Have You Heard The One About....The Businessman Who Missed The Bottom Line? - Haddon W. Robinson

2:18 This is how it's going to be with anyone who stores up things for themselves. but not rich towards God. Some cynic has described preaching as the fine art of talking in someone else's sleep. I think it's a bit severe, but certainly one of the occupational hazards of being a preacher is you keep losing people's attention. When I was a young man, first starting in this business of preaching, it disturbed me deeply when people went off to sleep when I got up to preach. And for those of you who are settling down for a little autumn nap, I tell you, it still bothers me.

3:05 But I've taken some consolation from the fact that even when Jesus was here on earth, there were those who were part of his congregation who heard him preach, but didn't really listen to what he had to say. That's true here in the 12th chapter of the gospel. of Luke. We're told that another huge crowd had come to hear him. In fact, people were in danger of trampling each other. And Jesus spoke to them. He talked to them about heaven and hell and hypocrisy. And in the course of his sermon, evidently a man came to the front, elbowed his way to the head of the crowd. And he said, teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.

3:58 I don't know what this man's difficulty is. Apparently, his father had died and left his estate to these two boys. It's very possible that this was the younger brother. It would have been procedure to have the older brothers the executor of the estate but whatever it was he felt that his brother even the either wasn't acting fast enough or fair enough to suit him and so he comes to Jesus and said teacher tell my brother to divide the inheritance between me certainly this would not be the first time that families had broken up over an inheritance. Old proverb says that where there's a will, there's a way for people to fight over it. And all kinds of families have gotten into cold wars or hot court fights trying to get their share of the inheritance.

5:03 One thing you do know for certain, that inheritance was this young man's not so magnificent obsession. He thought about it day and night. Here he is in the presence of Jesus and all he can think about is getting his share of the inheritance. For him, the sun would never shine as warmly and flowers would never bloom as brightly. Birds would never sing as sweetly until they got that inheritance. So he comes to Jesus. And Jesus responds, not in a very compassionate way. Jesus responds and says, man, who made me a judge or divider over you?

5:59 In other words, you're trying to turn me into a county judge. That's not why I came. He isn't saying we don't need judges, we don't need lawyers. He was simply saying that was not his mission, his ministry. I've been quite interested in how people in our society don't dismiss Jesus as nobody, but they do turn him into a judge and a divider. They say, for example, that Jesus was a great teacher. If we follow his teachings, we'll be able to settle all these nasty disputes between nations and neighbors. He taught us how to live. But if he only came to teach us ethical principles, he really wasted his time coming. I mean, people had better teaching then than they were able to live up to. Or in the same vein, people say, well, no, no, he's an example.

7:06 if you look at how Jesus lived and you copy that walk in his steps it'll solve all these problems I don't think so. I think if Jesus is merely an example, then his example mocks me. Suppose I wanted to be a concert pianist, and you take me to a concert stage, give me a place to stand behind the artist. She's playing one of her most intricate compositions. Her hands fly up and down that keyboard. And when she's through, he said to me, Robinson, that's it. She gave you a marvelous example. Have at it.

8:00 My hands are lit. I can't do it. Her example marks me. And if I apply that to Christ, I don't need anybody to put me down anymore. And I don't need examples to show me what a failure I am. No, Jesus says, I did not come to judge or to divide. Jesus Christ came to earth not to make bad people good or good people better, but to make people who are spiritually dead alive. And if you don't get that, you don't get him.

8:48 And then having had this conversation, he turns to the crowd and he says to them, The NIV says, be on guard against all kinds of greed. Man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. Almost every other translation says, be on guard against covetousness. The NIV said, no, that's not going to work. Who knows what covetousness is? You know, covetousness is one of those overstuffed religious words that's lost its cutting it. Nobody takes it seriously. We look at the Ten Commandments and we figure that God and Moses had nine really good ones.

9:44 He threw that one in about covetousness to round out the list. Beware of covetousness. Over the years, I've had a number of people confess things to me. I've never had anybody come to my office. I'd like to schedule some time with you. I need to talk about covetousness. They wouldn't even know what it was.

10:10 And yet Jesus says, beware of covetousness. A person's life does not consist of the things that they possess. Coverageousness is wanting more and more of what you have enough of already. And Jesus says, watch out for it. Because your life doesn't consist of the things you possess.

10:39 When Jesus talks about things, what things do you think he's talking about? Oh, big things, little things. Things to drive, things to live in, things to purchase with your credit card. All kinds of things, things to go fishing with, things to go hunting with. Jesus says your life does not consist of the things that you possess. But a whole industry is in Madison Avenue in New York designed to convince you that your life does consist of things. You see it on billboards as you're driving down the highway. You hear it in jingles on the radio. It's the word from the sponsor on television.

11:34 It's in four color ads and magazines. In a hundred different ways we're told that life consists of things. And I think one of the reasons that our country is involved in the greatest junk business the centuries have ever seen is because we take Madison Avenue seriously. It is junk if you think about it. All these things that we covet. It's junk. I mean, yesterday's mansion becomes today's boarding house, tomorrow's slum. Yesterday's new car becomes today's trade-in, it's tomorrow junkie. Yesterday's latest style is what's hanging in your closet, and ultimately will make it to the Goodwill Bank.

12:36 Junk. And Jesus said, beware of coveting things because your life doesn't consist of the things that you possess. And then in order to nail that into our thinking, Jesus tells the story.

13:02 It's a story of a wealthy farmer who made it big in agriculture. And Jesus doesn't paint them in dark colors. There's a lot about this man that we would admire. He is rich. A wealthy farmer. And Jesus is not condemning him because he's wealthy. The Bible doesn't ever say it's wrong to be rich. It does say it's dangerous to be rich. But some of God's great people were people of wealth. Abraham, measured by the standards of his day, was a man of means. Job, after he went through his ordeal, was rewarded with riches. David and Solomon, Near Eastern kings, men who were wealthy.

14:06 We as Christians owe a debt to a man by the name of Joseph for lending Jesus' tomb for three days. In the early church, there were people of wealth who opened their hearts and their homes to the fledgling congregations. We owe a lot to people of wealth. You know, the Bible doesn't say it's wrong to have wealth. It does say it's dangerous. It's something like the fly paper and the fly. The fly paper, the fly lands on the fly paper and says, my fly paper.

14:49 Fly paper says, my fly, and that's a dead fly. It is dangerous when wealth has you. But he's wealthy. He would have been admired by the people in his community, looked up to, sought after. What is more, he's industrious. I gather that from the fact he's a farmer. I'm really out of my league here. I grew up in the ghetto of New York City. first cow I ever saw, I saw when I was about six years of age, and I saw it in Macy's department store. So I don't know a whole lot about farming. I do know this, that people who plant crops and harvest them work hard. They're up early, they're to bed late.

15:44 They're hard workers. I am sure that's true with this man. If you had passed his farm early in the morning, he'd be up getting all of his utensils ready. If you came later at night, he'd have a flickering candle keeping the books. he worked hard and if you don't work hard if you're lazy you get no comfort in the Bible go to the book of Proverbs and they're nagging at you but there is a danger of work and that is to work hard and never ask what you're working for some people spend their lives at work they don't know what they're working for but he's industrious the third thing I see about him that I'm impressed with is he's progressive he makes this killing in agriculture he's been rich, he has all kinds of good things but this was an especially good year and so he's got a problem Up to now, his difficulties were with production, but now his problems with storage.

17:09 And the only thing he can think of is take down the old barns and put up new ones. Boy, that's progress, isn't it? And we admire progress. American company advertised for years that progress is our most important product. Not refrigerators, not light bulbs, progress. But I don't know of anything it's quite as much of an illusion as progress. I mean you can make rapid progress down the wrong road and you're really not getting anywhere. but people would have looked up to him.

17:52 Progressive. And then Jesus tells us about just one night in this man's life. I pity it. I can picture it. Here is this wealthy man, this farmer, sitting across the desk from the architect in the town. They have sprawled out in front of them blueprints. And the farmer says to this architect, look, once I was known as the best farmer in this area. And then, as you know, I'm known as the best farmer in the whole Jordan Valley. When we get this project completed, we'll be the best farmer, we'll have the best farm in Israel.

18:58 So the two men work, and as they do, the rich man's wife comes in. He says, honey, you better come to bed. You've been up the last two weeks. And he sure as to you'll come to bed. What the two men work on? And then the architect says, well, I better be getting home. Look, what I'll do is I'll work on these corrections that we've made and I'll bring them back so you can prove them. So the rich man closes the door against the knight. He can't go to bed. The adrenaline is pumping. So he's going to run the numbers. How much will it take to put these barns up? How much for the new house? How much for the taxes?

19:51 Insurance? And as he's working hard, suddenly there's a knock at his door. He goes over to open it. and the presence is already in his room. Richieman says, who are you? The presence says, I'm death.

20:14 Death? What do you want? I come for you. For me? I don't have you on my appointment book. You never told me you were coming. I told you. I told you when I took your partner a few years ago. Remember that? I told you when I took the young man next door. I told you every time a funeral train went past the front of your house. Oh, I told you. You just weren't listening. But I'm here to count you out. Ten, nine, eight. Rich man said, look, let's make a deal. make a deal. Take half of everything I've accumulated. You take half of it. Just let me live. I have no use for your toys. Six, five, four. Rich man says, look, take it all. Take it all. Let me start at my beginnings. Take it all. I'm not ready for you.

21:19 and death with a wave of his hand counts him out. This wealthy man had prepared for life and the very thing for which he prepared was taken away. Well his wife comes down the next morning she finds her husband slumped across the desk, goes to waken him and discovers he's gone. A lot of grief in the house. But they had the funeral. And it's a big funeral. This wealthy farmer was known throughout the community. The mayor of the community is giving the eulogy. He talks about how successful this farmer was. He points to the young people and says, here's a man you ought to copy.

22:18 And others joined him. Somebody said he was the best barn builder in the entire Jordan Valley. They said nice things about him. And then after it was over, they took him out to the cemetery. And over his grave, they put some stone, birth date, death date, maybe a verse from the scriptures or something from the poets. And then they all went back because they had things to get. And that night, the angel of God came across that cemetery. And over that stone he wrote a single solitary word. F O O L.

23:16 Fool. This man wasn't an atheist. He's probably as religious as the next person. But if you believe that God exists and then for all practical purposes live as though he doesn't exist, God says you're a fool. And then at the end of the story, there is this mocking phrase, who will get what you have prepared for yourself? You have a picture of laughing heirs dividing up the inheritance or two brothers fighting over it. He didn't have it. He left it all behind. This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich towards God.

24:19 Beware of covetousness. Beware of wanting more and more of what you have enough of already. like this rich man of old, you've put your bet on the wrong square. And then Jesus turns away from the crowd, talks to his disciples, talks to us. And he says, therefore I tell you, don't worry about your life, what you will eat, or your body, what you will wear.

25:00 Life is more than food and the body more than clothes. He doesn't say don't think about it, Just don't worry about it. Look, you learn a lot about yourself, about what you worry about two in the morning. He said, don't worry about things like clothes, food. Important, but that ought to be the deepest concern of your life. And then he gives two illustrations. One illustration is from the birds and the other from flowers. He says, consider the ravens. I mean, they don't sow or reap. They don't have a storeroom or barn like that rich man. Yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable are you than birds? And by the side, who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

25:59 I think by worrying you can knock off some hours, but you're not going to add them. And since you can't do this very little thing. Why do you worry about the rest? A second illustration comes from the lilies. Consider how the lilies grow. They don't labor, they don't spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. And if that is how God clothes the grass of the field which is here today, tomorrow thrown into the fire. How much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? Don't set your heart on what you will eat or drink. Don't worry about it, for the pagan world runs after all these things, and your father knows that you need them.

27:03 but he says seek his kingdom these things will be given to you as well As the investor in Wall Street seeks to make a profit, gives his life to studying the numbers, you, you ought to seek that for the kingdom.

27:36 If you wake up at two in the morning and you're worried, you don't be worried about God's work in the world. You're going to worry, worry about something important. seek his kingdom these things will be given to you as well Put God's kingdom at the center of your life. All these other things will take their proper place. Sometimes when I'm thinking about life, it seems to me as though it's like a wagon wheel. At the center of the wheel, there is a hub, and out from the hub, there are the spokes. What you put it, the hub is the strength of the wheel. I know people like this man who live for possessions.

28:37 They're the people who day and night think about making more money. And some are good at it. Sometimes you discover that to make the money they sacrifice one of the spokes, their family. their family. They make friendships because of what that will do for them. There's a spoke about going to church but they got to go to the right church where you can get the right contacts. And what you do in the community is designed to help you get more at the center. And yet, I have seen people as you have. in a time of depression,

29:27 where the center is gone, and their whole life is ruined. I know people who are new men especially, give their lives for passion. I mean they think with their glance. They plan things in order to be able to have other sexual contests. They do business trips with the idea there'll be a way and they'll be able to cultivate women. They live for it. They sacrifice their family for it. They don't have much time for religion, it gets in their way. Sometimes it affects them physically.

30:24 But then one day they discover that the fire is not as hot as it used to be. What they were living for is diminished. And some of them see their life crumble. I've known people who have lived for power. I mean they live for the election. It may be an election in a state. Could be an election in church. You want to get to positions of prominence. And they sacrificed almost all the smokes for that. They have a family, but if the family gets in their way, they sacrifice. They have made a fortune, but they'll sacrifice their fortune to get the nomination, get the election.

31:30 That's what they live for. And then they lose. I remember meeting a senator from another state who had just lost an election. Lost it by a couple of points. He was devastated. I mean, I was a virtual stranger. He couldn't stop talking about it because his whole life's significance was gone. Well, Jesus is saying, there is nothing worthy of the allegiance of an immortal soul except that which is eternal. if you put God's kingdom his rule in your life at the center then all of these spokes take their place But for God's sake, guard your center.

32:38 There's a story, a fable I guess, comes from Italy. It's the story of a servant who did some rather stupid things. boss really got irritated with him and one day he said look I don't know if there's anybody I've ever met as stupid as you are I want you to take the staff and you go out if you meet somebody more stupid than you are give them the staff to show you how stupid the servant was he agreed and throughout the as the fable goes throughout the day, throughout the weeks, met a lot of stupid people.

33:37 But he was never sure that they were worse than he was. And then as the fable goes, a year or two later, he's summoned back to the villa, into the bedroom of his master. Master said, sir, I'm going on a long journey. Oh, well, you'll be back. Well, I don't think I'll be coming back from this journey. Well, sir, have you prepared for the journey?

34:19 No, I haven't. Could you have prepared? I guess I had a lifetime to prepare for, but never got around to that. And the servant said, you're going on a long journey and you're never going to return. You could have made preparation for it and you made no preparation at all.

34:44 He took this staff he had carried months and he said, here, sir. You take it. At last I've met a man more stupid than myself. Beware of covetousness. Beware of giving your life for things.

35:13 Beware of trying to get more and more of what you have enough of already. Instead, put at the center of your life what is eternal. live for God's rule in your life and the life of others. And Jesus said, if you do that, all these other things will take their proper place. Let's pray. Father, We live in a society. that tells us that what we have is more important than what we are.

36:03 And there are times when we get tempted to believe it. But help us to hear this word, beware of covetousness. Beware of wanting more and more of what you have enough of already. For life does not consist of the things you possess. Life consists of seeking first God's kingdom, his righteousness, and then all these other things you have assured us will take their proper place. So Lord, help us. Help us. Help us to shut our ears to the voices of the society that would lead us astray and hear your voice.

37:03 and we ask this favor in Jesus name amen