Sermons
Pierced With Many A Pang
Series: Joy RobbersPIERCED WITH MANY A PANG
Sermon By Terry Siverd
Cortland Church of Christ / December 16, 2018
In this season of JOY we have been speaking candidly (and I hope, wisely) about things that rob us of joy.
Some thieves come in the form of people - - politicians in D.C., or even family members in our same zip code.
Sometimes circumstances and the inevitable comparisons they evoke prove to be joy robbers.
And, as we discussed last Sunday, sometimes excessive worry becomes a major killjoy in our lives.
This morning I want to remind us that things are often more of a culprit than they are cheer-bringer.
We're led to believe that THINGS BRING HAPPINESS and that more things will deliver even greater joy.
We eventually come to discover 'tis not always true (this truth sometimes takes a while to sink in).
Lk.12:13 records an incident in the life of Jesus when someone in a crowd pleaded with Him,
Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.
Jesus answered (vs.15) - - 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.
The New Century Version renders the last part of vs.15 - - life is not measured by how much one owns!
So if your vehicle is adorned with that fraudulent bumper sticker: he who dies with the most toys wins!
- - you might want to scrape it off. Goo-gone will help and I recommend that you have at it.
Have you ever known someone who was OBSESSED WITH POSSESSIONS?
Obsessions are not really fun. They might start out that way (as a hobby of sorts),
but if and when they become the tail that wags the dog, the fun (and joy) quickly diminishes.
King Solomon was a man who knew no limits in terms of possessions.
In Ecclesiastes chapter two (Eccl.2:1-11) he chronicles how he explored life as the ultimate pleasure seeker.
Whatever his heart desired he had the money and the means to obtain it.
The finest wines. Grand and multiple houses complete with their own vineyards and parks and gardens - -
all loaded with fruit trees of every kind - - replete with ponds plenty enough to irrigate an entire forest.
“I possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem” (vs.7b).
And to take care of it all, Solomon procured slaves, men and women.
Silver and gold surrounded him at every turn.
Entertainment in the form of singers and concubines was but a snap of the fingers away.
“All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them” (vs.10).
Yet, despite being able to live life carte blanche (with a blank check - - no restrictions, no credit limits),
Solomon's sadly confessed, “behold all was vanity and a striving after the wind” (vs.11b).
Vanity means EMPTY.
Despite having a perpetual fist full of dollars, Solomon discovered that money couldn't buy him happiness,
Although Solomon was never empty-handed, he appears to have found himself empty-hearted.
King Solomon makes a very insightful observation is Eccl.5:13 - -
There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: RICHES BEING HOARDED BY THEIR OWNER TO HIS HURT.
In Eccl.7:1ff Solomon opines about better things.
A good name is better than a good ointment … Patience is better than haughtiness.
It is better to listen to the rebuke of a wise man than for one to listen to the song of fools.
How life-changing it would have been if King Solomon had heard and taken to heart the words of Jesus.
In Acts 20:35, Paul shared a quote from Jesus, saying to the Ephesian elders: remember the
words of the Lord Jesus, that He himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
Although we can't find this quote in any of the gospels, Paul sounds as if everyone had heard it.
This word “blessed” is often translated “happy”.
There is more joy in giving than in receiving!
Even worse that being obsessed with the accumulation of things is being POSSESSED by our possessions.
There is something about MAMMON (money and the things money can buy) that can be deadly.
When we become possessed with the accumulation of money and the things it can buy,
money (the god Mammon) comes to own us rather that us owning it.
Paul's ancient words in 1Tim.6:10 have provided the title for our sermon this morning - -
For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it
have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pang.
In Mk.10:17f (cf. Lk.18:18f) a rich young ruler ran up to Jesus asking,
“What shall I do to inherit eternal life?”.
Jesus reminded him of the commandments: don't murder ... don't commit adultery ...
don't steal ... don't bear false witness ... don't defraud ... honor your father and mother.
The rich young ruler was elated and proclaimed to Jesus, I have kept all these from my youth up.
Vs.21 / And looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him, and said to him, 'One thing you lack: go and
sell all you possess, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.
Vs.22 / But at these words his face fell, and he went away grieved, for he was one who owned much property.
Here we see first hand how an inordinate thirst for things can come to dominate us
to the point where Jehovah God is dethroned and Mammon comes to rule the day.
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Back to Lk.12:15 / life is not measured by how much one owns.
To bring His words home, Jesus told a story (a parable) to illustrate its truth (Lk.12:16-20) - -
The land of a certain rich man was very productive. And he began reasoning to himself, saying,
'What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?' And 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. 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.” 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.
Vs.21 / So is the man who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
Regarding this text, let's note three things briefly.
1) This rich man seems quite confident that all his stuff (barns full of crops) would bring him MERRY (vs.19).
2) His possessions inflated his ego - - note the number of times he says “I” and “My”.
3) God called him a FOOL. In focusing on his wealth he had become poor in his relationship with God.
Extreme hoarding is often diagnosed as a sickness - - a form of mental illness.
The love of money (and things) things can also be expressed as a form of sin-sickness.
If it is not stymied it can give rise to all sorts of evil (1Tim.6:10).
Paul states in 1Tim.6:9 - - Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare
and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.
This fixation on money and things chums around with greed, covetousness and selfishness
- - three bad companions that can corrupt the best of morals.
John Ruskin has written, “Every increased possession loads us with a new weariness.”
This is what King Solomon with his bottomless pockets called “chasing after the wind”.
Jesus spoke about how some people become choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life (Lk.8:14).
God gives us things to share; God doesn't give us things to hold.
In 1Tim.6:17 Paul declares that God (has) richly supplied us with all things to enjoy.
As Ravi Zacharias says, “Life's joys are only joys if they be shared.”
Hold material goods and wealth with a flat palm rather than with a clenched fist.”
There is both a delight and challenge that comes with Christmas.
It might surprise you to hear me say that the greatest delight of Christmas belongs to us adults.
I know, people say, “Christmas is for the kids” and it is: the excitement they derive
from unwrapping gifts and emptying out their Christmas stocking is truly a sight to behold.
But the greater DELIGHT comes to those who have learned it is more blessed and joyful to give than to receive.
And the CHALLENGE is to use those two precious decades that God has allocated to parents to re-vamp
their young minds to where they want more than anything to grow up to be a GIVER and not always a receiver.
One more verse - - in 2Cor.8:9 Paul writes of Jesus (who is indeed the reason for the season) saying - -
you know of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for
your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.
