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May 19 2019 How to deal with Greed and Anxiety

This week and next week, we’ll be finishing Luke – and then we’ll have a special thing for the summer…

Luke 12: 13 Someone in the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." 14 But He said to him, "Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?" 15 Then He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions."

Every form of greed.

Greed is a huge problem in our world – and that would include in the church. And yet, in the church, it is rarely talked about. I have not given many sermons on greed.

Go back to Pope Gregory in the sixth century – the seven deadly sins – two are rarely talked about – Greed and Gluttony -

Ephesians 5:3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality (we’re good with that – that will preach), or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for the Lord's people.

He connects greed and impurity and sexual immorality on the same playing field. That is not easy for us to agree with! He does the same with gluttony – same emphasis – and yet, in our context, it doesn’t rise to that level – and we should ask – WHY DOES THIS NOT RISE TO THE SAME LEVEL as other areas of sin in the U.S.?

Every form of greed – there must be multiple kinds. When we think of greed – we probably think of that movie Wall Street and that line – “Greed is good!”

Remembering the story of the prodigal son – the oldest would get twice the inheritance – and the rest would be divided equally.

Maybe what happened here – make my brother divide this! Even in a justice/fairness situation – greed is involved.

Jesus tells the parable about the workers – hiring some early in the day for a wage – and then hiring more later and later and later – and he paid them all the same! And those folks were not happy. There is a greed problem.

For even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions. We all know that – it is not about things, but relationships and personal stuff. It doesn’t have anything to do with money and wealth – but the problem is we don’t live that. Things get connected to money.

It is such a temptation – and such pressure on us when it comes to stuff and things and wealth – we are pressured into seeing it as most important.

Jesus – as we have seen – goes from an interaction to a parable:

Luke 12: 16 And He told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man was very productive. 17 "And he began reasoning to himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?' 18 "Then he said, 'This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

19 'And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry."'

And we ask – What is wrong with that? Tell me what is wrong with this story:

A young couple gets married – they have good jobs and good salaries – and can max out their ira’s every year – and buy Gold and investments – and can retire early and hang with their grandkids the rest of their lives – it is the same story!

20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?' 21 "So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

His problem? He was looking ahead, but not far enough ahead – looking to retirement, not to eternity!

The second problem? His entire focus is on ‘self’ – everything is about himself and not God – fulfilling his immediate, and temporary, desires.

He is not rich toward God.

The rich had a social, cultural, and religious responsibility to take care of the poor. If you were rich – it was your job! We have a government that does it. Some say – the government shouldn’t be doing that! But in the Bible – it was REQUIRED of those who were rich to be responsible for the poor! And that is different from our thinking. That is what it was like for them.

To be rich toward God, we must be generous to the poor.

22 And He said to His disciples, "For this reason (because of the parable and because of greed) I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on.

In Matthew, this was in the Sermon on the Mount – but that was earlier in Luke.

Jesus connects wealth with anxiety – you know why? Those things are connected! So much of our worry is about financial issues.

The disciples live in completely different circumstances – they left everything to follow Jesus. They left their homes and communities and their families – they had nothing, because they gave it all up to follow Jesus. They have real concerns about what they will eat and wear! And He tells them – don’t be anxious – don’t worry about this – why? 23 "For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 "Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!

His promise is this – don’t worry about this! God cares for all of creation – even birds. We have two bird’s nests right in our lights by our front door – and we usually don’t go out that way – and yesterday I went out that way – and scared them! But God cares for them!

And He says – we are more valuable. This is a solution to worry and anxiety – because you are so valuable to God, He will care for you – in whatever area we need care. For most of us, having food and clothes is not the issue – having enough to pay bills at the end of the month may be a cause of anxiety for some. Or we think – will I have enough money for retirement? That is a big issue for many Americans. Eventually – you won’t be able to do it!

And for many – we get enormous medical bills – or if the trade wars end up in a recession and everyone loses their jobs – what if? For some

25 "And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life's span? 26 "If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?

Anxiety and worry come from lack of control. The reality is – although it feels like – when we have a good job that we are in control – we all know that one phone call can end that. One meeting with your boss can end that! One trip to the doctor can change everything.

Levels – causes of anxiety

Immediate anxiety – that one trip to the doctor and you received that bad report. That anxiety is real and immediate – it is natural – to have some fear and anxiety – Oh no! I have this health concern and it is serious – and that is normal and natural – and that is not a time to say “Don’t worry, Be happy!” – there is probably never a time to say that unless you are singing a song – but even in that situation – God wants us to manage our anxiety. It is easy to let anxiety take control.

The second level or form of anxiety – Future anxiety – May or may never happen. Maybe someone in our family had cancer of a certain kind – or Alzheimer’s – it may or may not happen – and that is a different form. In that situation – you might want to get the tests for that to catch it early – of course – but in that situation – learn to live in His presence in the present – and not live in a future that may or may not happen. Too often, we try to live in that future – rather than in the present.

A third one – and this affects certain personality types – are things that probably will never happen – but you heard about it on the internet! A lot of us have that! Anxiety over stuff that will never happen. How many of you have had stuff happen to you that you never thought would happen? All of us!

But even though that thing that you never thought would happen happened, it doesn’t mean that THAT thing you read about is going to happen.

We need to control our thoughts – many go to the worst case scenario – and many do that to be prepared – but that is not healthy thinking.

A fourth form of anxiety – and that is hard to see – anxiety over past regrets – mistakes and bad decision – and how they affect us or others.

The best example might be parenting – you probably look back with regret – and that regret is causing anxiety today – those decisions have had an effect – and you know that. The Apostle Paul says – He messed up a lot – he was an awful guy – but he forgot what was behind – where do I go from here.

Do not call to mind the former things or ponder the things of the past – how many of you do that.

Fifth – may be the hardest of all – the anxiety of what others did to us. It can fill our lives – because of what others did to us – and it has the hardest solution – and that is to see that even though others meant it for evil, God meant it for good – and that is hard to understand.

So what do we do? P

27 "Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 28 "But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith!

29 "And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. 30 "For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. 31 "But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

Philippians 4:6 6 Do not be anxious about anything. (He doesn’t just leave it there, saying don’t worry – be happy) Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God.

Step 1 – bring God into every situation – bring God into that anxiety – He wants to be involved in that – you are valuable and He cares for you – and He cares about that issue even more than you! When he says prayer and petition – it is a crying out from the heart – from the soul – deep within us. Some anxieties – it has to be an honest, pouring out of the heart to God. That is where God wants us – pleading with Him for His mercy. That is where God wants us. But we think – that is only for when we are having problems – but this is what it means to be a Christian – to trust Him -Paul talks about pleading with God to remove that thorn in the flesh – whatever it was – or read the psalm – and their prayers are not like what are prayed from the pulpit! God! Why have your forsaken me! Where are You?! How long will this go on! But we are too polite to pray like that!

7 And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

God wants to give us peace in these circumstances that we cannot gain ourselves – and that we cannot comprehend. We can’t drum it up – it is utterly supernatural. It has nothing to do with our personality. I think –

I’ll jump aheard here – I think we think anxiety is a personality issue. Or calmness – there can be inner turmoil. For some it is money stuff – for others – it is relational – or besetting sins and addictions – or from our reputation – the need for approval. The need to win and be the best.

In schools today – in some schools – the competitive schools – there is an enormous problem with suicide – because you have GOT to ace the SAT/ACT – and it is a huge problem with depression – so much pressure! Some places.

They he says - 7 And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

The heart – the emotions – the mind.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things.

What He is saying – we need to direct our thoughts to what is good – in a positive way.

Anxiety

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. (Psalm 55:22 TNIV)

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1Peter 5:7 TNIV)

People say – Give it to God – and that can sound trite – but the reality is – we have no other choice than to throw it on God – DUMP it on Him! He wants to carry that burden.

I remember seeing Dallas Willard and John Ortberg at a conference once – Dallas said – it is not my burden to bear! Wow, that sounded easy! But he had lived it for many years – it is not my burden to bear! How will we pay these bills>? It is not my burden to bear! What about my grandchildren? They are not my burden to bear.

None of us is there yet – I know… - maybe in 30 or 40 years (We’ll be dead and in heaven).

Psalm 37: 7 Be still before the LORD, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices. 8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret-- it leads only to evil.

Our father knows – He is perfectly loving and caring and good and merciful and kind and perfectly generous – in every possible way – and His goodness and love are the only solution to our anxieties


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