What Influence Did Your Father Have In Your Life?

I have singled him out so that he will direct his sons and their families to keep the way of the Lord and do what is right and just.

Genesis 18:19 NLT

Soaking up Dad

We teach our children even when we don't think school is in session. Too often we think our lessons are the sit-down kind, the planned-out kind. But our lessons are also how we react as a Little League coach when the ump blows a call, and how we treat our wives after we've both had rugged days at work., and what we say when we see a homeless man on the street.

Sometimes our lessons are good ones. I hope my sons—without me saying a word—have become more color-blind by our attending a church with a black pastor and linking arms with a black ministry in rural Mississippi.

Sometimes my lessons are the wrong kinds. As a boy, what hurt so deeply was to hear my mother and father fight; though it wasn't a common scene, the most perfect day could turn blustery cold when their relationship iced up. Without intending it to, I've taught a few similarly chilly lessons to my own sons.

Our children are sponges, quietly soaking up all we say and do.
Bob Welch in A Father for All Seasons

from Men of Integrity Devotional Bible with devotionals by the editors of Men of Integrity magazine (Christianity Today, Intl), Tyndale House Publishers (2002), p 25

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All our heritages are flawed—of course some far more than others. Modern men and women are so sensitized to this that many have come to use the sins of their parents as a cloak for their own sins and parental deficiencies. This has brought about, as Robert Hughes writes, "the rise of cult therapies teaching that we are all the victims of our parents, that whatever our folly, venality, or outright thuggishness, we are not to be blamed for it, since we come from 'dysfunctional families.'"
R. KENT HUGHES

Merry Chtistmas

Just wishing everyone who reads this blog a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

God and Lawns

GOD:

Frank, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there on the planet? What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistle and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long-lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But, all I see are these green rectangles.

St. FRANCIS:

It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers "weeds" and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.

GOD:

Grass? But, it's so boring. It's not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, birds and bees; only grubs and sod worms. It's sensitive to temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?

ST. FRANCIS:

Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.

GOD:

The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.

ST. FRANCIS:

Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it-sometimes twice a week.

GOD:

They cut it? Do they then bail it like hay?

ST. FRANCIS:

Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.

GOD:

They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

ST. FRANCIS:

No, Sir, just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.

GOD:

Now, let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And, when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?

ST. FRANCIS:

Yes, Sir.

GOD:

These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.

ST. FRANCIS:

You aren't going to believe this, Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.

GOD:

What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn, they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. It's a natural cycle of life.

ST. FRANCIS:

You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.

GOD:

No. What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter to keep the soil moist and loose?

ST. FRANCIS:

After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something which they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.

GOD:

And where do they get this mulch?

ST. FRANCIS:

They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.

GOD:

Enough! I don't want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine, you're in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?

ST. CATHERINE:

"Dumb and Dumber", Lord. It's a story about....

GOD:

Never mind, I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis.

John 11:21-27; 11:33-44

21) Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22) And even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." 23) Jesus said to her, " Your brother will rise again." 24) Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." 25) Jesus said to her, " I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26) and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" 27) She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world." 33) When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled; 34) and he said, " Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." 35) Jesus wept. 36) So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" 37) But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?" 38) Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb; it was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. 39) Jesus said, " Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." 40) Jesus said to her, " Did I not tell you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" 41) So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. 42) I knew that thou hearest me always, but I have said this on account of the people standing by, that they may believe that thou didst send me." 43) When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, " Laz'arus, come out." 44) The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with bandages, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."

Luke 10:17-24

17) The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!" 18) And he said to them, " I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19) Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you. 20) Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." 21) In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, " I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will. 22) All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." 23) Then turning to the disciples he said privately, " Blessed are the eyes which see what you see! 24) For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."

John 9:1-11 and 9:35-41

John 9:1-11; 9:35-41
1) As he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. 2) And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3) Jesus answered, " It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him. 4) We must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day; night comes, when no one can work. 5) As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 6) As he said this, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the man's eyes with the clay, 7) saying to him, " Go, wash in the pool of Silo'am" (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. 8) The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar, said, "Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?" 9) Some said, "It is he"; others said, "No, but he is like him." He said, "I am the man." 10) They said to him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" 11) He answered, "The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, `Go to Silo'am and wash'; so I went and washed and received my sight." 35) Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, " Do you believe in the Son of man?" 36) He answered, "And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?" 37) Jesus said to him, " You have seen him, and it is he who speaks to you." 38) He said, "Lord, I believe"; and he worshiped him. 39) Jesus said, " For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind." 40) Some of the Pharisees near him heard this, and they said to him, "Are we also blind?" 41) Jesus said to them, " If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, `We see,' your guilt remains."

Happy Thanksgiving

I just wanted to tell everyone to have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Mark 1:9-18

1) The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2) As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, "Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way; 3) the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight -- " 4) John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5) And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6) Now John was clothed with camel's hair, and had a leather girdle around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey. 7) And he preached, saying, "After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8) I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." 9) In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10) And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove; 11) and a voice came from heaven, "Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased." 12) The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13) And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to him. 14) Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, 15) and saying, " The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel." 16) And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. 17) And Jesus said to them, " Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men." 18) And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Matthew 8:1-13

1) When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him; 2) and behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." 3) And he stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, "I will; be clean." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4) And Jesus said to him, " See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, and show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to the people. 5) As he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, beseeching him 6) and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, in terrible distress." 7) And he said to him, " I will come and heal him." 8) But the centurion answered him, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9) For I am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." 10) When Jesus heard him, he marveled, and said to those who followed him, " Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith. 11) I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12) while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth." 13) And to the centurion Jesus said, " Go; be it done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed at that very moment.

Kids in Church

KIDS IN CHURCH

3-year-old Reese:

"Our Father, Who does art in heaven,

Harold is His name.

Amen."

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A little boy was overheard praying:

"Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it.

I'm having a real good time like I am."

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After the christening of his baby brother in church,

Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car.

His father asked him three times what was wrong.

Finally, the boy replied,

"That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home,

and I wanted to stay with you guys."

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One particular four-year-old prayed,

"And forgive us our trash baskets

as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets."

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A Sunday school teacher asked her children as they

were on the way to church service,

"And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?"

One bright little girl replied,

"Because people are sleeping."

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A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin 5, and Ryan 3.

The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake.

Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson.

"If Jesus were sitting here, He would say,

'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.'

Kevin turned to his younger brother and said,

"Ryan, you be Jesus!"

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A father was at the beach with his children

when the four-year-old son ran up to him,

grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore

where a seagull lay dead in the sand.

"Daddy, what happened to him?" the son asked.

"He died and went to Heaven," the Dad replied.

The boy thought a moment and then said,

"Did God throw him back down?"

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A wife invited some people to dinner.

At the table, she turned to their six-year-old daughter and said,

"Would you like to say the blessing?"

"I wouldn't know what to say," the girl replied.

"Just say what you hear Mommy say," the wife answered.

The daughter bowed her head and said,

"Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"

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Matthew 12:1-13

1) At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2) But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath." 3) He said to them, " Have you not read what David did, when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4) how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5) Or have you not read in the law how on the sabbath the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are guiltless? 6) I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7) And if you had known what this means, `I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8) For the Son of man is lord of the sabbath." 9) And he went on from there, and entered their synagogue. 10) And behold, there was a man with a withered hand. And they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath?" so that they might accuse him. 11) He said to them, " What man of you, if he has one sheep and it falls into a pit on the sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12) Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the sabbath." 13) Then he said to the man, " Stretch out your hand." And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, whole like the other.

Mark 16: 15-28

16) And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" 17) And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, " Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." 18) Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to him, "Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" 19) And Jesus said to them, " Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20) The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21) No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; if he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22) And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but new wine is for fresh skins." 23) One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24) And the Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?" 25) And he said to them, " Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26) how he entered the house of God, when Abi'athar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?" 27) And he said to them, " The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath; 28) so the Son of man is lord even of the sabbath."

God comforts those who are persecuted

How do things look to you today?

The wicked will not rule the godly, for then the godly might be forced to do wrong.

Psalm 125:3 NLT

Seeking what is really there

"Life under Louis XIV was not easy for the French Huguenots. They loved to sing psalms, but the king made an edict that forbade the singing of the Psalms almost everywhere. So the Huguenots went out to the fields and forests and continued their singing. Psalm 125 was a favorite of theirs, maybe because it said that the wicked would not rule the godly. Or maybe it was because the Huguenots could see something that Louis XIV couldn't see.

Remember the story of Elisha and his servant (2 Kings 6:8-23)? The servant couldn't understand why Elisha wasn't bothered about the hordes of enemy soldiers surrounding them. It looked like disaster, but Elisha could see horses and chariots of fire surrounding the enemy soldiers.

The same has been true for many other saints, including Paul and Silas, who sang at midnight in the Philippian jail, and Shadrach, Meshech, and Adednego, who calmly entered the fiery furnace.

When John Woolman, a Quaker missionary to American Indians, was faced with danger, he wrote, "I found my soul filled with comfort as I meditated on the love of God."

John Paton, missionary to South Sea Island natives, was surrounded by men seeking to assassinate him, but he wrote, "I never left without hearing, 'Lo, I am with you always.'"

How does it look for you today? Hopeless? Then take another look.

adapted from The One Year® Book of Psalms with devotionals by William J. Petersen and Randy Petersen (Tyndale) entry for October 24"

Daddy's Empty Chair

A man's daughter had asked the local minister

to come and pray with her father.
When the minister arrived,

he found the man lying in bed with his head

propped up on two pillows.


An empty chair sat beside his bed.
The minister assumed that the old fellow

had been informed of his visit.
"I guess you were expecting me, he said.

'No, who are you?" said the father.
The minister told him his name and then remarked,

"I saw the empty chair and I figured you knew

I was going to show up."


"Oh yeah, the chair," said the bedridden man.
"Would you mind closing the door?"
Puzzled, the minister shut the door.
"I have never told anyone this,

not even my daughter," said the man.
<>
"But all of my life I have never

known how to pray.

At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it went
right over my head."


I abandoned any attempt at prayer,"

the old man continued, "

until one day four years ago, my best friend said to me, "Johnny,
prayer
is just a simple matter

of having a conversation with Jesus.



Here is what I suggest.

"Sit down in a chair;

place an empty chair in front of you,
and in faith see Jesus on the chair.


It's not spooky because he promised,

'I will be with you always'.
"Then just speak to him in the same way

you're doing with me right now."


"So, I tried it and I've liked it so much

that I do it a couple of hours every day.

I'm careful though . If my daughter saw me talking

to an empty chair, she'd either have a nervous breakdown or send me
off to the funny farm."

The minister was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old man
to continue on the journey.
Then he prayed with him, anointed him with oil,

and returned to the church.


Two nights later the daughter called

to tell the minister that her daddy

had died that afternoon.
Did he die in peace?" he asked.


Yes, when I left the house about two o'clock,

he called me over to his bedside,

told me he loved me and kissed me on the cheek.
When I got back from the store an hour later,

I found him .


But there was something strange about his death. Apparently, just
before Daddy died,

he leaned over and rested his head on the chair
beside the bed. What do you make of that?"

The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said,

"I wish we could all go like that."

Monkees Sermon

While surfing the internet I came across this from Redland Baptist Church. It is used here by permission of Pastor Mark Adams. It's an article with the Monkees used as a basis. No matter if you are a fan of the Monkees or not you should read this article.


This past Christmas one of my favorite gifts came from Lois Brown & Patti Graves. In going through Lois' house to get it ready to sell, they came across some old 33 1/3 record albums that had belonged to her son, and thought I would enjoy having them. The recordings were made by a pop/rock group from the late 60's known as THE MONKEES. I guess Lois & Patti heard I was a fan. And I am.....in fact, when I was in Junior High I was not just a fan of the MONKEES...I was a devoted fan of THE MONKEES. I scrimped and saveed so that I could purchase every one of their records as soon as it came out. I never missed an episode of their weekly TV show. I knew all of their songs by heart...still do! I even went so far as to pattern my life after those four guys.
Mike Nesmith, lead guitarist for the MONKEES, always wore a knit hat with a little ball on the top and so I decided to do the same...even in the summer. Mickie Dolenz-drummer for THE MONKEES always wore a wide belt with a big buckle and he wore the buckle on the side....not in the front...so I did too. THE MONKEES became the focus of my life. They traveled around in a converted Pontiac station wagon...candy-apple read with a white canvas top....called the MONKEEMOBILE. I remember approving of my parent's decision to purchase a new Pontiac station wagon that year because this provided me with one more way to relate to my heros. I didn't usually purchase magazines in those days but I remember buying several copies of 16 magazine because they were filled with pictures-candid shots -- of THE MONKEES and I cut them out and pinned them up on the walls of my room.
Soon my room was WALL-TO-WALL MONKEE pictures.
Well, one night at the height of my MONKEE madness, I had trouble sleeping. I just didn't feel right...there was a feeling of unease deep in my spirit....almost a fear. I tossed and turned for hours but could not find peace enough to sleep. I finally was driven to my knees in prayer and as I talked to God and listened to His still small voice I began to see my fascination with THE MONKEES in a different light.
I began to understand that this feeling of unease that I was experiencing was a message from God...a warning that I had allowed this singing group to become a real idol. I had given them too much of my devotion....I had built too much of my life around my love of these four guys and their music.
So after a prayer of repentance I got up and took all those pictures down...everyone of them....and threw them all away. I left hundreds of little pin holes in my wall....but the moment I finished this task my fear and unrest left and I slept like a baby.
Now,before you chalk this up to typical teenage behavior you should understand that all of us struggle with idols in our lives no matter what our age. Webster defines an idol as "ANY object of passionate devotion...ANY object of worship." He says that to idolize something is "to love or admire it to excess." And I have seen people of all ages love or admire things to excess...things just as silly as THE MONKEES. All of us struggle with idolatry in some form or other. And, in today's text Jesus warns us of something that can very easily become an idol for all of us if we let it. Take your Bibles and turn to Matthew 6:19-24 and let's read our Lord's warning together...
19 - Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
20 - But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 - For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 - The eye is a lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.
23 - But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 - No one can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money."

Now any THING can become an idol in our lives....we are sinful people who have the ability to make any THING an object of our passionate devotion. But in this text Jesus is warning us that there is ONE thing that is very easy for us to love to excess....perhaps in all of life it is the easiest thing for us to idolize. THE THING I AM REFERRING TO OF COURSE IS MONEY.
In this portion of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus went so far as to picture MONEY as an evil entity...a false god....opposed to the purposes of God. Jesus even gave money a Semitic name: Mammon. And this was a new thing...no one else in the culture of Jesus' day had given money a name like this -- as if it were a living thing. But Jesus did. And Jesus made this unique point because He of course saw everything in a unique way. He looked at everything with the eyes of God....and from His eternal perspective He saw things the rest of the world could not. Jesus saw that money was not just a neutral medium of exchange but was something that we very easily lift to idol status. And when we do this...when we love it to excess...Jesus knew that money could take on a power with a life of it's own.
Now before we go any further, let me make a very important point here....it is not the amount of money that is the problem. Idolizing MAMMON is not a practice limited to those who are wealthy....the poor can just as easily slip into this practice.
John Michael Talbot is the General Minister of The Hermitage, a community of monks, nuns, and families belonging to a religious order called The Brothers and Sisters of Charity. Everyone in the group is committed to living a simple life, and has relinquished all but the most necessary possessions. Talbot writes, "Taking a vow of poverty is not a cure for materialism.
Many people come to this community and go from being selfish with thousands of dollars to being selfish with a coffee mug." You see our problem with things is not how much we have...it is our attitude about what we have. As it says in I Timothy 6:10 money is not the problem it is the LOVE of money that puts us under the spell of Mammon.
When we love money to excess-no matter how much or little we have-it can take on a personality of its own....an evil force if we let it.
Now is this a little extreme? Isn't it ONLY money? Aren't these coins and bills just inanimate objects? Or, can they become an evil force....a false God...for us to worship? Are our wallets possessed? Let's take a few minutes here to consider this....is money as a god of sorts in our culture?
1. Well, when you think about it MONEY IS almost a SACRED thing to us.
When I say "sacred," I'm speaking of something that has the mysterious power to elicit our loyalty, to confer worth to us personally, something that we organize our lives around.
Well, is money "sacred" to us in that sense? I think we'd have to honestly say "Yes, it is." For...Money is a very personal, private thing in our society. If you doubt this then the next time you are invited to a party and the conversation lulls test this out by saying, "Let's all share how much money we made last year. In fact, why don't we pass around each other's check books so we can read the register and see how we spend our money!" If you were to do that you'd never be invited to that house again....this kind of statement would be considered the greatest kind of social mistake that you could make. For money is a very personal, private thing.
And, In our society, people do ascribe worth to other people based on the amount of money they have. How many times have you heard someone comment on a person who is known to be wealthy by asking, "I wonder how much he is WORTH?" Dr. Lee Salk, professor of psychology at the New York Hospital Cornell medical Center, says, "People jockey to find out what other people earn because, in our society, money is a symbol of strength, influence, and power."
Then, consider of how much of our lives are spent in one way or another in relationship to money...thinking about money....working to accumulate money...worrying about money. The most common source of marital difficulty is disagreements over money. And more than a few people here would have to confess that their favorite thing in life is spending money.
So I think we would be accurate in saying that there is a sacredness and spirituality to our attitudes about money.
2. And then, MONEY does deceive us in the same way that a false god would.
It promises something it does not deliver. Money assures us that it will make us happy...that it will bring us fulfillment. Money tends to lead us to believe that if we only had more of it, everything would be great....If only we had a bigger house or a nicer car or a better wardrobe things would be better for us. And of course we discover that this is not true....things don't make us happy...no matter how many things we have. As it says in Ecclesiastes 5:10, "Whoever loves money never has enough money...whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income."
This week I came across some statistics about money and people. Statistics say that the percentage of Americans who earn less than $15,000 a year and believe they have achieved the American dream is 5%. Now that is understandable....Fifteen thousand dollars a year is not really much....I think it is at or very near the poverty level.
So it is understandable that only 5% of those people would think they've achieved the American dream. What is interesting though is that -- of Americans who make over $50,000 a year, the percentage of those who believe that they have achieved the American dream is only 6%. A $35,000 difference in income and only one percentage point difference in the level of happiness! You see money deceives us....it promises happiness...it promises to make our dreams come true if we get more of it...and then it does not deliver. In fact usually the opposite of joy -- depression -- usually follows purchases. We buy something thinking it will make us happy and then it doesn't...we realize it wasn't worth it....so what do we do?
We go and buy something else thinking it will make us happy. We find ourselves on a treadmill of sorts...we're like alcoholics thinking one more drink will solve our problem. We experience what King Solomon did when he had everything money could buy. Listen to his words from
Ecclesiastes 2 : "I built great houses for myself and planted vineyards...I made gardens and parks and owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem.
I amassed silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces....I denied myself no THING that my eyes desired...
...yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done...everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
NO THING was gained under the sun."
So money is like a false God in that it deceives us.
3. And then another demonic quality that money can take on when we idolize it is that it leads us to invest in things that are not really important in life.
Jesus warned us of this when He said that the love of money causes us to tend to "store up for ourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal." Dr. Ben Carson is the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. In his new book The Big Picture, he shares a personal experience in which he witnessed the love of money changing people's focus from the important to the unimportant. Dr. Carson grew up in near poverty and gathering the necessary funds to get a good education was a real struggle for him. He writes that his dorm room at Yale was the most comfortable living space he had ever had....it was affluent in comparison to the home he grew up in. But this was not true for many of his fellow classmates who came from very well-to-do homes. Dr. Carson had almost no spending cash but his room-mates had a seemingly limitless supply. They were constantly purchasing clothes and costly sound systems for their rooms or a taking girls out on very expensive dates.
Spending their endless stream of money took time from their studies and many of these guys flunked out as a result. On the other hand, Carson's poverty helped him focus on his studies. He had no money to distract him in this way. Carson's classmates could have become doctors....investing their lives in things of eternal significance but they allowed money to divert them from this purpose. You see, money can lead us to focus on temporary things instead of things of eternal value. It can cause us to get things mixed up in life. .
In an article for CHRISTIANITY TODAY, Gary Thomas writes, "Thinking about eternity helps us retrieve perspective. I'm reminded of this every year when I figure my taxes. During the year, I rejoice at the pay checks and the extra income and sometimes flinch when I write out the tithe and offering checks. I do my best to be a joyful giver, but I confess it is not always easy, especially when there are other perceived needs and wants. At the end of the year, however, all of that changes. As I'm figuring my tax liability, I wince at every source of income and rejoice with every tithe and offering check-More income means more tax, but every offering and tithe means less tax. Everything is turned, up-side down, or perhaps more appropriately, right-side up. I suspect Judgement Day will be like that."
And it will, in I Corinthians 3 Paul reminds us that when we stand before God at the end of time...
"...our work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work." But until we have that eternal perspective many of us idolize money and when we do we ascribe worth to the wrong things. This reminds me of the story of a very wealthy man who was nearing death. He had repeatedly heard the phrase, "You can't take it with you." but he vowed to anyway. He sold all his possessions and had all of his money converted into gold bars and put them in a big sack and left instructions that when he was buried that sack would be placed around his neck.
Well he died and arrived at the pearly gates with this sack of gold around his neck. Peter met him and told him he would have to leave that sack behind. But the man insisted and said, "No, I'm taking this in with me!" Peter said, "You cannot take this with you into heaven. If you won't leave it behind then I have no choice but to send you to hell." The man said, "Well, okay...I'll go to hell because I will not enter heaven without the contents of this sack." Peter said, "Well, okay....but before you head off to hell, could I look in the bag to see what is so important?"
The man allowed him to do this and when Peter looked in the bag he exclaimed, "You gave up Heaven for pavement?" That's the way Mammon works....it leads us to ascribe great value to things that are really worthless from an eternal perspective.
4. And then fourthly, when we love money it becomes like a false god in that it pushes us away from the One True God.
In this text Jesus sets money-MAMMON-in opposition to God. Remember, He said, "You cannot serve both God and Mammon." To try and do so would force us to hate one and love the other....their purposes are opposed to each other. Dietrich Bonhoefer said, "Our hearts have room only for one all-embracing devotion, and we can only cleave to one Lord."
So, Jesus is warning us here that MAMMON can become a lord in our lives....a force that disrupts our relationship with God and leads us away from accomplishing His purposes. I came across some other interesting stats about money recently. In American households with an income under $10,000 a year the average giving to charitable causes is 2.8%. Now, you would think that when the income goes up the percentage of giving to God's purposes....such as helping the poor and the needy...the percentage of giving to the church would rise. But it doesn't work that way because so many people let money ensnare them and push them away from God and doing things that would please Him. The stats show that in households with income between $50,000 and $75,000 a year the average giving is only 1.5%....half that of families living at the poverty level. You see, money can get a hold of us... MAMMON can change our focus in life....from doing God's will to doing what we want....from working to meet the financial needs of the kingdom of God to selfishly satisfying our own desires. We tend to think that we use money...that we own it...but if we are not carefule it is the other way around. Money owns and uses us.
So, back to our original question: Is Jesus being extreme when He gives money the name MAMMON and describes it as a false God? Well, no, I don't think He is....for as we have pointed out...money-MAMMON-has many characteristics of a false God. * To us it can become a sacred thing. And it does deceive us....promising one thing and delivering another. And, like a false God, it tempts us to focus on the temporary, unimportant things of life and not the eternal things. And indeed it can even put us in opposition to the purposes of God.
So Jesus was NOT being extreme. It is VERY easy for us to love money to excess...to worship it...to idolize it....and when we do Satan is more than ready to use it as a powerful evil force. Jesus was right to give money the name MAMMON....Money does have a destructive potential. In Jesus' time here on earth, He repeatedly dealt with money matters because MONEY MATTERS.
Did you know Jesus had more to say about money and stewardship than about any other subject: including HEAVEN, HELL, SALVATION, and THE SECOND COMING? In fact one out of every four verses in the New Testament has to do with POSSESSIONS. And in some of these texts Jesus pointedly describes money as an entity...a false god preventing an individual from coming to know and follow God. Remember when the rich young ruler asked Jesus how he could have eternal life and he received the startling reply, "Go and sell what you possess and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow Me." (Matthew 19:21 ) You see to this young man, material things HAD become a god....an all-consuming idol opposed to God and it had to be rejected totally. Remember Jesus' lunch with Zacchaeus? Jesus freed him of this possession by Mammon and he was so excited that he responded by exclaiming, "Half of my goods I give to the poor and if I have defrauded any one of anything I will restore it four fold" (Luke 19:8 ) And....remember after this statement in which Zacchaeus renounced money's claim on his life Jesus said, "Today salvation has come to this house." or "Since you have ceased to worship the false god, Mammon, salvation has come to this house!" You see in these cases Jesus saw money as an idolatry these two men had to be converted FROM before they could be converted TO Him. And money -- mammon-can just as easily becomes a god in our lives.
Well, what are we do? How can we free ourselves from the destructive power of Mammon? How can we prevent it from staking claim to our lives? Well God gives us a very simple solution. He tells us that the way to defeat Mammon is by GIVING. Throughout scripture Christians are advised to avoid Mammon's clutches by GIVING instead of HOARDING. Romans 12:8 lists "GIVING" as one of the spiritual gifts bestowed on believers by the Holy Spirit. In I Timothy 3:3 Paul advises young Timothy that deacons should not be lovers of money inferring that they should give to meet the needs of others. In II Corinthians 8 we are told to emulate Christ by "excelling in the grace of giving."
You see, Mammon's law is to get and get and get and when we do the opposite...when we give and give and give to meet the needs of others we deal a fatal blow to Mammon. Where there is selfless giving, money-Mammon -- is impotent. Do you understand what a revolutionary thing takes place when we give our offerings on Sunday morning? We're not just doing this so that we can pay salaries or pay the mortgage or send money to missions. We are doing this to worship. The primary reason we pass these plates every Sunday is because to do so is an act of worship... In giving we exalt the One True God. When we put money in the offering plate we are at the same time saying "Yes" to God and "No" to Mammon. We profane that false god, MAMMON, and say "You have no power over us." Gordon Crosby once said, "To give away money is to win a victory over the dark powers that oppress us."
Well, since GIVING is so important we should have a thorough understanding of it....so let me suggest two basic guidelines for the kind of giving that defeats Mammon.... Well first of all we must remember that scripture teaches that God owns everything we have and we give re remind us of this.
So we should dedicate all of our income...every single one of our earthly possessions...to God because we realize that it is all His in the first place. In Job 41 God declares, "whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine." To Moses, God said, "All the earth is Mine." (Exodus 19:5-6 ). And Psalm 24:1 says, "The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof." John Wesley once said, "When the Possessor of Heaven and Earth brought you into being and placed you in this world, He placed you here not as an owner but as a steward." You see God's ownership of everything changes the kind of question we ask in giving. Rather than, "How much of my money should I give to God?" we learn to ask, "How much of God's money should I keep for myself?" I had thought to title this sermon, "THE SERMON ON THE AMOUNT" because that is what Jesus is talking about here....the amount we should dedicate to God-not 10% but 100%.
True stewardship is realizing that all we have comes from God and the way we live every moment and spend every cent should reflect that belief. In his book, Master Your Money, Ron Blue said, "Stewardship is the use of God-given resources for the accomplishment of God-given goals."
You see, we are not owners...we are stewards. That's why we don't call this emphasis "givership" and instead call it "stewardship". To foil Mammon's control over our lives we must realize that all we have is God's.
Secondly we should make giving a lifestyle.
I heard about a little girl who experienced a major breakthrough in her life when she learned to tie her own shoes. But instead of excitement she was overcome with tears. Her father asked, "Why are you crying?" "I just learned to tie my shoes," she said. "Well that's great!" "I know," she wailed, "But I'm going to have to do it for the rest of my life." And you know many of us feel this way when it comes to stewardship. We learn that it is exciting to give....but then we realize we have to do it over and over and over again for the rest of our lives. Stewardship isn't an annual thing.....it is a lifestyle that God calls us to. I know we are focusing on stewardship today but the emphasis on stewardship is never over around here...every Sunday is Stewardship Sunday.
For Stewardship is nothing less that all we do with all we have for all of our lives.
Did you know that in Ghana the only way to ask the question, "What is your religion?" is to ask, "Whom do you serve?" Well, why don't we each ask ourselves that question this morning....Whom do I serve? For that is the question Jesus puts before us in this text. He wants us to understand that we must make a choice. We can serve God, or we can serve money. We cannot serve both. Jesus doesn't tell us it's unwise to serve both. He doesn't tell us it's difficult to serve both. He doesn't tell us it's spiritually immature to try to serve both. He tells us it's impossible to serve both.

We must make a choice. We come now to the close of our service and you know in a very real sense the offering is not what we do in the middle of the service each week. It is what we do now -- at the end of the service. We sing a closing hymn each week to give each of us an opportunity to offer our lives to God in some way.
Today that offering may involve your joining this church...or rededicating some aspect of your life to Christ. It may involve a commitment to begin tithing...or renouncing some THING's claim on your life. It may mean your deciding to become a Christian.....surrendering your life to God as you repent of your sin and embrace the forgiveness that Jesus offers. We invite you to share these decisions with us publicly now as we stand and sing. And remember, if you need to talk to someone after the service there will be deacons stationed just outside the doors ready and willing to talk.