I.       Intro

A.   Review

1.     God values us greatly (Luke 12:22-32)

2.     God prunes us to make us holy (John 15:1-8)

3.     God delivers us from the oppression of our enemy because He is our covenant God (Exodus 6:1-8 where we learned about the covenant God made with Israel to bring them out of slavery).  Covenant is a personal relationship protected by commitment (like marriage).

4.     God is in Control (Isaiah 48:9-16) - God's creation in heaven and on earth does His bidding.  Not because they are forced to against their will, but because their hearts want to.

5.     God, the Lord, is our authority (Deut. 6:4-9)

a)    God has the right to command us

b)    God commands us out of love, not harshness and oppression.

6.     God, the Lord, is present with us.

a)    God is no impersonal "lifeforce" (contra Star Wars) but is personal and active in our life.

7.     God, the Lord, is a jealous God and we are not to have idols before Him. (Isaiah 44:15-20; Exodus 20:4-5)

a)    idol = anything worshipped other than God

b)    our world is moving away from God as its centre to a more secular society

c)     this can be seen by looking at culture which is always the indicator of the values of a society

d)    comparing our society's culture (art, literature, media) with societies in the past (e.g. medieval, renaissance, etc) we saw that we are less God-centred now than back then.

B.   This week

1.     The idol of possessions (materialism)

II.    We must guard against the idol of materialism

A.   Passage

1.     Read Matthew 8:18-22

2.     Getting our head around the passage

a)    Who speaks first in verse 18?

b)    What does he assert?

c)     How does Jesus reply to this first person?

d)    What does the second person say?

e)     Who is this second person?

f)      How does Jesus reply to him?

B.   Illustrate

1.     One of the things that everyone wants to have in our society is their own home. 

a)    Brits and Americans are obsessed with owning their own property as seen by the recent financial crisis involving bad mortgages.

b)    Why?

(1)  we are the consumer-driven society taught that whatever is out there then you should have it.  In contrast we shrink away from giving and serving.

(2)  gives us  something to do or work at or work for

(3)  gives us security in having a roof over their head

(4)  gives us  financial security in having an asset

(5)  status symbol

(6)  etc.

2.     "Grand Design" magazine exalts the home as a means to the "good life".  It is patterned after the Channel 4 TV programme of the same name which is hosted by Kevin McCloud.

a)    subtitle of the mag: "Dream homes for the real world" - i.e. a good house is worthy of pursuing as a dream/vision for your life

(1)  utilitarian outlook vs. ultimate outlook

b)    gives a person style ("25 Stylish sofas for all budgets" from cover)

c)     makes a statement about who we are

(1)  e.g. the mag's web site states under "Trends" section:

(a)    "choose a colourful piece of furniture and make it a focal piece.  Be bold, make a statement with your furniture"

(b)   see what they're saying: you are your furniture.  Your furniture makes you who you are!  What a lie!

(c)    remember last week what we said about the culture trying to define who you are.  This is a case in point.  You are your furniture!

d)    And I could go on and on …

(1)  "Perfect 10"

(2)  "Essentials …" - the word is well overused in the mag and especially the Contents section which everyone looks at

C.   State

1.     In our passage today, Matthew gives two examples of people who wished to follow Jesus.

a)    In verses 21 - 22 Jesus urges the disciple to put Jesus before his duty to bury his parents when they die.

(1)  In those days there was a well-known responsibility of the children to make sure their parents received a proper burial.

(2)  Jesus is saying that his mission and his work is so important that even our commitment to our family should not come before our allegiance to Christ.

(3)  We must be willing to put Jesus before one of those cherished  idols of our society : our family

b)    In this light it is easier to see Jesus' meaning in verses 19-20

(1)  We must be ready to recognize Jesus as so important as to put him before our desire to have a permanent place to live

(2)  Jesus knows what our idols are doesn't he!

(3)  Illustrate:

(a)    Have you ever thought about what the 12 disciples of Jesus had to give up to follow him and be with him?

(i)      Peter left his wife (Matthew 8:14), kids?

(ii)    home

(iii)   possessions

(iv)  extended family members (mother, father, etc)

(4)  Referring to this passage of Scripture one man said, "The eye of Jesus was single as well as omniscient: He looked on the heart, and had respect solely to spiritual fitness.  He had no faith in any discipleship based on misapprehensions and by-ends" (A.B. Bruce, "The Training of the Twelve", p19).

2.     Jesus knew the bankruptcy of possessions

a)    The meaninglessness of possessions

(1)  In Luke 12:15 Jesus said, "Watch out!  Be on your guard for all kinds of greed;  A man's life does not consist of the abundance of his possessions."

(2)  Jesus knew that if a man pursues possessions as ultimate then he would lose his life. His life would no longer be meaningful.

(3)  True life puts God in the centre, not possessions.  It pursues God, not possessions, not money.

b)    I'll never forget the first time I went to Poland in 1990 just after the Berlin wall came down and enabled easy access to European communist countries who had previously been cut-off from the western world.  What struck me most was the university students I was working with :

(1)  were poor

(a)    generic "sneakers" (trainers) when I had been conditioned from the time I was a kid that you had to have the right kind of trainers (Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars) .  I'll never forget my first pair of Converse.  But they didn't have any of it in Poland - just thin soled trainers , no frills.

(b)   their jean trousers were generic, thin and  and certainly not anything like the Levi's we were taught to cherish in America.

(c)    most Polish shops were missing many staple food items which could only be bought in western shops at increased prices which nobody could afford but foreigners

(d)   most people walked everywhere or took public transportation and few had their own cars.

(2)  But they were happy and bright and excited about life, smart, intelligent, relational in every way

(a)    They were in many ways untouched by much of the material trinkets that the western capitalism hangs before its people

(i)      fashion labels and brand names were practically nowhere to be seen

(ii)    they were unconcerned with much of the image issues that the west concern themselves with because they were unaware of them.

(iii)   Did you know that in communist Poland you couldn't go to the next region of the country (e.g. county) without getting permission from the Police, let alone go to another country especially a western country.

(b)   They were isolated from the west - until 1989 when the wall came down.

(c)    As a result I found them focused on the much more meaningful aspects of life - relationships, community, helping others, hospitality (a specialty).

(d)   Polish saying, "Guest in the home, God in the home".

c)     Only God brings true meaning into our life.

(1)  Living for God

(2)  Living with kingdom values of Jesus brings life.

(a)    consumerism / sacrifice

(b)   possessions / people

(c)    money-centred / God-centred

(d)   self-centred / self-less (giving)

3.     Jesus knows that money and God are competing and rival loyalties

(1)  Matthew 6:24 says, "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."

(2)  If you go after the one, it will preclude you going after the other.

(a)    how much time and effort would it take to pursue the suggestions in "Grand Designs" magazine?

(i)      25 stylish sofas - you decide

(ii)    constantly researching the best buys, the newest styles

(iii)   anyone who has bought a house knows what a time-consuming task it is - then there's the upkeep!!

(3)  In other words, if you start to make possessions your pursuit, it will preclude you from being able to pursue God.  It will consume your time, energy and money.

4.     Jesus knows that possessions are fleeting

a)    Ask the victims of hurricane Katrina if it is worthwhile to pursue possessions, and homes etc.

b)    Job 20:28 says, "A flood will carry off his house, rushing waters on the day of God's wrath."

c)     Matthew 6:20 says, "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal."

(1)  You're dead a lot longer than you are alive

(2)  So Jesus is saying let our focus in this life be on the kingdom which embodies eternal values

5.     Jesus Knows the dangers of possessions

a)    One is never satisfied and never has enough

b)    Ecclesiastes 5:10

c)     A pbs documentary on consumerism in America and its harmful effects called "Affluenza" said of the American desire for larger homes in order to have more storage space for our stuff: "Never enough.  so much stuff.  so little space, evn though the average new house has grown larger every decade.  Now many new hmes have3-car garages.  Nearly 900 sq feet of garage space a lone, which is about the size o an entire home n the 1950's.

d)    ^NIV Proverbs 15:27 A greedy man brings trouble to his family, but he who hates bribes will live.

e)     Titus 2:11-12

D.   Apply

1.     See what Jesus is saying: "Life's not about possessions"

2.     Examine your goals in life?

a)    where do they line up - with God or with the idols of our age?

b)    What if you achieve all that you wish and find out that it doesn't satisfy you.

3.     Where's your focus?

a)    Do you need to step back from possessions?

b)    Do you need to let go of the idol of materialism - that house that you are striving for, that car, and all the other material goals that are ultimate?

c)     Are you heading for the wrong kind of success - worldly success, not Godly success?

(1)  worldly success = "he who dies with the most toys wins"

(2)  Godly success = "seek first the kingdom of God"

III.  Conclusion

A.   Don't let the idol of possessions choke your faith (Parable of the Sower)