Bryan Craddock - Prosperity

Each day as we watch the news we hear some new piece of bad financial news. We wait and watch and wonder what it will all mean for us in coming months. As you hear about all of this, do you ever wonder why God would allow the entire world to go into financially hard times? Is this even a fair question to ask?  Does God have direct control over the economy?  Yes and no.

In one sense, the economy simply reflects the natural consequences of our actions. For example, Proverbs 10:4 says, “Poor is he who works with a negligent hand, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.” Generally speaking, hard work and diligence pays off. That’s true for us individually and by extension nationally.

There are, however, some economic factors that God controls directly. As secular as our society has become, insurance companies still refer to “acts of God.” In fact, God sometimes works through such means. Consider God’s words to Ancient Israel back in Leviticus 26:3-5: “If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out, then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. Indeed, your threshing will last for you until grape gathering, and grape gathering will last until sowing time You will thus eat your food to the full and live securely in your land.” This is prosperity described in agricultural terms.

On the other hand, God also said in verses 18-20, “If also after these things you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. I will also break down your pride of power; I will also make your sky like iron and your earth like bronze. Your strength will be spent uselessly, for your land will not yield its produce and the trees of the land will not yield their fruit.”

These verses raise another question. If you’re rich, does that mean that God has blessed you? If you’re poor, does that mean that God is in some way disciplining you? How should we think about prosperity or the lack of it?

This morning we turn to a story in which Jesus gives us perspective on prosperity. It’s found in Luke 18:18-27.

A ruler questioned Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, 'DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.'" And he said, "All these things I have kept from my youth." When Jesus heard this, He said to him, "One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. And Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." They who heard it said, "Then who can be saved?" But He said, "The things that are impossible with people are possible with God."

THE ULTIMATE QUESTION

We refer to the man in this story as “The Rich Young Ruler.” The first three books in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, each record this event. Matthew is the one who tells us that this man is young. Mark tells us that the man actually ran up to Jesus and bowed down to him. Luke tells us that he is a ruler, and this probably means that he is the leader of a local synagogue. We might not be too far off the mark if we think of him as a pastor. Somehow, he has come to possess considerable wealth, but we are not told the source of his wealth. Perhaps he obtained it through an inheritance. So he is responsible, wealthy, devout, and he has come to have a deep respect for Jesus. Yet something is missing. 

He urgently comes to Jesus and asks the ultimate question, the most important question ever asked: What shall I do to inherit eternal life? Now he’s not asking about simply prolonging his physical life. This man believes in life after death. And in that afterlife, there are two destinations. One is to be in the presence of God forever. The other is to be excluded from God’s presence in eternal destruction. This man wants to know for sure that he will be in the presence of God forever.

Jesus and the disciples use other words in this story to describe the same idea. In verses 24 and 25 Jesus speaks of “entering the kingdom of God.” The idea here is that there will come a time when Jesus returns and reigns over the whole world. At the beginning of his reign, Jesus will determine who is allowed in. Some people will be excluded from that kingdom, being cast out into a place that the Bible describes as a place of darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth.

In verse 26 the disciples speak of being “saved.” Saved from what? Jesus once said of himself, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). We are lost in our sins. We have wandered away from God. We need to be rescued and brought back to a right relationship with him.

We could phrase the question in different ways. What can I do to inherit eternal life? What can I do now so that I can enter God’s kingdom when it comes to earth? What can I do to be saved? These are all different ways of phrasing the same question.

Are you asking that question?  Do you have a definite answer? Can you say with absolute certainty (1) that you know how someone inherits eternal life; and (2) that you will personally spend eternity in the presence of God?

If someone were asking me that question, I would probably give a simple straight-forward answer. But in this case Jesus does not. Jesus saw that there were obstacles in this man’s heart that had to be dealt with before he could understand the gospel. Most of us probably struggle with these same obstacles. What are they?

THE OBSTACLE OF GOODNESS

If we have life reasonably under control, we think of ourselves as good people. That was certainly the case with this man. He was highly respected. I don’t think he would have described himself as lost or despairing in any way. He was going in the right direction, he simply needed some advice—some confirmation, or so he thought. Jesus has a different perspective. This man’s confidence in his own goodness is actually an obstacle, and Jesus sets out to expose it as such.

The man calls Jesus, “Good teacher,” but Jesus turns it around on him. Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. Jesus immediately points to the absolute standard of goodness. We tend to evaluate ourselves in comparison to other people. We say, “I’m not perfect, but I’m not as bad as he is. I’m a basically good person.” When we speak that way, we’re showing that we don’t understand true goodness. God is perfectly good. He is the one who determines what is good and what is evil.

A side note here—is Jesus good?  Absolutely. If Jesus is absolutely good, then he is God. I don’t think the ruler understood that. He just thought Jesus was a good teacher. He had no idea.

To teach this man what goodness is, Jesus turns to the Ten Commandments. He selects five of them in verse 20: “Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother.” How does the ruler respond? In verse 21 he says, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” I’m sure many of us would respond similarly.

Here is his problem. He looks at these commandments from a purely external perspective. Did you notice which commandment Jesus left out? He recited commandment 7 then 6 then 8 then 9 then he jumps back to 5. These commandments all focus on relationships with people. But it almost seems as if for dramatic effect Jesus jumps back to the fifth commandment rather than quoting the tenth commandment which says, “You shall not covet.”

Coveting is an issue of the heart. It can be hidden away so that no one sees it.  Jesus teaches us elsewhere that there is an inner heart attitude at stake in each of the commandments. You may not have committed adultery, but who hasn’t indulged in lust. You may not have committed murder, but who hasn’t given way to hatred on occasion. You may not have stolen, but who hasn’t considered it. You may not have given false testimony in a court of law, but who hasn’t been dishonest. Even if you never outwardly dishonored your parents, certainly somewhere in our hearts we have.

You can enter into God’s kingdom by being good, but it’s not through being a relatively good person. You have to be a perfectly good person, and none of us can do that. We fall short. We are worthy of God’s judgment because we have disobeyed.

Is goodness an obstacle for you this morning? Are you willing to acknowledge that you’re not good enough?  Are you willing to say I am lost?  I need to be rescued from my sins. The rich young ruler wasn’t there yet. He still thought he was good. He thought he could do some final deed to earn his way into heaven. Some of us are just too proud to admit that we’ve sinned.

Jesus sharpens his argument. He moves on to a closely related obstacle, the obstacle of prosperity.

THE OBSTACLE OF PROSPERITY

In verse 22 Jesus says, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” What an incredible request!

Does God really require that we sell all of our possessions to enter heaven? No. There were plenty of occasions when Jesus called people to follow him and did not require them to sell all they owned. This was a specific instruction for this particular man.

Why did Jesus make such a hard demand? It was his way of showing that this man valued his riches above anything else. If you had the opportunity to speak with Jesus, what would he challenge you to give up? What do you value?

The man in the story was shocked by Jesus’ words. He had come eagerly seeking a little bit of advice to top off his accomplishments, but Jesus wanted to dismantle his entire outlook on life. He thought he was good. Jesus implies he is not.  He thought he was spiritual, Jesus exposes his greed.

Luke tells us in verse 23, “But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.” The other gospels tell us that the man turned and walked away.

The disciples were shocked. I imagine that they were thinking, “Jesus, how could you turn this man away? He’s young. He’s sharp. He’s got lots of money to support our ministry. You’ve never told anyone else to give up all their money!”

Jesus explains in verses 24 and 25: “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” What does he mean? Why is it so hard?

The Apostle Paul summed it up well in 1 Timothy 6:17.  He said, “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.”

When you have money, it’s easy to become conceited. George Whitefield was an English evangelist in the 1700s. It’s said that one wealthy lady responded to Whitefield’s preaching with by saying, "It is monstrous to be told that you have a heart as sinful as the common wretches that crawl upon the earth. This is highly offensive and insulting, ... and so much at variance with high rank and good breeding."

When we think of being rich, we think of millionaires. We have to change our definition of what it means to be rich. You are rich when you have enough money so that you feel like you can handle life on your own. We are not talking about a huge amount of money.  It’s just enough so that you think of yourself as self-sufficient, independent. It’s when you just don’t see the need for God.

If that is your outlook on life, you will not enter God’s kingdom. Prosperity can be a serious obstacle to salvation.

THE SIMPLE ANSWER

The disciples were astonished at Jesus’ statement. They considered wealth to be a sign of God’s blessing, not an obstacle to salvation. So they ask in verse 26, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus responds in verse 27, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”

Although we tend to convince ourselves of our own goodness, the truth is that we are not good enough to earn God’s acceptance. Although we have a habit of thinking of ourselves as self-sufficient, the truth is that we cannot do it ourselves.

How can someone inherit eternal life? Only God can give it to you. Romans 6:23 says “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Jesus didn’t come to be a good example. He wasn’t just a good teacher. As we said, Jesus is God. He took on humanity. Even though he lived a life of perfect goodness, he was put to death. Isaiah 53:6 says, “The LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.” In one powerful act, Jesus bore the punishment for our sins, then he rose from the dead in victory.

God offers the gift of eternal life to you, but some of us are too proud to accept it. We continue to insist on our own goodness. Our financial prosperity deceives us into thinking that we are self-sufficient. We are blind to our sinfulness. We are blind to our helplessness.

To inherit eternal life, you simply have to receive God’s gift. Transfer your hope and trust away from your own goodness or your money. Transfer your trust to Jesus Christ and him alone.

Once you have done that it is possible to know with certainty that you have eternal life.
Jesus said in John 6:47, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.”

This salvation is so important that it’s worth giving away everything you own, but you do not have to do that. You must understand the urgency of the situation, eternal life must become the most important thing in the world to you—so important that you’re willing to humbly acknowledge your sin and to cry out to Jesus Christ for salvation.

A WORD OF HOPE

So how does all of this affect our outlook on the current financial crisis?

Back in 1857 the United States experienced a sudden economic downturn. It began with the failure of banks, but spread to other businesses, particularly railroads. More than 5,000 businesses failed within one year. On top of the economic tension, the United States was deeply divided over the issue of slavery. But in the midst of what seemed to be chaos, God was at work.

The Glimpses of Christian History website describes what happened.

In the lower Manhattan section of New York, a Dutch Reformed church had been steadily losing members; they hired missionary Jeremiah Lanphier to reverse the trend with an active visitation program. However, he had little success in awakening church members by his visits, so in September, 1857, he rented a hall on Fulton Street in New York City and advertised its availability for prayer meetings.

Six men assembled for Lanphier’s first prayer meeting on September 23. Two days later the Bank of Philadelphia failed. In October the men began praying together daily; on October 10 the stock market crashed. The financial panic triggered a religious awakening, and people flocked to the prayer meetings. Within six months 10,000 people were gathering daily for prayer in New York City alone.

This movement spread across the United States and around the world, not through big evangelists and preachers, but simply through normal every day people who deeply sensed their need for God and came together to pray.

Could it be that God is removing some of our prosperity because He wants to get our attention? Could it be that God will bring difficulties upon us not in condemnation and judgment, but as a way to break up the hard soil of our hearts?

I can’t say what lies ahead, but I do know this. God has offered us a gift more precious than all the wealth in the world. But in order to lay hold of it, you must let go of whatever else you value.
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”(Matt 16:26).