Greed and Treasure | Sunday, March 14, 2021

Someone from the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." ... He told them, "Watch out and be on guard against all greed, because one's life is not in the abundance of his possessions." ... "But seek his kingdom, and these things will be provided for you. ... For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." — Luke 12:13–34

When worry whispers and possessions promise security, Jesus calls us to a treasure that decay can never touch.

"There's Always One"

This is part two of last week's message. Where we left off, Jesus was speaking to a huge multitude, hammering the Pharisees about hypocrisy and then bringing it back to everyone in the crowd, with humility as the antidote. Last week we talked about hypocrisy and humility; today we turn to greed and treasure.

While Jesus is speaking about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, persecution, and the Spirit teaching us what to say, someone in the crowd suddenly yells out in verse 13: "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." There's always that one person at any gathering. Here he is, yelling about his inheritance—and he doesn't get the response he was hoping for.

Watch Out for Greed

Jesus answers in verse 14: "Friend, who appointed me judge or arbitrator over you?" Then He told them, "Watch out and be on guard against all greed, because one's life is not in the abundance of his possessions." This probably wasn't the man's first attempt to resolve his issue, and the man is likely thinking, But I'm not being greedy—I'm just trying to get what I deserve. Yet Jesus points out that life is not measured by the abundance of possessions, something that should resonate with all of us.

He goes on to tell a parable in verse 16—a story meant to illustrate a greater principle. A rich man's land was very productive, so much so that he had nowhere to store his crops. So he decides: "I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, store all my grain and goods, and then say to myself, 'Self, you have many goods stored up for many years; take it easy, eat and drink and enjoy yourself.'"

In effect, the man has insulated himself from ever having to exercise faith. I have everything I need stored up. I have this, I have that, I have MasterCard, I have Visa—oh, that's us, not him—but I have every way to avoid needing faith.

Rich Toward God

But in verse 20, "God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?'" And the better question is, whose were they in the first place? God gave him those things, God owns them, and God is ultimately in control. Verse 21: "That's how it is with one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."

The key phrase is toward God. The abundance was not wrong; the heart was wrong. God provided the abundance through direct means or through the talents and abilities He gave the man—talents on loan from God. The issue was the direction of his heart.

We tend to think this warning is about "those rich people." But rich is a sliding scale. When I was young, rich meant a nice car or a guy making twelve dollars an hour. Now we debate a fifteen-dollar minimum wage, which in many places is wealth. And no matter where we land, there's always someone richer, so we never see ourselves as rich. We always have an easy way to put the "rich" label on someone else. But that's exactly who Jesus is talking to.

Do Not Worry About Your Life

Stay with me to verse 22: "Therefore I tell you, don't worry about your life, what you'll eat, or your body, what you'll wear." He moves from the rich to anyone who eats food and wears clothes—a much wider application. Most of us watching at home are at least wearing something; the alternative isn't worth considering.

This sounds easy, but it's harder than it seems. I start thinking about dinner around breakfast. My wife made a fantastic pork stew that went in the crock pot in the morning; you smell it all day, and by evening the whole house is filled with it. Jesus says, Don't worry about that. It sounds simple, until you realize how much we let hunger and need rule us.

Does anyone ever make bad decisions out of hunger? Consider Genesis 25. Esau comes in from the field exhausted and begs Jacob for some of the red stew. Jacob replies, "First, sell me your birthright." Esau says, "I'm about to die. What good is a birthright to me?" So he swears it away and sells his inheritance for a pot of lentil stew and bread—and Scripture says "Esau despised his birthright." Sounds like somebody needed a Snickers. But here's the sobering thought: when we worry about food and clothing despite Jesus telling us not to, what are we despising? Are we despising our birthright?

Life Is More Than Food

Back in Luke: "For life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing." Life is much more than we generally think. We minimize it—dinner and TV and work and school—and miss the grandeur of what we're actually involved in. We have been placed here by God on a mission to seek and to save, to show the glory of God, to live in a way that reveals who Jesus is. Each of us is an agent on a mission behind enemy lines, sent to rescue the people around us. Yet we get sidetracked by the rations we eat and the uniforms we wear.

Jesus gives examples of what to consider instead. "Consider the ravens. They don't sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn, yet God feeds them. Are you worth more than birds?" It's rhetorical—yes, you are worth more to God than a bird. Jesus didn't die for birds; He died for you. You were worth that price.

Worry and the Lack of Faith

Verse 25: "Can any of you add one moment to your life by worrying? If you're not able to do even a little thing, why do you worry about the rest?" We can't extend our lives by a single moment, yet we get consumed with worry over things we can't change. Worry is Satan's way of having us cripple ourselves in areas he couldn't cripple us. Worry eats us up.

Our usual defense is, "But I can't just live with my head in the sand—I have to be informed, I have to know." Can't you hear the serpent whispering, Did God really say not to worry? It's the Garden of Eden all over again. God never meant us to be consumed by what we have no control over. There was a children's video about Eden with one of the most profound lines I've heard: the narrator, voicing God, says to Adam and Eve, "I never gave you the burden of understanding. The only burden I gave you was obedience." So often we feel we must understand everything, and when we don't, it consumes us. Sometimes we just need to be still and know that God is God and we are not, and rest in Him.

"Consider how the wildflowers grow. They don't labor or spin, yet not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. If that's how God clothes the grass... how much more will he do for you of little faith?" There's a short season at Daly Ranch when a certain shrub turns the hills a glorious, bright purple, and it even smells good. If God can do that for a plant that's here today and gone tomorrow, what will He do for you? Christian, stop. Trust God. Take a deep breath. He is in control. He will not leave you or forsake you. Worry is simply a side effect of a lack of faith—with some attitude thrown in for good measure.

Seek First the Kingdom

Verse 29: "Don't strive for what you should eat and drink, and don't be anxious. For the Gentile world eagerly seeks all these things, and your Father knows that you need them." Don't be anxious, don't strive—simple, right? It's like being told not to think of a pink elephant.

But God knows us. When Moses protested that he couldn't speak to Pharaoh, God answered, "Who made your mouth?" God understands us better than we understand ourselves. Knowing we'd worry about not worrying, He gave us something else to focus on. Verse 31: "But seek his kingdom, and these things will be provided for you." We seek God's kingdom, work toward it, long for it, and spread it through our efforts alongside Him.

So when you feel yourself worrying, ask two questions. First: What would most glorify God in my situation? Second: What opportunity do I have to expand the kingdom of God here? Focus on those, and you can move from worrying to seeking first the kingdom, trusting that God will take care of you. He loves you. He won't leave you or forsake you. Yes, times will be difficult—that's okay. Difficult times make strong people. God will provide.

He Delights to Give You the Kingdom

Verse 32: "Don't be afraid, little flock, because your Father delights to give you the kingdom." God doesn't give the kingdom begrudgingly—He delights to give it. He's like a parent on Christmas morning, bursting with excitement waiting for the kids to open the gift. That's God's heart for us. So why do we worry, if God is so excited to give us what we need? Because, like children, we have such a limited perspective. That's why He hands us something better to think about: seek first the kingdom of God.

Where Your Treasure Is

Verse 33: "Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Make money bags for yourselves that won't grow old, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

It's not about not working; it's about working for what matters. It's not the job you do—it's why you do it. Jesus placed you where you are to expand the kingdom of God.

We often read verse 34 backwards, assuming that wherever our heart is, that's where our treasure goes. But the verse says the opposite: "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." It's all about what you make your treasure. If you treasure wealth most, your heart will follow it, and it will lead you astray. But if you make God's kingdom your treasure, that's where your heart, your focus, and your thoughts will be—and that's where God delights to give you the kingdom. Does that mean I'll be super wealthy? Probably not; I don't think God would trust me with that. But if I make His kingdom my goal, He will delight to work with me there.

A Treasure That Lasts Beyond You

Is your treasure something that dies with you, or something decay cannot touch, that thieves can't steal, that lasts for eternity? This year I became a grandfather for the first time, and it gave me what I call grandpa perspective. What I measure in my life changed. It's no longer just the immediacy of my own children—now it's, What can I do that will make a difference in my grandchild's grandchildren's lives? What will make a difference for generations? And the thing that makes that difference is instilling the message that if we seek first the kingdom of God, He will add everything else.

I love a quote from the Quaker seminary professor David Elton Trueblood: "A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit." We begin to grasp life's meaning when we plant trees whose shade we'll never enjoy—when we set things up for our children's children and their children. When we seek first the kingdom of God, we're adding them, God willing, to a treasure that will never decay.

So the final question: Will you choose a treasure that lasts beyond you? What a tragedy if, the day we're called home, everything we worked for ends and people fight over it in probate. What a blessing instead if our legacy is a family that loves Jesus, raising a family that loves Jesus, raising a family that loves Jesus—until one day we all gather in heaven and our treasure is still with us. Let's work toward that day, Cross Connection.

Closing Prayer

Dear Jesus, I pray that You would help me to make You my treasure, to make Your kingdom my treasure, that I would focus there. Lord, I pray that for this church, and for anyone who sees or hears this message, that You would help all of us step away from worrying and instead focus on the treasure of Your kingdom. And Father, where we fall short, forgive us, remind us, redirect us back to You. But most of all, Jesus, You are such a wonderful treasure. Thank You for Your grace, Your love, and Your sacrifice on our behalf. Be glorified in Your church. Thank You for being a treasure that will never fade, that will linger and last for eternity. In Your name we pray, Amen. God bless you guys.