say I’m rich you know but hardly anybody else does and you don’t ask these questions do I really need to spend as much money on this do I need to be putting this much money into my apartment do I need to be spending this much money for my apartment do I you know do I need to be spending as much money on clothes and you say because you because you compare it immediately you think of other people who do much more and therefore you don’t ask the question you don’t go there you don’t ask you don’t say wait a minute isn’t there ways in which I could be giving more of my money to the church to the poor to my friends to the neighbors isn’t there ways in which I could be much more radically generous
money I’m pretty generous the rest of the world knows better the rest of world looks at us and says to Americans there’s so many things you could be doing in this world if you just didn’t think you had to have that gadget there are so many think the rest of the world sees it it’s astounding that we live in the place we live in the time we live and we won’t even think about the possibility that we’re greedy that shows the power of greed shows the power money now that’s how why
at the center of everybody’s soul there’s the precious something that you’ve looked at and you said this is precious to me this is the thing that if I have and it’s all worth it this is the thing that if I have it then I’m worth it you got something but whatever that is you are enslaved to it anything that you’re sold treasures once your soul treasures something you will pay any price for it you will do anything to get it because you know it’s
the only thing that’s worth it see and the Bible says every treasure but Jesus will insist that you die to purchase it but Jesus’s self is the one treasure who died to purchase you anything else you make your supreme value will say die for me but
know the heat reg lost all this treasure to make you is treasure that humbles you that melts you that lifts you up and one of the ways you’ll know is that you don’t you no longer you have you have no trouble loving rich people secondly have no trouble removing poor people but the third the third sign that money no longer has power of your life is this you get really generous you know what’s interesting verse 22 the eye is the lamp of the body if your eyes are good if your eyes are good that word actually is a double may has a double meaning in Greek the word good also means generous
if you give money but it doesn’t really cut into the way which you live it doesn’t it doesn’t sacrifice there’s no cross in your economic life if you don’t give enough away enough money so that really makes a difference in how you live your life in your lifestyle then you then there’s no cross and you’re not really responding to Jesus as he’s responded to you now for most of us I’ll tell you this not yet for most
why they were so popular and why they stunned people he says we share our table with all but we do not share our bed with all he said in other words pagans are promiscuous with their body but very stingy with their money and Christians are very stingy with their body and incredibly promiscuous with their money which kind of person benefited their neighborhood other words would you want to live in a neighborhood
