Sermon, Sunday, May 3, 1998
Psalm
49 vs.1, 2
What is your attitude toward the rich? Are you happy for them? Envious? I think most people have a love hate attitude toward the rich. They would love to be in their shoes, while disliking the rich because they have what you want. People have a fascination about the rich and the famous. If we didn't, there would never have been a TV show entitled, "The Lives of the rich and famous." or magazines like "People". While in Savannah, two weekends ago, Diane and I were looking at a real estate magazine which was in our room, in the bed and breakfast. Every home in the magazine was valued at more than one million dollars. You will be happy to know that we didn't find any that we liked, so we will not be moving any time real soon. Who hasn't wished they could trade places with the rich, even if it was just for a day? I don't care how content you are with your financial situation, the majority of people would not mind finding out a long last Aunt has left you the bulk of her estate. Let me ask you, if you had a chance to make $1,000 in one day OR spend it with a loved one on his/her birthday, what would you choose? We would like to think we would say our loved one, but the truth be told, we would attempt to reason, even bribe our loved one with some of the money we would make, into understanding. Our conversation, would sound no different than our prayers to God, when we are asking Him to help us win the lottery. Before you sell your soul for fame and fortune, it would do you well to read Psalm 49. Psalm 49 is one of the few Psalms written more for instruction than praise. Vs 1 & 2 clearly identifies to whom the Psalmist is speaking,
Like all of God's Word, it's audience is every human being, regardless of fame or fortune. The Psalmist, wanted to make it very clear, that what He was inspired by God to write, was intended for everyone to hear. He was not going to leave the door open for anyone to say, "He wasn't speaking to me" The purpose for writing Psalm 49, was to point out the futility of trusting worldly wealth and riches. Can you imagine anyone putting their trust in money? Remember of the rich young man who asked Jesus what he had to do, in order to get into heaven? Jesus asked, "Do you know the commandments?" The rich young man said, "Every one of them, and I haven't broken a one." Jesus responded, "Good!, now go sell everything you have and give it to the poor." The rich young man, was grief stricken. The rich young man's sin was not that he was wealthy. His sin was that he loved his money, even more than he loved God's commandments. Like Jesus, the Psalmist is not speaking against investing for the future. The Psalmist is not speaking out against the necessity of responsible stewardship of our money. The Psalmist is speaking out against the priority you give wealth as well as the idea, that money will buy you happiness. The Psalmist is denouncing, the dollar and a dream formula for happiness. Do you realize it is estimated that the average household spends $100 a year on lottery tickets. Consider this with the fact that 18 school board budgets were defeated last week. They were defeated because it would have meant an increase of taxes, yet not a one of these tax increases would have exceeded $100 for the year. Why are we not willing to spend a $100 a year more on education, but will gladly spend it on lottery tickets? For the same reason billions, possibly trillions of dollars are spent in casinos because we hope we will be the next person to parlay $20 into $5,000,000 like the NJ woman who did it at Trump's Casino this past Thursday. If I announced, that this Thursday, I was sponsoring a bus trip to Atlantic City as well as sponsoring a bus trip to the National Cathedral in Washington DC for National Day of Pray services, which trip do you think I would fill up? Like
the Psalmist who said, I say, you will need more than lady luck or wealth to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. I
base my thoughts on the Word of God, which reads in: The Psalmist is telling you and me, that there is no way anyone can buy eternal life. God and God alone can redeem the soul. If you are counting on your wealth and your physical comforts to keep you from dying. You are in for a disappointment. The rich and the poor have one similarity, when we die, we leave all that we have here on earth. If you should have some doubts, look at all the hearses you see leading a caravan of cars to the cemetery. I guarantee you, you will never see a hearse, pulling a U-Haul. The rich have no advantage in God's eye. They may be able to use their wealth and their power to gain advantages in this life. They may see their wealth as a sign of God's favor, as the Israelites did in the Old Testament. The truth is, no amount of wealth, can be used to bribe God. It has been said, "At the moment of death, and all of us will face that moment, both rich and poor are naked and empty-handed before God. The only riches we have at the time are those we have already invested in our eternal heritage. At the time of death, each of us will wish we had invested less on earth, where we must leave it and more in heaven where we will retain it forever. This is not to say, we earn our way into heaven. We don't, as verse 15 clearly points out,
God has paid the price of admission, he has bought you your ticket with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. To build a treasure in heaven, you must place your faith in God, pledge yourself to obey God, and utilize your resources of time, talent and treasure for the good of the Kingdom of God. Psalm 49 provides you and me an opportunity to check up on our investments and see where we have invested the most. Its up to you to do whatever it takes to place your investments where they really count.
The choice is yours, you can chose the futility of wealth OR the guarantees of God. AMEN
Our
thanks to the
IPoint Midi Gallery for the Hymn
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