We continue this sermon series, Stored Up, where
we're looking at the gospel treasures and how
does Jesus talk about money, because he does,
as much as maybe we don't like to talk about
it or it can become a real tense thing in the
church. Jesus talks about it a lot because wealth
looked different back then as it does in 2025.
We talked a little bit about that two weeks ago
and last week, but I want to start with a question.
I remember when Carrie and I were kind of thinking
we were ready to start having kids, one of the
conversations we talked about is, will we do
allowance? How many of you grew up getting, and
I was about to say making, no, getting an allowance?
How many people were expected to do things and
the money was just kind of there or it wasn't?
Yep, okay. So what kind of things did you have
to do for the allowance? Half of you rose your
hands, so yeah. Wash the car, right? You did
a poor job. So Mike didn't make much, but okay,
he had to wash a car. Carry out the garbage.
That's one the boys have to do, right? Like,
you can walk. You're doing garbage now. Karen
and I are not doing it, okay? They started that
young. Others? Mow the lawn. Do the dishes. Scrub
the toilet. All right. Wow. Yeah. Kind of like
prison. Good job. Others. Feed the dog, right?
If the dog dies, that's on you, and you don't
get an allowance. Anyone else? What kind of things,
if you were in more of the second school of thought,
you just kind of had to do it and the money was
going to be there? Kind of the same kind of things?
Or did those go a little deeper? Did you have
to do other things? How many were babysitters?
And, you know, babysit brothers and sisters.
You got paid for that normally, right? All of
those kind of things. But even at an early age.
And this is something that, you know, Karen and
I came from two different school of thoughts,
right? I had a single mom where I was in like
third, fourth, and fifth grade. And so, you know,
we had to help around the house. And the allowance
would be there if we did that. We had chore charts,
all of those things. And I remember just, you
know, putting my Walkman on my hip and just blasting
Green Day while I was scrubbing the toilets poorly.
But I still did it. Right? They were still usable.
And, you know, those kind of things were care
had more of. There were just expectations of
the house that you did. The house needs to function.
And you have a part in that. And then if you
needed stuff, then it would be there. Right?
Wants, needs, all those kind of things. But just
at a young age, how early did you start allowances?
Think about it. What age were you when that started
in your household? Just shout it out. Some of
you have to go way back. I get it. Anybody? How
old were you when allowance and chores were expected?
In the back. Five. You were five years old. Wow.
Okay. Others? Last year. Okay. That's from a
seventh grader. So sixth grade. Okay. Eight?
Yeah. So, I mean. It's not like, hey, you got
your first tooth, go vacuum, right? It wasn't
that. But at a very young age, we are taught,
work for what you will get. Right? Work for the
money and then you will be able to do things.
And again, not a bad thing. There's a stewardship
in that. Right? And I don't know about you, but
we grew up with a bank where it had like little
slots. So if we got $5, I'm going to butcher
this math, but you understand. Right? 10 % would
go in this little column. I think it was like
60 or 70 % would go in savings and then whatever
you have left. It also then grew me, my understanding
of taxes and how that felt. Especially when you
got into the work world and you're like, Like,
who's FICA? Why is he getting all my money? And
all of those kind of things. But at a very young
age, we're taught that money makes a difference.
And then you get to things like high school or
maybe college. How many of you have ever taken
a basic economics class? Maybe you had to do
it in high school or college or grad school.
But there's the law of scarcity. Does anyone
know what the law of scarcity is? I'll put lunch
on this. It's something like supply and demand.
Okay, you don't get the food. We're not even
in the parking lot. Value increases as it becomes
less available. We've ordered, but they've not
brought the food yet. Say it in a different way.
You just said basically the same thing, but that
works. I like it. There's only so much to go
around. You just said it in a far more intelligent
way than I can up here, so I appreciate that,
but you come to expect that, all of you. But
that's the economy of the world. There is only
so much to go around. But Jesus, and what we're
going to see in the Gospel of Mark, which, again,
selfishly is my favorite gospel because it's
kind of the Reader's Digest version of the Gospels,
but I like what he brings into the narrative.
Jesus operates with a completely different model.
In Jesus' kingdom, what his teaching of his kingdom
values are, money is a part of kingdom values.
Don't ever get that twisted. finances and what
we do with them and what they mean to us and
how dear we hold on to them, right, is kingdom
value conversation. In his kingdom, what you
give away is never truly lost. In fact, Jesus
says, the more you release, the more you will
receive. But about half of us just went to, well,
that's not true, because you're looking at money
differently than Jesus did. The more you release,
the more you receive, Not always in your bank
balance, but in joy, in freedom, in relationships,
and ultimately the eternal reward. Our passage
today, what we're going to read, just a simple
couple of verses in the Gospel of Mark. In this
text, we're going to follow, it kind of comes
right off the rich young ruler. Remember that
story, the one who walked away from Jesus sorrowful?
And we talked about that. That man walked away
from Jesus because his wealth felt too heavy
to let go. But Jesus now turns to his disciples
and explains just how upside down his kingdom
is compared to even the kingdom of that time.
Even more so, in my opinion, in 2025. And what
his kingdom economics really are. So let's dive
in. We're going to be in Mark 10, verse 23 through
27 to start. The difficulty of the rich. We had
a very similar heading last week when we were
talking about the rich man. So the difficulty
of the rich. So let's dive in, starting with
verse 23. And Jesus looked around and said to
his disciples, how difficult it will be for those
who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.
And the disciples were amazed at his words. But
Jesus said to them, children, how difficult it
is to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.
And they were exceedingly astonished and said
to him, then who can be saved? Jesus looked at
them and said, with man it is impossible, but
with God, for all things are possible. But not
with God, for all things are possible with God.
Jesus looks around. After the rich young man
goes away, sorrowful, right? He looks around
and says, how difficult will it be for those
who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God?
And they are amazed. He repeats himself for emphasis.
Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom
of God. A little Bible 101. When Jesus repeats
himself, you should underline it in your Bible.
When Jesus repeats himself, you should highlight
it in your Bible because the repetition is driving
home his point. The Greek difficult, daskolios,
does not mean inconvenient. So it's not how inconvenient
it's going to be because that puts the ownership
on the person. That's not what Jesus is saying.
But what the Greek is saying is how obstructed,
how hard to navigate, like a roadblock with barriers
it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.
So read it again a different way. How obstructed
will it be for those who have wealth to enter
the kingdom of God? How hard to navigate will
it be for those who have wealth to enter the
kingdom of God? How roadblocked will it be for
the rich to enter the kingdom of God? I don't
know about you, but that changes the verse for
me. Obstructed, hard to navigate, roadblocked.
And then he doubles down with the camel passage,
right? 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. We addressed the hyperbole
last week. Not about the special gate in Jerusalem.
It's a deliberate picture of impossibility. Though
they would have gone there in their mind. Or
maybe some of you are going to animal, little
pin, eye of a needle, of a sewing needle. What
Jesus is talking about is impossibility. It is
impossible for someone clinging to their wealth.
To enter the kingdom of God. You can't cram self
-reliance, greed, or idolatry through the narrow
way of God's kingdom. Let me say that again.
You cannot cram self -reliance, greed, or idolatry
through the narrow way of God's kingdom. Well,
pastor, how dare you? How dare you tell me that
I am self -reliant, greedy, and idolatrous when
it comes to my wealth? And to that I say, I never
did. Jesus does. And again, it's not a sin to
be wealthy. For those that have done it and done
it the right way, for those that are benevolent
in their wealth, that understand that their wealth
is not who they are, that is a healthy understanding
of wealth. And how do you know that? It's for
all of us that are not. Because the same temptation
holds true. Woe to me, look how poor I am. Look
how I don't have enough. And that can become
an identity as well. And both can lead you into
idolatry understandings of your relationship
with Jesus. You cannot cram self -reliance, greed,
and idolatry through the narrow way of God's
kingdom. The disciples, stunned, asked, well
then who can be saved? I think that's a fascinating
question by the disciples. Because these disciples,
all but maybe one or two, They weren't wealthy.
They were kind of middle class, blue collar workers.
Tax collector aside. But understand that they
ask who can be saved because Jesus needs them
to get to the heart of his message. And the kingdom
economics is brought into their heart with one
line. With man it is impossible, but not with
God. For all things are possible with God. So
what is Jesus actually saying there? In of ourselves,
we cannot identify without Jesus. For those of
us that are believers, our identity in Christ
comes first and foremost. I say that even about
our church. When I meet new people and they ask
like, oh, what church are you a part of? First
and foremost, I say, we believe in the gospel
of Christ. We are born again believers. Right?
That's easier to say that we are regenerated
believers, because that's a whole other conversation.
And in the right context, I'll use that. But
we are a part of the Christian Reformed Church
denomination. But we are Jesus followers first.
Why do I feel I can answer that? Some might be
like, why are you not putting the brand first?
Because the brand in the kingdom doesn't matter.
Because when you all get up to glory, When your
table is set, your room done, and you're standing
before the judgment, your judgment, what is God
going to see? He's going to see the denominational
building that we just sold a couple years ago
in Grand Rapids, Michigan. No, he is going to
see our book of church order. No, he's going
to see Heidelberg Catechism. No, he's going to
see Jesus. So first and foremost, we need to
be followers of Jesus. And what he's telling
his disciples is for man alone to identify is
impossible. With God, all things are possible.
That Jesus is the one that is going to be defining
you. Peter, right? Peter's statement in classic
Peter fashion, right? Mr. Open mouth, insert
foot, I know I identify, blurts out. See, we
have left everything to follow you. Let's jump
into verse 28. Verse 28, Peter began to say to
him, see, we have left everything and followed
you. Jesus said, truly I say to you, there is
no one who has left house or brothers or sisters
or mother or father or children or land for my
sake and for the gospel who will not receive
a hundredfold now in this time. Houses and brothers
and mothers and children and lands with persecutions
and in the age to come eternal. Life. Classic
Peter. See, we've done all this. It's almost
like he's fishing for reassurance. And who is
he trying to fish against? We're following you.
We're doing the things. He's trying to juxtapose
himself to the rich guy. We're not like him.
We're not like him. We do this. We do this. I
literally just described all of us. We do that.
using other words and in other ways with other
motivations, we always like to compare our religion,
our relationship with Jesus against somebody
else's. And it can be, we think in grand kind
of puffy chest ways. Like, look what they wear
to church. I've never worn anything like that.
Or, wow, they do sports on the weekends. We've
never done anything like that. We do it all the
time. And we believe that churches are made up
of this judgmental caste system. And guess what?
That's what the world sees, friends. And that's
not a good thing. That what a church is, as I
prayed, a hospital for the sick, lighthouse for
wayward ships. If we believe that prayer, how
many of you believe that prayer? Guess what you
just called yourself? Sick and wayward. You're
in good company because we all are. Yet the disciples.
They're all, especially Peter, right? James and
John, they always try to kind of nuzzle up against
Jesus because they think they'll get some kind
of apostolic brownie points. But that never works
out for Peter. How do we know? Because at the
end, he denies him three times and gets disowned
and has to be restored. But Jesus doesn't scold
Peter for this. Instead, he affirms and expands
on the promise. Have you ever been asking something
for Jesus? from Jesus in your life, whether it's
finances or relationship or comfort or peace.
And not only does Jesus or God grant it, he gives
you just that little extra. It happens a lot
in my life. And what does it do? It causes me
to praise him and feel about this big that I
doubted he could do it in the beginning. There
is no one. who has left house or brothers or
sisters or mother or father or children or land
for my sake and for the gospel, who will not
receive a hundredfold now in this time and in
the age to come eternal life. So Jesus uses a
weird word. He uses this word a hundredfold,
and some people may look at that and go, whoa,
whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. That seems like prosperity
gospel. That seems like if I do all these things,
I'm going to get a hundredfold of... You're already
thinking it. Prosperity gospel says, if I do
the things, then I'm going to get the... Okay,
go deeper than reward. Money. That if I give,
a hundredfold it's going to come back to me.
In money. Jesus doesn't promise that. That is
not what a hundredfold means. Jesus is not introducing
prosperity gospel. He's speaking not about funds.
He's speaking of relational, communal, and spiritual
abundance. How do we know? Because, friends,
you've heard it before. I've said it, I think,
each sermon so far. When it comes to money, we
can't take it with us. Why in the world would
Jesus promise us a hundredfold dollars if we're
going to be called home tomorrow? If you're in
glory tomorrow for whatever reason, guess what
you're not bringing with you? Any of the stuff
here. So Jesus isn't talking about the money.
He's talking about relational, communal, and
spiritual abundance that comes of being part
of the kingdom of God. Yes, there's joy in giving,
but there are also new families, new purposes,
new ministries, internal securities that far
outweigh the temporary loss of giving it up.
And for some of us, We look at, a little rabbit
trail, we look at fasting that way. I just talked
with someone who's fasting about kind of getting
ready to go on mission for eight months, doing
a very unique ministry in Western Africa. And
he's doing a fast for a very specific reason.
And I asked, what are you looking to get out
of this fast? And he goes, well, at first it
was because I need, I think he needs like $9
,000 to do the mission. He goes, at first I thought
I was fasting so then that money would come in.
And he goes, within a couple days, I knew that
wasn't the case. It was having a deeper understanding
and love for the word of God because that's what
he's going to bring to the people of Western
Africa. He's not going to go and hand out checks,
right? He's not Ed McMahon. Hey -oh! How many
people get that reference? How many people don't?
You're all under 40. And so understand that he's
bringing the word of God. That's what he wanted
to, he wanted to fast so he could cling to that.
And he goes, I just trust that the funds are
going to be there. Friend, that's kingdom economics.
That's exactly what Jesus is talking about. That
when we lose or we give or whatever, we can't
worry about that. We have to trust that when
we're giving, when we donate, when we tithe,
when we do all these things, time, talents, and
treasures, God's going to use that. And we can
bank on it because his word says, Jesus says
he will. What's interesting is that now in this
time reference that Jesus has, refers to the
community of believers. It's not the individual
wants, but what the needs of the community are.
What the church is meant to be. If you lose a
family because of your faith, you gain the global
family of Christ. You ever thought about that?
Maybe that's part of your story. that you've
become a believer and maybe your family is not,
and all of a sudden those relationships become
choppy. Maybe since you've maybe been baptized
or joined a church or whatever, some of your
family are shooting arrows at you because of
it, for whatever reason. My guess is because
they were hurt by church at one point in their
life. But what Jesus is saying is that's going
to happen. That persecution is going to come,
but you will gain so much more. If you give up
your land or your security for the sake of the
gospel, you will find yourself rich in the fellowship
and provision of God's people. You see where
the economics of the kingdom are now looking
really different? And friend, you know how comfortable
it is to preach this, knowing that in probably
a month and a half, two months, we're going to
vote on a building project? Yeah, it feels good
to be up here talking about this. Because would
I love to see it happen? Sure. And do I think
God could use that? Absolutely. And could I totally
go, see, Jesus wants you to give to the building
project. That would be a total misread of the
scripture. That's called eisegeting, and preachers
should never do it. Hopefully I don't. But what
I do have to bring you is what Jesus is reminding
us of when we give, it will be returned to us,
just not dollar for dollar, but life for life,
relationship for relationship, gospel for gospel.
That is kingdom economics. In the age to come,
eternal life, the only return on investment is
something massive. It's eternal. Think about
that. When you invest in the kingdom of God,
you are investing in something eternal. I know
this much about the stock market. Right? That
much. But I know that when you give, you want
to give to things that you're going to make money
back. Right? I think I understand some of that.
Right? We have that mindset. How do I know? Because
when I was in third grade and my chore was to
do the laundry, I knew that I had to do it in
order to get my $6 or whatever it was. From a
very young age, we are taught to give or do or
work to get. You all work in your jobs. And in
some ways, pastors do too, right? To make a living.
And that's not a bad thing. There's stewardship
in that. There's hard work in that. Colossians
says, whatever you do, whatever you do in life,
do for the glory of God. And we can do that.
It's when we become misers. It's when we want
to hoard. It's when we want to sit on our wealth.
Because we think our wealth defines us, that
we lose the kingdom understanding of finances,
of time, of talents and treasures. I love how
Jesus kind of throws in there. Did you all catch
that? The word persecution? The inclusion of
persecutions. Jesus includes with persecutions
in the list. Because when you give and the kingdom
of God grows, when you invest and the investment
is found true, just like we prayed in the prayer
today, someone hates that, and that's Satan.
That's the darkness of the world. Kingdom economics
doesn't promise a trouble -free life. That's
a different level of prosperity gospel. Isn't
it funny? Even prosperity preachers don't even
go down that road because you can't. Kingdom
economics doesn't promise a trouble -free life.
It promises a full life. Sacrifice for Christ
will be met with both joy and opposition, with
both blessing and cost. Would I love it? If our
general contractor and all the subs would understand
what we're trying to do and go, you know what,
we're just going to donate everything for free.
That would be on par with Loaves and Fish Miracle
and Jim Lasaudus' lasagna. I mean, that would
be on par with all of that. How many people think
that's going to happen? Exactly. That sometimes
it's going to cost. There's blessing. There's
cost. But there's also something else when it
comes to the persecutions of life. And it's something
we all need and none of us can pay for it. I
don't care how wealthy you are. And that's grace.
That the kingdom lends, right? Kingdom economics
can be kind of said in one phrase, grace over
scarcity. The kingdom doesn't run on scarcity.
The kingdom runs on grace. And we all should
give a hearty amen because I don't care how much
money you have, you can't buy it. What does that
mean? Thank you. What does that mean? It means
three things. You can't out -give God. Your obedience
is never wasted, and the ultimate reward is not
here, but it's in the age to come. The Belgian
Confession, Article 24, reminds us that good
works flow from a true faith, and that God rewards
that. Not because they earn salvation, but because
he graciously crowns his own gifts. And that's
what you and I are. This passage reinforces that
salvation is God's work from start to finish.
The impossible is made possible by his grace
alone. And every act of surrender is caught up
into that greater plan. When we surrender our
finances, right? And that doesn't mean that you're
just living on zero. But when you surrender the
temptation to have your finances define you and
go, God, what do you want me to do with this?
You have blessed me, so let me bless others.
And maybe you haven't been blessed financially.
You still need to have the same mindset. Where
can I give? What can I do with this? How can
I be good stewards? That's all part of kingdom
economics. It's all part of his grace. So how
do we live this way? I forgot to make a slide,
so I'll go slow. How do we live by kingdom economics
today, 2025? Hold your possessions loosely. If
it's God's, you can't lose it. If it's not God's,
you can't keep it. Let me say that again. If
it's God's, you can't lose it. If it's not God's,
you can't keep it. I've used this analogy before.
Dave Sanders, one of my professors and mentors
of life, was a military helicopter pilot. And
he always gave this teaching. That a lot of times
people think when a helicopter is going kind
of crazy, you have to hold on to it really, really,
really, really tight. And he goes, that is the
worst way to pilot a helicopter. You have to
let the helicopter do its job. You can't over
grip. So hold your possessions loosely too. Trust
God's abundance. Scarcity thinking keeps us tight
fisted. Grace thinking brings us to open hands.
Third, invest in eternal dividends. Time, relationships,
acts of service, generosity toward mission, these
all have eternal rewards. Four, expect both blessing
and opposition. Why? Friends, Jesus promised
both. Don't be surprised when generosity brings
joy and costs. And fifth, rejoice. in the family
of God. Your greatest wealth is being a part
of a body of Christ. And on a personal note,
I am honored that you choose this church. You
don't have to, right? There are many other, just
going on Ridge Road, there are many other wonderful
churches. But for whatever reason, you want to
be a part of this family of faith. If we all,
if this church can live by kingdom economics,
we can have that grace and we can rejoice. Why?
Because we have Christ, the true treasure and
the greatest return. And I'll land the plane
here. Jesus himself is the embodiment of kingdom
economics. He left heaven's glory for earthly
poverty. He surrendered all so we could inherit.
inherit eternal life. He gave his life so we
could gain eternal life. If he is our treasure,
Munster Church, no loss is too great, no gift
too costly, and no sacrifice too heavy. Go back
last week. The rich young ruler couldn't imagine
life without his wealth. The disciples left everything,
yet found everything. The difference is kingdom
economics. Seeing the world through the lens
of scarcity or through the eyes of the abundance
of God's grace. So my final question before I
pray. Will you cling to what you can't keep or
invest in what you can never lose? Let's pray.