Sermon Tone Analysis

David Foster Wallace once told a story about some fish it goes like this:

David Foster Wallace once told a story about some fish it goes like this:

There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys, how's the water?”

And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, “What the heck is water?”

He goes on to say about this that: “The immediate point of the fish story is that the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are the hardest to see and talk about.”

This is what we face this morning.

We have become so use to the water that we swim in every day seems so normal like such a given reality it becomes almost impossible to see.

What is it?

Well in our passage it is called luxury and self-indulgence.

It was an issue then and it is even more of an issue for us today.

The power of advertisements, adn

This is the water we swim in, and for the most part we are inoculated to it.

There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way,

And our self centereness we cannot hear the cry of the poor

It is so easy to live in luxury and self-indulgence and no know it.

But our passage shows us the problem and the solution to luxury and self-indulgence.

This morning we will see that

Our passage talks about the rich.

That is those people with many material possessions and social privileged.

who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys, how's the water?”

Proposition:

Because self-indulgence brings death we should serve God with our possessions

Self-indulgence is deadly.

It brings death to ourselves and to the poor among us.

So first

Self-indulgence brings death to ourselves

Self-indulgence brings death to our future self

Look with me at verse 1-3

and then in verse 5 we see the lifestyle of the rich

What we see here are those who live for themselves, whose ultimate treasure is in things and what stuff can give them are building a case against themselves, so that when they stand before God in the last day and give an account for their life, and God says how did you use the things I gave the only answer they will have is I used them to try and make myself happy.

And so as all the material things decay and die so does the eternal soul of the person who made his treasure in those things.

That being the case it is also true that those who as Calvin says “abound in wealth seldom keep within the bounds of moderation.”

But self indulgence does not only bring death to our future self it also brings a death to our present self.

Look with me at first timothy 5:6

But it is is equally true that those who as Calvin says “abound in wealth seldom keep within the bounds of moderation.”

If you have a lot of money or possessions it is hard to not be self-indulgent.

lifehas given you everything you have and what did you use it for?

To try and have an easy life and things?

When we use the things God has given to indulge ourselves, to try to make us happy we look alive, but are really dead.

The living dead.

Self-indulgence creates Zombies.

Illustration:

I think one way we can see how self indulgence creates a kind of living dead is in drug addiction.

Someone addicted to drugs, however they got there, are seeking refuge from the pain of life.

So they indulge themselves and find a kind of relief, but it is more of a short term escape making one dead to the world around you and ultimately will kill you in the end.

And as AA and NA will say the real problem lies not so much in the substance, but in the highly self-indulgent way of thinking.

Your best thinking got you here, is what you will often hear in recovery circles.

That is the rationalization of self-indulgent behavior.

We don’t think advertisers have any influence over us

Illustration:

Application:

It is easy to see self-indulgent drug addiction creates a kind of zombies.

But what is harder to see is how self-indulgent materialism creates zombies.

But it is actually the same dynamic.

We buy things or experiences to feel good.

And we do feel good for a short time, but we then buy more and more things and experiences to try and feel good again.

And the money and stuff God gave us to bless others with we use to make ourselves happy.

I want this or that become I need this.

I need this new technology.

I need to spend my time binge watching Netflix.

What ever it is if we are ultimately try to live to make our self happy we become black holes of consumption, always eating but never full, always buying but never satisfied.

So

Living for our self, this is the water in our culture.

You can’t watch a movie or tv show without seeing this, that the unpardonable sin in our culture is not being true to your own desires.

And only the individual self can determine what is right and wrong.

Now first, possessions and money are not the problem.

But the wrong use of them are a problem.

The Bible clearly teaches that if you work hard you will likely make more money.

So what do we do about this?

Well first

We must not see possessions and money as the problem.

The wrong use of them is the problem our passage is addressing.

The Bible clearly teaches that if you work hard you will likely make more money.

So first: possessions and money are not the problem being addressed.

But the wrong use of them are the problem.

The Bible clearly teaches that if you work hard you will likely make more money.

But the possession that we do have we must see them as belonging to God, and to be used for his kingdom.

God does not just tax his people a 10% tithe, the tithe is a reminder that all of it belongs to him and all our money and possessions is to be used for his kingdom.

Recently I heard someone said to a first time home buyer in our church: So how are you going to use God’s house?

Hmm?

What do you mean the new church building?

No God’s house, the house you just purchased.

If you are rich, and because we live in America most of us are rich.

We eat better food, have better health care, and have more comfort and leisure, and entertainment than any king would have had hundreds of years ago.

So if you own anything and have to make decisions with how you spend money we have to be

That is key.

If we don't want to become self-indulgent zombies we must see all our possessions our money as a calling.

Having money or possessions is a calling from God.

Not to be used to indulge ourselves, but in services of his kingdom.

Specifically this means, that everything we own belongs to God and is to be used for his kingdom.

Our house, car, boat,dinner table, living room, education, money, and “free time” is his.

And this is vastly different than pop-culture.

You can’t watch a movie or tv show without seeing this, that the unpardonable sin in our culture is not being true to your own selfs desires.

And only the individual self can determine what is right and wrong.

Living for our self, this is the water in our culture.

You can’t watch a movie or tv show without seeing this, that the unpardonable sin in our culture is not being true to your own desires.

And only the individual self can determine what is right and wrong.

Oh but if I live like everything is his I will lose myself.

I would die.

Yes, you would die, but a different kind of death.