Person of Simplicity in culture of Materialism 08

Becoming A Person of Simplicity in a Culture of Materialism

Restoring the Savour of our Salt Series               Message # 8

We’ve been thinking together about restoring the savour of our salt as we confront the culture in which we live in this day. And we’ve been talking about the concept from Romans 12:1-2 that we are being molded either by the Word of God or by the culture around us. We are either listening to what God says or we are listening to what our peers say.

I’d like to read Romans 12:1-2 again very quickly. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

We are either being molded by the Word of God or by the world around us.

Today I want to think about an issue that I think is very close to us as Americans because of the culture we live in. And that is the issue of being a person of simplicity in a culture of materialism. Being a person who is able to live very simply, who is not driven to have more, even though we live in a culture of materialism.

I believe God’s opinions about material things and about money are in stark contrast to the opinions of our culture about money and possessions. In fact, I don’t think God could disagree any more sharply than He does with the American mindset about money and material things.

I’d like to take the time to read Luke chapter 12, starting at verse 13, and going on down to verse 34. This is the passage we’ll be looking into today. Luke chapter 12, verse 13, and please follow if you will in your Bibles as I read. The Lord Jesus tells a parable here, and the parable was motivated by a question that was asked to Him.

“And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. 14  And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? 15  And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 16  And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17  And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18  And he said, This will I do: [I will give all the excess to people in need and help them …  NO! That’s not what it says! Verse 18 ] 18  And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19  And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20  But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 21  So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. 22 ¶  And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. 23  The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. 24  Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? 25  And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? 26  If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? 27  Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28  If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? 29  And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. 30  For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. 31  But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. 32  Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33  Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. 34  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

I don’t think it takes a rocket scientist to understand that we live in a culture of greed and runaway materialism. The basic belief is, more is better, and much more is much better.

In thinking about this, I realized that there are a lot of athletes in our nation who want more money. There are a lot of school children who want more software, students who want more clothes, adults who want more gadgets, collectors who want more trinkets, sportsmen who want more guns. Museums that want more art. Entrepreneurs who want more companies.

In America the basic philosophy is, more is better and much more is much better. In fact, I think one of the most successful agencies in America is the entire advertising industry. The advertising industry is probably the most successful endeavor in America, because advertising has dovetailed into the incredible personal hunger in people’s hearts and it has driven us to be collectors and gainers and people who want more and more.

It is remarkable to see the history of the Nike shoe company and to observe how well they have done. They have done incredibly well, both in sales and in advertising. It would be easy to find articles of clothing and items that have that Nike symbol on it. It’s almost omnipresent. It’s almost become a symbol of the greed in America, of runaway materialism.

As you think about your life in a culture of greed and runaway materialism, I want to ask you to think about some other questions. In the face of this kind of materialistic society, I believe here are the key questions for us to think about.

Number one, how do I escape greed and the addiction to materialism? Number two, how do I as a believer break the lock for owning more and more and more and more. Number three, how do I break free from the anxiety about, do I have enough? And number four, how do I live within my means when every fiber of my society is motivating me to live at the limit of my credit?

I think in the passage we just read there is a pretty simple solution. Not easy, necessarily, but very straightforward. Very simple. Very profound solution to how we can be people who get victory over greed and over anxiety and over collecting.

Look at Luke chapter 12 with me, 13 to 34. Notice one very simple, personal decision that brings me to deliverance from greed and freedom from materialism. One simple decision. One simple act in my life that makes me a person who is able to have victory over greed and collecting.

I want to begin by looking at Jesus’ story in verses 13-21. I think His basic message in that first section is, windfall material expansion does not equal soul satisfaction. Windfall material expansion does not equal soul satisfaction.

The Lord Jesus told the story about a farmer who is doing just fabulously well. Things could not have been going better for him. In fact, he had so much harvest, so much produce, he didn’t have enough barn space, and he was going to have to tear them down and build bigger barns to be able to save everything that he had.

Verse 19, “And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” The ultimate goal of this man was to have a satisfied and rested soul. He had this huge amount of money, this huge amount of material gain and he was saying to himself, I am going to gain with this money a satisfied and rested soul. But the Lord Jesus goes on to say that material expansion, no matter how great it is, can never satisfy a soul. It can never help the spiritual part inside of a person.

There are two significant pieces of evidence for that. Number one, the Lord Jesus said so, which is certainly reason enough. Drop back to verse 15, please. “And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness [there’s a key phrase]: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”

Even if I am extremely wealthy, wealthy beyond imagination, I still don’t find fulfillment in wealth. The Lord Jesus was saying to every entrepreneur out there, I don’t care if you get another million. Your soul won’t feel any better. It just won’t work.

Second piece of evidence that material expansion doesn’t help my soul is the countless real life cases of people who have incredible wealth but have no soul satisfaction. If wealth brought to me satisfaction for my soul, that would mean that the wealthiest people in the world would be the most content, the most spiritually happy, the most truly blessed, the most satisfied people. And it would mean that someone who was poor, and in fact, everyone who is poor, would have to be miserable! It means that you would not know a poor content person.

All of us probably know or know of people with terrific amounts of money who are miserable, and people with very little who are very content. Incredible material expansion does not equal soul satisfaction.

As I said earlier, I think there is one very key idea in this passage that helps me to escape from greed and materialism. And I believe that idea comes out of verse 21. The simple key to escaping greed and materialism is being rich toward God. Verse 20. “But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 21  So is he that layeth up treasure for himself [And I think there is an emphasis on for himself, and then listen to this final phrase], and is not rich toward God.”

Most Americans by world standards are very, very wealthy in terms of money, and almost bankrupt toward God. Many Americans don’t even understand that they have a soul. You will encounter many, many people in this culture who are completely ignorant of the reality that they have a spiritual component to their lives. They don’t even understand that they have a soul that needs eternal care. To be human is to have a soul, and to have a soul is to be thirsty, to be needy, to be hungry, to want.

I’d like to read you a couple of quotes from King David. First of all, Psalm 42:1-2. “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. 2  My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?”

David really had a soul, and he knew it was thirsty, and he was seeking to fill that thirst in God.

Psalm 63:1, “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.”

David was a man who had a clear understanding of the human condition. He says two powerful things here. First of all, he says apart from God, everything that promises to nourish us is really dry and weary. Apart from God, everything that says it will help us, never actually delivers to us. He gives us a little taste, a hope so that we will keep going down that path. It’s like gambling. You pull on the lever the first time and you get $14 and it’s a little hope, and so you keep going. And everything in the world that promises us nourishment for our souls apart from God simply keeps us addicted and keeps us coming back, but never satisfies our souls.

Secondly, David is saying, genuine satisfaction for our thirsty souls is found only in God Himself.

A popular song came out a number of years ago, and I only remember one short phrase. The song said, everybody has a hungry heart. The song went on to say you fill the hunger in your heart by male/female relationships. But I would agree with the first part—everybody has a hungry heart.

I’d like to read you a passage out of Isaiah 55:1-3, where God deals with this issue of us being people with hungry hearts. Isaiah chapter 55:1-3. And think about what God is offering to us to deal with that hunger. “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2  Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. 3  Incline your ear, and come unto me….”

The message is, God understands that we are thirsty and He says to us, if you really want to be fulfilled, don’t spend your money on what doesn’t satisfy. Incline your ear, listen to Me, come to Me. Satisfaction is found in a rich relationship with the true and living God.

I escape greed by being rich toward God. I am free from collecting by being rich toward God.

A rich relationship with God really involves four very simple things. The same things that we need for relationship with other believers or with our spouse or our children. Four very simple things.

Number one. If I want to have a rich relationship with God, there is going to have to be an element of commitment. Every quality relationship has two people who are deeply committed to each other. God has already demonstrated His commitment to me by sacrificing His own Son for my sins. His commitment could not be any higher. And now He is asking me for a commitment to Him, a commitment to obedience, to fellowship, and to love.

Secondly, a relationship with God requires communication. If two people are going to have a quality relationship, they have got to talk to each other. Beyond that, they need to understand each other. Not just talk in terms of exchanging information, but understand. God has already communicated with us. He communicated with us in the Creation. The Bible says He speaks to us in creation. He communicated to us in the Person of His Son. He communicated to us in the Word of God. He has already communicated with us. And now He is aching to hear back from us in times of prayer and communion. God is aching for my communication with Him.

Third issue. If people are going to have a quality relationship they need to spend time together. Even secular psychologists have now understood that there is a huge lie about quality time versus quantity of time. We need to spend time with one another. God has got a huge advantage on us here, because He is not bound by time. He can invest in us every moment. Every moment He is ready to speak to us. Every moment He is right there. And He is calling for me to be a person who is investing time in relationship with Him. He looks at my Daytimer, He looks at my busy week and says, I need to carve out every day some time to spend with Him—my most important relationship. Everyday I will carve out time for Him.

And number four. People who are going to have a quality relationship, they need to trust each other. If we don’t trust each other, our relationships deteriorate in a very big hurry. God has demonstrated Himself 100% faithful to us, and He is calling for me to build my relationship by being more and more trustworthy in relationship to Him.

I am convinced the simple key to escaping greed, to escaping materialism, to stop being a collector, is by having a rich relationship with God. The more I am focusing on a relationship with God the more I am free from the materialism in my society. The more I am free to live simply. The less I am impacted and hooked by the Nike commercial that says they don’t have the right shoes. You need these.

I believe the Lord Jesus ends this passage, verses 20-34 by outlining the towering benefits of a rich relationship with God. He explains in here at least five things to say, here are incredible things that come to you when you have a rich relationship with God.

Verse 20, number one. My soul is preserved. “But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?”

Here is a man who did every last thing right financially. He could not have been doing better. Investments, diversified portfolio—it was going his way. He did everything right financially, and did nothing right spiritually. He had not done one thing to preserve his soul which lasts for eternity. He had done not one thing to help himself eternally.

Number two, the second benefit, verses 22-30. When I am rich in relationship with God, I am free from anxiety. When I focus powerfully on a relationship with God, I don’t worry any more.

He has a huge amount of evidence here for this statement. Verse 22 is the command that says, “Take no thought for your life,”—that is, don’t be anxious. And then He goes into the reasons, verse 23. He says, realize that life is far more than food and clothing. The real character of life doesn’t relate to how much food is on your table and what kind of clothes you have on your back. Verse 24, He says, ravens don’t farm at all. You never met a raven that owns a tractor or a barn or anything. But God takes care of them, and you are more valuable than birds.

Verses 25 and 26, you cannot make your life one second longer by worrying. If you just be as anxious as you can be for the rest of your life, you are going to die at the moment you’re going to die. You can’t even change that.

Verses 27-28, the lilies don’t even try, and they are more beautiful than Solomon ever even thought of being. The lilies don’t even try. They don’t work at it. It just comes natural to them. And they are more beautiful than any piece of glorious clothing that Solomon ever owned.

Verses 29-30, He says, God knows every last thing you need, which really means, He cares about every last thing you need, and He has the ability to do something about providing your needs.

The message is, God is incredibly committed to you, and as you develop that rich relationship with Him, you begin to understand better and better that there is no need for anxiety.

My father was a fan of the Sunday afternoon drive. We frequently did that. We came across a number of different things. Once, a huge rock fell right in front of the vehicle and we barely missed it landing right on top of us. We came across some animals. We saw people in ditches. An occasional auto accident. And whenever we encountered differing situations, my Dad always knew what to do. He was always competent, confident, he always just dealt with the situation, whatever it was. And I developed a confidence in life because my Dad knew what to do.

Part of the message of this passage today is, you are traveling with a Father who knows what to do! He is telling us not to be anxious, not because bad things will never happen. Bad things certainly do happen. He is telling us not to be anxious because we are traveling with a Father who knows what to do. Our Heavenly Father is confident, He is competent, He is not going to come across any situation, we are not going to hit some crossroad in life and have God sitting in Heaven wringing His hands, wondering what am I going to do now? He does not experience that! We are traveling with a Father who knows what to do.

Third benefit of a rich relationship with God, verses 31 and 32. When I have a rich relationship toward Him, I am free to seek His kingdom and to trust Him for my needs. Verse 31. “But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. 32  Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

I am convinced there is one sure-fire, guaranteed way to have all of my needs met. Guaranteed way. It’s not by getting a high-demand college degree. It’s not by saving a huge amount of money. It’s not by networking with very wealthy people. One way to be sure I have every need met is by seeking the kingdom of God first and foremost, and leaving my needs to God.

The Kingdom of God very simply means, God’s right to rule. Whenever you see the kingdom of God, or the word kingdom, simply think to yourself, God’s right to rule. God has a right to rule the universe, the world, and America, and Georgia, and Calvary Baptist Church, and more specifically, me. He has the right.

When I am committed to God’s right to rule inside of my life, God is committed to dealing with my needs. I believe the more a Christian is wandering away from God’s direction in their life, the more they will struggle with the ordinary needs of life. And the more they are committed to God’s right to rule in their heart and life, the more that is a big important thing to them, the more God reaches in and ministers to them in terms of their needs in life.

God is calling me to commit my life to Him, to submit to the rule of His Spirit, and then He is committed to seeing that my needs are met.

Number four. The fourth blessing, verse 33. When I develop a rich relationship with God, I am free to become a giver rather than a collector. Verse 33, “Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.”

American are obsessed with collecting, and I think one of the reasons is that we have such sad relationships with God. And they are saying to themselves, if I can collect a little more perhaps I will find joy in life, perhaps there will be something good for my soul, perhaps I will experience some contentment in my life if I am a person who has a become a very careful collector.

I believe God frees us up from that drivenness when we fill that void in our lives with God Himself.

Final blessing, number five, verse 34. When I develop a rich relationship with God, I am free to love the people and the things of eternity. He says in verse 34, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Which basically means, we love the things that are valuable to us. And when I have a rich relationship with God, I love God Himself, I love God’s people, and I love the things of eternity.

We love the things that are valuable to us. I suspect the most tragic and pathetic thing we have ever witnessed in our lives are people who love the things of earth. People who are absolutely enamored with the things of earth.

In a TV interview many years ago, a secular TV man was interviewing Wayne Newton who was a singer. At that time Wayne Newton had been singing in his own hotel for seven years, and had missed three nights in seven years. Other than that, he had been there every night. And this secular TV man and his camera showed both of his ranches, both of his jet helicopters, all of his Arabian horses, the other exotic animals he owned, the incredible art work he had, the motorcycles, the cars, the trinkets. It was overwhelming. In fact, when they got done with the tour of everything this man owned, the secular newsman himself was overwhelmed. And he said to Wayne Newton, let me ask you a question. What would happen to you if you lost all of this? Who would Wayne Newton be if he were penniless? And Wayne Newton didn’t answer the question. He said to him, I’d go get it again.

Wayne Newton didn’t answer the question. He couldn’t deal with the reality of losing things. He simply said to the reporter, I would go get it again.

I believe there was a man with an incredible void in his heart, without a rich relationship with God, and therefore, he is driven to collect and to love helicopters, motorcycles, and trinkets.

It’s when I have a rich relationship with God that I am free to live very simply. And I am free from the drivenness to collect.

I believe God is calling us through His Word to ask ourselves a very simple question, to say to myself, number one, am I addicted to material things, and to collecting money? Am I a person who is just flat driven to have more?

Secondly, to say to myself, am I free to live simply because the needs of my soul are being met by a rich relationship with God? The closer I am to the Father, the less I am driven to collect. And God is saying to us today, I will give you full freedom from collecting, from greed. I will give you full freedom from being a person who has to have more. And the way to have that freedom is by very simply having a rich relationship with God Himself.

—PRAYER—