Sermon Tone Analysis

*Date:*      16th November 2008                                                              (Sunday AM)                                                                       *Ref:* A0409

*Place:     Kambah P.S.*

*Title: Money Money Money*

*Text:        *& Matthew 6:24-33

 

*Illust:     *On Thursday night* *at Crown casino *Sir Bob Geldof* spoke about the tragedy of Third World poverty and the failure of governments to combat the crisis, Bob Geldorf an ex rock performer is renowned  for his organisation of the Live Aid concerts in 1985 to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia.. Partly in recognition of the Live Aid effort, Geldof received an honorary knighthood.

A man deeply concerned about Poverty.

– Interesting that he charged about $100,000 for his trouble.

A speaker's fee that included the cost of luxury hotel rooms, a minder and first-class airfares.

One person commented.

"It was an inspiring speech.

But when you think he got paid $100,000 to talk about poverty, it seems like a bit of a contradiction,"

!

I.                   Spins the World

!! A.               Necessary

i.

An old song “money makes the world go around” – There is a truth here that money is a necessity of life.

It is something that you simply must have.

ii.

To eat, even if you wanted to grow your own food, you need to be able to get the seeds, the fertiliser etc – Have to buy them.

– Give something of value in return.

What is money?

– Money is anything that is accepted as a medium of exchange.

iii.

Like it or not money is a part of life & has been for most of recorded history: The Shekel is one of the earliest recorded units for currency:

      The Shekel referred to an ancient unit of weight and currency.

The first usage of the term came from Mesopotamia circa 3000 BC. and referred to a specific mass of barley which related other values in a metric such as silver, bronze, copper etc.

A barley~/shekel was originally both a unit of currency and a unit of weight... just as the British Pound was originally a unit denominating a one pound mass of silver.

!! B.               Extremes

i.                 Along with the necessity of money is the issue of the extremes of money any one individual holds.

– One one extreme you have the rich, & on the other there is the poor

ii.

The Rich: Forbes lists the world’s billionaires men like Bill Gates worth $58bn – Almost inconceivable the wealth that some have

      Jessica Simpson totes her pup Daisy around in a Louis Vuitton dog carrier that sells for $1,930.00.

Chateau Saison in Colorado is set on 53 acres behind private gates on a secluded mountaintop with views of the Steamboat Ski area.

With seven bedrooms, five with en suite bath, as well as a detached guest house, you’ll never run out of room for family or guests.

The majestic master suite features a stone fireplace, an executive office, a fitness room and a balcony with views of the lake and surrounding mountains.

Watch a movie floating in the indoor pool, or go to the amazing professional theater with a star ceiling and curved screen.

– Yours for a cool $15,250,000 US

      Larry Ellison’s yacht “Rising Sun”: The long list of luxury things on-board include a colossal swimming pool, a cinema, basketball court that also works as a helicopter pad, suites for 16 guests, and space for private submarine.

The production cost of the Rising Sun is said to be > US$200m.

iii.

And at the same time as more & more people are gaining amazing wealth, the plight of the poor is increasing.

About 1~/2 of the human population suffers from poverty.

The World Bank defines /extreme poverty/ as living on less than US$1 per day, and /moderate poverty/ as less than $2 a day, estimating that "in 2001, 1.1 billion people had consumption levels below $1 a day and 2.7 billion lived on less than $2 a day."

iv.

When you go through your Bibles God has quite a bit to say to the rich, not much of it good and also speaks to the reality of the poor

        Deuteronomy 15:11 For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land.’

(NKJV)

v.

And the duty of care that those who are blessed have to the poor

        Leviticus 19:9-10 9‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest.

10 And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather /every/ grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I /am/ the Lord your God.

(NKJV)

!

II.

Mammon

!! A.               Love of Money

i.                 Need to be aware that while money is a necessity & there is nothing wrong with money in of itself, the real danger is that people begin to love money.

This is the state of much of the strange creatures from Hollyweird.

– Love their money, their designer labels, their exclusive shops & the ego power trip they get from being rich & famous.

ii.

Then you have the successful business people – The vast majority of the really wealthy are business people.

– Many of them work, their businesses are their life.

– They have multiple irons in the fire, burning the candle at both ends.

Ecclesiastes 5:12 The sleep of a laboring man /is/ sweet, Whether he eats little or much; But the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep.

(NKJV)

        Ecclesiastes 5:10 He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; Nor he who loves abundance, with increase.

This also /is/ vanity.

(NKJV)

           The problem is not money but the love of money, being consumed by money.

Paul warns about the love of money

        1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all /kinds of/ evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

(NKJV)

iii.

Truth is that you worship who you serve.

Most of the fabulously rich serve money, they do everything based on money – Bob Geldorf.

– /I want $100k to come & speak about what you must do to alleviate poverty./

– Money is their God.

– Jesus warns us about this.

& vs.24

!! B.               Danger of Debt

i.

The biggest problem that the vast majority of people have with the super rich is that they want to live like them, regardless of whether they personally can afford it or not.

Maybe not even conscious but it is pushed continually through the advertising industry, be successful, be cool, have made it – if you wear such & such, carry a brand name handbag, wear prada.

ii.

Since most can’t actually afford the lifestyle they want, they put it all on credit.

Multiple credit cards maxed out – tens of thousands of dollars.

– people in ballooning debt.

The current crisis came about because people who couldn’t afford things like home loans (Couldn’t afford the repayments – That’s what “subprime” means – fancy word for people who have no hope of making their repayments) were offered loans at higher interest rates (reducing below zero any chance they would pay it back) & as long as housing prices increased the  banks were ok, - As soon as the housing market slowed – Whoops.

iii.

Simple word of advice if you are in debt, get out of it.

By debt, Not talking about a sensible home loan, talking about debt.

I mean if you sold everything you still don’t have enough to pay off what you owe.

– Remember most items are worthless the minute you walk out of the store with them.

Proverbs 22:7 The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower /is/ servant to the lender.

(NKJV)

           You need to stop spending on the wants & focus on the needs until you have paid off your debt

           Simple rule of thumb: Don’t spend more than you earn

!

III.

A Right View

!! A.               Stewardship

i.                 Need a proper understanding of just whose money you have in your bank account.