The Newborn King & Your Money ~ Luke 12:13-21!

December 7, 2014 ~ New City Church of Calgary ~ Pastor John Ferguson!

Intro: Its that time of year again, time when many people get vaccinated against the flu, or influenza as its
more technically known. But have you been vaccinated against affluenza? !

The book Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic defines it as a painful, contagious, socially transmitted
condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more.!

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I thought of this phrase as I read an article from The Huffington Post documenting Black Friday Brutality.
From the US to the UK, there are sad reports and shocking videos of people being very inhuman to one
another. We watch some of these videos and ask, Whats wrong with us? Im embarrassed to be human.!
Imagine Dragons song, Demons. !
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No matter what we breed / We still are made of greed!

This is my kingdom come / This is my kingdom come!

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Key Question: Is it possible that our lives defined by the dogged pursuit of more? !
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This time of the year, we are reflecting on what the significance of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Last week,
we began our journey and saw that in Jesus, God is not only revealing who he is, but hes also reclaiming the
world for himselfincluding our hearts. Thats part of the Good News of the Kingdom that Jesus preached. !

During this Advent season, we are going to look at the implications of the Lordship of Jesus over three
areas of our lives that most doggedly resist his lordship: money, sex, & power. !

Today, we look at the topic of money, possessions, & eternity. Part of what Jesus has come to do is to
free you from enslavement to money and possessions. If we are enslaved to the dogged pursuit of
more, then we are actually very impoverished. We are blinded to what is true wealth, the only kind of
wealth that matters. !

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Title: The Newborn King & Your Money ~ Luke 12:13-21 / Series: Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room!
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Context: so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were trampling one
another (12:1)!

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. 14
But he said to him, Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you? !

Jesus is teaching on some very weighty issues, including self-righteousness and hypocrisy (12:1-3), living life
with an eternal perspective (vv. 4-7), and what it means to confess Christ before others (vv. 8-12). !

Like an expert physician who accurately and perceptively diagnoses a persons true medical condition, Jesus
as the physician of our lives, diagnoses this mans true spiritual condition. !

15 And he said to them, Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for ones life does
not consist in the abundance of his possessions. !

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NIV: Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed.!

Be on your guard = this is something that you should pay attention to. !
covetousness = the desire to want what someone else has. If only I had _____, I would be happy.!
Take care = see clearly, discern rightly. !

2. Jesus audience: mostly poor Jews trying to eek out a living. IF they needed to hear this warning, how
much more so do we need to hear this warning. Jesus warning is really a warning for all of us. !

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According to the worldwealthcalculator.org, if you make $33,500 a year, you are among the richest 5% in
the world. There are 6.2 billion people less wealthy than you. !
To take Jesus seriously, we should respond by saying, I must continually guard myself against greed b/c
I am prone to thinking that life consists in the abundance of possessions. This requires constant
vigilance because our possessions are always trying to possess us. The dogged pursuit of more lays
claim to the loyalties of our hearts. !

16 And he told them a parable, saying, The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought
to himself, What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops? !

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Problem #1: He was thankless. !

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Problem #2: He had a mistaken view of his wealth as his own. Ownership vs. Stewardship. !

Deuteronomy 8:17, Beware lest you say in your heart, My power and the might of my hand have gotten
me this wealth. You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the power to get
wealth.!

3. Problem #3: He has no room in his thoughts for God and his will re: this money. Instead of talking to God
about what to do with this bumper crop, he just talks to himself. And of course, when we are the centre of
the universe, God gets crowded out. We live for ourselves (cf. 2 Cor. 5:15).!

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Deut. 8:11-14, Take care lest you forget the Lord your God.lest when you have eaten and are full and
have built good houses and live in them, and whenyour silver and gold is multiplied and all that you
have is multiplied, then your heart will be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God.!

18 And he said, I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all
my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many
years; relax, eat, drink, be merry. !

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In the Greek, the personal pronoun my occurs 4x and I 8x (R.Kent Hughes).!

This mans possessions have possessed him. He is completely self-absorbed. And for Jesus, this is
tragic, bc though this man is surrounded by material wealth, he is completely impoverished spiritually. !

2. He didnt see clearly, he didnt discern rightly. He made the fatal mistake of thinking that life consisted in
the abundance of possessions.!

20 But God said to him, Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have
prepared, whose will they be? 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward
God.!

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required is a Greek word commonly used for by a banker who calls in a loan. His life is now due. !

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Fool. A fool is simply a person who lives life without reference to God. !

Not only was this mans possessions not his own, but even his life was not his own. It was on loan to him
by God. And now God is calling this steward to account for how he invested his wealth and his life. !

The fool says in his heart, There is no God. We might say, a fool is a person who spends money
without reference to God in the dogged pursuit of more and more stuff. Rich toward God is just the
opposite. It is to see all of our lives as centered upon and revolving around our Creator God. !
Main Idea: Life does not consist in the abundance of things, !
but in the abundance of a life that is centred on God.!

Application: !
1. Choose whom you will serve: God or money? !

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Luke 16:13, No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he
will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.!
In John Grishams The Testament, a multi-billionnaire leaves his entire fortune to an illegitimate daughter
who is serving as a Christian missionary to the people in Brazil. The lawyer is dumbfounded by her
refusal to accept the money. You worship money. Youre part of a culture where everything is measured
by money. Its a religion. !
Ecclesiastes 5:10, He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with
his income. If you serve money, it will leave you empty b/c money has no power to enable you to enjoy it.
That is a gift of God, and that is only given by God to those who do not worship money. !
Know that money is not evil, but it can be very dangerous. !
1 Timothy 6:9-10, Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and
harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of
evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with
many pangs. !

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The danger that often comes when we combine wealth with our hearts is that we forget God. !
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3. Treasure your True Treasure !
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2 Corinthians 8:9, You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your
sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.!
Tim Keller, When you see him dying to make you his treasure, that will make him yours. Money will
cease to be the currency of your significance and security, and you will want to bless others with what
you have. To the degree you grasp the gospel, money will have no dominion over you. Think on his costly
gracehow he poured out his wealth for you !

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Conclusion:!
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The only real cure for affluenzathe dogged pursuit of moreis the arrival of a different kingdom: the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. When we welcome the king, we welcome the kind rule of his kingdom. We say Yes! to his
kingdom come and tear down the walls of our own kingdom. !

May we know more of the joy and peace of Christs kingdom this Advent Season as we bring every square inch
of our livesincluding our financial livesunder his lordship. Let every heart prepare him room. !

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