Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How to Say 'Enough' to More Stuff | Learning to Follow Jesus | Luke 9.12-17

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. And I'm Keith Simon. Right now, we're learning what it looks like to follow Jesus by working our way through the Gospel of Luke. John D. Rockefeller was once asked how much money is enough. His answer? Just a little bit more. Now, I know some of us are judging, but most of us are probably seeing ourselves in the mirror.

Starting point is 00:00:32 I've heard people say a lot of things in my life, but I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone say, I have enough money. The simple fact is that being born in America, we've been trained from birth to believe that happiness is found in abundance. Abundance is found in the power to buy things. So abundance is found in what? In money. That's how our consumer economy works. And that consumer economy certainly has brought tremendous wealth and quality of life to a lot of different people. But do you know what's really striking to me? Jesus never once teaches his apprentices to pursue money. Not a single time in the Bible. Now, I realize that sometimes we think of Jesus as a penniless beggar, going from town to town. And the reality is that that was probably pretty far from the truth.

Starting point is 00:01:22 His ministry gathered enough money that he needed one of his apprentices, a guy named Judas, to manage their bank account. But still, Jesus showed far more scale. skepticism about money and having an abundance of possessions than we do today. He said that no one can serve God and money any more than a servant can serve two different masters. But beyond that, he made just radical claims about how to actually have enough. Check this out. This is Luke 620. Blessed are you who are poor for yours is the kingdom of God. Luke 621, Blessed are you who hunger. Blessed are you who hunger?

Starting point is 00:02:02 For you will be satisfied. Apparently, to have the things that really matter in life, like God's kingdom, like genuine satisfaction, the path isn't more money. The path isn't in an abundance of possessions. So what is the path? Is the path to simply sell everything? Well, Jesus actually tells someone to do that, so maybe it's not too far off. But I think that Jesus' overall point is actually more complex than this.

Starting point is 00:02:31 I think he understood that having an abundance of wealth and possessions could lead us into trusting our wealth instead of God. Now, here's the funny thing. A lot of people listening to this are thinking, oh, yeah, that's true, but that's not me. I'm not wealthy. I don't have a lot of possessions. Well, just pause. If you have a place to live, if you can drive a car, if you own your car,

Starting point is 00:02:53 if you've got food on your table, you are probably a lot of, among the most wealthy people in the world. By percentage, you're at least in the top 10%. But back to the main point, I think that Jesus knew that if we had an abundance of possessions of wealth, which most of us do, it can lead us to trust those things instead of God.

Starting point is 00:03:12 To put our happiness in our possessions, not God, to grow greedy and stingy, because we begin to think it's more blessed to keep than to give. Now, I don't think these temptations are unique to us. People in Jesus' day felt the exact same thing, things, we're probably tempted by the same things. And so because of that, Jesus gave a radical picture of God's power to give abundantly apart from wealth and possessions. It is a power to fill and to satisfy apart from wealth and possessions. He gave a picture that it actually is more blessed

Starting point is 00:03:44 to give than to receive. Let's take a look at this picture. It comes in Luke chapter 9, verse 12. Late in the afternoon, the 12 came to him and said, send the crowd away so that they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are here in a remote place. So let's pause. Jesus is teaching not just his disciples, his apprentices, but a large group of people, 5,000 plus people. He's teaching them about the kingdom of God, but he's doing it in a very remote place, possibly a desert type place where there is no food. Now catch Jesus's reply when the disciples say, hey, let's send people back and let them get their own food. He replied, You give them something to eat.

Starting point is 00:04:28 They answered, we have only five loaves of bread and two fish. Unless we go and buy food for all this crowd. About 5,000 men were there. So you add in women and children, we're at over 10,000 people. But he said to his disciples, have them sit down in groups of about 50 each. The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them.

Starting point is 00:04:55 Then he gave them to the disciples. to distribute to the people. They all ate, and they all were satisfied, and the disciples picked up 12 basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. I love how a Catholic scholar named Luke Timothy Johnson summarizes this entire story. He says, the wonderful abundance of food in this story stands as a double lesson to the 12. Abundance is found not in the power to purchase with money, but in the power of the Lord, and those who give receive back even more extravagantly. You see, Jesus' economy transcends all human economies, whether it's capitalist or socialist or whateverist you like, because Jesus' economy is rooted in the power of the Creator God.

Starting point is 00:05:43 Jesus wanted his disciples, his apprentices, to clearly see that he was capable of abundantly providing for them, and not just them. You see, this miracle, again, it has to be. You see, this miracle, happened in a deserted place. Just like God fed manna to the Israelites as they were wandering through the desert of Sinai. So Jesus fills the bellies of this new Israel that's following him now. In fact, there's 12 basketfuls of bread left over, and 12 is a simple of the 12 tribes of Israel. Again, this is all just suggesting that Jesus is saying to all people who put their trust in him, he's saying this, he's saying, blessed are the hungry, for they will be satisfied. God's power. can satisfy you. God's economy can generate enough for you. How would our lives change if we stopped

Starting point is 00:06:30 putting our trust in our wealth and possessions to keep us safe? I know my life we probably change tremendously. How would our lives change if we stopped putting our trust and our wealth and possessions to make us happy? How much more generous would you be? How much more generous would I be? How much anxiety would we be set free from? Now, I realize there are those of us whose fear keep us from trusting God in this way? And then there's others of us whose greed keeps us from trusting God in this way. But what do we have to fear if we put our trust in the living Creator God? And what greater gain could we be greedy for than for His kingdom? Why are we all so short-sighted that we fixate on things that aren't going to last and aren't going to satisfy? So practically, what would it look like for us to

Starting point is 00:07:18 do this? How can those of us who, again, we are among the most wealthy people, people in the world, how can we put our trust in God's power to be the thing that provides for us? Well, these are just practical ideas that I've heard other people try. These aren't rules or regulations to live by, but maybe taking up one of these things would help you fight to trust God in his economy to be what satisfies you, to be what provides for you. Here are a few ideas. First of all, learn to say enough. Curb your consumerism. If your closet is full, make a rule. I won't buy any new clothes unless I've got some old. clothes to give away. If you look at your house or your apartment and it's overflowing with shelves

Starting point is 00:07:58 of stuff that you haven't even used in the last year, take Amazon off your phone, ban yourself from online shopping. Or here's a crazy idea. Get rid of things that you haven't used in the last year. Even crazier, make yourself wait a day before you make a purchase just to make sure that it's something that you really need. Or how about this? Try living on a budget. And when you make the budget, don't start with how much you want to save or how much you want to spend. Start with how much you want to give. Because God turns a few loaves and a few fish into a feast for many. We can trust that God turns our generosity into much for others. I think once we stop using shopping as therapy and purchasing power as a gauge of our happiness, I think then we could be set free to

Starting point is 00:08:40 finally say, I have enough. Because I know that enough isn't ever going to be measured by my 401k. Enough can only be measured by the power of God, and he's given me it. He's given me his grace, his love, and everything that I need. So will you trust him to fill you, to satisfy you, to welcome you, and to his economy of divine abundance? Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and give us a rating. That helps other people find this podcast more easily. Also, ask yourself, who could you share this podcast with? an episode to a friend or a family member is a great way to help them grow spiritually. If you want to go deeper, check out our show notes for book recommendations.

Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How to Say 'Enough' to More Stuff | Learning to Follow Jesus | Luke 9.12-17

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