The Seductive Whisper of Materialism

Here is the sermon transcript from today:

Stuff itself is not the issue—rather, it is the attachment of our heart to the stuff and the subsequent neglect of those things in life that are by God’s definition more important and more valuable—namely His kingdom according to Matthew 6:33—

Faithful stewardship of material possessions is the Jesus-exalting use of “our stuff” in the pursuit of the kingdom of God, not the building of our kingdom here on earth

The episode in the gospels of the rich young ruler’s encounter with Jesus is a prime example of someone whose heart was captured by materialism

The one thing that held the allegiance of his heart above all else were his possessions—v. 22 says, but he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

In his possessions he found security, identity, significance and meaning in life—his possessions were his status symbol before the people in his day—his possessions were those things by which he measured his value and importance and self-worth

The seductive whisper of materialism had captured his soul

You and I are no less susceptible than the rich young ruler to this whisper—in fact, we are probably more susceptible living in an age of affluence and mobility—where we in America are richer than most of the people in the rest of the world

“Richness” is certainly relative, but greed and covetousness and materialism can attack us all and we are all vulnerable

The bait for the covetousness and greed that is within each of our hearts is everywhere—just watch the commercials on TV or let someone in the community we know get a new vehicle or one of our friends get a new cell phone or a new ipod or a new TV

Are any of those things in and of themselves evil—well, no—the issue is the motivation of our heart to have those things and the lengths to which we will go to possess them

The covetousness and discontentment within our hearts begins to rise up when we are tempted…

If you will just buy this product—if you just had this cell phone—if you just had this car—if you just had this…---then you would be happy and life would be complete and you would be satisfied…

We are bombarded daily with the bait of materialism…from TVs, music, magazines, peers

See, materialism is not a matter of the actual things themselves…materialism is a matter of the heart…materialism is an expression of the covetousness and greed and selfishness that is already present in our hearts…

Remember Mark 7:21-23…For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."

This coveting reality of sin is built into our sinful nature’s DNA—one of the first words that many children learn is what—“mine”—and we think it’s cute…instead of understanding that this is proof of the biblical truth that we are born sinners by nature and also by choice

Things on TV, the possessions that we see our neighbors and friends get are only the triggers of the sin within us.

Now…it is possible this morning that someone thinks materialism is only a snare for rich people—but that is not true

Materialism has the power to seduce those who are not rich into envy and greed and discontentment desiring wrongly to have “more” because of what they see (lust of the eyes) others with because they think it will bring them “happiness”—the façade of many a rich people’s happiness is a tool Satan can use to deceive those who are not rich into thinking more stuff and more money makes you happier—which is not necessarily the case

And the line that says, “money isn’t everything, but it sure does help” only reveals the depth of the materialistic entrapment of our heart

Those who are not rich begin to say things like, “If only I had…, then everything would be better.”

Materialism has the power to seduce those who are rich into greed, selfishness, and hoarding resulting in a deficient trust in God, but trusting in stuff to provide peace and happiness and contentment

I read a story this week about a young man who had lived in abject poverty for much of his life.

After he became a believer and by God’s providence, this young man came to America for an education and told a friend of his that it was easier to be a Christian in his home land in poverty than in living in America with all its riches and the distractions that it brought

Is that not what Paul told young Timothy in his 1st letter--Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

The seductive whisper of materialism is calling to all of us, regardless of socioeconomic status.

If we listen to, give in to, and follow after the voice of the siren of materialism, our hearts then are being trained in the “covetous practices” of the world according to 2 Peter 2:14.

So, what is materialism exactly?

Here are a few definitions that we might find helpful:

1) Dictionary.com – preoccupation with or emphasis on material objects, comforts, and considerations with a disinterest in or rejection of spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values

2) Materialism is when our hearts have been gripped by stuff instead of gripped by the treasure of God himself in the person of Jesus.

3) Materialism is the habit of valuing and ascribing worth to something as more important than Jesus.

4) Dave Harvey, one of the contributers to the Worldliness book says it this way: “a focus on and a trust in what we can touch and possess. It describes the unchecked desire for, dependence on, and stockpiling of stuff.”

5) Another way to put it is this…”replacing our delight in God with joy in stuff. Materialism is what happens when coveting has cash to spend.”

Again, materialism is not about having stuff as we can see from these definitions—it truly is when our stuff has possession of the allegiance of our heart and we neglect the weightier matters that accompany following Jesus.

At the crux of this matter is idolatry—the worship and valuing of something other than Jesus.

That is the underlying issue—what or whom has captured our heart?

The rich young ruler so worshipped his possessions that he was in bondage to them and captured by them and would not let them go to lay hold of eternal life that was standing right in front of him…

Look at him…he did everything right…v. 17

He ran to the right one…he knelt before the right one…he asked the right one…he asked the right question…

Jesus gave him the right answer, but the rich young ruler had “one thing” that he worshipped and desired more than eternal life…he walked away from eternal life because he valued his stuff more than Jesus…

For the rich young ruler, it was a matter of eternal life or eternal death…his possessions ruled his heart

For some here today, it could also be a matter of eternal life or eternal death…do you live as if this world is your home?

See, there are many who are trusting their stuff more than Jesus—they are valuing their stuff more than Jesus—they are seeking their significance and meaning and purpose and self-worth in life based upon their possessions

For many Christians today, they have committed their lives to Jesus, but over the years the seductive whisper of materialism has captured their attention—they no longer give Jesus all that they are, they fudge here and there in their dedication and commitment, they know God has called them to participate in a ministry, but they shrink back because it might cost them some of their material possessions or their comforts—it has become more important to keep up and take care of those possessions than to love Jesus with those possessions—

Jesus has become less valuable and less treasured—

As an aside, I listened this week to a sermon by John Piper entitled “what is the recession for” where he was seeking to bring the gospel to bear on what is happening in our economy, and I wonder this morning…

Could God, in his providence, have allowed the recession in America as a way to call out to his people and to curb our materialistic appetite and re-ignite our dependence upon him and not our materialistically prosperous nation?

I believe it is at least possible, and definitely something to think about.

But, what about you and me?

What kind of grip do our possessions have on us?

What kind of grip does materialism have on our children? Are we actually igniting and triggering materialism in our children when we “give them what we didn’t have growing up?”

Do we couch our materialistic vice by getting mad at stores at Christmas time who say “holiday trees” but spend more money on gifts that people don’t really want or need and giving less to missionary work for the kingdom of God and the gospel?

Do we find our identity and status and worth from what we possess? Our importance, our perceived importance?

Do we find our joy and pleasure from our stuff? Our meaning and significance?

Have our material possessions become “our mediator” between us and our version of heaven?

Do we hold our possessions with an open hand or a closed hand recognizing that all are gifts of God’s grace?

As we contemplate these questions, let us direct our attention to several passages of scripture that will challenge us and warn us against the seductive whisper of materialism that calls out to all of us…

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
(Mat 6:19-21 ESV)

And he told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?' And he said, 'I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."
(Luk 12:13-21 ESV)

You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
(Jas 4:2-4 ESV)

In contrast to the rich young ruler and to the rich fool and to the one who asks God for stuff for his own pleasure, we find a different kind of man in Matthew 13:44—

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

His heart was not chained to his possessions—the joy of the kingdom surpassed his best possession, and therefore, he held it loosely with an open hand—he sold all that he had to buy this field for the treasure of the kingdom—because the treasure of Jesus is more valuable and more worthy than anything this world has to offer

Remember Jim Elliot—his now famous quote is on the billboard on Hwy 501—“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose”

The man who bought field in the parable understood this—the man who built his self-centered barns did not

Friends, we are all susceptible to the seductive whisper of materialism, but…

Ultimately our possessions cannot bring us happiness—

Ultimately our possessions do not make us important—

Ultimately our possessions do make us secure—

Ultimately our possessions cannot bring us significance or meaning or self-worth—

This life is only temporary and so are our possessions, but Jesus, the greatest treasure of life and the life beyond is what really counts.

Faithful stewardship over our possessions is about holding to them loosely and taking every opportunity to use those possessions as an avenue or a means for the exaltation of Jesus as our greatest treasure.

If anyone is here this morning and your heart has been gripped by materialism, the first step in breaking free is confession and repentance—covetousness and greed is the heart issue that is expressed by materialism—it must be confessed and repented of

Return to the cross—the place where we realize that we are nothing and that there is nothing more valuable and more treasurable than Jesus

We must yield to the Holy Spirit daily in opening our hands with regard to our possessions asking Him to give us a generous heart—to remove the stinginess out of our hearts and the greed

Then, as the Holy Spirit works in us, we can begin to do what Dave Harvey calls “de-materialize” our lives—that might include getting rid of some possessions that really are not that valuable to us, but we had to have it…

It definitely includes seeking to reduce the avenues of influence that move our hearts toward materialistic goals and guard against those influences that seek to draw our attention and affections away from generosity and toward selfishness.

For some this will be a long process of confessing and repenting and yielding to the Holy Spirit…it will be a daily struggle for some to overcome this temptation—by God’s grace and the enabling power of the Holy Spirit the victory can be won

For others, this is not really a big issue for you…praise God, but be careful…be careful that you do not look down upon or despise others who may be tempted in this area…show love, give encouragement, and pray for them without being judgmental

We must pray for each other in this…we are all susceptible…

Michael, what’s the bottom line…does our attachment to and use of our possessions reflect a heart whose greatest treasure is Jesus or have we been seduced by the whisper of materialism?