Genesis 4:2b-9

Woodbury Presbyterian Church

God’s= Love in ACTION

Sermon Note= s

“Poss= essed”

Acts 2:41-4= 7, Psalm 49

November 5,= 2006

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   &nb= sp; Well of course they didn’t have E-bay back then, but people st= ill bought and sold stuff. I imagine it was a lot like today. People would sell their possessions because they had to move and didn’t want to tote too much. Or maybe their houses became crowded and it was time to downsize. Or perhaps they just wanted a little “mad money” to spend on whate= ver their hearts desired.

   &nb= sp; The early Christians sold off their stuff too. In fact they seemed to make a habit of it. But they did it for a different reason. Acts 2:45 says = they sold their possessions and goods and gave to anyone as he had need. As a matter of fact, from time to time Christian landowners even sold their houses and lands, and gave the money away! (Acts 4:34-35)

   &nb= sp; Why in the world did they do that? If you don’t want to keep y= our property, at least keep the proceeds. People don’t just sell their belongings then give the money away. What possessed them to do such a thing= ?

2. Of course the religious answer is that God’s = love possessed them. I John 3:17 says, If anyo= ne has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, h= ow can the love of God be in him? God’s love does move us to be generous.

3. But th= is morning I’m more interested in the question on the flip side. Instead= of asking what possessed the early Christians to give away their money and goo= ds, let’s turn that upside down and ask what didn’t possess them. You know, we can have an obsession with our possessions. Our possessi= ons can possess us.

     Joe Auer was a r= unning back for the original Miami Dolphins. On the very first play of the first t= he Dolphins game ever, he returned the opening kick off 95 yards for a touchdo= wn. He was a strong man, a tough man, and people who know him say he was a bit = of a wild man. As a matter of fact he was so tough he had a lion for a pet! Can’t you just picture it? Big ol’ Joe struttin’ down Collins Avenue with the king of beasts on the end of a leash. But after awhile he donated his l= ion to the circus. Why? He said, “I woke up one morning and I wasn’t boss anymore.” The beast became the boss.

     The same thing c= an happen to you and me. If we’re not careful, our pet possessions can become our masters. How many homeowners are slaves to their mortgages? How = many hapless victims are drowning in a whirlpool of debt because they’ve t= ried to support lifestyles they can’t afford by charging things at 18%, 20= %, 28% interest? How many people are possessed by their possessions?

     We live in a cul= ture that measures us according to how much stuff we have. Donald Trump is said = to be “worth” $2.7 billion. My son Mike, who is a college freshman= , is worth … less than half that amount. (!) (How much do you suppose you could get for that old Dodge minivan, Mike?) But in my book he’s wort= h a dozen Donalds. And so is each of you. Your real “worth” has not= hing to do with your worldly wealth. We’re all precious in God’s sig= ht.

     But our society teaches and believes that people with lots of stuff are superior to mere se= rfs who survive on less. Once I tried to make a joke that I had always wanted t= o be nouveau riche, but I had to set= tle for being pseudo-intellectual. An aristocrat in the room corrected me. “Rod, nouveau riche isn&#= 8217;t good.” I thought to myself, “It is when you’re paleo-poor.” That’s what our society teaches.=

We can’t tell the difference between quality and quantity.

     In his famous co= medy routine, George Carlin says:

    “All you need in life = is a place for your stuff, ya know? That’s all your house is: a place to k= eep your stuff. If you didn’t have so much stuff, you wouldn’t need= a house. You could just walk ar= ound all the time. A house is just a pile of stuff with a cover on it. You can s= ee that when you’re taking off in an airplane. You look down, you see everybody’s got a little pile of stuff.

     “And when = you leave your house, you gotta lock it up.&nb= sp; Wouldn’t want anybody to come by and take some of your stuff. = They always take the good stuff. They never bother with all that garbage you’re saving. No one wants Johnny’s fourth grade papers. All t= hey want is the shiny stuff.

     “That̵= 7;s all your house is, a place to keep your stuff … while you go out and = get more stuff!”

     Our culture thin= ks our things matter most. And if we believe that, our possessions can possess us.=

     Billionai= re H. Ross Perot put it this way. He once said, "Guys, just remember, if you= get real lucky, if you make a lot of money, if you go out and buy a lot of stuf= f -- it's gonna break. You got your biggest, fanciest mansion in the world.&nb= sp; It has air conditioning. It's got a pool. Just think of all the pumps that are going to go out. Or go to a yacht basin a= ny place in the world. Nobody is smiling, and I'll tell you why. Something broke that morning. The generator's out; the microwave oven doesn't work.... Things just don't mean happiness."

[Cited in a sermon by= Michael J. Imperiale, http://www.homes= tead.com/fpcslc/112005sermon.html ]

     But we have an e= ven higher authority than Ross Perot!

4. Jesus said,(16-2= 1) "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life = does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15) Then He told one of His stealth stories about a successful farmer who had s= uch a high yield year, he didn’t have room to store his profits. So he sa= id, “I need a place for my stuff! Here’s what I’ll do. I̵= 7;ll demolish my old barns and build some bigger barns, better barns, mega-barns! And I’ll say to myself, ‘Self,’ I’ll say, ‘you’ve got it made for the rest of your life. Kick back and ch= ill. Enjoy la dolce vita.’

   &nb= sp; But listen to the punch line of the parable. “God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then w= ho will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21This is how it will = be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.&qu= ot; (Luke 12:20-21)

      Jesus also said,= "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the oth= er, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve bo= th God and Money."( Luke 16:13) The older translations are more accurate when they say, “You cannot serve both God and Mammon.” Mammon isn’t just money, it’s all wealth, proper= ty, profit. And Jesus tells us that it can enslave us. It can drag us away from God.

   &nb= sp; Of course any number of things could become an illegitimate master, a false god. It could be power or fame or education or even family. But Jesus picked money, wealth, because he knew what a threat it is.

     He hits this the= me again and again. In the parable of the sower, where Jesus compares God̵= 7;s Word to scattered seeds and people to different kinds of soil, He says, = 220;Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for o= ther things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.” (Mark 4:18-19) Materialism can strangle our spiritual lives.

5. So here’s the big question. How do we keep our possessions from possessing us?

   &nb= sp; My friend Van Fielden, pastor of Vista Community Church, tells about= a time in his thirties when he was working as a youth pastor. His prize possession, his pride and joy was a Martin D-35 acoustic guitar. That may n= ot mean much to you, but if you watch the guitar players in the congregation w= hen I say it, you’ll see their mouths start to water and their fingers st= art to twitch. Martin D-35 acoustic guitar. It was a beautiful blonde model with mahogany sides, and he loved her. Today a new D-35 retails for about $2,200.

   &nb= sp; One day Van realized he cared more about that guitar than he did abo= ut people, and he sensed God telling him to give it away. But he wasn’t = to give it to just anyone. He wasn’t to give it to one of the musicians = in that church – which included recording artist Ray Boltz. He was suppo= sed to give it to a 13 year old kid in the youth group!

“But God, that boy doesn’t need a guitar l= ike this.”

“But God, he’ll only trash it.”

“But God, I love this guitar sooooo much. ItR= 17;s a Martin D-35!”

   &nb= sp; Nevertheless, Van knew it was no good arguing with God. So he gave t= he kid his guitar. A Martin D-35.

   &nb= sp; Now it turns out that the young man wrote over 100 Christian songs on that guitar before he graduated from high school. And it turns out that giv= ing away that guitar led to a situation that saved Van and Debbie thousands of dollars on their new home. But that isn’t the point. He had to let go= of his prize possession. That guitar possessed him, so he needed to give it aw= ay.

   &nb= sp; How do we keep our wealth from ruling us? The French philosopher and theologian Jacques Ellul says this.

“H= ow [can we] overcome the spiritual ‘power’ of money? Not by accumulating more money, not by using money for good purposes, not by being just and fai= r in our dealings. The law of money is the law of accumulation, of buying and selling. This is why the only way to overcome the spiritual ‘power= 217; of money is to give our money away, thus desacrilizing it and freeing ourse= lves from its control. And these benefits accrue not only to us but to all [peop= le]. To give away money is to win a victory over the spiritual power that oppresses us. There is an example of what the fight of faith means.” =

[Jaques Ellul, Violence: Reflections from a Christi= an Perspective p. 166, cited in Charles Campbell, The Word Before the Powers p. 144]

   T= he best way to keep money from being our master is to give money away. The best way= to keep our possessions from possessing us is to sell them and share.

That’s exactly what Jesus said. "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father= has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will n= ot wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief c= omes near and no moth destroys. 34For where your treasu= re is, there your heart will be also. (= Luke 12:32-34) (Cf. Luke 18:22)=

    So when the early Christians sold <= b>their possessions and goods and gave to anyone as he had need, they were doing exactly what Jesus told them to do. Obedience was more important than abundance. Pleasing Him was more precious to them than their stuff. So they gave. And in doing so, they weren’t letting their possessions possess them.

   &nb= sp; One of my pastor buddies recently preached about the time Jesus fed 5,000 people with a couple fish sandwiches that one boy had brought for his lunch. My friend said that early in his ministry he would have talked about= how Jesus miraculously multiplied the molecules of food, demonstrating that He = is Lord over nature. And my friend still believes that Jesus was capable of do= ing it that way.

   &nb= sp; But now he thinks that what really happened is that when the boy gav= e up his lunch, all the other people – who had secret stashes of food them= selves – shared what they had, too. So everyone was fed and they even had le= ftovers.

   &nb= sp; As he told me this I’m afraid I kind of rolled my eyes. I̵= 7;d heard that interpretation before. It just doesn’t fit the biblical te= xt and misses the point of the passage. But then my friend said, “I beli= eve Jesus could have multiplied the= fish and bread but instead he moved selfish people to share. Greedy people became generous, which is an even greater miracle.”

   &nb= sp; Now I think his interpretation of that passage is, well I still think it’s bogus! But his theological insight is spot on. The greater mirac= le is changed hearts. The greater miracle is transformed lives. That’s p= art of what Jesus does for us.

   &nb= sp; Jesus can break the bonds; He can shatter the shackles that enslave = us, including the shackles of materialism. Jesus confronts every force that wou= ld possess us, in order to set us free.

   &nb= sp; And when we consider the truth of the Gospel, how God gave His son so that those who believe in him could have eternal life, how Jesus gave His l= ife for our salvation, then we start to understand what He meant when He said, = “Freely you have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10:8)

   &nb= sp; There’s an old saying about the preacher preaching to the choi= r, in other words, trying to convince people who are already convinced. By and large that’s what I feel like I’m doing here.

6.   You are generous people. I have no idea what kind of giving you do other than to the church. And I don’t know what individuals give to the church. But I k= now that as a congregation you give freely.

   &nb= sp; And I’m not talking just about the budget. You’re doing great on meeting the budget. So we have materials for Sunday school and the Alpha Course and other opportunities for people to grow in faith. So we can= run the air conditioning and turn the lights on and pay the mortgage. So we can let the Maranata church, = which now has about 70 people in attendance, meet here free of charge (though they are making a free will donation every month). So we can support a church st= aff that has some amazing people on it, and so on.

   &nb= sp; But beyond our budget, you’re covering half the salary of Past= or Balbino down in Mexi= co. You bought and shipped 30 “Megavoice” solar powered voice recor= ders to help Bible translators in Cameroon, Africa. You give out about 50 bags of groceries every week to hungry people in the area. You’re filling box= es with gifts for Operation Christmas Child. Our middle school Y-Zone alone is providing 15 boxes! Again this year we’ll have the opportunity to pro= vide Thanksgiving baskets for 75 or more local families who would not have such a meal without your generosity.

   &nb= sp; And on top of that, the church itself tithes. We’re one of the= few churches that gives 10% of our budget to the Presbytery. So you helped supp= ort other churches all around Central Florida. You helped sponsor camps and youth rallies. You helped supervise students who a= re on their way to becoming pastors. You helped provide for a Hunger Action Enabler, whose territory stretches from Ormond Beach<= /st1:City> all the way down to Lake Okeechobee. And= less than two months ago, you even helped start a brand new church in Claremont.

   &nb= sp; I’m preaching to the choir. (Or maybe I should say to the prai= se band?) But it’s a message we need to hear again and again. We can get= so caught up in materialism that we start to loose our own souls. We can get sucked into the vortex of always wanting more and more stuff. We can wake up one morning, like Joe Auer, and discover that the beast has become the boss. And if we’re n= ot careful, the very Word of God will get choked right out of us.

   &nb= sp; We need to remember the example of the early Christians, who sold their possessions and goods and gave to anyone as he had need. We need to remember the grace of God, who so loved the world that He gave His on= ly begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have etern= al life. (John 3:16) We need to remember the aston= ishing love of Jesus, who gave His life on the cross for you and me.

   &nb= sp; Freely you have received. Freely give.

   &nb= sp; Don’t let your possessions possess you.