It’s a
Hebrews 11:9-10, 13-16
Between mission trips and vacations, I’ve had the privilege of seeing
some interesting places...but I can’t tell you how many times I said,
“It’s a nice place to visit, but...[what?]...I wouldn’t want to live there.”
-I’ve made that remark about
--what do I mean when I say that?
---something along the lines of: those places have some
good qualities, but I wouldn’t choose to spend the rest of
my life there...I wouldn’t want to make them my home
-I really enjoy being in places like that...it’s a treat to ride the trains
and subways, to eat new food, to see a part of history
--but whether I spend one day in
always have this tension, almost this uneasiness that I’m still
a stranger here...along with a certainty that I’m not home yet
Warning à big-idea sermon ahead...no checklist, practical message
Last week I shared the faith of Abraham, how he followed God to an
unknown place, a place God told him, “I will show you”
-it’s an amazing story, to say the least...but what happens later is
simply fascinating and it teaches us a vital key to understanding
life, joy,
and hope à Read
Hebrews 11:9
Upon first glance, if you were reading the story of Abraham in the
book of Genesis, his faith journey and even his life would appear to
be a relative failure
-he remained pretty much a nomad—wandering...living in tents
-when his wife, Sarah, dies Abraham has to search for a place to
bury her...so he approaches the Hittites who own the land and
says, “I am an alien and a stranger here...”
--there is no kingdom established, no armies mustered, no
conquests, no palace...really nothing to show for his pretty
radical display of obedience and trust
---but rather than griping about the way things have turned
out, Abraham has a different perspective on things
Read
Hebrews 11:10, 13-16
So am I saying Abraham went through all of that and essentially got
nothing in return other than a promise of a better place to come?
-yes, I am
--and it’s this truth, this perspective on life and on reality should
shape the way we understand our current circumstances, our
priorities, and our future
-let’s explore some of the consequences of this new world view
Everything belongs to God
This isn’t a new idea, of course, but it is foundational to what we
believe and how we then live
-Psalm 24 begins à The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in
it...
-remember from the Scripture we read earlier from 1 Chronicles
à Everything comes from You
God established the Old Testament practice known as the “Year of
Jubilee” as this wonderful way of reinforcing this truth
-every 50 years, all land would return to its original owner
--in our society that is obsessed with ownership, it sounds crazy,
but God instituted it for two specific reasons
---God says in Leviticus
25:23 à The land must not be sold
permanently, because the land is Mine and
you are but
aliens and my
tenants.
----what a wonderful principle of stewardship—we own
nothing...we are simply using it for a while
---another benefit of the jubilee is found in Leviticus 25:10 à
Consecrate the fiftieth year and
proclaim liberty
throughout the land to all its
inhabitants.
----the basic idea is simple—we may assume that we
own things, but the reality is that things usually end
up owning us...they demand our time and our
money...and they often become little gods to us
-it’s why Jesus lays down a clear warning in the heart of the
Sermon on the Mount
Read Matthew 6:19-21, 24
Have you allowed some other god to creep into your life?
-now is the time to confess it for what it really is—an idol...a sin
The things of this
world are temporary
This is a true statement, but tragically some Christians misapply this
truth and argue that we should not work for justice or that we should
not defend the poor or the helpless
-this faulty reasoning is easily taken care of by even the most
superficial reading of Scripture...the prophets and even Jesus
Himself have stressed the importance of standing up for those
who cannot stand up for themselves
I also want to reinforce the fact that none of this stuff—cars, houses,
jewelry, 4-wheelers, clothes, boats, motorcycles, plasma tv, even
this church building—none of it is going to last
-Proverbs 27:24 à riches do not endure
forever...
-none of it will last forever—anyone can see that
--most of it won’t last your lifetime (I outlived Busch Stadium!)
-none of it can give you what it promises...and instead stuff often
causes pride when we have something good, and it causes envy
when someone else has something better
--does that mean those “things” are evil/sinful? not necessarily
---it does mean they need to be kept in their rightful place
It also means wealth and material success give us a false sense of
security...and a false sense of God’s blessing...and ultimately a false
sense of independence from God
-Jesus teaches quite plainly à A
man’s life does not consist in the
abundance of his possessions.
--and because Jesus is painfully aware that we often just don’t
get it, He follows up that statement with a parable
Read Luke 12:16b-19
How drastically
does his attitude differ from David’s when he prays
at the end of 1
Chronicles?
-Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the
power and the glory and
the
majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth
is
Yours...Wealth and honor come from You; You are the ruler of
all
things...O Lord our God, as for all this abundance that we
have
provided for building You a temple for Your Holy Name, it
comes from
Your hand, and all of it belongs to You.
But the rich
man’s attitude is worse than pathetically selfish...it blinds
him from seeing his genuine need for
God
-and when it comes time to
meet God in judgment, all of the grain
in all of
the barns in the world won’t do you any good
Read Luke
12:20
C. S. Lewis
puts it bluntly
à Our Lord finds
our desires not too
strong, but too
weak. We are half-hearted
creatures, fooling about
with drink and
sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like
an ignorant child who wants to go on
making mud pies in a slum
because he
cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday
at the sea.
We are far too easily
pleased.
Why is that so?
-why do we foolishly settle for temporary pleasure?
-why do we buy into the lie that this is as good as it gets?
It’s because somewhere along the way we have lost our perspective
and we have forgotten another critical truth: we don’t belong here
Sure, this world is a nice place to visit...but this is not our home
-throughout the Bible we are referred to as “aliens and strangers”
--there’s a reason for that—it’s true!
-as wonderful as the world is...as awesome as the universe is...we
have been created by God to be with Him
Former Secretary of State, George Shultz told C-Span how he would
keep a
globe in his office. When newly
appointed ambassadors had
an interview with him, Shultz would test
them. He would say, "You
have to go over the globe and prove to
me that you can identify your
country." They would go over, spin the globe, and
without fail, they
would put their
finger on the country to which they were being sent.
When Shultz's old friend and former
Senate majority leader, Mike
the test. Ambassador Mansfield spun the globe and
put his hand on
the
-that is us...we live here as residents of the
planet
Earth...but as Paul reminds us in Philippians 3:20 à our
citizenship is in heaven.
As one song (The Beautiful Letdown, by Switchfoot) puts it à
It was a beautiful
letdown the day I knew
that all the riches
this world had to offer me would never do
In a world full of
bitter pain and bitter doubt
I was trying so hard
to fit in, until I found out
I don’t belong
here...
I will carry a cross
and a song where I don’t belong
I don’t belong
here...
I’m gonna set sight
and set sail for the kingdom come
Life is a journey
lived only by faith
As we look back to Hebrews 11 we find that Abraham manages to
make it through all of that mess, all of that uncertainty, all of those
twists and
turns of life because he does so by
faith
-not everything goes according to Abraham’s expectations...not
everything is perfect or even pleasant...but Abraham keeps
pressing on, convinced God’s in control and He can be trusted
--Abraham is looking for something beyond what he can see,
beyond anything this world can provide
-Read Hebrews 11:10, 14, 16a
Do you believe...
-everything does belong to God?
-the things of this world are temporary?
-we don’t belong here?
-life is a journey lived by faith?
If these things are true—and I’m convinced Scripture leaves us little
doubt they are—then most of us cannot continue living like we are
-and we cannot justify our misplaced priorities by comparing them
to others’—even other Christians
Is this sermon about money?
-not really, although money usually is a good indicator of priorities
--this summer I’m going to spend money on tuition—so you could
accurately say that Josh’s education is important to me
--I’m also going to spend money on room & board—so you could
say that it’s important to get Josh out of the house
--but I also spend money on eating out, on cars, and on our puppy
Is this about how I spend time?
-not really, although how I spend time often reflects what’s important
--I spend too much time watching tv and too little time in Scripture
--I spend too much time at my desk writing sermons and too little
time out with people
--I spend too much time distracted by little things and too little time
praying about God’s vision and guidance
So is it about money and time...yes, but it’s more about discovering
our allegiance, our idols, and our love
-nowhere does the Bible get any clearer on the subject than in
1 John 2:15-17 [Read]
Who or what do you love?
Consider your answer
-would the person who knows you best agree with your answer?
-what about the person at the other end of the pew?
-what about the people you work with? your neighbors?
You might say you love one thing or one person...but does your life
fall in line with that?
-are you saying, “Yeah, I believe everything I have is God’s,” but
living like you are totally independent of Him?
-are you nodding your head, “Yeah, I believe this is all temporary,”
but your heart is really in your truck, at the lake, or at the office?
-are you agreeing, “Yeah, James, I don’t belong here,” yet every
decision you make about your future demonstrates the opposite?
-are you saying, “Yeah, life is a faith journey,” but you obsess
about the most minute detail of your master life plan?
-and are you agreeing, “Yeah, you are right—I’ve got to change my
priorities...think more eternal(!)...that’s the secret!” but the reality
is that you will put all of this behind you as soon as we sing the
invitation hymn
Let me close with a question from Jesus...and it’s my prayer that if it
is your plan to forget all of this by the time you hit the back door,
then God will use this question to move you to examine your heart
-Matthew 16:26 à What good will it be for a man if he gains
the
whole world, yet forfeits his soul?