Much Is Enough?"
Every once in a while one sees bumper stickers. There is one that reads: "He who dies with the most toys, wins!" A great variation which I saw in a comic was on an obviously rich car, I believe it was a Ferrari, which said across the top of the license plate: "He who dies with the most toys" and across the bottom of the plate: "Is dead!" This driver of this car knew he had a problem, even though he had not yet conquered it. That is the condition that we all share with regard to many of life's issues, but especially here in the United States with regard to possessions.
The more we have, the more we think that we need. "Keeping up with the Joneses" a famous malady of the "50s" has been replaced, I think, by "having the latest thing." We are so attached to our stuff that several comedians have been making a living getting us to laugh about it, and private storage unit complexes have been a sure-fire investment recently.
So what do we do about it? How can we Christians, overwhelmed by the love of God that moved Jesus to die for us, resist the dictates of our culture and follow Jesus' guidance in this area of our lives? And why should we, or should we? Let us take the last question first and work our way back to the first one.
Should we follow Jesus' guidance and reduce our entanglement in possessions? The first thing to be said is that "should" is probably the most overworked word in Christian pulpits. The motto of many former sermon-hearers is, "Don't should on me!" Yet it is a legitimate expectation that preachers will help us sort out some of life's choices, even to the drawing of conclusions. So here goes.
Jesus, we believe and teach, is God incarnate. Another way to say that is: "God with skin on!" As such, Jesus came not only to die for our sins, but also to challenge us to, and demonstrate for our edification and emulation, a lifestyle that pleases him. Now I believe that lifestyle need not be sad and serious, bitter and boring. In fact, Jesus was himself accused by some of being a "drunkard and a wine-bibber." Even though Jesus knew how to have a good time, he also lived and taught a very real detachment from things. Remember, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head."
Therefore, if we truly find ourselves grateful for our salvation, desirous of showing gratitude, and willing to try to pattern our lives on that of our Savior, I believe that we should follow his guidance and simplify our lives as much as possible in the circumstances in which God has placed us.
We have suggested reducing our entanglement with possessions if for no other reason than that Jesus encourages it. But there are a couple of other good answers to the "WHY?" question as well. One is that we humans have difficulty focusing our attention on many things at once.
Have you ever noticed that worrying about things can tend to crowd out spiritual matters, or that getting something done sometimes takes precedence over prayer, reading of Scriptures, or even worship on Sabbath morning? As finite creatures, we can only do so much, and the more things that clutter up our lives, the less room there is for God.
A second answer to the "WHY?" question has to do with the life to come. In Jesus' story, I believe that the rich fool's mistake was in hoarding the necessities of this life and making no provision for the next. "A treasure in the heavens does not fail," says Jesus. It is much wiser to make deposits there.
We now come back to where we started. If there are good reasons to obey Jesus' warning in this parable, how do we begin? Only partly in jest do I suggest a garage sale. Empty out those storage places. Get rid of all that junk. If we haven't used it in six months, do we really need it? A garage sale is one thing we can do! Yvonne and I are struggling about this.
Second, we may read the lives of good role models. John Wesley is said to have had a rule to "save all he could and give all he could." It is said that when he lived at Oxford going to school that he had an income of 30 pounds a year. He lived on 26; saved two; and gave two away. When his income increased to 60, 80, and 120 pounds a year, he still lived on 26 -- gave away half and saved half of the increase.
There is a proverb "that money is like sea-water; the more you drink the thirstier you become."
Finally, we need to seek the Lord's will. Are we really doing what God wants for our lives? Is what we do a service for other people or only a way to make money? Some experts say that 70% of Americans hate the job they currently hold. If we are one of them, do we believe that this job is God's will for us? Or is God trying to move us to where he wants us to be, to where we will be really happy serving him through others, to where things will not be as important as service for others.
God loves us. God sent Jesus to save us! And certainly God loves us enough to want our lives to mean something to ourselves and to others.
Here's an amazing story entitled: "The Day the Church Treasurer Resigned." The setting is a small, rural congregation. It seems the long-time church treasurer of this congregation had resigned. The church board asked the local grain elevator manager to take the position. After all, he was familiar with bookkeeping and certainly was qualified for the job. He agreed to take the job with two stipulations:
1) That no treasurer's report would be required for the first year.
2) That no questions were to be asked about finances during that year.
(Wow! That must have shortened the church board and/or business meetings by quite a bit!)
The church was surprised and somewhat disturbed by his unusual requests. But, because they all did business with him and knew that he was a trusted person, they agreed to honor those two stipulations.
At the end of the year, the grain elevator manager finally gave a treasurer's report. This is what he reported:
1) The church indebtedness of $229,000 had been paid off.
2) The pastor's salary had been increased by 8 percent.
3) The church's apportioned benevolence had been paid 200 percent. (It was a small Methodist congregation. Their world mission program is financed by apportionments to each church. Our world mission - our total budget – also called an "Alliance In Ministry" is voluntary; and personally I think that our local church’s contribution should be at least equal to 10 percent of our local total budget.)
4) There were no outstanding bills.
5) And there was a cash balance of $11,252.
The shocked congregation asked: "How did you do it? Where did all this money come from?" The treasurer quietly answered: "Most of you bring your grain to my elevator. Throughout the year, I simply withdrew 10 percent on your behalf and gave it to the church in your name. You did not even miss it! Can you see what we can do for the Lord and his church if we are willing to return at least a tithe to the Lord?"
Obviously, what this man did was illegal. Whether this is a true story, I do not know. Yvonne wants to know that if some persons therefore tithed twice what did the treasurer offer to do about that. It does, however, make for an interesting scenario. What would happen in our church if we all became more generous to our Lord? Two things would happen, I believe: 1) we all would be blessed with the joy of giving; and 2) our church would be blessed with even more resources to carry out the work of God's Kingdom here on earth.
We have asked the question "How much is enough?" –and illustrated that most of us have more than enough and probably would not even miss the Lord's ten percent of gross and could live as well as we have been on the 90 percent. How about you?
I like this little prayer. May all of us make it our own today: "Lord, you have given so much to us. Now, give us one thing more and that is, a thankful spirit. Amen."
