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Monday, June 18, 2012

“Possessed by Our Possessions”


(Part 4 in 4 part series)

“You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.”

                                                                                                            James 5:5-6

As we learned last week, the unhealthy pursuit of mammon (possessions) can lead to hoarding and dishonest gain, this week we will see how it leads to the pursuit of self-indulgence and the unfair treatment of others.

James cautioned those people who were living in self-indulgence and pursing lives of luxury that this type of behavior would ultimately lead to judgment. As James describes it; they were fattening themselves for the day of slaughter. The imagery is vivid. Instantly what comes to my mind is a pig trough. When the farmer comes and pours in the slop, the herd of pigs descends on the trough and eagerly pursues what they want. There is no consideration of others. It is get all you can as fast as you can. Ironically the more they devour the larger they become expediting their day of disaster.  

I am constantly taken aback by what people consider needs! I watch television shows about couples with no children looking for their first homes and hear them say things like… “We NEED at least four bedrooms, three baths, a large backyard, modern kitchen, and finished basement.” I listen with concern as grown adults talk about their NEED to upgrade their smart phone for the fourth time in three years. We are constantly attempting to redefine what a NEED is because we live in a culture that is no longer satisfied with having what we need.   The fattening we are experiencing that will ultimately lead to our destruction is not simply the materialism that permeates our lives, but the tremendous debt we must accrue in order to have it.  Most people cannot afford to live at the level of luxury that they desire, so we have manufactured a culture that allows us to live beyond our means in self-indulgence and luxury. Ultimately, the more we devour, the more indebted we become expediting our day of disaster!

Here is the litmus test to determine if you are at all bound by wealth:

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing we will be content with that.”

                                                                                                                                                1 Timothy 6:6-8

Could you be content with just having food and clothing? I recently challenged our congregation with this passage of scripture:



“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

                                                                                                                                Hebrews 13:5-6



My challenge was this, if we truly believe that God will help us and keep us in times of need then for thirty days do not buy anything new and absolutely don’t take on any debt. That meant no new clothes, phones, electronics, cars, appliances and the like. If something breaks down and you can’t pay cash to replace it, then figure out how to manage without it until the 30 days are up. One family had a washing machine break down and she used the laundry mat until the 30 days were up! Some folks wouldn’t even try, because they knew they would never make it. Some lasted a couple days, and some made it the whole thirty days. In all it was a success, because it caused everyone to think about their need for possession and who really possessed who?



Pastor Scott Burr

http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com/

Thursday, June 14, 2012

“Possessed by Our Possessions”


(Part 3 in 4 part series)

“Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.”

                                                                                                            James 5:3-6

It is evident, from the above passage, that the love of mammon will lead us down a very dangerous path. This unhealthy obsession with wealth will lead us into hoarding, dishonest gain, to pursue self-indulgence and to treat others unjustly.

James stated in verse 3 that “Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.”  Simply stated, hoarding is the behavior of acquiring an excessive amount of things, coupled with an unwillingness to get rid of anything. Hoarding in our nation is an epidemic. There is even a reality show that chronicles the life of those whose lives have been wrecked by this obsession with material things. Many of us would read over this passage believing that it is directed only towards rich people! The question is who is considered rich? When much of the world’s population lives on $2 per day, nearly everyone in America is considered rich! Serving mammon is not simply about getting rich, but it is about possessing things! The danger of hoarding is best seen in an illustration I took from my trip to Israel a few years ago. There is a sea in Israel that receives water from the Jordan River, but has no outlet. Because it only receives and gives nothing out, it is toxic to maintaining life. It is rightly called the Dead Sea. Hoarding is evidence of a toxic situation in our lives. It indicates that we have a desire to receive, but no outlet for giving things away.

The pursuit of mammon can also lead us into dishonest gain:

“Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.”

                                                                                                            James 5:4

You may feel that this, too, does not apply to you. You don’t own a business or run a company, so there is no application. However, if you are a worker who shows up late to work, likes to leave early, abuses break times, lies on your time card, and steals company property…this is just as much dishonest gain as the other. This, too, demonstrates a toxic situation in our lives, one in which we feel justified in taking what does not belong to us. As much as business owners, supervisors and managers need to exercise honesty and integrity with their employees, Christian employees ought to demonstrate the same honesty integrity with their employers.

 Pastor Scott Burr

http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com/

Thursday, June 7, 2012

"Possessed by Our Possessions"

(Part 2 in series)

“When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.”

                                                                                                            Mark 5:1-5

We have become a people who are possessed! Although it isn’t a demonic spirit that has taken resident in our bodies, it is a demonic influence that has manipulated our lifestyles and thought life. As I read Mark 5, about the man from Gadara who was possessed by a legion of demons, I could not help to draw some correlations. This man was bondage. They took away his freedom. They changed the way he lived. Many said he was out of his mind!

And then I thought… “Are we too not out of our minds”!

Proverbs 22:7 declares: “The borrower is servant to the lender!”

Every time we borrow money to pay for something we become slaves! Not by force, but by choice! Why would we subject ourselves to such slavery? One word…POSSESSIONS!

We chain ourselves up to have new vehicles, the latest clothes, the newest technology and bigger homes! We plunge ourselves into debt, not realizing that it is a curse. Debt is the curse of a people who have trusted in mammon (wealth). Moses warned the people of Israel of this thousands of years ago in Deuteronomy 28:43-45:

“The alien who lives among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower. He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, but you will be the tail.”

James, the apostle, tried to warn the rich people in his day warning them in James 5:1:

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you.”

They had begun trusting in their wealth. James warned them that their wealth would rot, their clothes would be eaten by moths and their gold and silver would corrode. They were developing a “moth ball mentality”. Moth balls are used to preserve and protect something we are unwilling to lose… regardless of how it makes us smell. They were trying to preserve things that were temporary, fading and wasting away.

It takes a long time for gold and silver to corrode. To hold onto something, like gold and silver, so long that it corrodes indicates deep seeded beliefs in the power of wealth. James warns them:

“Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire.” You have hoarded wealth in the last days.”

                                                                                                James 5:3

This unhealthy trust in wealth and possessions can lead to hoarding, dishonest gain, self-indulgence and treating others unjustly.



 Pastor Scott Burr

http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com/