Light of the Canyon United Methodist Church

Today, we begin asking the question, “Where is God in a recession?” This is a question that weighs on many of our hearts because everyone is affected when the economy is down. But, if we are truly going to seek God in the midst of our current financial crisis, then perhaps the first place that we should look is ourselves. What behavior and attitudes in us have brought us to this place. What can we learn about ourselves, (and possibly change) from the recession? Sometimes, it all comes down to one question. How much is enough?

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Luke 12:13-25

1. In the movie “Up in the Air,” George Clooney play Ryan Bingham, a corporate downsizing specialist whose job it is to travel the country and fire people. He is on the road upwards to 300 days of the year.

a. Ironically, also a side business as a motivational speaker – “What’s in your backpack?” He talks about all of the things we have in life and how they weigh us down.

b. What motivates him? A simple goal – 10,000,000 miles on frequent flyer card. He can go into the executive lounge for the rest of his life. He gets a special card that only seven other people in the world have. He gets his name on the side of a plane.

c. He thinks, when he hits 10,000,000 miles, he will be able to say, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”

d. Falls in love…helps his sister at her wedding…gets his hearts broken…on the flight home, he makes the 10,000,000 mile mark (the youngest person ever).

e. Speaking to the pilot, he realizes the emptiness of his achievement. He understands to a certain degree, Jesus words, “So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.”

2. Today, new sermon series, “Where is God in a recession?” In the next few weeks, we will be exploring what it means to proclaim our faith in a loving God in the midst of the current economic downturn. (nice euphemism)

a. Is there a “Christian” response to financial crisis? What is it?

b. Not a specific economic program – in the bible everything from socialism to capitalism.

c. The Christian response to the recession has more to do with how we respond than it does what God did.

d. First principle – evaluate.

e. One of the places where we need to truly evaluate is in our priorities. What is most important.

f. And when it comes to money – what is enough?

3. The lesson this morning. The parable of the rich fool as it is known in church tradition.

a. Many of us might have learned this parable, but most of us forget that Jesus preached this parable in response to a real situation.

b. Read Luke 12:13-15.

c. Conflict between brothers and their inheritance. Jesus responds with a warning – “be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”

d. And then he tells a parable. The parable of the rich fool. Many of us might look at this – he is just saving away for retirement, what’s wrong with that?”

e. But, look closely. It is about more than that – the rich man’s problem was not his wealth, it was that his priorities were out of whack.

4. Four things…

a. Preoccupation with possessions. Greed, accumulation of stuff. “He who dies with the most toys wins.” Not in the kingdom of God.

b. Security in self-sufficiency – it runs counter to the American ethos, but, God calls us to a life of interconnectedness. Not just in sharing our stuff with others, but in relying on one another for our own well being.

c. One thing to offer help. We still have power. It is another thing entirely to invest ourselves in the life of the community.

d. Futility of self-indulgence – permeates our culture.

e. Something the NIB calls “practical atheism.” Regardless of what we say, living as if there is no God.

f. If he were just being frugal, Jesus would not have cared. But, the man was consumed with self, over and above everything else.

5. Jim Wallis, pastor, author, and founder of Sojourners, in his book on how Christians might respond to the recession Rediscovering Values – ask the right questions. “not, when will the crisis end? But, how will the crisis change us?”

a. How will this crisis change us? When we ask the question, “where is God in a recession,” how will this crisis change us is at the heart of our response.

b. Recession has highlighted some glaring human shortcomings that we must recognize and deal with – at the core is the obsession with self.

c. In author Robert Frank’s book Richistan, recounts the story of one yacht owner with a 100-foot yacht.

d. But soon, a 100-foot yacht wasn’t impressive anymore, as neighboring yachts reached 130 feet, then 197 feet, and beyond. One of those large boats described as a “floating palace that tops 450 feet and has more than 80 rooms on five stories.

e. “I used to think I had a good-sized boat,” said the man with the 100 foot yacht. “Now it’s like a dinghy compared to these others.”

6. We look at stories like this one and say, they are the exception to the rule. Maybe.

a. But, we live in a culture that worships at the altar of the satisfaction of self. And we all buy into it to one degree or another.

b. When I was a kid – a second mortgage was only when there was a financial emergency.

c. Prior to the recession – ads inviting us to “use the money in our house” to go on vacation, but that boat, essentially to satisfy our desire to live like the rich and famous.

d. We bought into it, hook, line, and sinker. It is as if we all said to ourselves, “yea, I have this money in my house. I am going to use it to eat, drink, and be merry.

e. And now we are all paying the price.

7. My friends, this recession is serious business. And like all of you, I hope that it ends sooner rather than later.

a. But, what a waste this experience will be if we do not learn something from it.

b. That is why – first principle of where is God in a recession is honestly evaluating what are the values that got us in this mess, and how have we personally bought into those values.

c. This crisis – economic and spiritual. We cannot ignore the spiritual, lest we become too much like the rich fool.

d. Jesus says it rather clearly. “one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”

e. Jesus, instead, calls us to live lives that are “rich towards God.” Lives that demonstrate the values of love, selflessness, spiritual discipline, and community.

f. That is the life that Jesus is calling us to, not the life consumed with self.

8. The recession is an opportunity to “choose whom we will serve.”

a. By what measure will we establish our priorities?

b. Ryan Bingham – what’s good for me is what’s good.

c. The rich fool – eat, drink, be merry, satisfy my own appetites.

d. Or by the life of Jesus Christ, whom we call Savior and Lord – “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.”

e. Because I can’t explain – market forces that have caused recession.

f. But, I do know how God calls us to respond. He calls us to richness, to wealth, to abundance, but not in the things of this world.

g. We are to be rich towards God. Therein lies our only hope. Amen.

Sermon delivered at Light of the Canyon United Methodist Church Anaheim Hills – January 24, 2010.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 23rd, 2010 at 5:56 pm and is filed under Sermon.