Oct. 8 Sermon Does God Want You to be Rich
A few weeks ago the cover of Time
magazine had this picture of a Rolls Royce with a gold hood cross
ornament and the question: “Does God want you to be rich?” The article points out that Jesus said to
his disciples, “I have come that you may have life, and have it in
abundance.” Abundance means “lots
of” and every Texan knows our state motto “Too much is not enough”.
Jesus wants you to have an abundant life, but is he talking about
money?
Jesus had spoken about “eternal life” - about a full, abundant life
that begins now and lasts eternally - a satisfying, fulfilling
life
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A man who was enjoying an abundant life - at least in monetary terms -
came to Jesus: “What must I do to
inherit eternal life?” - to enter the
Maybe this guy was a first century YUPPIE -
“young, upwardly mobile
Palestinian”.
But he was also
religious. After Jesus reviewed the list
of commandments, the man relied: “Teacher, I have kept all these since my
youth.”
But just keeping all the rules of his religion had NOT led to a
satisfying, abundant life. Something
was missing - he was looking for more.
“Jesus, looking at him, loved him...”
Loved him, for the man was on the right path and a true
seeker of God... and Jesus wanted to show him the way into the
“You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and
give to the poor, and you will have treasure in
heaven; then, come and follow me.”
Mark 10:17-31
Sell everything I own?
Give my money away? Then come and follow?
It sounds like Jesus is asking for a lot - for
everything.
I heard Jesus say: “If any
would follow me, let them deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me.”
But I’ll admit my idea of self denial is something
less than “Sell all you have and give to the poor.”
Why would Jesus ask that man to sell what he had?
Maybe that man with his many processions - derived his sense of self -
of who he was - from all the things he had.
His affluence, his processions, gave him a sense of security and status. Was all the stuff he had more
important that God?
When he heard this, he was shocked and went away
grieving, for he had many possessions.
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Jesus says “You lack one thing.”
Is something is standing between you and the
Beyond material stuff and your career - even beyond family and friends
there is something more to the abundant life Jesus promises.
God has a purpose for you and fulfilling that purpose is part of that
abundant life.
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Jesus asks more something more... More than just believing, and more even than sincerely trying to
keep the commandments.
“You lack one thing.” . . .
The Lord has designed you to serve in some way – and in serving Him you
discover another aspect of the abundant life He promises.
Because the Lord has shaped you to fulfill his
plan. If you’re not fulfilling his purpose,
you’re missing out on something.
You’re not using your gifts and talents and experiences in the way he
intends – and therefore you’re not receiving the fulfillment he had planned for
you.
“God’s hands
formed me and shaped me.” Job 10:8
The way God shaped you reveals your purpose, and have
a unique role to play. .
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How has God shaped
me?
I’ll list five specific elements and put them in an acrostic
called SHAPE, which I’ve borrowed from a book by Rick Warren.
S – Spiritual gifts.
“Each one has his own gift from God; one has
this gift, another has that.” 1 Cor. 7:7
Spiritual gifts are specific talents and abilities that God gives you
in order to fulfill His purpose in your life.
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I’ll need Bob the Builder’s [played by Jerry McCarty] help to
illustrate what I mean.
Bob: Hello
again. If you don’t remember me from
last week, I am Bob the Builder. You
have quite a few people on your construction crew that are already hard at
work. I’d like to introduce you to
several of them.
One of these workers you don’t see often but hear her a
lot from back in the music area of the sanctuary, Mindy Weinalt. Mindy, please tell everyone about the
difference in how you use your gifts – your God-given talents – during the week
as a teacher and in your role as a musician at Resurrection Lutheran.
Mindy
speaks about her teaching job and her job at LCR. {“Teaching” is a gift of God and she
serves him every day in school. But
“music” is also a gift which she offers here at church.]
Bob: Mindy, it’s
wonderful that you have chosen to use your God given talent as a musician to
make our worship service that much more enjoyable. Thanks again for your servant attitude for if
we ask the musicians, “Can we sing it”, they sing out “YES WE CAN!!”
H – Heart.
“…Out of your heart flow the actions of life.” Pr. 4:23
By heart I mean your motivations,
your interests.
God shaped your heart so that you’re really concerned about some
issues.
Some people’s heart leads them to visit the sick. Some open their heart to the needy, like
those who help with “Daily Bread”.
Others have a heart for children or youth.
Bob: I know who you’re talking
about, but I’m not sure everyone else does.
Will all of you who work with our Sunday School
and youth program please stand up.
That’s a lot of folks who have followed their heart. We didn’t have room in the construction zone
for all these workers building God’s church.
A – Abilities.
“God has given each of us the ability to do
certain things well…” Rom. 12:6 (LB)
Those are the learned abilities you’ve acquired in life, like
carpentry, typing, plumbing. sewing, gardening….
Bob: (Interrupting)
That’s enough – they got the idea. That
sounds like one of the workers here at Resurrection Lutheran that I admire, Ted
Berquam. Ted is kind of like
Superman. A mild
mannered computer nerd by weekday and Super Handyman by weekend. Ted, how does your
workday life and your service at Resurrection blend in your life?
Ted
speaks about his job and LCR service.
P – Personality.
“God works through different people
in different ways…” 1 Cor. 12:6
God shapes you by giving you a unique personality.
And some of your personalities are very unique.
Each of us has natural preferences for how we approach life – how we
are energized, how we learn and make decisions.
Preferences like that add up to your personality – what you’re
like. And that will effect how and where
you use your gifts and abilities. Two
people with the same gift may employ it in different ways.
God made you to be you. When you
serve in a manner consistent with the personality God gave, you experience
fulfillment and satisfaction.
Bob: This is Josh
Miller. A lot of you know Josh as Andi’s boyfriend and only see the Youth as “those kids
always asking for money to go places.”
What you may find amazing is the amount of work the youth do at Resurrection
without much, if any, recognition. Josh,
what kind of jobs do the youth perform at our church?
Josh
speaks about some of the work
performed by the youth.
Bob: I think a lot
of adults could learn from the servant attitudes shown by our youth here at
Resurrection Lutheran. Josh and the
youth deserve a great big Thank You because if we ask the Youth can they build
it, they reply “YES WE CAN!!”
E – Experiences.
“All that happens to us is working for our good if we
love God…”
Obviously God allows us lots
of different kinds of experiences.
Vocational experiences
– jobs that we’ve had in the past that shape our lives;
Educational experiences
– Spiritual experiences
– and
even Painful experiences can be used, for
God comforts us in our troubles, so that we can
comfort others when they are troubled.
Thanks Bob for helping me illustrate the sermon.
Bob: This is just a
brief look at how a few of our fellow workers use their gifts and talents to
build up our church here at Resurrection Lutheran. We know that everyone here has some talent or
God given gift that can serve God. What
our job is right now is to help you determine how you can use that talent to Build our Church.
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Does God want you to be rich?
Christ offers His followers a rich abundant life now, and treasures in
heaven. But “Do you lack one thing?”
Are you missing out on something God has planned for you?
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Use the sermon as a worksheet,
so you can think and pray about your gifts, your heart
and abilities, your personality and the experiences that have changed your
life.
In prayer, ask the
Lord where he would lead you – how he would have you
serve?
Listen to Jesus’ promise to those who serve:
I assure you that everyone who has given up things
for my sake will receive in return a hundredfold now
- and in the age to come eternal life.
Mark 10:29,30
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Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, help me
to follow you as a servant.
Although I don’t completely understand it yet, I want to fulfill Your purpose and plan for my life. Guide me as I seek Your
will for me.
You have blessed me in many
ways, so I can forget myself, serve others, and become a part of Your plan.
Help me to discern the ways
in which You would have me serve, that I may offer my
talents and abilities and all that I am to you.
Show me the next steps in
following You, that I might experience the abundant
life you promise, and bring glory to your name. Amen