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Kingdom Economics Lent Series Live Sermon · HAVE FAITH LET IT BEGIN®

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  Welcome to Have Faith, Let It Begin. This is Ariel Santana.
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  Can you believe I'm seven years old already? I'm old enough now to introduce my dad.
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  Ladies and gentlemen, your host, my dad, Angel Santana.
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  My name is Angel Santana Jr. If you don't know who I am, if you know Angel Santana
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  Sr., you would know that I am his son.
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  So I'm one of the elders here at First Reformed Church, Been coming here since
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  I was literally eight or six or seven years old. One of those ages.
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  I received my first Bible right here. I'm down these steps. It was the Good
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  News Bible, which I still have.
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  If you're a visitor here, I just want to point out to you where the restrooms are.
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  They are on my right, all the way there, which is your left,
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  down the stairs, second door on your left.
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  I'd like to formally welcome each and every one of you to the 88th Annual Walk
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  Hill Valley Lenten Series as we're here for our third Sunday.
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  And it is truly an honor to be here with you this evening.
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  As many of you will hear, I am in ministry school.
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  And I am just honored and blessed to have been chosen to be here with each and
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  every one of you this evening.
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  So welcome, welcome to the First Reformed Church, as we call it,
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  the church on the hill, the light of the light.
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  When I tell people that you walk through these doors, I love to tell you that you are home.
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  So welcome home. Let's do a quick prayer.
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  Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for the music that we hear,
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  music that soothes the soul.
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  Allow today's music to pierce our hearts and allow us to be at peace in your precious name. Amen.
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  Sentence and Salutation.
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  The earth is the Lord's and everything in it.
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  Jesus says, None of you can become my disciple if you do not give all of your possessions.
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  Let us worship the Lord to whom all things belong.
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  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  At this time, we're going to do a prayer of confession.
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  If you'd like to rise, you may do so. We'll do this in unison.
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  For those that are willing and able, please rise with me.
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  And let's read this together. Gracious God, you have taught us that we cannot
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  serve both you and wealth, yet we confess that we try.
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  You have taught us to pray for daily bread, yet we store up treasures for ourselves.
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  You have told us that none can follow you without giving up all possessions.
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  Yet we cling tightly to what we have We confess that we fear not having enough
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  We confess that we trust in what we can see More than your promises Forgive us,
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  Lord Teach us to seek first your kingdom Teach us to live with enough Teach
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  us to depend on you And to share with one another free us from what possesses
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  us and forms us to people who trust in you completely.
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  Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
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  Amen. Please be seated.
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  So one of the things that I like to do as I'm discovering how I will be when
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  I become a pastor, how I will talk about the scriptures before I read them.
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  And one of the things I like to implement is called scripture overview.
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  And what that is, is it takes me back to when I was a child.
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  I remember sitting in the pews and saying, well, when the pastor goes up to
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  read from the Bible, I just didn't understand what he was saying.
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  I didn't read the Bible yet at that age. So I figure as I stand up here or wherever
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  church I'm in, there will be people that will join the sanctuary and the congregation
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  that may not know the word of the Lord.
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  So what better way than to give them a scripture overview about what they're
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  about to hear? So that's what this is, scripture overview.
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  In Luke chapter 14, Luke 14 comes at a moment when large crowds are following Jesus.
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  People are interested. They're curious, drawn to him.
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  But instead of making it easier to follow him, Jesus makes it harder.
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  He speaks about counting the cost.
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  He talks about carrying a cross. He talks about and tells parables about builders
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  and kings who must calculate what lies ahead before they begin.
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  And then he says these words, None of you can become my disciple if you do not
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  give up all your possessions.
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  This is not a suggestion. It's not a metaphorical enthusiasm.
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  It is a statement about elegance.
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  Jesus is not asking for a donation. He's asking for a priority.
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  In a world where possessions promise security and control, Jesus makes clear
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  that discipleship requires release.
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  This verse focuses us on what to ask.
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  What do we do? What do we truly depend on? What shapes our decisions?
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  What are we willing or unwilling to lose?
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  So as we hear this reading tonight, we are invited not to defend ourselves, but to listen.
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  And now Luke chapter 14, verse 33, the word of the Lord.
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  In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything,
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  you cannot be my disciples.
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  The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
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  So here we are this evening, the third Sunday in Lent.
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  And I was given chapter four from, it's called Kingdom Economics.
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  And it comes from Luke chapter 14, verse 33. Now I'll tell you,
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  that is not an easy sentence.
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  None of you can become my disciples if you do not give up all your possessions.
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  Jesus said it plainly, not softening, no qualifiers.
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  And if we're honest, most of us immediately begin to negotiate.
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  Surely he doesn't mean everything.
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  Surely he means spiritually. Surely he means in principle.
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  Because we are comfortable following Jesus as long as he doesn't rearrange too much.
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  But in Luke chapter 14, Jesus is not interested in gathering fans.
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  He's forming disciples.
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  And discipleship, according to Jesus, has a cost.
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  That tension, that discomfort, that's exactly where Lent wants us.
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  This Lenten series is shaped by Stanley Hauerwas. It's a book called Jesus Changes Everything.
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  And in part four, he talks about kingdom economics.
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  Not money in the narrow sense, but economics in the deeper sense.
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  How we organize our lives. What we assume belongs to us. What we protect.
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  What we refuse to lose.
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  And Harawas makes this uncomfortable claim. Wealth is not neutral. It trains us.
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  It trains us to believe we're independent.
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  It trains us to believe we are secure. It trains us to believe we are self-made.
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  And that training makes discipleship harder than we think.
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  So when I read this chapter for the first time, I gotta be honest,
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  it didn't just challenge me, it unsettled me.
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  Because it brought back memories for me.
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  Memories of when I first felt called into ministry and realized that obedience
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  wasn't going to fit neatly into the life I had planned.
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  Memories of conversations that didn't go the way I hoped.
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  Memories of moments when stepping forward meant something else had to fall away.
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  Memories of realizing that saying yes to God sometimes means watching over things shift.
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  Relationships, expectations, and comfort. This chapter didn't just talk about possessions.
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  It talked about attachments. and had to ask myself, and I'm asking you to ask
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  yourself, what are we still holding on to? What are we afraid to lose?
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  What part of my identity feels safer than surrender?
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  That's not theoretical thoughts for me.
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  That's been lived already. Jesus says, none of you can become my disciples if
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  you do not give up all your possessions.
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  I can't read that verse, honestly, without telling you how close to home it's
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  been hitting for me lately.
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  I've taken on new responsibilities recently. I'm in pastoral school now, ministry training.
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  And with that comes tuition, real tuition.
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  There are moments when I check my bank account and feels, and I feel it physically.
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  Bills don't stop. Life doesn't show slow down or doesn't stop and keeps coming
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  because you just said yes to God No,
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  they still keep coming And what surprises me is this I've had to let go of things.
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  I genuinely thought were necessary Not luxuries Not reckless spending Just things
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  that felt normal comfortable,
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  expected Things like eating out without thinking twice Upgrading something just because I could.
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  Living like the margin would always be there.
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  And I realized something. What's hardest to give up isn't always money. It's the lifestyle.
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  It's the predictability. It's knowing I can say yes to what I want.
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  It's the feeling of control. And that's where this text started working on me.
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  When Jesus says, give up everything, I don't hear him saying destroy your life
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  I hear him asking Who gets to decide what you can't live without?
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  Because whatever that is That's already shaping you For me I've had to sit with
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  that question more than I expected There have been moments recently were real
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  moments Where I've started to stare at numbers on a screen And I felt my chest tightening up,
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  Moments where I've thought, maybe I should slow this down. Maybe I should wait.
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  Maybe this isn't the responsibility or the responsible move for me.
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  And underneath it all, that wasn't wisdom. That was fear.
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  Fear of not having enough. Fear of not being secure.
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  Fear of what might happen if things didn't line up the way I wanted them to.
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  But I've noticed something.
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  Every time I've loosened my grip, even just a little, God has not let me fall.
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  Provision hasn't always looked dramatic. There haven't been fireworks,
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  but there have been faithfulness.
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  And that's what gives me the courage to keep listening to this verse instead of arguing with it.
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  I've been thinking about something else, too. The truth is, everything we have is rented.
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  Our house, this body, the time, even the money in our accounts. We act like owners.
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  But scripture keeps reminding us we're stewards.
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  We didn't create the air we breathe. We didn't choose the family we were born
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  into. We didn't earn the grace that saved us.
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  So when Jesus says, give up everything, maybe he's not reminding us or he's not demanding loss.
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  Maybe he's reminding us we never owned it to begin with.
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  Hauerwas pushes this even further. He says, wealth teaches us to lie to ourselves.
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  We tell ourselves we're not rich. We're just comfortable. We're responsible.
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  We're preparing a good life for our children. But underneath that is fear. Fear of dependence.
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  Fear of vulnerability.
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  Fear of not having enough.
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  And Jesus teaches us to pray something radical.
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  Give us this day our daily bread. Not luxury. Not excess.
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  Not security for the next 20 years.
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  Daily bread.
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  Enough, just enough. And even that prayer is not my bread.
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  It's our bread, shared bread, which means what I have was never meant to stop with me.
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  Is where kingdom economics turns everything upside down. The world's economy
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  says, accumulate, protect, secure yourself, make sure you're okay first.
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  But the kingdom of God says, trust, share, depend on one another, and learn to say enough.
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  And that's terrifying because it makes us vulnerable, but it also makes us free.
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  Maybe this Lent isn't about losing. Maybe it's about loosening.
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  Loosening our grip. Loosening our fear.
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  Loosening the lie that we were self-made. Because when loosening our grip,
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  we begin to discover we were being held all along.
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  Jesus changes everything Not by taking from us But by freeing us From what we
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  already own And what is already Please be seated,
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  So this year's offering Will again go to support Rule Say if I say this right
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  Rule And migrant ministry We invite you to place your offering In the plate
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  back In the back In the sanctuary And you may write a check To Walk Hill Valley Lenten Series,
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  In addition to that What I always like to say when it comes to an offering,
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  I recall being in Providence, Rhode Island and not having much of an income of my own.
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  And I would go to church and I try to leave before the offering would come around
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  because I felt bad that I couldn't put anything in the plate.
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  But the minister figured that out real quick.
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  And he pulled me aside and he said, angel, the greatest offering you can give is a prayer.
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  So you don't have to put something in the plate, but you can lead us in a prayer.
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  So think about that today. Let us pray about the offering. Are we doing the
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  song after the offering today? Like we do?
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  Okay. Let's pray for the offering. Heavenly Father, thank you,
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  Lord, for all that has been given to us. Thank you for the prayers.
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  Thank you for the envelopes that are in the plates. Thank you for the Lenten
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  series. Thank you for everyone that has participated and has come out.
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  We ask you, Lord, that allow the funds to multiply and be put to good use in
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  your precious name. Amen.
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  As we leave today, here is the benediction.
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  There's beautiful food, by the way, downstairs. I've already seen it.
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  So enjoy it. Let's come together as one.
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  Go now as disciples of Jesus Christ, not allowed or not owned by what you possess,
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  but held by the one who possesses your heart.
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  Go with open hands and undivided trust, and undivided trust.
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  Hear that twice, undivided trust. When we fear whispers that are not enough,
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  may you remember that God who gives us daily bread, when he urges you to cling tighter,
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  may you have the courage to loosen your grip and may the grace of our Lord Jesus
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  Christ, love God and the fellowship of our Holy Spirit be with you now and ever, evermore.
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  As we say in my household, que Dios te bendiga, which means may God bless you.
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  God bless. Amen. Go in peace.