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Andy Stanley - Money Talks Part 1 I Mean Well · Andy Stanley Sermons

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So if our money could actually talk, do you ever wonder what it would
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tell us? I know that you don't, because every time I've mentioned this
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series to someone or this topic, they just kind of roll their eyes,
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like, actually, I know what my money would tell me. I'm not
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even sure I want to know. I'm not even sure I'm going to come
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listen to you talk about this, right, because if our money could talk,
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assuming it was for us, and assuming our money was trying to help
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us, I doubt would that we would be shocked at all of what our
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money would tell us, right because we kind of already know. I mean,
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if our money started talking, our response would be along the lines of
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yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know, I know.
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Yeah I should have known. No, I shouldn't have. In fact,
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and this is a topic for another day, the way that we handle our
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money or manage our money, especially in the West, is an indicator that
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there's really something kind of wrong with us. And Christians have an explanation for
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maybe what's going on. But regardless, when you think back on what you've
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done with money that you wish you hadn't done, and you knew what you
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were doing at the time with it, wasn't the why this thing to do,
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and you knew you might even regret it, but you did it anyway.
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There is something wrong with us. But anyway, we will talk about
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that another day. The shocker, I think in this whole series that we're
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going to talk about is not what our money would say. The shocker that
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I hope is a shock to you in a pleasant surprise. The shocker is
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the parallel between what our money would say if it could talk, and what
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Jesus did say when he did talk. In fact, you may know this
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if you grew up around church, but Jesus actually said more about money than
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heaven. He gave about thirty five or thirty eight, depending on how you
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count on parables, these stories where he illustrated, you know, what the
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Kingdom of God was like and what we're supposed to do in the meantime.
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And out of those thirty plus parables, sixteen of them, sixteen of them
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had to do with money and possessions. But the interesting thing that may be
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a shock because of the way preachers talk about money is Jesus never asked for
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any money. He talked about it all the time and never asked for any
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except for one occasion we know of, he asked somebody to borrow a coin.
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He did a coin trick, not really anyway, he used it as
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an illustration. And then the best we can tell, he gave the money
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back. So what was he up to? What was this about? And
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what we discover when we read the gospels is when it comes to money and
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possessions, Jesus really was up to something, and he really was after something.
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But as it turns out, it wasn't anybody's money. So let's jump
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in. If your money started talking, and if money could talk, one
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thing for sure, it would tell us, is this I I being money.
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I can add meaning to your life, but I am not the meaning
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of life. I can add meaning to your life, but I'm not the
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meaning of our life. Money, your money, and my money would remind
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us that money doesn't get much play at funerals other than a relationship to how
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much of it might have been given away. Money would remind us that it
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is a much better means than an end. In fact, if you make
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money an end, you may end up alone. But using money as a
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means to an end is what makes money meaningful. Now, this is a
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really important little statement. I'm about to make because this lands on all of
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our lives. And this isn't like a Christian thing or a non Christian thing.
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This is just this is just a thing thing. Okay, So this
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is gonna be a little bit of the theme in terms of what we talk
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about today specifically, but being a means to an end, I want you
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to think about this. Being a means to an end is what makes anything
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meaningful. Being a means to an end is what makes anything meaningful. This
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is why we don't have segues. You didn't get that, Okay, have
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you ever written a segue? It's like, if you've ever written a segue,
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you think this is the coolest thing in the world. I need one,
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And you can never come up with a reason for why you should have
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a segue, even if they were less expensive. You just they're just the
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just didn't catch on because we just couldn't figure out a meaning, so they
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became meaningless. They're interesting, they're fun, but there's just they're just not
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a means to an end that anyone's come up with yet. The thing that
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makes anything or anyone meaningful is when that thing or that person becomes a means
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to an end. That's what it means to have meaning. That's what meaning
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actually means. And it's true for you as well. If you want to
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live a meaningful life. If you want to live a meaningful life, and
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you do, if you want to live a meaningful life, you have to
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figure out how to become a means to an end that's not you. If
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you want to have a meaningful life, you have to come up with a
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weight of being a means to an end that goes beyond you. And here's
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what we're going to discover. When you decide to be a means to an
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end, your money becomes a means rather than an end as well, and
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you will begin to view all of your money. You will begin to view
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all of your resources, you will begin to view your net worth, You'll
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begin to view everything as a tool. And this is exactly we shouldn't be
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surprised. This is exactly what Jesus taught in one of his Are you kidding
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me? Did he really say that parables? So? Luke, as you
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know by now, hopefully if you've been attending or if you grew up in
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church on Luke was a first century doctor who actually got the information about the
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life of Jesus and put it in an orderly chronological order for his first century
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audience. And it was so valuable to the church they meticulously copied it,
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and eventually it was collected with some other New Testament documents who became part of
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the New Testament, which became part of our Bible. And so Luke,
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who thoroughly investigated all these things, records for us several of jesus parables,
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and one of them is a parable about money and possessions. And here's what
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Luke said that Jesus said. Jesus told his disciples, and the disciples are
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the general group of people that follow Jesus everywhere, including the apostles. But
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broader than that, Jesus told his apostles there was a rich man, and
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they knew immediately this wasn't a true story. Jesus was making this up in
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order to make a point. There was a rich man whose manager was accused
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of wasting his possessions. Once upon a time, there was a rich man
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whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. There was a rich man who
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had so much to manage, he couldn't manage it all. He had so
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much to manage it. He hired a manager who bought and sold and traded
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with his name, and he got win to the fact that this manager was
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doing deals on the side or doing something dishonest. That made him nervous.
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So Jesus continues, So this rich man who had too much to manage so
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we had to have a manager, called the manager in and he said,
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hey, what is this I hear? Word on the street is you're not
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dealing with my stuff. Well, you're not being very accountable, you're not
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being honest, you're not representing me well with my stuff. What is this
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I hear about? You give an account of your management, that is,
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get the books together, finish up whatever you're doing, because you can no
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longer be my manager. You cannot be my manager any longer. So he
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fires him, but before he lets him go, he says, you're fired,
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but I need you to kind of tidy up all the loose ends,
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bring me the big notebook, give it to me, and then you're out
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of here. You can no longer be my manager. Jesus continues. Everybody's
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leaning in because he's such a good storyteller. The manager in the parable this
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is Jesus teaching. The manager said to himself, and this is the key
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word, what shall I do now? What shall I do now? Oh
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no, I wasn't expecting this. I've been caught. What should I do
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now? My master is taking away my job and I'm not strong enough to
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dig I'm an inside guy, and I'm ashamed to beg I have my pride.
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And suddenly he finds himself and the guy in the parable, with a
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little bit of time and a little bit of opportunity to figure out where he's
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going to go and if anybody is going to take him in. So he
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thinks about it, and he comes up with an idea, and he says,
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I know, I know what I'll do. I know what I'll do,
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so that when because this is all about time, when I lose my
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job here I'm losing it, people will welcome me into their houses. So
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he comes up with a plan to make sure that when he's no longer employed
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by the rich guy, he has some place to go and some one to
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go to. So here's the plan that he came up with. So this
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is Jesus, this parable. So he called in each one of his master's
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debtors, and his master probably had a lot of debtors. He just gives
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us illustrations of two of them. He calls in each of the people who
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owed his master something, people he'd been doing business with, and he asked
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the first one, how much do you owe my master? And this gentleman
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said, well, I owe your master nine hundred gallons of olive oil.
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He replied, and the manager told him, take your bill and sit down
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quickly. Sit down quickly before anybody sees Sit down quickly before anybody finds out.
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Sit down quickly, because I don't have much time, and I need
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to make sure I take good advantage of my limited time to make sure I
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have somewhere to go and someone to go to. I've only got a little
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bit of time left. Sit down quickly and make it out for four hundred
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and fifty sort of this in the parable everybody in Jesus audience, they have
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mixed emotions. You know, if you're on the owing side, it's like,
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wow, that was a good deal. Suddenly I owed nine hundred.
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Now I only have to pay half. Then people who are on the rich
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people side are like, what a crook. No wonder needs to let this
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guy go. So the guy's like absolutely, let's just let's just finish this
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up. So, boy, this is this is amazing. Thank you,
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thank you. Hey, if you ever need anything, call me. Ah
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yeah, I might, I might do that. Then he asked that.
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Jesus continues, Then he asked a second, and how much do you owe
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my master? A thousand bushels of wheat? He replied. He told him,
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take your bill and make it eight hundred, just eight hundred. Yeah,
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let's just let's just finish this account out. Just make it eight hundred.
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Let's just wrap this thing up. Wow. Well, thank you.
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Hey. If there's ever anything I can do for you, just just let
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me know. Don't worry you. You may be hearing from me sooner than
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you think. And the implication is he did this over and over because Jesus
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and the Parables said, he went to each one of the people who would
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that had been business with his Master, and he settled these accounts so he
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could have all the accounts settled. But he gave everybody these huge, huge
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discounts. Now in the parable when his boss, when the rich guy finds
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out, or the way, Jesus says, it is the master, because
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you know the Master's going to find out about this right the master, and
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everybody in Jesus' audience is thinking, Oh man, this guy's going to jail,
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this guy may be executed, this guy's going to be strung up,
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you know. And if you had not heard this parable before, you think
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the same thing. And the reason you think the same thing is because of
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Jesus is the master storyteller. Jesus knew how to get his first century and
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sometimes his twenty first century audience to lean in and to be just confused enough
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to have the category scrambled just enough to where we have to pay attention and
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ask the question, what is he trying to say in this fictitious story?
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Because in every parable there's someone who represents God, and in every parable there's
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someone who represents the people in jesus audience, some one who represents God,
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and there's someone who represents you, and there's someone who represents me. And
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the people in jesus first century audience assumed that the dishonest money manager is about
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to get into big trouble. But they would be wrong. And if that's
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where you thought this was going, as I would think this was going the
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first time I read it, I would be wrong as well. They would
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be wrong because the text says that Jesus actually commends in the story. The
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Master commended, that is, he complimented him. That is, when he
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found out what happened, he smiled, he high fived him, he slapped
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his knee, and he laughed, and he said, you got me.
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And the text says that Jesus said, inside this made up story, in
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order to make a real point, he said, the Master commended the dishonest
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manager because he had acted shrewdly. He commended him in the parable because this
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guy thought it through. He thought it through with the future in mind.
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He thought it through with his limited opportunity and his limited time in mind.
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He thought it through with his own future in his mind. And of course,
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Jesus' audience maybe, like you, the first time you've read this story,
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maybe this is the first time you've heard it. Jesus audience is very
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confused. Wait a minute, we're so confused. He should be in trouble.
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You're telling us the money the wealthy guy actually commended the dishonest money manager.
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What's going on? So Jesus has them right where he wants them,
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He has us right where he wants us, and Jesus pulls out of the
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parable and he begins to teach the lesson. He wants his audience to know
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from the parable that in the Kingdom of Heaven, the way that God viewses,
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God views wealth and money and possessions is different than the way we view
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it. And here's how he views it. And this is the lesson.
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This is the takeaway. This is the application of the parable of the unjust,
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dishonest money manager. He pulls out of the parable, and he looks
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at us, He looks at his first century audience. And here's what he
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says. Four. Now he's out of the parable. Four. The people
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of this world, the people who live their lives as if all there is
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to life is this life. The people who live as if it's only about
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a birth certificate and a death certificate. The people that live as if all
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you see is all there is and all you get. The people of this
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world, he said, are more shrewd, that is, they are more
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thoughtful, They think things through better. They are more shrewd in dealing with
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their own kind than are the people of the Light. And the people of
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the Light. In that particular context, he was talking about the Jewish people
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who had an eternal promise from God that God was going to do something fabulous
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through the nation. He said that the people who have the covenants, the
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people who have the promises of God, sometimes aren't as thoughtful and don't think
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things through as well as the people that just assume that all there is to
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this life is this life, and that if there is a God, he's
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not that interested in my life. And then this has expanded to those of
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us who put our faith in Jesus, anyone who believes that there's more than
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life, that there's life beyond this life. He says. The people in
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this world oftentimes they think it through better than those of us who think in
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terms of or are supposed to think in terms of eternity, those who live
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within or who are supposed to live within a broader context. The money manager
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was commended for taking full advantage of his limited time and his limited opportunity.
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Jesus point is the reason this guy was commended. It's not because he was
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dishonest. He was commended because he took full advantage of his little bitty time
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and his little bitty opportunity. And Jesus point for you and for me is
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simply this that we are to do the same that when it comes to our
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money, and when it comes to our wealth, and when it comes to
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our income, we are to view it within the context not simply of this
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life, but the broader context, and we are to ask the question,
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how do I get maximum use out of it in light of my little bitty
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time on this planet and the little bit of our opportunity that comes my way.
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And then just so we don't miss it, Jesus leans in and he
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gets very, very specific, and he gets so specific that the first time
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I read this parable as an adult and have really understood the implications, it
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really was life changing and life shaping for me. Because Jesus now gives an
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imperative. He gives a command to those who claim to be his follower.
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If you're not a Christian, you don't have to do this, okay,
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Please don't hear me telling you what to do. I have no authority over
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you. And if you're not following Jesus, he doesn't have any authority over
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you either. However, there's some takeaways for you, so hang on.
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But if you're a Jesus follower, Jesus leans in and he says, I
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tell you, in other words, pay attention. I'm talking to you.
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Now. This isn't a story. I tell you. This is the command.
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Use why because it's a means to an end. It's not the end,
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because it's a tool. Use worldly way to which we might be inclined
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to say, well, what other kind of wealth is there? Ah,
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good question. You're paying attention. Use worldly wealth. This is a command
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to gain friends for yourselves, like the money manager, so that when it
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is gone, because it will be gone, actually you'll be gone. But
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anyway, when it is gone, you will be And this is so strange,
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welcomed into eternal dwellings. Now, don't ask me to explain this,
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because I can't explain this, and in fact, isolated to the teaching of
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Jesus at this particular time in his life, this really doesn't make any sense
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because the implications are unmissible. The implications are that there's something we can do
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with temporary wealth during this little bitty slot of time that we have in life
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that makes an eternal difference. And honestly, I would not take that seriously,
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and you shouldn't take it seriously either, except for one thing. After
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Jesus was crucified, he came back to life. And when someone predicts their
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own death and resurrection and pulls it off, whenever they talk about death or
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resurrection, you and I should pay attention. So consequently, looking back through
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the filter of the resurrection of Jesus, Luke is writing this on the other
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side of the resurrection. He's like, I know this, this sounds a
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little bit crazy, and I know that Jesus first century audience in the moment
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certainly didn't understand what he was talking about. But clearly there is something to
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this because Jesus substantiated the idea that there is eternity not just through his teaching,
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but through his life and specifically through his resurrection. But his point is
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clear that your money and your possessions, my money and my possessions, money
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is a means. It is not the end. It's a means to an
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end that goes beyond us and Jesus, as it even goes beyond this lifep
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cation is that our right now resources, that our right now resources, that
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your right now resources have the potential to make a forever difference, that we
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can't take it with us. We've heard that our whole lives right. We
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can't take it with us, but there is a way for us to have
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something to show for it beyond this life. It's a means to an end.
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As Jesus would say, it is a tool. Now. If Jesus
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is right, and I think he's right, you know, if Jesus is
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right, it means and I know this is a little maybe different, Maybe
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you've not heard this before. It different, little disconcerting. You kind of
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go home and go okay, even if you're writ andy. I don't know
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what to do with that. But if he's right, it means that I
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should view and that you should view. Not a percentage of what you have
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is something that should be made available to your heavenly father. It means that
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we should view one hundred percent of what we have as a potential means to
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an end. In other words, the question that we should begin to ask
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ask is Jesus followers. In fact, I would encourage you to ask this
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question just for fun, even if you're not a Jesus follower. The question
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that we should all ask at some level is how can I leverage more of
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what I have as a means to an end that's not me? How can
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I leverage more of what I have as a means to an end that is
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outside of what benefits me, because as most of you already know, because
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all of us have experienced just enough of this to know that is where joy
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is truly found, isn't it. When Sandra and I were first married,
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one of the advantages that we have is we had several advantages. One,
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we were raised very similarly when it comes to money and managing money and generosity.
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We were both raised by very sets two sets of very generous parents.
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And so consequently, when we set up our budget and we started, you
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know, doing life together, we decided up front, there is a percentage
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of our money that is going to be given away. First, we just
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decided that timper sent to our church, and then another percent is going to
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go to other things that we love. And so we decided, we made
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a decision. I've encouraged young couples to make for years, and I don't
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think anybody takes me seriously because it's a little bit complicated. I've always told
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young couples you should decide ahead of time what percentage of your income you're gonna
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live on. And here's why this is pretty brilliant. You were't gonna want
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to write this down? Okay, you ready. The reason you should decide
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ahead of time what percentage of your income you want to live on is because
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you are going to live on a percentage of your income. Let me say
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that again. You each one of you, I don't even know you,
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all of you are living on a percentage of your income. Why would you
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not choose it rather than letting a lifestyle choose it for you? See,
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that's what shrewd thinking, forward thinking people do. They don't think about the
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numbers of dollars. They think about the percentage. So we just decided we
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are no matter how much comes in, you know, we're living on the
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percentage, all right, And then we're gonna give a percentage away. And
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we also decided that anything we own, we're going to try to figure how
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to use it to help other people. And we've been successful and we've been
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unsuccessful. And sometimes I get selfish, and sometimes she has to say remember,
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I'm like, oh yeah, you know, because she's more inclined that
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way than me. And we also decided that we're not going to hoarde stuff
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if we're not using it. We're going to give it away. As soon
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as I have the box and I'm about to go into the basement with it,
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I realized, Okay, if I take this into the basement, it
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will live there for two or three years, doing no one any good,
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and then one day I'm going to see it and go I need to get
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rid of that, and then I'm gonna put it into circulation. So don't
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even take it down there, just give it away. And then we decided
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that we're going to try to say yes to anyone who ever asked us for
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anything. Now that's complicated, that's not even always wise to just do for
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people when they ask, But we decided if we're going to air, we're
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going to air on the side of generosity. And So what happened through the
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years, what happened through the years, and this is unique for me.
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Many of you have done this. If you haven't, I hope this is
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challenging to you. Through the years, what actually happened, What actually transpired
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is that we turn stuff into stories and we don't miss the stuff. The
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stories are still very emotional for us. There are some stories that we can't
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tell to this day, and it's years ago. Some of these things happen
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that we just don't tear up when we think about the opportunities we had because
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we decided ahead of time. We decided ahead of time. It is all
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it's all in play, it's all available. How do we use more of
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what comes our way and what sits in our bucket of resources to do things
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that are not simply for us? And the number of dollars is ear relevant.
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It is all about predciding ahead of time, as it relates, it's
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all gods, it's all in circulation for your benefit. And here's the percentage
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that's going ahead of time. And I'll figure out how to live on the
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rest. The stories will always be emotional. Here's the thing. Okay,
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then I'll move on. This is what I know about you. All of
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you have several things you factor into your financial decisions. We all do.
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I mean, even if you don't have them written down, you don't even
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know what they are. I promise you, every time you make a financial
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decision, you factor in something. You have some things that you factor in,
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right, So I want to suggest you begin factoring this question in because
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this could possibly free you up to become more of the kind of person that
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you actually want to be anyway. And here's the question. Do I want
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more stuff or do I want more stories? Do I want more stuff or
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do I want more stories? And let me just give you a tip.
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Nobody's going to talk about your stuff in the end. They're going to tell
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stories about you. Do you want more stuff or do you want more stories?
23:51
Now, let me just say something real quick to a group of you
23:52
the cater City Church, Hamilton Mill or Hamilton Mill gathering up there, Gwinnett
23:57
Church, Hamilton Mill. I just want to say something to both of you
24:00
real quick. I want you today, as you're leaving or even right now,
24:03
to look around the buildings you're in, these cool buildings that you just
24:07
moved into a couple of weeks ago. And for those of you who gave
24:11
to make those buildings possible, I just want you to know, for the
24:15
rest of your life that building is part of your story. And I already
24:19
know that you don't know what you would have done with the money that you
24:25
decided to give to make that building possible. And you don't miss that money,
24:27
but that building. Every child that comes to faith, every baptism story,
24:33
every adult that gets reconnected with their Heavenly Father, every mom who drags
24:37
her teenage son in there, every husband that drags his wife in there and
24:40
she's confronted with something that's life changing. Their story is your story for the
24:44
rest of your life. So way to go. I hope you never ever
24:49
lose sight of that. And the reason I wanted to say that is because
24:52
every time Sandra and I walk into any of our buildings, anytime we experience
24:59
a Baptist, we feel like, Wow, their story, this story is
25:04
a little part of our story. And I don't miss the money that we
25:07
gave, and I wouldn't trade the money we gave for the stories of life
25:11
transformation and marriages that come back together and kids that reconnect with you know,
25:15
prodigal parents and parents that reconnect. I mean, how do you compare the
25:18
stuff with the stories? And yeah, we got to make a living,
25:22
We've got to pay a bills, got to get our kids through school.
25:23
I get all that. I'm not advocating irresponsible living. I'm just saying I
25:27
think you should factor this in. What do you want? More stuff are
25:34
more stories? Now here's Jesus' point. His point is simply this money money
25:41
can add meaning to your life. When you use it as a means to
25:45
an end that goes beyond you. Now, the parable, you know,
25:51
the teaching on the parable isn't over. And I'm going to get through this
25:52
last part pretty quick because it's fascinating. He continues. He's not done.
25:56
They're all leaning in. He says this. He says, Hey, by
25:59
the way, whoever and whoever means whoever, whoever can be trusted with very
26:04
little, can also be trusted with much. Do what? Yeah? And
26:08
whoever is dishonest with very little also will also be dishonest with much. Okay,
26:15
wait, what are you talking about? He keeps going, So so
26:18
I tell you, if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth,
26:22
who will trust you with true riches? Or who will trust true riches with
26:27
you? Are to you? One text says, It's like, what are
26:30
you talking about? Little? Much worldly wealth? And what other kind of
26:33
wealth is there other than worldly wealth? And I don't just have a little,
26:36
I have a lot or I yea, I may have a little,
26:37
but they have a lot. I mean, what's your point? And Jesus's
26:41
point is simply this that no matter how much you have, and no matter
26:45
where you think it ultimately came from that your money, your wealth, your
26:48
possessions, my money, my wealth, my possessions. Not only is it
26:52
a means to an end, not only is it a tool. From the
26:56
Kingdom of God's perspective, it's all a test as well. It's like the
27:00
manager in the parable that we have a little bit of money, we have
27:03
a little bit of resources for a short amount of time, and we are
27:07
basically being tested to determine whose kingdom we are most devoted two, the bookended
27:15
kingdom of this world or the kingdom in which there is more to this life
27:19
than what we can see, and that goes beyond the bookends of our physical
27:23
lives. And again, as strange and maybe to you from your perspective,
27:27
as creepy as that sounds, again, no one should take that seriously apart
27:33
from the resurrection of Jesus. But he's not done. He says this,
27:37
and by the way, as we wrap up, if you have not been
27:41
trustworthy with someone else's property's like, wait, wait, wait, what are
27:45
you talking about. I mean, I'm not a money manager, you would
27:48
say. I would say, I'm not a money manager. This is my
27:49
stuff. I'm not managing this for someone else. I mean, this is
27:52
my paycheck, this is my money that I have the deed to the house.
27:55
You know I have the title to the car. I mean what somebody
27:57
else? This is I own stuff. This is my stuff. If you
28:00
have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of
28:04
your own? Ways we're late, Okay, okay, I've lost you.
28:11
But if your money could talk, and if my money could talk, I
28:15
think it would confirm what Jesus is saying at the end of this teaching.
28:18
It would say I'll still be here when you're gone. And the moment you
28:26
think you own me, the moment you think you own me, I actually
28:33
own you. Because we all, like the money manager in the parable,
28:40
are in fact managers. We are not owners. And the way we know
28:47
that we're not owners is that if you're going to leave it behind, clearly
28:51
you don't own it. You're just managing it. But here's the real question.
28:56
If you're just a manager, not an owner, who are you managing
28:59
it for? I mean, if you're just stardust, if you're just an
29:03
accident of you know, evolution by natural selection, if you're just just happened
29:08
to be and you don't know how it is, and you don't know where
29:10
it came from, and we don't know why anything exists. I mean,
29:12
if you just don't know, then I don't know how to answer the question
29:15
who you are managing this for? Because you are going to leave it all
29:18
behind. We all know that nobody argues with that. But think about this.
29:25
If in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and if
29:30
in the beginning God created mankind in his image, and if in the beginning
29:37
God made us as a race stewards of this planet, and he gave each
29:44
of us a little bit of time and a little bit of opportunity and a
29:47
little bit of resources to manage, then suddenly all of this makes perfect sense.
29:53
And Jesus would say, manage it well. And please don't get confused.
29:59
Don't get confused. If your money would talk, it would remind us
30:03
I'm a means. I'm a means, I'm not an end. I'm a
30:07
tool, and i'm a test. I can add meaning to your life,
30:11
but don't be confused. I'm not the meaning of your life. So as
30:18
we wrap up, I want to ask this question. Then we're going to
30:21
pick this up next time. What do we do with all this, I
30:23
mean, where do we start? I mean this is for some of you,
30:26
I get this. It's like, ah, and you're just trying to
30:29
get my money. You got to draw your own conclusions. Others of you
30:32
is like, oh, Jesus just trying to get our money. No,
30:33
he never asked for any money. For others of you, perhaps it's like,
30:36
yeah, you lost me with the whole eternity thing. I get that.
30:40
But for those of you who are Jesus followers, for those of you
30:41
who've already settled the issue that there's more to this life than this life,
30:45
For those of you that wrestle with this because you hate the greed that kind
30:48
of you know, bubbles up inside of you sometimes. You hate the resistance
30:53
you feel when there's an opportunity to do more and your heart saying yes,
30:57
and as soon as you get the pen out, as soon as you get
31:00
the phone out, it's like you put one less zero on there. Then
31:03
you plan. You just have that struggle where do we start? I think
31:07
the place to start is the place that Jesus is pointing to. The place
31:11
to start is not an amount of money, and the place to start isn't
31:14
even really a percentage. The place to start is with the bigger question,
31:18
the big question that really most people never stop to ask and consequently never have
31:22
an answer for, a question that on the surface seems to have nothing to
31:26
do with money, but in the end, it has everything to do with
31:29
money. So here's the question I want to leave you with. If being
31:33
a means to an end, if being a means to an end is what
31:37
gives life meaning. If being a means to an end is what makes anything
31:45
meaningful. If something is not a means to an end, it has no
31:48
meaning, It has no purpose. If being a means to an end is
31:52
what gives your life meaning and purpose, to what ends do you want your
31:57
life to be a means? If being a means to an end that goes
32:01
beyond you is what gives your life purpose and meaning, to what ends?
32:06
It doesn't have to be one thing, It shouldn't be one thing. To
32:08
what ends do you want your life to be a means? Two? And
32:14
we've asked these questions before, What do you want people to celebrate about you
32:17
when you're gone? What breaks your heart right now that you're actually doing something
32:23
about, not just complaining about what would you and This is a question Sandra
32:29
asked years ago when we were talking about this. So I want to give
32:30
her credit, but she said question the way she said it is, what
32:34
do I want people to lie? What would I want people to line up
32:37
to thank me for at the end of my life and my friends? If
32:44
you don't answer those questions, your appetites will eat up all of your resources.
32:52
If you don't answer those questions for you, your appetites will dictate an
32:57
answer to you. And I know what your answer to those questions. Now
33:00
I don't even know you, but I know you enough to know this the
33:02
answer, the answer you wouldn't give this answer, Well, here's what it
33:06
is for me. It's accumulation, consumption, upgrades, fashion forward, a
33:09
house full of stuff. That's the meaning of my life. Nobody chooses this
33:14
on purpose. Listen to me. If you don't decide the ends to which
33:17
you want your life to be a means that is the direction our culture will
33:22
pull you. You already know that, and you don't want to spend another
33:25
season of your life like that. I know you don't. Nobody does.
33:29
She ate, she drank, she was marry, then she died, right,
33:35
I mean, that's just I mean, that's not a legacy, right,
33:37
that's a life poorly lived. Here's the thing I'm done. When you
33:43
answer look up here, when you answer the big question, When you answer
33:47
the big question and you start wrapping your heart around the answer to the big
33:52
question, your money will follow. Because money is a means to an end.
33:59
Money is al it's not the goal. And we've all lived long enough
34:02
to have seen that in the lives of other people. We've all experienced just
34:06
enough joy to know it's true. When you answer the big question, something
34:09
begins to happen in your heart. But listen until you answer the big question.
34:15
Until you answer the big question, you may just end up following your
34:21
money. And that would be a shame because live for yourself, you'll only
34:27
have yourself to show for yourself, along with some stuff for people to fight
34:30
over when you're gone. So this week, here's the question I want you
34:36
to wrestle with. If being a means to an end is what gives life
34:39
meaning and that's what gives your life meaning. Every one of you who are
34:43
parents, you understand this. Grandparents, you understand this. We've all tasted
34:46
enough of this to know it's true. If being a means to an end?
34:50
Is what gives life meaning? To What ends? Do I want my
34:52
life to be a means? And when you identify and embrace the answer to
34:57
that question, your money will begin to follow, and you will begin to
35:00
view everything you own, everything that comes your way, as a means to
35:07
an end, as it was intended to be. Now, at the end
35:13
of this teaching, something very interesting happens. Jesus neither that the teaching began,
35:17
Jesus was telling his disciples, and as I said, there was another
35:20
group listening, you know, on the outskirts, because there was always a
35:22
group of people following Jesus around who you know, they just were trying to
35:27
trap and ask him tricky questions, you know, make him look foolish in
35:30
front of the crowd. And so Luke tells us at the very end of
35:32
this teaching, he says this, the Pharisees, the Pharisees who loved money,
35:37
heard all of this, everything I just shared with you. The Pharisees
35:40
who loved money heard all of this and were sneering at Jesus. And do
35:47
you know what their names were? Yeah? Me neither. So let's get
35:55
this right. We'll pick it up there m