Foxes have Holes

Text: Luke 18:18-30

Focus: Simple Living

Function: to help people adopt an attitude of conserving for the good of others.

Form: Bible Study

Intro: I used to love the Situational Comedy, “Tool Time.” Tim Taylor wanted more. More power, more tools, more Christmas lights. The show tried to live the American dream: More will make you happy.

We know better, don't we? What do you have? How much do you have? Are you truly measured by the size of your bank account, your house, or your car?

There is a temptation to measure yourself and others by those standards. And of course, we do a good job of resisting that temptation.

Apparently, this rich young ruler defined himself by what he had instead of who he was. What a tragedy. I believe that when Jesus told him to sell all he had and give it to the poor, Jesus could see right into the heart of this man and what motivated him. And Jesus offered him a chance for salvation.

For us, one of the most difficult NT passages is right here. Jesus says it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of heaven.

And many people, especially the more affluent a culture gets, try to explain the meaning away. Some bible scholars have tried to say that there was a gate called “needle” in Jerusalem that was very narrow and camels have an hard time going through it. They say that is what Jesus meant. But that doesn't cut it. Because then, the whole point is lost. No. Jesus is using an exaggeration to illustrate His point. In the end, He mentions that anything is possible with God.

The man had a problem. He was trying to save himself. He was trying to earn his salvation by his good works. And Jesus was pointing out to him that no human effort could ever be sufficient.

But He certainly does “pick on” the rich man for his love of money. And in so doing, He touches on an important concept in Christian discipleship. He is picking on materialism, the god of money, -the false hope of way too many people. You see, Jesus didn't save us to make us rich.

The Spiritual discipline that we are looking at today is simple living.

I had a deacon, a VP at a local bank who called me one day, worried that he had just sinned.

Although I had to beg it out of him, he gave me permission to share this story from my perspective. I want you to see into the heart of Christian who is devoted to simple living.

The concern he had over the possibility that he just sinned was over the purchase of a brand new car. It was a Chevy Cavalier station wagon. He drove a brand new car right off the lot. And for those who do not know, at the time, the Chevy Cavalier was the cheapest car they sold in their entire line. And of all the lines of cars that GM produces, Chevrolet is their least expensive line. It is a simple car. It is basic transportation. He paid less than $10,000 for it. The financial incentives that they offered him were much better than buying a reliable used car.

But he believed in simple living. And to him, buying a new car didn't fit the bill. He was so frugal that I remember one day he was shocked that his wife went to lunch with her sisters, who were also members of the church, and the sticker price for his wife's lunch was over 7 dollars.

I am not making fun of this guy, not at all. He had one simple and distinct purpose in living so simple. And it wasn't to prove his worth to himself or others by the size of his bank account. He didn't hoard any of the money he saved in fear of a rainy day. Money didn't make him secure. He didn't hoard it in order to build himself a bigger house. He didn't hoard it to take $5,000 vacation. He didn't hoard it for a better retirement.

He lived that way so that he had more money to give away. For more money to give to the poor beyond his tithe. He would often call me up asking me if I knew anybody who was hurting financially, so that he could give money to him.

Did you know that the Bible lists “generosity” and “giving” as two of the spiritual gifts? (1 Corinthians 12) That was his. He wasn't stupid. Being a banker, he knew that people mismanaged their own money. And with his money, he never enabled the lazy, or empowered people to spend their money foolishly.

But he lived simply in order to have more to give. As it happened, a man joined our Church from Columbia, SA. He came to the U.S. in a perfectly legal fashion seeking asylum from the rebel forces in Columbia. But because of the delays caused by 9/11, he didn't become a documented resident before his visa expired.

And because he wasn't documented, when this man's children went to the local community college, they were forced to pay out of state tuition. Although the man held two doctorates from the university of Bogota, he couldn't even get a job above minimum wage. Sometimes he was forced to settle for less than minimum wage. And despite the rhetoric, the man paid taxes. And he paid them at a greater percentage than others in his income bracket because he couldn't collect earned income credit or a tax refund. To me, it didn't seem fair.

So my deacon paid the tuition for his children to attend college out of his own pocket. And, in order to do that, he gave up a big car, fancy dinners out and big expensive vacations.

He lives simply in order that others may live. He followed what it said in 2 Corinthians when brother Paul asked believers in one place, who are well off, to live with less in order to supply the need of believers in another place who are living in poverty. He says: but by way of equality— ¹⁴at this present time your abundance being a supply for their need,... ...that there may be equality; (2 Corinthians 8:13b-14)

Simple living was the practice of the early Church and that is why it spread so quickly across the Roman Empire. They lived differently than the world around them.

On Wednesday, at Ladies Aid, Waneta read the devotions from 1 Peter 2. And in the ninth verse we read: ⁹But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light;

I love hearing that in the King James, especially when it says: “You are a peculiar people.”

We are different people with a different set of values. Some of it looks like the old hippie stuff of seeking peace, and living in harmony with the environment. Other parts of it preach and practice restraint when it comes to sexual promiscuity, preaches restraint when it comes to all the fashions and fads of this world in order that we may live lives that are focused on our mission.

This Rich young ruler wanted salvation -the best of the world to come- and he wanted the best of this present world. That isn't unnatural. Who doesn't want the best, especially for their children and grandchildren? We all do. But Jesus makes it clear that it must be the best for all, not just ourselves. This man's life was lived for only for himself.

And that is not what it means when we are baptized. When we are baptized we die to ourselves by being buried in the water and we rise out of the water as new creations with a new purpose in life.

And part of that purpose is living simply so that others may live.

In Luke 9:57-58 we read of another person who wanted to follow Jesus. He told Jesus that He would follow Jesus wherever Jesus went. And Jesus answered him: “Foxes have holes, birds have nest, but I have no place to lay my head.”

Jesus was speaking about His simple lifestyle -so simple that He had no home- oftentimes sleeping out under the stars. If He were alive today, some people would actually accuse Him of being a homeless man, maybe even a bum.

I don't picture Jesus panhandling, or never keeping good hygiene or other things that we associate with the homeless. But in fact, Jesus is telling us that he was homeless. He was homeless in a purposeful way. And he was warning His potential follower that following Him was a choice to live for others. I believe that Jesus poverty was another extreme, and it was lived like many of the prophets. John the Baptist lived simply as well. The Amish live simply. And all of that is a testimony that worldly goods do not make a person any happier. Jesus lived a homeless life symbolically. He isn't calling us to give up our homes, the shelters would be flooded. But He is calling us to live simply so that others can live. That is why the early Church spread. They actually cared for the world's poor.

Remember, Jesus said, “You cannot serve God and money.” (Matthew 6:24)

I preach this because I fear that too often we ourselves follow the God of our culture: money. And I want to preach a Biblical balance about money.

Although Jesus said: “Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the Kingdom of God.” (Luke 6:20) I don't believe that God's purpose is necessarily served by us becoming poor. God does bless believers.

My own twin brother went through a dramatic change when he became a believer. Before that, he served as common laborer at the K-Mart warehouse, just doing enough to get buy in his job and not get written up. When Jesus came into his heart, he believed that God had called him to do his best everywhere, even for his employer. And now, he is a Vice President for Sears Holding Corporation.

It was Jesus who turned around his worth ethic and his employer recognized his talent and blessed him for it.

Other people give up their addictions to alcohol, drugs, gambling and tobacco, all very expensive habits, then begin programs of self-respect because they both have faith and hope through Jesus and their financial position always improves.

And faith is also involved. Jim Cymbalta, the pastor of the Brooklyn Church, where the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir comes from, tells the story of a young woman who was strung out on crack cocaine who happened into Church when she heard the music, became converted, got delivered from her drug addiction and started at the bottom.

He tells how one day, as she was walking she found a penny on the sidewalk, picked it up and claimed it as the first portion of the down payment on her own house. She now has an home and boards women who are coming out of the bondage of the sex trade in New York City.

A penny isn't much. And she claimed her new house by faith. And faith is important. When we get with God's program in our lives, His promise is to meet our needs. And oftentimes, the very changes that happen because of our Christian peculiarities have a corresponding financial blessings.

But it isn't about riches. Part of it is about faith, and the choice we have to have faith. But all of it is about Jesus.

Jesus was clear in His lifestyle to send the right message about serving Him or the God of money. So he says: “Foxes have holes....”

There is a prosperity preacher on TV who once preached about this passage and what he said appalled me. It was a direct contradiction to Jesus point. This prosperity preachers was preaching the God of money, not the simple lifestyle that Jesus demonstrated.

It is hard for me to believe this, but he actually said that Jesus' reference here was that he didn't need an home because Jesus was so rich that he could afford the best hotel in whatever town to which he traveled.

The man said, “Jesus had a front man who went before him and rented the best suites in the best inns everywhere he went.”

Well, If you know the geography of Israel at the time you know better. There were important trade centers throughout the area. There were Roman cites, nick-named the Decapolis, the ten cities. If you wanted a fine, luxurious suite, you had to go there. But Jesus kept his ministry confined to the smaller cities, the non important places, except when he traveled to Jerusalem.

It is obvious from the context that Jesus was not referring to luxury, but to simple living, in order to be blessing to others.

Brother Paul explains it like this: 1 Timothy 1:6-8 ⁸If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. ⁹But 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. ¹⁰For 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 griefs.

Now, the passage does not say that money is the root of all evil. It says the love of it is. It says that if we want to get rich, if that is our motivation in life, we will only be sorry. We will be sorry, just like the rich young man who valued life on this earth over eternal life in heaven.

It is hard to keep money in perspective. That is why I preach about living for God and others so much. I need to remind myself as well.

We are constantly bombarded with the message that our money, and our indications of money are the sole proofs of our worth. It may be because we have a strong work ethic and we accept the social contract that in the west if you work hard, you will prosper. But the recent recession has shown us that even hard working people may suffer. Time and chance happens to everyone.

Our worth is not tied up in the things we possess. We are partners with God in a world changing organization that knows that people, community, faith, beauty and justice far outweighs personal wealth and greed.

What a wonderful calling we have!

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