Being Rich in a Poor Economy:
Good News/Bad News

Pastor Burcham’s Sermon

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

This morning, I’d like to start out with a little poll. I mean, it seems to be that’s the thing to do these days is to take a poll so I want to take a poll this morning. Now don’t worry, I’m not going to ask you whether it’s going to be Obama or McCain. No, no, no political stuff here. All you need to do is raise your hand according to these questions. If you had breakfast this morning, would you raise your hand? If you’re going to have breakfast after service this morning, would you raise your hand? If you had dinner last night, would you raise your hand? Okay. If you have a car in your household, could you raise your hand? If you have two cars in your household, raise your hand? Three? Four? No, shucks, I was looking for a ride. Well, I’ll be talking to you, Tom. Good. Okay. If you live in a house, could you raise your hand? How about an apartment, condo, townhouse? Now second to the last question, how many of you think it takes a lot of money to pay for all that stuff? And the final question, you have to be honest with me on this, okay? Who wants to be rich? My hand’s up there. Who wants to be rich? A couple of you have taken a vow of poverty, alright. I’ll give in to that. Most of you, though.

For most of you, I have incredibly good news. You’re rich. No, I’m not kidding. I’m not beating around the bush here. You are rich. And I’m not trying to pull a fast one because I’m not going to go down the row at about how you’re rich in God’s grace. That’s true, you are. Or about how you’re rich because of the family God has given you. That’s all true. I am talking and what I want to show you this morning and convince you of is that you are financially rich. God has given you incredible financial physical blessings and you are rich. I see some skeptics out there. You’re looking at me saying, “You know, if you’d have talked to me a year ago, six months ago, six weeks ago, maybe I’d have said, ‘We’re doing okay. We’re alright. We should be all set for the future,’ but right now, no, no, no, I’m not rich by a long stretch.” You’re saying, “I don’t feel rich.”

That’s because rich is a moving target. That’s why you don’t feel rich. That’s why none of you want to raise your hands to, “Yeah, I’m rich,” because rich is a moving target. For instance, when I was in college, if somebody would have told me that, “One day, Ron, you just might make $30,000 a year,” I would have said, “No. 30K? I’d be set for life. I wouldn’t have to worry about a thing, have anything I want. I’d be rich.” And then you hit that threshold and you go, “I don’t feel rich.” You see, rich moved.

Gallop did an interesting poll. Gallop asked people of different income levels what would it take for you to feel as if you were well off, to think that you’re rich. So those who made $30,000, they asked them, “What would it take for you to feel rich?” The average answer was $74,000.  “If I could make $74,000 a year, we’d be all set. We’d be rich.” And we say, but you know what, there are probably quite a few among us that we make $74,000 or more in our household and we’re saying, “I don’t feel rich.” That’s because rich moved.

So they asked people who made $50,000 a year, “What would it take so that you felt as if you were well taken care of, you were rich?” On average, the answer was, “A little over $100,000,” and then they’d feel rich. Well, you know, we probably know some people who are in the six figures, maybe you’re in the six figures and you’re saying to yourself, “You know, I have a mortgage. I have kids in college. I have car payments. I’m not rich. Uh-huh. I don’t feel rich.” You see, rich moved.

Finally, they asked the top wage earners in the country, “What would it take for you to feel secure, for you to feel as if you were well off, if you were rich?” And, on average, they said if they had $5 million in assets, then they would feel rich and you and I would say, “That should do it.” But would it? You see, rich moves. Because if you have $5 million, well you know somebody has $10 million and somebody has $1 billion. You see, rich is a moving target.

The more we have, the more we spend. And the more God blesses us financially, the higher the standard of living we have and we get used to that standard of living and, all of a sudden, we don’t feel rich because there’s always something more. There’s always something greater. There’s always something bigger that’s out there and so rich is a moving target and we don’t feel rich. That means we have to get more objective about it.

Let’s be more objective about what it means to be rich. And let’s look at it from God’s perspective, which is a global perspective, God’s perspective on what it is to be rich. Now you understand that when God speaks to us through the scriptures, He’s speaking to the world. He’s not just speaking to those of us in Iowa. He’s not just speaking to those in the United States. God addresses the world through the scriptures, which means when God talks to rich people as He did in the two lessons that we read just a few moments ago, He is addressing the world. He has a global perspective. If we take a global perspective of what it means to be rich, my friends, you are rich. There’s just no doubt about it. Living in this country and the blessings God has showered upon us, you are rich and I am rich.

Consider the fact that if you make $37,000 a year or more, you are in the top 4% wage earners in the world.  Top 4%. That means 96% of the globe makes less than you do. If you make $45,000 a year or more, you are in the top 1% of wage earners in the world.  99% of the population of this world makes less than you do. Just about everyone here raised their hands and said they have at least one car. Only about 3% in the world own a car. And you say, “Own a car? No, we have two cars and we bought a car for our teenager and, in fact, we built a house to put our car in. We call it a garage.” And yet, there are people who don’t have houses for their families. And I’m not talking third world countries.

Last Wednesday, we gathered up over 400 sack lunches in this congregation, over 400 of them to hand out to homeless people in the Metro area. And I need to tell you what, there was no problem getting rid of all of them. We could have doubled it. We’re rich. You are rich. I’m rich.

Now I don’t want to have any disrespect about those of you who are suffering financially right now and I don’t want to minimize that. I know the past few weeks have been tumultuous. And maybe your investments went south like everybody else. Maybe you have something else going on. Loss of job, medical bills. But what I do want is for us all to gain a new perspective. To gain some perspective on the blessings God has showered upon this nation and upon us. And I’m talking financial blessings. Most of us, if not all of us, are rich. And that’s pretty important when you look at scripture because now, all of a sudden, when scripture talks to rich people, God is talking to you. And He’s talking to me.

Now that was a real revelation for me. That’s not original for me but when I was researching for this message and that came to light that when God is addressing rich people, when He says, “Command those who are rich in this world,” He’s talking to me and He’s talking to you. You see, I always thought when scripture says, “Command those who are rich,” oh, He’s talking to Warren Buffet or He’s talking to Bill Gates, He’s talking to somebody else but He’s not talking to me. He’s talking about those rich people out there. But if we understand it correctly, if I’m rich, that means scripture is talking to me. So this being rich thing is kind of a double edge sword. There’s some good news about that but there’s some bad news, too. I mean, it’s good news. You’re rich. But there’s some bad news, too. That means Jesus is speaking to me. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. Indeed, it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” That’s bad news. That’s bad news. I don’t know about you, I haven’t even tried to coax a camel through an eight-foot gate, much less to shove one of those guys through the eye of a needle. What do you do, start with the tail? How does that work?

Is it any wonder, then, immediately after that, those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?” Now isn’t it interesting, it isn’t just the rich young ruler who says, “How can I be saved?” It says the whole crowd there, those who heard them evidently must have considered themselves rich, “Who then can be saved?” And Jesus comes back and He says, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”

My point is we need to listen to God. We rich people need to listen to what God has to say to us. To listen for what God has to say, what does it mean to be rich and how is it that we can be rich in a God-pleasing manner. We go to 1 Timothy, St. Paul writes, God tells us, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth which is so uncertain but to put their hope in God.” I have to tell you when I first read that, it was a little unnerving for me. When it said, “Do not put your hope in wealth, which is so uncertain,” how apropos is that for the last few weeks of our country? Things that are so uncertain. How many of our lives have been rocked because we have watched our retirements plummet and our investments tank and we had them put in stuff that was supposed to be conservative? It was supposed to be secure, things that never, ever change. These are the ones you don’t have to worry about. You’re not being flippant with your money. And then I read, “Don’t put your hope in your wealth because it’s uncertain.”

I just wonder how many of us have put our trust and our security for the future in our retirement funds and in our portfolios instead of in God. It’s easy to do. In fact, it starts out, I believe, in a very God-pleasing manner. God wants us to be good stewards of what He has given to us. Financially, He wants us to be good stewards. That means we are to save for the future. That means we should plan for retirement. That means we should have our investments. All these gifts that God has given to us, we should steward them and be responsible for them but what happens when we cross the line? When, all of a sudden, we stop depending upon God and we start depending upon the gifts God has given to us? You see what happens? We start depending and trusting in the gifts God gives us instead of depending upon God Himself. I really have to wonder if this is not a wake-up call from God, a wake-up call for all of us. Wake up in two ways, one to realize the incredible blessings God has given us, the incredible wealth He has showered upon this country and to stop our whining about it and to realize and acknowledge all that God has given to us. And second of all, to put our trust in God and not put our trust in our wealth. Because wealth is uncertain. Wealth can change on one day in Wall Street. But God never changes. God is always certain. Nothing in this world can ever take God’s love away from us.

Listen to the promise of God. Paul puts it this way in the book of Romans, “He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also along with Him graciously give us all things?” If you have a God who is willing to say to His Son, “Go into the world and live among the creation.” If you have a God who is willing to stand by and watch as His Son is unjustly nailed to a cross, if you have a God who is willing to take all of your guilt, all of my guilt and place it upon His Son and watch Him go through hell so we don’t have to go through hell, if we have a God who does all of that so we can spend an eternity with Him, is there anything that God cannot or will not do for us? We put our hope in God, not in our wealth.

The first thing God says to us who are rich, “Make sure, always check where your hope is, what you’re trusting in, that you’re grounded in your God in heaven.” The second thing He tells us is to acknowledge the blessings God has given us. We continue on with what Timothy says there, “But put your hope in God who richly provides us with everything for our,” get this, “enjoyment.” Richly provides us for everything for our enjoyment. Not richly provides us everything just so we can maintain life, doesn’t richly provide for us just so that we can get by but richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. So let me be clear about this, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being rich. It is not sinful to be rich. We just need to learn from God how is it that He wants us to act and how it is that He wants us to be rich. God provides us with the things of this world for our enjoyment. We don’t trust in them. We trust in God. But the things God has given to us, they’re blessings.

We have trouble with this. I have trouble with this. Why is it that we cannot acknowledge the financial physical blessings of God? We’ll acknowledge the other blessings in our life. Somebody will say to me and, by the way, they do quite often, “You have a great church,” and I say, “You bet I do, I got the best. I am incredibly blessed by God that I could be here at Gloria Dei. I count it one of my top blessings.” Someone will say to me, “You have a wonderful family.” “Yeah, that’s obvious. Look how God has blessed me. Look at my kids. Look at my beautiful wife. She puts up with me. Yep, great blessing.” Somebody will say, “Hey, I like your new suit.” “Yeah, I got it on sale. 75% off. Incredible deal.” “Hey, that’s a nice home you live in.” “Yeah, let me tell you how I brokered that one, boy, you know, I probably really shouldn’t be living here but just because of the deal I got.” Why do we do that? Why do we feel guilty when we should feel blessed? I don’t mean to be arrogant about it. God says, “Don’t be arrogant about it.” God says, “Don’t trust in it.” But if God has blessed you financially, shouldn’t you acknowledge that?

Some people really get this right. Several years back, I was at a meeting down in Houston, actually it was Gloria Dei Houston, and one of the members there wanted to take us out to his home for dinner. Now, I tell you, yeah, he was rich. Wow. Beautiful home on the bay. Incredible. Walked in the home, just kind of looked around and said to him and his wife, “You have a beautiful home here.” And he didn’t say to me, “Yeah, we really got a good deal on it.” He said, “Yeah, we really do. God has blessed us. He has blessed us incredibly financially. I just can’t believe it some days. I just hope I can be a blessing to others.” Immediately, I felt more comfortable in his home. He didn’t make excuses. No, he acknowledged God for what he had done to him.

Today, can you take a look around you as you drive home in your car, as you pull up in the driveway of your house, as you walk inside and you open up your refrigerator and your pantry and just say to God, “Wow. These are incredible blessings, God. I can’t believe how you have showered these things upon me.” Acknowledge to God what He’s given to you and call it what it is, a blessing from Him.

You see, that’s what rich people do. That’s what godly rich people do. They don’t depend upon their wealth or trust in it or put their hope in it. They put their hope and their trust in God. But they do acknowledge. They do acknowledge what God has done in their life.

Alright, one last poll question. How many here are rich? And we’ve just scratched the surface on what it means to be rich. Being rich even in a poor economy. Amen.

Copyright 2008 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church