Being Rich in a Poor Economy:
Deceitfulness of Riches

Pastor Burcham’s Sermon

Sunday, November 9, 2008

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

My kids have a favorite restaurant they like to go to. And 9 times out of 10, if we give them the choice, they will name this place. I affectionately call it Chuck’s Place. Some of you know what I’m talking about. Chuck’s Place is a magical restaurant for children because it is filled from stem to stern with games and rides for them, wall to wall games. All one needs to do is go in, pay an exorbitant amount of money for a mediocre piece of pizza, give them a handful of tokens and turn them loose. Turn them loose so they can go and play the games so they can get the most important thing about Chuck’s Place, the tickets. Yes, the tickets. That’s the important thing about Chuck’s Place because, as you play the games, the games award you tickets. And what the tickets do for you is you can trade the tickets in on fabulous prizes. In fact, Chuck has a special designated area so the children can walk by and look at the fabulous prizes that you can trade your tickets in on. And the more tickets you have, the better the fabulous prize you can get.

Now my kids are pretty astute and they’ve decided that instead of trading in the tickets every time we go, we’ll save them up and we’ll get a lot of tickets so we can get a great prize. Two and a half years, I’m not kidding, two and a half years, they saved up these little tickets and then they got smart about it. They found out which games gave more tickets. They didn’t like the games but they paid out bigger, they gave more tickets. They got Michelle and I in on the game. Sure, I became an expert at skeet ball. Why? So I could earn them more tickets so they could trade their tickets in on fabulous prizes. Two and a half months ago, time to trade them in. 4,000 tickets, about 2 days’ worth of time for them to decide what fabulous prize they were going to choose but this is what 4,000 tickets and two and a half years of waiting will get you. Yep, they took this puppy home. Each one had their own. They played with it for about 15 minutes and I haven’t seen it again until I dug it out for this weekend. The tickets promised so much; they delivered so little. I think my kids were deceived.

Let me show you my tickets. Here are my tickets. They’re your tickets, too, right? You see, these are the tickets we trade in for fabulous prizes and so we work real hard to get as many of the tickets as we can and we save the tickets up because we have a goal in sight. Sometimes, we’ll even borrow tickets so we can get the prize we want. Because you see, it has the promise to it that if we have enough tickets, we can trade them in and they will make us so happy that they’ll bring joy to our life. If we have enough of the tickets saved up and it’s in a secure place, then we won’t have to worry about the future.

I think we’ve been deceived because the tickets are making promises they can’t keep. The deceitfulness of wealth, the deceitfulness of riches, is that it promises things only God can deliver. Only God can bring peace in your life. Only God can bring true joy in your life. And the only security you can count on is in God, not in riches, not in wealth. I think we’ve been deceived.

Now I want to make sure you understand me. This is not an anti-wealth sermon. This isn’t anti-money. I’m not preaching against money saying we all need to take a vow of poverty. I’m not saying that at all. In fact, I’m saying the opposite of that because, last week, I believe I demonstrated that we’re rich. I’m rich. You’re rich and God has blessed us with it. God has given that to us. But how do we live a godly existence being rich. Now if you weren’t with us last week, I rarely do this, but go to the website, download the sermon, because it’s that foundational because I think it’s that important of an issue. You see, the point is, if you look at it from a worldly perspective, which God does, we’re rich. If you consider if you make over $37,000 a year, you’re in the top 4% wage earners of the globe. If you earn over $45,000 a year, you’re in the top 1% of wage earners on the globe. I’m rich. And I would dare say that most, if not all of you, are rich. There’s nothing wrong with being rich. In fact, listen to God’s Word. What does He say? He gives us instruction on how to be rich because when God talks to rich people, He’s talking to us. He’s not just talking to Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, He’s talking to us. “So command those who are rich in the present world not to be arrogant.” Number one, we’re not going to be arrogant. It says not to put their hope in wealth. Got it. We’re going to put our hope in God. Then He says to put our hope in God who richly provides us with everything, do you remember, for our enjoyment. We need to acknowledge the blessings God has given to us. They’re here for our enjoyment but that means we need to learn how to be rich in a godly way. Which means we cannot fall to the deceitfulness of riches.

The problem is not the money. It’s the love of money. There’s a monumental difference. The problems, the deceitfulness is not the money. It’s the love of money. Listen to God’s Word. He says, “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” Do you understand how serious that is? Some people, eager for money, in love with money, have wandered from the faith. We’re talking eternity. This is serious stuff. Sometimes we want to just gloss over. Jesus put it this way, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” “No one can serve two masters. Either he’ll hate the one and love the other, he’ll be devoted to the one and despise the other.” You cannot serve both God and money.

This isn’t a both/and. It’s an either/or. The problem is the love of money. I’m convinced this is a serious spiritual issue for us who are rich because it is so easy to fall into the deceitfulness of riches. But what we’re gambling with here is our very spiritual life. We cannot serve both God and this. If our hope and our trust is in our wealth, then our hope and our trust is not in God. So a serious spiritual issue for us to wrestle with: Do you love money? Do you put your trust in your money?

Most of you are saying, “No, no, I don’t. No, un-uh, un-uh. I don’t hope in the almighty buck.” I’m going to challenge that this morning because I think that’s my job. I want to challenge you this morning and I want you to open up your heart to let down the defenses, don’t let anyone else show, that’s fine, but ask yourself, honestly, have you fallen for the deceitfulness of riches? Do you love money?

There are three characteristics I want to point out of people who love money. First one is this: People who love money never have enough. Never have enough. Ecclesiastes says this, “Whoever loves money never has money enough. Whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.” Whoever loves wealth is never satisfied, never satisfied with his income. Now again, I want to be careful so you don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying that it’s wrong that you make more this year than you made last year or five years ago or that you shouldn’t get a raise every year. It’s not what I’m talking about. But if you love money, then you never have enough of it and you’re never satisfied. The deceitfulness, the lie is that you need more or that you deserve more which means you could never be satisfied with what you have. From the simplest of things to the most complex things, okay? I can go out and buy a brand new cell phone. “Alright, I have a new cell phone. I love cell phones. Look at my cell phone. This is a great cell phone.” Then someone walks up and, all of a sudden, I say, “You got a keyboard on your cell phone. I need a keyboard on my cell phone so I can text and send e-mail.” And then someone else walks up and they have an I-phone. They don’t have a keyboard because it reads your mind and it makes your lunch for you. It does everything. “And I need one of those. I deserve one of those.”

A couple of years ago, we finished off the basement in our house and, of course, when you finish off the basement, you put carpeting down, right? Because there was no carpeting. So we put brand new carpeting down. We’re downstairs in the basement. “This is nice. Boy, I like this. Nice and squishy. Boy, this is wonderful carpeting.” Walked upstairs to the first floor, looked at the floor. “It looks like junk. How in the world can we live with this?” Last spring, guess what we did? We put new flooring in downstairs on the first floor, put new carpeting in the family room. “This is nice. It’s nice and squishy. I like this carpet. This is wonderful.” Then we went to go upstairs that night for bed. “This looks like junk.” It’s never enough. There’s always something more. And the lie is that you need it. Okay? The lie is that if you have it, now you can be happy and now you’ll have joy in your life and you do momentarily until the next thing comes along and then the next thing because it’s always moving. People who love money never have enough.

People who love money have money in the bank but no peace in their heart. Money in the bank, no peace in their heart. Proverbs says this, “Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil.” Better to have a little and fear God than to have a lot and to have turmoil. You see, the lie is if I have enough tickets, then I can rest easier at night. If I have enough in the retirement account, if I have enough in the savings account or if I have a nice enough house or if I have a new enough car, then I can rest easy at night because I don’t have to worry about those things anymore. How’s that working for you these days? How many people are in turmoil right now because of the economy, because of the stock market? Now again, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t invest. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t save. That’s being a good steward but if you’re looking to that for your security, if you think by having more of that, you’ll rest easy at night, that’s deceitfulness of riches because it’s a lie that you can’t deliver on. Because the more you have, the more you worry about because it’s the more that you’re responsible for.

Let’s read one more in Proverbs, “The wealth of the rich is their fortified city. They imagine it as an unscalable wall.” They imagine it an unscalable wall. In other words, if I build up enough, I’ll be protected. If I have enough of this in the bank, if my portfolio is large enough, then I’ll be protected and I’ll be secure. It’s like a fortified wall that somebody can’t get over. You can have all this that you want and that won’t stop you from getting cancer. You can have all this you want. It won’t keep your kids off drugs. You can have all of this that you want and it won’t save your marriage. It’s making promises that it can’t deliver. That’s the deceitfulness of riches. You may have money in the bank but you have no peace in your heart.

People who love money find it increasingly more difficult to give. People who love money find it increasingly more difficult to give and to give generously. Because the deceitfulness is, “I have to hold on to it because I don’t have enough. Something might come up.” Study after study has shown that those with the lowest income give the highest percentage of that income back to God. All of us know that God’s Word is very clear on this. God says everything we have comes from Him. It all belongs to Him. He lets us use it for our lifetime and God says to us, and He’s very clear about that, we’re to give a portion of that, we are to give a percentage of it back to Him and God even says that we’re to be generous as we give back to Him. And yet the more we have, the more difficult it is to give it back to God.

A couple of years ago I read, I believe it’s Mississippi is the lowest per capita income of the 50 states. They’re the highest percentage, though, of giving back to God. You see, the lie is we live in the world of when. So when the kids get out of school, then I’ll give back to God. When we finally move into the new house, then I’ll give some more back to God, I’ll be generous. When I get the promotion, when I get this paid off. You live in the world of when. God says live in the world of now. Nowhere in scripture does it say when. People who love money have an increasingly more difficult time to give it back to God and to give generously.

This week I’m not going to ask you to raise your hand because I think that would be kind of rude but do you love money? I’m going to raise my hand, you don’t need to, because I’ve been convicted at times I have. I have fallen for the lies and I thought if I had enough of this, I’ll be okay. If I get just a little bit more of this, I’ll sleep better at night. If I could have just a few more things, then my life would be complete and I could be happy. I have fallen for the lies. Have you?

My friends, God has blessed us incredibly. We’re rich. You’re rich and I’m rich. How can we be rich in a godly way? This week, we’re going to stop falling for the deceitfulness of riches because being rich in a God-pleasing way means that we love God only, that we love God above all things and we look only to God for our peace, our happiness and our security. That means we need to discover contentment. Scripture says, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” Another translation says, “Godliness with contentment is great wealth, true wealth.” Jesus said, “What’s the true treasure you should be storing up?” We need to discover contentment, to say that I have been blessed with more than I need and I should be content with what I have. If you’re always grasping at something else and wanting something else, you never know contentment. We need to discover contentment.

We need to look only to God for peace in our lives. St. Paul started all of his letters very similarly, this one to Timothy, “Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus, our Lord.” Peace. Where does that peace come from? That peace comes from Christ Jesus our Lord. It’s a peace that says, “Even though I’ve loved money, I have a God who forgives me. The all powerful, all knowing, all loving God was willing to take on flesh and was willing to die for me. And for my sinfulness of greed, for my love of money, so I could have peace with God. That’s peace. That’s a peace that scripture says is beyond understanding.

The third thing is we need to learn to give with joy and to give generously with joy, not out of obligation, not out of guilt, not out of coercion but to give to God generously with joy and discover that joy of giving back to Him. Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth and he’s talking to them about the Macedonians and he says this about them, “Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity, for I testify that they gave as much as they were able and even beyond their ability.” Paul’s blown away by them. He looked at their gift and he says, “There’s no way possible that they should be able to be this generous.” Beyond his comprehension. And how do they give it? Out of their overwhelming joy. Their overwhelming joy in God and from their peace in God and so their worship of God, their demonstration of their trust in God came with this incredibly generous gift as they gave back to God.

Think about the spiritual power of the act of our offering. It is our worship. The very thing that is competing for your heart, you’re letting go of and you’re giving back to God. Why do you think God asks for it? To give us a chance to actively, concretely say to God, “You have blessed me with more than I need and I trust you. I don’t trust my wealth.” That’s joy. And until you give that way, you won’t understand it. It’s my frustration every year to try to help you turn the corner of understanding the joy of giving because, according to the world, that makes absolutely no sense at all.

But scripture is true on it and I’ve lived it. Some of you have, too. Discover the joy in giving. That’s what being rich is all about. And that’s what we’re trying to do here because you’re rich and I’m rich. Now how can we learn to be rich in a godly way? Let’s discover contentment and really take stock of all the things that God really has given us. We look to God alone for our peace because He’s the only one who can offer it and let’s discover the joy, the joy of giving. Amen.

Copyright 2008 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church