THANKSGIVING: It's not what you don't have, but everything you do have - Luke 12:13-21
Thanksgiving • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 1 viewJesus tells us how to be happy with what we already possess.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction: What a title for the message today - THANKSGIVING: It’s not what you don’t have, but everything you do have. Usually, the shorter the title the better. However, I wanted you to remember today’s message by the length of its title (and hopefully, not by the length of the sermon).
Our text today will be Luke 12:13–21. If you would open your Bible to this passage. We will begin reading in verse 13,
13 Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” 15 And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” 16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ 21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
What do we have in these verses? Let’s walk through each of these nine (9) verses. I want to point out the obvious. These are the parts of the storyline you can’t miss. I also want you to notice the progression. We discover the following:
· There is the brother who is holding onto the inheritance – v. 13
· There is the other brother who wanted his share in the inheritance – v. 13
· That Jesus wasn’t appointed the judge or arbitrator over their particular situation – v. 14
· Covetousness is the real issue (the desire for more goods), and that life doesn’t consist in the abundance of the things one possesses – v. 15
· Jesus shares the parable of the ground of the rich man that yielded plentifully – v. 16
· The rich man had run out of room to store his crops – v. 17
· The rich man thought to himself, “I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. – v. 18 (make note of goods).
· The rich man said to his soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ – v. 19 (The life of ease, the once American Dream).
· God speaks, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ – v. 20 (You will take nothing with you. Someone will get what you have labored for all your life).
· Lay up treasure for yourself and you are not rich toward God – v. 21
On this Thanksgiving week how can you and I apply this passage of Scripture. How can we make it practical and useful? How do we make God’s Word real in our lives? There are three possible ways. Here they are:
I. You could focus on everything others have – 12:13
I. You could focus on everything others have – 12:13
13 Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
There are two men in our storyline. One brother appears to be the executor of the estate. He has everything, and the other brother has been left out, and sees what he is missing. He is eyeing what he should possess. All the bling, or all the cha-ching!
There are a lot of people that have allowed the estates of their parents to cause much division among the siblings, and other family members. Most parents would have never wanted stuff/things, or even money to be the cause of family dissention or division.
Cerulli Associates reports that, over the next quarter century, roughly 45 million U.S. households will collectively bequeath $68.4 trillion to their heirs.[1]That has a profound impact not only on wealth managers, estate planners and other financial advisors but on the families involved as well. Differing values about investing, saving, and preserving wealth are bound to surface, not to mention differing views on which philanthropic causes should be supported.
Estate disputes are on the rise.[2]The fights aren’t always about the money, either. You can have a multi-million-dollar estate and the children can be arguing over watches, golf clubs and inexpensive jewelry that have more sentimental value than appraised value.
Sadly, we see heirs spending more money than they stand to inherit on legal fees to battle siblings or other family members. That seismic shift in assets can create opportunities for estate fights. (https://moderawealth.com/fights-over-estates-can-tear-families-apart/).
One of the problems that most of us have is that we have come grown accustomed to things – we like all our stuff. We have stores like Walmart, Costco, Cabela, and Amazon that feed our obsession. These are all warehouse size stores, and they all have so much stuff.
Like you, I notice what others have. The boats, trucks, side-by-sides, travel trailers, the motorhomes, the vacations, the guns, and the host of other things. My thought is: How can people afford all those things?
Get this – that is all it is, THINGS! Things can’t buy happiness. And if you think things buy happiness you are a fool. You may have a moment of temporary satisfaction, but you’ll not find everlasting happiness in things.
II. You could focus on everything you don’t have – 12:15
II. You could focus on everything you don’t have – 12:15
15 And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
Please don’t miss what I am about to say next. Make yourself a mental note that Jesus spoke these words to both brothers in our storyline – “And He said to them,” What did Jesus say?
A. Take heed – to stare at, to discern clearly, perceive.
What Jesus was going to say to them would be of utmost importance. If what Jesus said to these two brothers was important to them, how much more is it important to all of us who live in a material age.
Remember Madonna song, Material Girl? There is a line in the song that says,
“We are living in a material world, and I am a material girl.”
It is this type of idea that Jesus is warning about. Take heed at what you are staring at. Discern carefully. Become perceptive.
B. Beware – to be on guard, observation, watch.
Jesus said,
Beware of covetousness (be on guard against it).
What is covetousness? It is the desire to possess what other people own. It’s the keeping up with the Jones’ mentality. It is the desire to accumulate more suff.
Does covetousness satisfy? No. Why? Because the problem with covetousness is that it is a hole that can never be filled. This is why as people we don’t stop buying. We are always on the search for the next thrill.
Proverbs 27:20 - 20 Hell and Destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied.
C. One’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses –
Is life about the accumulation of things?I think I heard you say, No. If “No” is the correct answer, then why do we make life about the acquisition of more stuff.
Where do we put all the extra Stuff?
And what do we do with that stuff? We store it. I have read that “Nearly 10 percent of the American people rent a storage facility. According to urban and tech writer Patrick Sisson, “One in 11 Americans pays an average of $91.14 per month to use self-storage, finding a place for the material overflow of the American dream.” Storage facilities are a $38 billion industry, one of the surest business investments in America, with an annual growth rate of over seven percent. In 1984, there were about 6,600 self-storage buildings in the nation. Now there are approximately 50,000 such facilities in the U.S. (900 per state), with a combined storage capacity of 2.3 billion square feet.
In other words, every one of the 340 million Americans could simultaneously find a place to stand inside one of the nation’s storage facilities — and wouldn’t that be an addition to the Guinness World Records? According to 2018 statistics, there are more than 23 million individual storage units in the United States. That’s one for every 14 Americans. Self-storage facilities employ more than 170,000 people in the United States. The existing infrastructure is at 90 percent capacity. Americans apparently cannot get enough external storage space.” (https://www.governing.com)
Next, do you see the word “consist” in verse 15? This is a very important word. The Greek word carries the idea that life does not find meaning in the things we possess. You are NOT what you possess. Far too many people find their identity in things – stuff, material possessions.
· Some people own a 30-million-dollar mansion – does that give them meaning? The answer is, No!
· Some people dive a 1.5-million-dollar Aston Martin Valour. Does that give them meaning? The answer is, No!
· Some people are billionaires. Does that give them meaning? The answer is, No!
People who find meaning in the things/money they possess are usually all wrapped up in themselves. They own a lot, or have a lot of wealth, but they are wrapped up in a very small package. They have a very false sense of value.
Notice the word “abundance”. Having some things are okay, having an abundance of things, maybe not so good. There is a fine line from enough to too much. A fine line from being content to being covetous.
Another mistake I see in this text is that most people have the idea that they possess things. The truth be known is that you may be the holder of certain things, but you don’t possess them. They can slip through your fingers like sand.
Christians must understand that everything belongs to God. He owns everything, after all everything was created by Him. Anything we may have in our possession is because He has entrusted it to our care. We are His stewards – His caretaker. The Bible says,
1 Corinthians 10:26 - 26 for “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.”
Don’t make the mistake of focusing in on all the things you do not have. There is a better way.
III. You could focus on everything you do have.
III. You could focus on everything you do have.
What are the basics of life? Food, shelter, and clothing. Jesus spoke about all three of these things in His Sermon on the Mount. Turn in your Bible to Matthew 6:25 and allow me to read through these verses as a reminder for us to focus on everything we do have.
Matthew 6:25-34
25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Jesus made it crystal clear that we are not to worry about our life, what we will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.
Jesus said, “Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”
Of course, it is. So, don’t focus on what you don’t have. No, focus on everything you do have. And never forget that God knows what your needs are, and He promises to meet your needs. And please, don’t confuse your needs with your WANTS!
· Do you have food? Thank God.
· Do you have clothing? Thank God.
· Do you have shelter? Thank God.
What else do you really need?
I remember once that I shared with a friend, Bill Moore that God had given Debbie and I a sizeable gift. I was excited to share about God’s goodness to us with a friend. Bill Moore looked at me and he said the following words, “Kim, if God did nothing for you other than provide you salvation, He has done everything for you.”
You see, we often get caught up with the THINGS instead of the PROVIDER! Bill sought to remind me to keep my eyes on the PROVIDER! Not the stuff!
This is why I believe that Jesus shared the following words with His disciples,
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)
Christianity is NOT about the things we don’t have, but everything about what we already have. If you have Jesus Christ, you have EVERYTHING!
Jesus promised that if we would seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, that all these things would be added to you. What are all these things? Again, from the text we’ve read they are food, clothing, and shelter.
This Thanksgiving season we need to focus in on everything we already have, and not on the things that others have, or all the things we don’t have. No, focus on everything you do have, and in reality, you really do have a lot.
Conclusion: I wonder what difference this sermon is going to make in our lives this Thanksgiving. Will we recognize how much we already have? I hope we will. Please don’t spend your Thanksgiving focusing in on what you don’t have, or what others have, but on what you already do have – we all have so much.
I would like to give you an assignment to do between today and Thanksgiving Day. Here it is – make a Thankful list of everything you already have.
Thankful List of What I Already Have: A closet full of clothes. Pairs of shoes. Washer and dryer. A bed. Roof over my head. Family and friends. A job. A running vehicle. Food. A house. Property. Snowplow. Computer. Pets. Heat. View of mountains and valley. Wildlife. Toys. Pots and pans. Church.
[1] https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/07/will-the-great-wealth-transfer-spark-a-millennial-civil-war.html
[2] https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/trusts_estates_prof/2020/07/inheritance-disputes-rise-as-families-go-to-war-over-estates.html