Tuesday, May 28

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Matthew 6:19-14

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

(v. 24) “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

Several years ago I was on an airplane and started flipping through one of those product catalogues you find in the back of the seat in front of you. My eyes stopped on a page that advertised a “$1,000,000 bill.” 

It was an ad placed by an organization called the “International Association of Millionaires” and the product was a “Limited Edition Collectible Certificate of Wealth” that looked like actual currency but was not legal tender.

In other words, for $18.50 you could purchase a piece of paper that looked like money but was actually worth nothing.

I was curious so I looked a little more deeply into the organization. The “I.A.M.” (as the founder refers to the organization) statement of purpose reads: 

“To help people all around the world change their state of mind so they can start having lots more money, enjoy more financial freedom and live a happier life”

According to the I.A.M. website well over a million of these “Certificates of Wealth” have been sold, which, of course, has made the creator of the I.A.M. a millionaire many times over.

Only after tearing the page out of the catalogue and taking it home did I notice the chilling double-meaning of the abbreviation, “I.A.M.” According to the Bible, the ancient and holy name of God (transliterated from ancient Hebrew) is YHWH; most often pronounced “Yahweh” or “Jehovah”, and can be translated as “I am who I am.” When Moses asks God what he should tell the Israelites when they ask who has sent him, God replies:

“I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM’ has sent me to you.” Exodus 3:14

So, quite unintentionally I would presume, the founder of the “International Association of Millionaires” actually framed the same issue Jesus addressed some 2,000 years ago.

“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

Now most of us have read these verses or heard sermons about them dozens of times. And we understand that money is not God and that it is dangerous to allow ourselves to love or worship money. But I want to focus on why it is “good news” that money is not God.

First of all, when money is god it tends to produce greed. Greed might be defined as the “excessive desire to acquire or possess more than one needs.”

The ancient writer of Ecclesiastes says it this way:

Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income…I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner… Ecclesiastes 5:10,13

There’s an old story, perhaps apocryphal, of a billionaire who was once asked, “Sir, how much money is enough?” He answered, “Just a little more.”

I believe that almost all of us have a secret number in our heads that represents how much more money we need to be really content; really happy; really secure. That number might be $100 for a ninth grader; it might be $10,000 for a young father; it might be $1,000,000,000 for a millionaire; but we all have a number. The Bible is warning us that whatever number we have in our head is meaningless because when we get to that number there will always be another number!

Second, when money is god it tends to produce debt. When our wealth becomes our greatest value it is just a small step to valuing our possessions. And when we value possessions we tend to want more and more possessions. And in order to possess we need to purchase, and in order to purchase we often borrow. And when we borrow we find ourselves in debt.

We all are at least somewhat aware of and concerned about our nation’s debt situation. We know that being indebted to other nations is not a good place to be.

And yet statistics show that the average American family lives on something like 105% of its income. That means that many of us, like our nation, are slipping further and further into debt.

While the Bible does not strictly prohibit taking on debt, we do read in the book of Proverbs:

The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. Proverbs 22:7

In other words, when we get into debt we become servants to money; and money becomes our master. And, as those of us who have ever been in debt have learned, money is a stern and heartless master.

Money, while necessary, useful and valuable, does not love you; does not care about you; and certainly cannot save your soul.

The gospel tells us only Jesus does that.

Pastor Brian Coffey