WHAT WOULD JESUS ASK?
WILL YOU EVER HAVE ENOUGH?
DR. JIM DIXON
SEPTEMBER 22, 2013
LUKE 12:13
The Success Syndrome is the name of a controversial book written by Steven Berglas The book describes mega millionaires. It describes uber-successful people. It describes people who have taken small businesses and built them into huge corporate entities, people who have made millions upon millions of dollars, people who have had success after success after success after success. And according to Steven Berglas, they begin to experience the success syndrome. They begin to experience what he calls encore anxiety, and the pressure builds. He cites the example of a man named Rick Chollet, who took a small business and built it into a huge corporation, who made millions upon millions of dollars. And yet one day he went into his beautiful New Hampshire mansion, got into his brand new BMW, and made sure that everything was sealed off. He turned on the ignition and asphyxiated himself. He took his own life and he left a note saying, “Please forgive me. I can’t take the pain of living anymore.”
People were stunned. He had everything, everything the world says is important. He had all the wealth, all the toys, all the success, all the fame. And he couldn’t take it anymore. And you wonder, when he wrote that note, “please forgive me,” was he writing that to God or was he writing that to man? Or maybe a little bit of both.
Now, I don’t know about you. I know that I’ve never experienced the success syndrome. I’ve never had one bit of encore anxiety. I’ve never thought, wow, how can I top that? That thought has never occurred to me. I’ve never thought, oh, it’s going to be hard to one-up myself. I’ve never had that experience. I’ve never made millions and millions of dollars. It’s just never been part of my life. I do know this: I know (and indeed, we said this last week) that the world’s definition of success is ultimately vacuous. I know that because the world’s definition of success generally has to do with ascension. It has to do with rising up the corporate ladder. It has to do with authority, it has to do with wealth, it has to do with fame. It’s ultimately vacuous.
I also know that wealth in and of itself is vacuous. Just making more and more and more money is barren at the core and leads to soul bankruptcy. I know that. So today we’re going to look at the question, when do we ever have enough? And there’s not going to be a simple answer. There’s not going to be a cookie cutter answer. The Bible doesn’t give us that. Christ loves us all and He’s crafted us all differently. He has different plans for us, but there are questions He wants us to contemplate, questions He wants us to consider, questions He wants us to ask if we’re going to get it right, if we’re going to please Him.
What I’d like us to do today is to contrast your purse and your purpose. I want all of us to do this. I want us to take a look at our purse and a look at our purpose and what really matters. What really matters? Is it your purse or is it your purpose? Now, Jesus dealt with this many times. So in our passage of scripture for today in Luke’s Gospel, the 12th chapter, this man comes up to Jesus. He comes out of the multitude and he says, “Rabbi, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me.” Now, we know that this man who approached Jesus was the younger brother. We know certain things about the Jewish laws of inheritance. His older brother would have had possession of the inheritance, and this younger brother feel felt that the older brother was not dealing fairly with him. He had probably read Deuteronomy chapter 21. He had read Numbers chapter 27 and Deuteronomy 21. In Numbers 27 is the Jewish laws regulating succession and Jewish laws regulating inheritance. And surely this younger brother felt like under, the law, my older brother’s not treating me fairly. So, rabbi, arbitrate.
Understand that in that Jewish world, it was common for people to go up to rabbis and say, interpret the law for me. Take this aspect of the law, apply it to my circumstance. So this guy was treating Jesus as a normal rabbi and he was going up asking for rabbinical arbitration. And Jesus was having none of it. He didn’t come to bring property to men, He came to bring God to man. So He was having none of it. He called to the crowd and He warned them saying, “Beware.” And the Greek is so strong, the Greek word here literally means “guard yourself,” as a military term used of a strong enemy. Guard yourself, protect yourself. There’s a strong enemy coming. So that’s the language Jesus is using. “Beware of all covetousness, for a person’s life does not consist in the sum of his or her possessions.” It’s not about your purse. So Jesus immediately wants to make it clear to the multitude. It’s not about your purse. He’s even about to suggest that your purse doesn’t matter very much.
So He tells them a parable and He says, “The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought to himself, what shall I do? I have no place to store my crops. I’m so wealthy, I don’t have enough space to store my wealth. I’ll tear down my barns and I’ll build larger barns there. I will store my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to my soul, soul, you have ample goods laid up for many, many years. Take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, you fool. This very day your soul is required of you. And all the stuff that you’ve accumulated, whose shall it be?”
Now, understand for us that the purse represents whatever you have. Your wallet is your purse, your bank account is your purse. Your 403(b) is your purse, your 401(k), whatever. You have your inheritance. Your purse, your equity, and your house is your purse. Your equity in your cars is your purse. Your cumulative wealth is your purse. And Jesus is saying it doesn’t matter. Your purse, whose shall it be? The things that you’ve accumulated, the stuff that you have, whose shall it be? And then He said, “So shall it be with all who are rich towards themselves and not rich towards God.”
So Jesus is trying to draw a distinction here between purse and purpose. Your purpose needs to be God. You need to be rich towards that purpose. It’s not about purse, it’s about purpose. And of course, Jesus then goes on in Luke chapter 12 to tell a second parable about the ravens and the lilies. And this is the Lukan equivalent of the Matthew account of the birds of the air and the lilies of the fields. And Jesus is now saying money’s dangerous even if you don’t have any. It’s dangerous if you have a lot, and it’s dangerous if you have little. So Jesus now says to the crowd, maybe you’re anxious thinking, wow, I don’t have enough food. I don’t have enough clothing. What am I going to eat? What am I going to drink? What am I going to wear? Jesus is saying even when you don’t have money, it becomes a problem. But He says focus on your purpose. He says the “ethni,” the nations, the Gentiles, seek after all of those material things, but your heavenly Father knows just what you need. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these other things will be yours as well.
So it’s about purpose. He’ll take care of your purse if your focus is on your purpose. He’s Jehovah Jireh. He’s the Lord Who Provides. And this is so radical. It’s so radical that you’ve got to answer the question, do you really believe it? I mean, do you really believe this? Do you realize how radical this is? I would say not 1% of the church of Jesus Christ universal believes this. Do you really believe that it’s all about purpose and that if you seek first His kingdom He’ll provide what you need? Do you really believe He’ll take care of your purse if your purpose is focused on Him? Because that’s what Jesus is saying. And it says it again and again and again and again in holy scripture. This is the message.
That’s why you come to 1 Timothy chapter six (and the Apostle Paul is writing to Timothy, his son in the gospel) and Paul says, “There is great gain in godliness with contentment.” We brought nothing into the world, we can take nothing out of the world. If we have food and clothing, with these we’ll be content. Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare. Those who desire a big purse fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and hurtful desires that plunge man into ruin and destruction.
The love of money, the love of a big purse, is the root of all evil. Through this craving many have turned away from the faith. They’ve left their purpose. Because of this craving, many have turned away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pains. “As for the rich of the world,” Paul says, “charge them not to be haughty nor to set their hopes on their purse, to set their hopes on uncertain riches.” You can’t put your hope there, but on God, who richly furnishes us with all things to enjoy. “Let them do good and be rich in good deeds for the kingdom, thus laying up for themselves a good foundation for the future, that they might take hold of the eternal life, which is life indeed.”
We get this message again and again and again on the pages of scripture. And our culture puts all of its faith in the purse. We’re taught to do that from a very early age, when really it’s all about the kingdom. Seek first the kingdom and its righteousness, and all these other things will be added unto you. Your heavenly Father knows what you need. The nations, the “ethni,” the Gentiles, seek after all those things. Don’t let this be true of you. Purpose.
You’ve heard of R. G. LeTourneau, perhaps. R. G. LeTourneau is one of my favorite people, a great man, perhaps you’ve heard of LeTourneau University (which used to be LeTourneau Tech), a wonderful Christian institution of higher learning. RG LeTourneau was a mega millionaire. He was uber rich. He just had tons of money. He built the largest earth moving equipment company in the world. This Thursday, Barb and I are flying to New York, to Kennedy International Airport. Kennedy International Airport was built by R. G. LeTourneau’s earth moving equipment. When you look at his impact on the earth, it’s amazing.
Kennedy International Airport was a swamp land. It was marsh and swamp. And LeTourneau came in there with all of this massive earth moving equipment and transformed the surface of the earth there. The only thing good there was the Idlewild Golf Course, which is why initially Kennedy International, JFK, was named Idlewild International Airport.
The Alaskan highway is 1,397 miles long, from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, to Delta Junction, Canada. The Alaskan Highway, which was initially called the Alcon Highway, was built in 1942 and 1943 as a military supply road, but it became the Alaskan Highway. It was all built by R. G. LeTourneau’s earth moving equipment.
When you think of D-day, what do you think of? There are many D-days. D-day simply means “secret date,” as in “secret date for a military invasion.” But the most famous D-day was June 6th, 1944, when the Allied forces, in Operation Overlord, under the command of General Eisenhower, besieged the 60-mile stretch of the beaches of Normandy. It was the largest seaborne invasion in the history of the world, with 2,700 ships and 176,000 soldiers. All of those barges that left the ships and came ashore, all the equipment that they brought up onto the beaches, everything they brought to the beachfront, was all R. G. LeTourneau’s equipment, built and constructed by his company.
This was an amazing man. But what did he love most? It wasn’t his country. R. G. LeTourneau did love his country, but he was initially a Canadian. What did he love most? He loved Jesus above all else. He’d given his heart to Jesus Christ. He accepted Christ as his Savior from sin the Lord of his life, and he had pledged his life to the service of the kingdom of God.
Well, as a very young man, he started out giving 10% of everything he had to the church and to the kingdom and using 90% for his life and family. But the Lord soon convicted him. You might be thinking, oh, maybe he was giving too much. No, the Lord soon convicted him that he just wasn’t giving enough, and he began to give 15% and then 20%, as he wanted it to be about his purpose, not his purse.
And amazing things begin to happen. God began to prosper him, and his business began to grow. Pretty soon, R. G. LeTourneau was giving 90% of his income to the kingdom of God on earth, and then a hundred percent. He built churches and he built Christian institutions of higher learning and supported missionaries all over the world that they might take the gospel to the nations. What an incredible man.
You might be thinking, well, I can’t relate. I’m never going to build a company like that. I’m not going to make mega millions like that. I just can’t relate. But can you scale it down? Can you look at your life and can you ask a few questions? Can you ask yourself whether or not you’re living for radical purposes and causes? Do you really believe the promise of Christ that if we seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness that all these other things will be added to us? Do you really believe that? For you, in your life, are you really living for your purse or are you really living for the purpose of the kingdom of God?
You’ve heard of George Beverly Shea. I am sure most of you have. He’s one of my favorite guys. George Beverly Shea died this year, April 16th, 2013. He died at the age of 104. In 1932 George Beverly Shea was offered this highly lucrative national radio contract. Understand that in 1932 there was no TV. I mean, the biggest thing you could do was be a national radio star. In his time and in his place, he would’ve been relatively rich with this national radio contract. He had one of the great voices in the world, and he turned it down because of Jesus.
He wound up joining with two other guys and it became a triumvirate, one of the greatest trios on earth: George Beverly Shea, Billy Graham, and Cliff Barrows. And they shook the foundations of the world. They took the gospel to the nations. With the Billy Graham Association at the Billy Graham crusades, George Beverly Shea sang to 220 million people in person. He’s in the Guinness Book of World Records. And his theme song, which he wrote the music to in 1932, was I’d rather have Jesus.
“I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold. I’d rather be His than have riches untold. I’d rather have Jesus than have houses or lands. I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hands than to be the king of a vast domain or to be held in sin’s dread sway. I’d rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today. I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause. I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause. I’d rather have Jesus than worldwide fame. I’d rather be true to His holy name than to be the king of vast domain or to be held in sin’s dread sway. I’d rather have Jesus than anything the world affords today.”
And God used him, because he chose purpose instead of purse. God used him and gave him 104 years on this earth and now eternity itself. We all have that choice to make. If you make any choice for a purse, let it be only because you want to use it for the purpose. Don’t ever make your purse your purpose. The Bible says that’s the greatest tragedy of all. If you make your purse your purpose, that’s the love of money and it’s the root of all evil. But if you, for the sake of your purpose, want to enhance the purse that you might serve the kingdom of God, that’s a different thing.
So how does your worldview impact the way you live your life each day? The Bible says that if our purpose is centered on the kingdom of God, everything will fall into place. The Bible says we need to be givers. And if your life is focused on your purpose rather than your purse, a giver you will be.
The Bible says to give generously. 2 Corinthians chapter nine says, “He who sows bountifully will reap bountifully. He who sows sparingly will reap sparingly.” Do you believe that? Do you believe that God has brought a certain reciprocity to the deal? That if you sow bountifully for the kingdom, you will reap bountifully? That’s the promise that is given. So give generously. The Bible in that same passage says to give cheerfully. There’s a Greek word in the passage that’s kind of controversial. It’s the Greek word “hilaros.” What is the English word we get from that Greek word? Hilarious. And the Bible says, “God loves a hilarious giver.” God loves a hilaros giver.
And there’s some debate. What exactly is the meaning of hilaros? It certainly means cheerful. We know that. So God is not just looking at the amount that you give, but He’s looking at the attitude with which you give it. He’s looking at your heart and your soul. Are you giving it with joy or are you giving it in a begrudging way? He’s checking that out. And this word hilaros also means extravagant. That’s what scholars of the Greek language have come to understand. God loves an extravagant giver. Wow, that’s amazing. An almost reckless, that’s the kind of a giver God is looking for.
So, your Bible, you take a look at Matthew chapter 26, and you see a pretty extravagant giver there. Her name is Mary of Bethany. Jesus has come to the home of Simon the leper, and Mary, the sister of Martha, the sister of Lazarus, is there and she’s brought a gift she wants to give to Jesus. It’s precious ointment and perfume, and it’s extremely costly. And she takes the whole jar and pours the whole thing over the feet of Christ to anoint His feet. The disciples are stunned. They immediately put a cash value on it. They say, “Do you realize how much that was worth? Over 300 Denarii, more than a year’s salary. That was more than a year’s income.”
And Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She’s done something beautiful. She’s done something precious.” Something was happening in her heart. And Jesus said, “Her story will be told until I come again.” God loves an extravagant giver when it’s prompted by the Holy Spirit. Has that thought ever occurred to you, to give a year’s income in a moment in time? I’m sure if that thought has ever occurred to you, you tried to repress it real quickly. See, we’re living for our purse. We’re not living for his purpose. We got it all wrong.
A couple of weeks ago, Shane, our new senior pastor, was here in town and Wendy was hanging out with some of the elders’ wives. So Barb and I spent some time just driving Shane around town. Now I can tell you, with regard to myself, that I think about this church every day. I don’t think I’ve ever had a day since this church started more than 31 years ago that I didn’t. I don’t think I ever had a day that I didn’t think about this ministry and this place. I don’t think I’ll ever have a day that I don’t think about this church. I can’t imagine that I would ever have a day in my life where I don’t think about this church. My hope and my dream is that if God gives me 10 more years that I would, 10 years from now, look at Cherry Hills Community Church and see it thriving. I just long to see this place thrive to the glory of God and for the purposes of His kingdom.
Well Barb and I went over, we picked up Shane over at Valor because Kurt Unruh, who’s the head of school over there and a great friend, was showing Shane around the campus. And so we picked Shane up and began to just drive him around town, killing some time and hanging out together and getting to know each other. We took him over to Orchard Road and Broadway where our church first began, in 1982. We bought a little church there that had been a Church of Christ and they moved and built a new building. So we bought that for a half million dollars—put $10,000 down and had $490,000 of debt. We had no members. It was really crazy.
Then we drove him over to Colorado Boulevard and Hampden, where we built the second Cherry Hills Community Church and built our new sanctuary there in 1985. We drove him around the whole facility.
And we just had a great time kind of checking it out and remembering some things. Shane wanted to know about the church he’s going to lead. And then we came back down here, where we moved in 1995. And yet I believe that even though God has done great things in the past, He’s going to do greater things in the future. I really believe that God has chosen Shane. I’ve said this. I hope… I believe this with all my heart God has chosen Shane to lead this ministry. I think the best years are ahead of us. I really believe that.
But your hearts and souls will be tested. And if you’re living for your purse, much is not going to happen that could happen. We have 25 acres to the south, and nothing’s happening there. It’s just land. We have it, but we’re not doing anything with it. At one time we thought about moving Denver Theological Seminary there. And the president of the school and the board of the school were excited and we were going to have shared governance and relocate Denver Seminary to the south side of our property. Then when the Denver Seminary board voted, they split 50-50 and it didn’t happen. I really believe it wasn’t God’s ultimate will.
We thought about building a Christian living center for elderly people there. We thought about building some stuff for young people there. But we don’t know. It’s going to be in the future and you’re going to be part of it. So the congregation’s going to have a chance to dream some dreams, and Shane is going to have a chance, and the whole leadership team and the elder board are going to dream some dreams in the future. But I will warn you of this: if you’re living for your purse instead of your purpose, nothing’s going to happen down there. Nothing’s going to happen on that land. And the ministries of this church will not thrive if as a congregation we’re living for our purse instead of His purposes.
Monday I had lunch with a Catholic priest who’s becoming a good friend of mine. His name is Father Doug—Father Douglas Grandon—who is a Catholic priest at St. Thomas More. And he is just a great guy. Father Doug is not a normal Catholic priest. I mean, he’s got an earned doctorate, a PhD. There are a number of priests who have that. But he is not normal because he wasn’t initially ordained in the Catholic Church. He was ordained in the Evangelical Free Church. He was an E-V Free pastor. And then he was ordained and installed in the Episcopalian church, and he was an Episcopalian priest. He’s married and he has seven kids. You see, some years ago, the Catholic Church entered into an agreement with the Anglican Church that if an Anglican priest wanted to become a Catholic priest, they could keep their wife and kids. It’s pretty cool, and he’s just this great guy.
He’s an evangelical. He graduated with his Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical School of Theology in Deerfield, Illinois. I know as the years go by we’re going to be great friends. But he was telling me as we were having lunch that a lot of people have misunderstandings about the Catholic Church, and he’s talking about some of the stereotypes and misunderstandings. And he says one is that everybody thinks the Catholic church is rich. You know, you hear people say stuff like that. “The Catholic Church owns 20% of the surface of the Earth.” And of course it’s just not true. But you hear stuff like that. It is true that if you go to the Vatican City, there’s a lot of wealth there. And if you go in the Vatican museums, yes, there are billions of dollars’ worth of biblical art and relics, none of which are going to be sold. So it almost doesn’t matter.
But if you go around the Catholic world and you look at the Archdioceses—in South America or in Asia or even in Europe and even here in the United States—many of them are near bankruptcy. They’re near bankruptcy, particularly after all the litigation and all the tragedy that has taken place in the Roman Catholic priesthood. But he said to me, “Jim, Catholics aren’t very good givers.” And it’s true. I mean, when you look at all the studies that have examined these things, Catholics give less per capita than Evangelicals do.
But I thought to myself, “Protestants aren’t really very good givers either.” Most evangelicals barely give over 2% of income, which means they’re living for their purse. They’re not living for His purposes. It’s just the truth. And sometimes the truth hurts. So Christ is saying to you this morning, “Seek first My kingdom and trust Me.”
Now, Wednesday night we had a wonderful dinner over at Glenmore Country Club. We were invited with a small group of folks over there. Bill and Ellen Armstrong had a gathering. Bill is the president, as you know, of Colorado Christian University. And some board members were there. I’m very privileged to serve on the board there. So Bill is the president of Colorado Christian University and a former senator, and Ellen is one of our elders here at the Church, an elder emeritus. So they had this gathering and some of the board and then some friends of the school were there. It was just a wonderful night.
They had invited Roberta Ahmanson to speak with us. Do you know who Roberta Ahmanson is? You’ve heard of the Ahmanson family. You should Google them; they’re a pretty amazing family. And if you go to LA in Southern California, you see their name here and there. The Ahmanson Theater… even the Art Gallery is partly named after the Ahmanson family. Howard Ahmanson Sr. built Home Savings and Loan, which was the largest savings and loan in the world. And they have inherited a great deal of wealth. Howard Jr. And Roberta love Christ and they’ve given their souls to Christ, that hey might serve Him with passion and might live for His purposes and His kingdom. So they’ve received Him as Savior and Lord, and they have given millions.
She is particularly passionate about the world of art. She feels like evangelicals have abandoned the world of art. We’ve just vacated it, and that whole subculture has gone dark as we have ceased to be light in the world of art. And it’s a tragedy, because God is the ultimate artist. Have you ever taken a look at the night sky? Have you ever looked at the galactic systems in the universe? God is the ultimate painter, and we are created in His image and likeness. He has given us the imago Dei. He’s given us these gifts and these abilities, and we’re meant to create religious expression and spiritual worship through art—Christocentric art, art that focuses on Christ.
The early church understood this. So as you went throughout the Roman world, from the cathedrals to the catacombs, there was Christian art. Christians had seized the culture. Roberta Ahmanson was saying that, by the time Constantine and Theodosius came around, they could see the handwriting was on the wall. Christianity had already won. And it’s true. If you look at it historically, Christians had begun to infuse the culture with light and salt.
And we can’t just vacate this deal, folks. See, here’s the deal. It doesn’t matter what arena we’re looking at—whether you’re looking at Christian art or whether you’re looking at the local church, or whether you’re looking at a parachurch ministries like World Vision or Young Life—it takes someone who’s concerned with the purpose and willing to submit the purse to the purpose. You’ve got to offer your time, your talent, and your treasure, and you’ve got to do it sacrificially. We’ve got to pour ourselves out for the cause of the kingdom of Christ on this earth. If we were to do that, can you imagine what would happen—if this church alone would do that? If we would sell out for Christ, if we would believe His radical message, just think what God would do. Just think of the future. This ministry would have. It would be exciting. So give it a thought. What are you living for? Who are you living for? Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer.