WEBVTT 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:07.440 Hello everyone. 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:08.880 This is Pastor Benjamin. 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:12.000 You're listening to Sermon Audio from New City, Orlando. 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:15.439 At New City, we long to see our Father answer the Lord's Prayer. 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:20.079 For more resources, visit our website at Newcity Orlando.com. 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:23.120 Join me in this prayer of illumination. 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:29.679 Give us understanding that we may keep your law and observe it with our whole hearts. 00:00:29.679 --> 00:00:34.399 Lead us in the path of your commandments, for ye delight in it. 00:00:34.399 --> 00:00:42.640 Turn our eyes from looking at worthless things and give us life in your ways through Jesus Christ our Lord. 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:43.520 Amen. 00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:47.679 Today's scripture reading is going to be from Luke twelve. 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:50.560 It's a long one, so stand if you can. 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:57.119 Someone in the crowd said to him, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. 00:00:57.119 --> 00:01:01.840 But he said to them, Man who made me a judge and arbitrator over you. 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:11.040 And he said to them, Take care and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:21.840 And he told them a parable saying, The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops? 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:24.319 And he said, I will do this. 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:35.760 I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods, and I will say to my soul, Soul, have you ample goods laid up for many years? 00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:39.120 Relax, eat, drink, be merry. 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:47.120 But God said to him, Fool, this night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:52.400 So is this the one who lays up treasure for himself and that is not rich toward God? 00:01:52.400 --> 00:02:05.840 And he said to his disciples, Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on, for life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:13.599 Consider the ravens, they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:16.639 Of how much more value are you than the birds? 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:21.360 And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life? 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:27.520 If then you are not able to do a small thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:32.639 Consider the lilies, how they grow, they neither toil nor spin. 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:37.360 Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:45.919 But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today and tomorrow is thrown up into the oven, how much more will he clothe you? 00:02:45.919 --> 00:02:58.639 O you of little faith, and do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried, for all the nations of the world will seek after these things, and your father knows that you need them. 00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:02.960 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:05.039 Fear not, little flock. 00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:08.319 It is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:11.360 Sell your possessions and give to the needy. 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:24.479 Provide yourselves with money bags and do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:25.680 This is God's word. 00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:27.280 Thanks be to God. 00:03:33.919 --> 00:03:37.360 This morning, I am one of the pastors here at New City. 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:48.080 Now, one of the most challenging things about being human is that our attention is limited. 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:54.960 It's in fact maybe one of the most precious things that we have, the most precious resource that we have. 00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:58.639 You can really only focus one thing at a time. 00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:04.080 There is really no neutrality or this myth of multitasking with our attention. 00:04:04.080 --> 00:04:08.879 Either you aim at one thing with your attention or you aim at another. 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:15.280 We all know this to be true because we have this thing that seeks our attention all the time in our pockets. 00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:21.439 And you know that you can't look at the phone and also be engaged in conversation with somebody across from the table. 00:04:21.439 --> 00:04:23.360 You have to choose. 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:31.279 But before I go on and get all abstract about and existential about our attention, I want to tell you a story. 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:34.160 Now, I love riding my bike. 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:37.279 You know what 40-year-old doesn't love riding his bike? 00:04:37.279 --> 00:04:40.480 Some of you guys have some of those cool, fancy electric bikes, which is cool. 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:42.160 I haven't quite made it that far. 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:46.079 But I don't get to ride it as much, but sometimes I get to ride my bike to work. 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:49.759 Actually, Ben, who's not here this morning, we both get to ride our bikes to work. 00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:53.199 It's a single-speed, fixed gear bike and so much fun. 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:57.040 Uh, he does it for fun, and I kind of do it for exercise. 00:04:57.040 --> 00:05:01.040 But anyway, you know what it's like when you're on a bike with like really thin tires. 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:06.959 You're going down the sidewalk and you're hitting driveway after driveway after driveway after driveway. 00:05:06.959 --> 00:05:10.079 And I'm like, man, I'm meant to be over here in the roadway. 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:13.439 But I have this big fear of Orlando traffic. 00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:15.680 Like, I can't get out there, I'm gonna get hit. 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:20.399 So, but then sometimes I get enough courage, enough boldness, and I'm like, well, I'm gonna head that way. 00:05:20.399 --> 00:05:21.199 So, what do I do? 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:28.800 I fix my eyes towards the roadway, and I try to make a determination whether or not I can get into the roadway without being hit or not. 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:30.879 And so I did this one time. 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:38.639 I looked back because I was on a sidewalk across from the lane I needed to be in to be uh roadworthy, going with traffic on my bike. 00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:48.800 And all of a sudden I looked back and smack, I hit a concrete telephone pole going about 20 miles an hour. 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:59.360 And the next thing I knew, I was on the ground, I couldn't breathe because the impact I had had knocked the wind out of myself. 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:03.120 And uh somehow, by God's grace, I missed my head. 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:10.319 I wasn't wearing a helmet that day, and my shoulder and and the bike did not fare so well. 00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:16.079 Now I'd love to kind of tell you the end of that story, but that's a different sermon on the power of shame. 00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:21.439 But what happened? 00:06:21.439 --> 00:06:26.480 The fancy psychological and behavioral concept is called target fixation. 00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:37.519 I focused my attention on where I wanted to go even for a moment, and that drifted me far enough that I would hit an immovable concrete structure. 00:06:37.519 --> 00:06:40.160 Now, this is what I want you guys to hear. 00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:44.240 Our attention directs our affections. 00:06:44.240 --> 00:06:48.240 Our attention directs our affections. 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:51.120 What you aim at, you will get. 00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:58.639 In today's parable, Jesus shows us that we build our lives, we build our lives based on what we pay attention to. 00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:03.439 Jesus wants us to know the importance of where we focus our attention. 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:08.000 And what the problem is, is that sin hijacks our attention. 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:11.839 Sin takes our attention and malforms our aims. 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:20.399 Sin takes our attention and leads us, if you think about the parable, to foolishness, and you think about the narrative after the parable, to anxiety. 00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:33.040 We often, when our attention is misguided or directed in something different, our affections directed at something that we shouldn't be directed towards, we often hit an immovable force and crash. 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:39.360 So the question for us today is who or what has your attention? 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:42.480 And what does that produce inside of you? 00:07:42.480 --> 00:07:47.040 Peace and security, or anxiety and fear? 00:07:47.040 --> 00:07:56.560 We'll explore those questions through these points: the problem of anxiety, the principle of attention, and the pleasure of the Father. 00:07:56.560 --> 00:08:04.800 If you have a Bible or device or a bulletin, turn with me to Luke chapter 12, starting in verse 13. 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:14.160 Someone in the crowd said to him, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:15.680 Well, what's going on here? 00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:20.639 Jesus, as he often does, is teaching his disciples, but there's others, those are around him. 00:08:20.639 --> 00:08:26.000 And someone raises their hand to ask him and calls him a teacher and says, Hey, I have a question. 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:27.040 And what was it about? 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:28.720 It was a family dispute. 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:31.199 And what was the family dispute about? 00:08:31.199 --> 00:08:32.559 Money. 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:36.159 And it's usually right, family disputes could be about a lot of different things. 00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:40.080 It's relationally in the end, but sometimes there's always this thing about money. 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:48.960 And the problem was probably a younger brother complaining about his older brother who is controlling the assets or controlling the family estate. 00:08:48.960 --> 00:08:51.919 And did Jesus get sucked into the family squabble? 00:08:51.919 --> 00:08:52.559 No. 00:08:52.559 --> 00:08:54.559 Look at verse 14 with me. 00:08:54.559 --> 00:08:59.519 And he said to him, Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you? 00:08:59.519 --> 00:09:05.039 And then in this next statement, Jesus goes below the question that this man is asking. 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:06.240 He goes deeper. 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:14.559 Verse 15, and he said to them, Take care and be on your guard against all covetousness. 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:19.039 For one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. 00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:29.200 Jesus uses this moment to actually expose this man's heart, the heart that has a tendency to bend in on itself. 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:35.759 Jesus uses the moment to expose what grabs our attentions and our hearts. 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:44.799 Jesus actually gives us two commands here, and this is a warning. 00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:45.919 These two commands are a warning. 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:47.360 He says, take care. 00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:50.879 And the second command is be on guard. 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:55.679 The Greek word here for take care has this broader, wider meaning. 00:09:55.679 --> 00:09:59.519 It means of considering, seeing, watching. 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:04.000 Some translations actually take this Greek word and they translate it, watch out. 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:07.519 Take care, see what is really there. 00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:10.320 This is attention language. 00:10:10.320 --> 00:10:12.320 Look what's really going on. 00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:13.519 Be alert. 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:16.159 And what does Jesus want us to see? 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:20.240 What does he want us to watch out for? 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:24.080 Jesus wants us to watch out for the problem of coveting. 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:40.159 Coveting grabs our attention by our misseeing, misseeing possessions as life, misseeing abundance as security, misseeing surplus as salvation, misseeing that our hearts aren't actually as healthy as they are. 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:44.000 And the second imperative, be on guard. 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:51.039 It's an echo from the garden, protect and keep the garden where they're to keep and protect the garden from the evil one. 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:53.679 They were to do the good work that God had asked them to do. 00:10:53.679 --> 00:10:59.679 And Jesus is here saying, protect and keep on guard from the evil of coveting. 00:10:59.679 --> 00:11:02.480 So what is coveting? 00:11:02.480 --> 00:11:08.240 Coveting is the state of desiring to have more than one's due. 00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:16.480 Augustine says, covetousness is an appetite on anyone's part for more than enough. 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:20.720 Coveting is to want what you don't have. 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:26.320 This is probably true of the man who interrupted Jesus with his question, with the family dispute. 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:28.879 He was asking for more than his due. 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:32.240 He was asking for what he didn't or could not have. 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:37.919 And coveting, it puts us on a posture of always saying, Mine. 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:44.799 Look down with me as I read verses 17 through 19 with a little emphasis. 00:11:44.799 --> 00:11:47.600 And he told them a parable. 00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:58.639 By the way, I don't, I just real quick aside as I continue to read, is who who actually created the wealth that this man had? 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:00.399 It's the land that created the wealth. 00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:02.240 God is the one who gives wealth. 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:03.360 But let me keep reading. 00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:07.840 Verse 17, and he thought to himself, What shall I do? 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:11.279 For I have nowhere to store my crops. 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:25.840 And he said, I will do this, I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods, and I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years. 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:29.279 Relax, eat, drink, and be merry. 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:34.559 Anyone who's been around a toddler recently knows what it's like. 00:12:34.559 --> 00:12:43.919 My toy, my plate, my bottle, even if it isn't theirs, they still say, mine, mine, mine. 00:12:43.919 --> 00:12:46.720 It's this automatic state of our hearts. 00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:49.840 There's an insatiability with our hearts. 00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:56.480 And just a real quick aside here, I want to say something because there is something here to say about self-talk. 00:12:56.480 --> 00:13:04.320 Jesus is portraying this rich man, this farmer, as someone who is engaging in self-talk. 00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:07.519 And that self-talk, I think, led to a lie. 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:09.759 The lie is that it's all about me. 00:13:09.759 --> 00:13:11.759 Eat, drink, and be merry. 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:17.200 The lie is that the life is all about my comfort, my security. 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:24.240 And so now I wonder, just for this little aside, what is your self-talk telling you? 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:28.080 Is your self-talk telling you lies or life? 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:30.320 The truth of who God is? 00:13:30.320 --> 00:13:35.519 Are we speaking lies to ourselves or are we speaking the truth of God? 00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:38.720 As Steve Brown would say, you think about that. 00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:48.960 Okay, the point is this: we have a coveting problem, which is actually the cause of our anxiety problem. 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:50.799 It's one of the big ten, right? 00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:51.600 Coveting. 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:57.679 Francis Schaefer says that the tenth commandment is about covetousness and is entirely inward. 00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:04.480 Coveting is the reverse side, he goes on to say, coveting is the reverse side of the law of love. 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:10.159 Coveting does not move us outward, but coveting moves us inward. 00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:12.320 Look at the end of verse 15. 00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:18.799 For one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:31.279 Jesus then here ties coveting to not just generally what we want, something we don't have, but he ties coveting specifically to money, to possessions, to wealth. 00:14:31.279 --> 00:14:34.159 So what is unique about possessions, money, and wealth? 00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:37.840 Why is Jesus tying coveting to money? 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:45.840 I think it's because we believe money will bring us security, satisfaction, and significance. 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:54.960 We believe that money actually will solve all our problems and that our future, if we had enough money, will be secure. 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:58.399 But do you guys think that's true? 00:14:58.399 --> 00:15:00.639 Does money bring more peace? 00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:04.879 Does money bring more security and less anxiety? 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:18.799 The Financial Services in Power did a financial happiness survey in 2022 asking the question exactly how much more money do you think you need to be happy? 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:21.600 Now they it was, I think, a pretty well-done survey. 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:23.759 They surveyed about 2,000 people. 00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:34.159 And in the survey, most people said it would take a pretty significant pay bump to achieve happiness, to achieve contentment, and be free from the anxiety about wealth. 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:37.919 70% of the respondents strongly agreed with this statement. 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:42.240 Having more money would solve most of my problems. 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:53.840 But here's the fascinating thing about that survey was that true that was the answer was true, and people could relate to that answer no matter where they were on the income bracket, across all income brackets. 00:15:53.840 --> 00:16:01.360 It didn't matter how rich or how much wealth you had or how little wealth you had, you always wanted more money. 00:16:01.360 --> 00:16:04.639 And this was even true for very, very wealthy people. 00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:09.679 A 2018 study asked millionaires to rate their happiness on a scale from one to 10. 00:16:09.679 --> 00:16:16.879 And if they didn't say 10, they were asked to predict how much more money would they need just to move one point higher. 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:23.919 Slightly, over half of those with a net worth of $10 million or more said that their wealth would need to increase by at least 50%. 00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:30.000 That's at least $5 million more dollars to move just one point on the happiness scale. 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:35.279 Apparently, wealth does not bring happiness, no matter how rich you are. 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:43.120 Listen to Paul, how he talks about it to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 6, starting in verse 9. 00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:55.519 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 00:16:55.519 --> 00:16:58.639 For the love of money, and that's important, it's the love of money. 00:16:58.639 --> 00:17:05.200 Money necessarily wealth or possessions isn't bad, but the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. 00:17:05.200 --> 00:17:11.359 It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:14.160 What is Jesus belaboring? 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:16.000 What is Paul belaboring? 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:20.400 They're warning us about the problem of coveting money. 00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:29.839 Coveting seeks possessions, it claims them as mine, mine, mine, my barns, my food, my wealth, my money. 00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:34.559 But they are not equated with true living, they do not bring true happiness. 00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:42.400 Jesus purposely also, here in this passage, after the parable in the narrative section, he ties coveting to anxiety. 00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:45.279 Look down with me in verse 22 and 23. 00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:51.839 And he said to his disciples, so he's purposely training his disciples, right? 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:56.160 There may be a larger crowd, but he is disciple making his disciples, training them. 00:17:56.160 --> 00:18:00.799 And he says, Therefore, therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious. 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:04.400 And you always have to ask, what is that therefore, therefore, right? 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:08.960 And so he's Jesus is tying here in the gospel of Luke. 00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:16.960 Luke is writing this in tying Jesus' words from the parable of the rich fool to this narrative about do not be anxious. 00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:21.039 Coveting and anxiety actually are married bed fellows. 00:18:21.039 --> 00:18:24.160 Coveting leads to anxiety. 00:18:24.160 --> 00:18:25.680 And anxiety, what is it? 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:29.039 It is it's actually an effect, it's not the cause. 00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:32.799 It's best understood as a psychological equivalent of a fever. 00:18:32.799 --> 00:18:41.200 Now, fevers they can indicate a common cold, or fevers can sometimes indicate something way deeper problems, like cancer. 00:18:41.200 --> 00:18:46.880 And the problem of anxiety in our lives reveals deeper problems. 00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:51.920 And here in this passage, the connection between anxiety and coveting. 00:18:51.920 --> 00:18:56.000 Wealth does not relieve our anxiety because we are not in control. 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:58.720 Our souls will be required of us. 00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:02.160 Look at what he with verse 25 through 26. 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:09.519 And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life? 00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:16.640 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:21.839 Possessions are not the antidote to our problem of anxiety and coveting. 00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:34.000 So here are some diagnostic questions to get you going to be thinking about this problem of anxiety in your life, and if it's leading to exposing the deep problem of coveting. 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:37.599 Why do we want what we want, what we do not have? 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:40.640 Why do we think we need always more? 00:19:40.640 --> 00:19:47.279 And in case you're trying to understand the anxiety part, here are why do we experience emotional anxiety? 00:19:47.279 --> 00:19:52.079 Here are actually this is the question I want to ask is when do you tend to experience anxiety? 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:55.039 And then I want to tell you this is what anxiety looks like in a person. 00:19:55.039 --> 00:19:57.279 Here's the emotional symptoms. 00:19:57.279 --> 00:19:58.640 So we think about this. 00:19:58.640 --> 00:20:00.480 When do you experience these symptoms? 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:02.880 Feelings of apprehension or dread. 00:20:02.880 --> 00:20:04.000 Check. 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:05.759 Feeling tense. 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:07.279 That happens for me. 00:20:07.279 --> 00:20:09.599 Restlessness or irritability. 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:12.799 Always thinking about the worst case scenario. 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:13.920 You know the feeling. 00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:20.880 The mind is circling, the heart is racing and tightening, and your future is shrinking down to what you think you might lose. 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:22.319 That's anxiety. 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:30.799 Well, Jesus isn't only trying to give us a warning about anxiety and about coveting, but he's trying to teach us the principle of our attention. 00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:35.119 And this leads me to my second point, the principle of our attention. 00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:39.920 Simply put, attention directs affections. 00:20:39.920 --> 00:20:51.359 Now, we've already talked about this from a foundational point in verse 15 when I talked about the two words, take care and be on guard against all covetousness. 00:20:51.359 --> 00:20:55.519 Those were imperatives, were attention language. 00:20:55.519 --> 00:21:01.920 Jesus does not only tell us both not to just don't be anxious, just to stop worrying. 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:05.200 He actually retrains our attention. 00:21:05.200 --> 00:21:11.519 Jesus redirects our attention, and you can see that through the actual verbs of the narrative section after the parable. 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:14.000 Look with me in the following verses. 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:17.759 Verse 24, consider the ravens. 00:21:17.759 --> 00:21:21.680 Verse 27, consider the lilies. 00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:25.839 Verse 29, do not seek like the nations do. 00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:31.519 Verse 31, instead seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. 00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:35.039 All of this is attention language. 00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:38.960 Jesus is trying to retrain your attention. 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:42.880 Jesus knows that where our attention is, our hearts will be led. 00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:46.480 Your attention directs your affections. 00:21:46.480 --> 00:21:51.759 If your attention is on your possessions, you'll be led to anxiety. 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:57.519 If your attention is on God and his kingdom, you'll be led to peace and love. 00:21:57.519 --> 00:21:59.359 You'll be rich toward God. 00:21:59.359 --> 00:22:04.559 The rich fool had his attention, his heart, his affections on his treasure. 00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:09.759 Jesus is calling us to have our attention on God and his kingdom. 00:22:09.759 --> 00:22:14.000 Look down with me at verse 21, the end of the parable section. 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:21.920 Jesus says, So to the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. 00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:24.559 There's no neutrality in that statement. 00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:33.440 You are either laying for yourself up treasures here on earth or you're laying up for yourself treasures in heaven, riches toward God. 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:37.200 Well, how are we doing with that? 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:44.000 Anybody in the room experiencing anxiety or the deeper problem of coveting? 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:52.319 No matter how much we try to keep our focus and our attention on God, we fail at doing so. 00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:59.680 And this language of attention and focus, it reminds me actually of the Grand Canyon. 00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:03.440 And have you guys ever been to the Grand Canyon? 00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:07.759 I haven't been since I was a little kid, probably a teenager actually. 00:23:07.759 --> 00:23:11.680 But this is just the most beautiful landscape that God has created. 00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:13.599 He's created a lot of beautiful landscapes. 00:23:13.599 --> 00:23:20.640 But the Grand Canyon is majestic, it's beautiful, it's awe-inspiring, but it's dangerous. 00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:28.799 So much so that they have put guardrails up where a lot of tourists go, they'll put guardrails up along the edge to keep from tourists falling in. 00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:33.680 The problem is that our personal judgment cannot always be trusted. 00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:38.000 We may be, our attention may get distracted and we may fall over the cliff. 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:40.160 Our attention can be misdirected. 00:23:40.160 --> 00:23:49.519 So, in the same way that we can be distracted by the Grand Canyon and all its beauty, we can be distracted by the many beautiful things here on earth that God has given us. 00:23:49.519 --> 00:24:00.640 They are not bad in themselves, but if they pull our full attention or if they order our loves in such a way where God is not first, they will become dangers to us. 00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:06.559 So we need guardrails in our lives to remind us what our true treasure is. 00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:12.640 So who or what are the guardrails in your life? 00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:21.119 For me, the guardrails are the people that I serve with, the staff at New City, the elders of our session, uh, my wife. 00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:24.000 They help me keep my focus, my attention on God. 00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:26.559 They help me to take care and be on guard. 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:29.839 They help me to move outward, not inward. 00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:40.559 And so I would invite you all you need guardrails, you need community around you to help you to take care and be on guard, to help you not fall over the cliff that's coming. 00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:48.240 And this leads me to my third and final point: the pleasure of the Father. 00:24:48.240 --> 00:24:50.640 Turn with me to verse 32. 00:24:50.640 --> 00:24:59.599 Fear not, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:03.119 This is one of the sweetest verses in this whole passage. 00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:15.839 Jesus has warned us about covenant, he has exposed our heart of anxiety, he has retrained our attention, and now he tells us why the anxious heart can rest. 00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:22.240 Verse 32, fear not, it is your father's good pleasure to give. 00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:29.119 It is his joy, he is joy-filled by giving. 00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:35.680 Jesus does not only tell us what God does, he gives, but he tells us who God is like in this verse. 00:25:35.680 --> 00:25:38.079 Why can the anxious heart rest? 00:25:38.079 --> 00:25:42.480 Because the father is not stingy, but he is joy-filled. 00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:46.640 Why can the covetous heart loosen its grip on his possessions and wealth? 00:25:46.640 --> 00:25:50.000 Because the father is not withholding life from us. 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:53.200 Why can the disciples seek the kingdom first? 00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:58.160 Because it is being given by a pleased father to the needy children. 00:25:58.160 --> 00:26:00.640 Jesus prepares us for this language. 00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:06.559 If you look at verse 24, of how much more value are you than the birds? 00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:12.480 And verse 28, of how much more will he clothe you than the lilies of the field? 00:26:12.480 --> 00:26:16.880 Beloved, the Father wants to give to you. 00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:20.640 And this is why verse 33 makes sense. 00:26:20.640 --> 00:26:26.880 If you look at verse 33, it says, Sell your possessions and give to the needy. 00:26:26.880 --> 00:26:28.079 Notice the order. 00:26:28.079 --> 00:26:39.279 Jesus says that the Father gives, verse 32, and then we respond with a richness toward God, verse 21, but by selling our possessions and giving to the needy, verse 33. 00:26:39.279 --> 00:26:47.759 Paul says something similar in 1 Timothy chapter 6, a little bit later than I read earlier, just 6 verses 17 through 19. 00:26:47.759 --> 00:26:51.759 That God richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 00:26:51.759 --> 00:27:08.240 Therefore, his people are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. 00:27:08.240 --> 00:27:14.000 Things and possessions are not made to hold our attention and affections. 00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:19.680 They are meant and made to be enjoyed and shared in good works. 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:26.720 As David Platt has said, when you get to heaven, Jesus will never ask you why you didn't collect more things here on earth. 00:27:26.720 --> 00:27:33.920 So because the Father gives, you don't have to treat money like your Savior anymore. 00:27:33.920 --> 00:27:41.759 Because the Father gives, you do not have to make possessions carry the weight of your identity anymore. 00:27:41.759 --> 00:27:50.400 Because the Father gives, you do not have to build bigger barns to secure a future that the Father has already secured in Jesus. 00:27:50.400 --> 00:27:57.759 A richness to God is a movement outward toward God in gratitude and toward our neighbor in love. 00:27:57.759 --> 00:28:01.279 This is storing up treasures in heaven. 00:28:01.279 --> 00:28:05.599 Well, I want to quick tell a story about C.T. 00:28:05.599 --> 00:28:06.240 Stud. 00:28:06.240 --> 00:28:13.839 And uh when I preached Romans a few years ago, I mentioned, I think I mentioned one of the Cambridge seven, and this is number two. 00:28:13.839 --> 00:28:21.920 I'm gonna make it through all seven, but these are these are men who were uh from elite backgrounds in England in the 19th century. 00:28:21.920 --> 00:28:25.519 They had all, they had all this wealth, they had all this status. 00:28:25.519 --> 00:28:26.079 And C. 00:28:26.079 --> 00:28:26.240 T. 00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:29.440 Studd actually, he was this phenomenal athlete. 00:28:29.440 --> 00:28:36.240 But they all the Cambridge Seven, they gave all those things up in order to go overseas and preach Christ. 00:28:36.240 --> 00:28:37.039 And and C. 00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:37.200 T. 00:28:37.200 --> 00:28:39.599 Studd in particular, he wrote this beautiful poem. 00:28:39.599 --> 00:28:44.480 I don't have time to read the whole poem, but this one line it speaks so loudly. 00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:48.720 He says, only one life twill soon be passed. 00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:52.240 Only what's done for Christ will last. 00:28:52.240 --> 00:28:53.759 What C.T. 00:28:53.759 --> 00:29:01.680 Studd, this wealthy man, knew, who had all the comforts in this world, he understood what his true treasure was. 00:29:01.680 --> 00:29:08.640 He gave up the comforts of this world and gave his attention and his affections toward God and his kingdom. 00:29:08.640 --> 00:29:13.279 Our passage ends with this searching diagnostic line in verse 34. 00:29:13.279 --> 00:29:14.240 Look with me. 00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:18.799 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 00:29:18.799 --> 00:29:23.519 The heart follows the treasure. 00:29:23.519 --> 00:29:27.039 Your attention directs your affections. 00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:29.759 And where did Jesus' heart lead him? 00:29:29.759 --> 00:29:32.480 Where did Jesus' attention lead him? 00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:38.799 Jesus didn't take on the role of the judge or arbitrator when he came, he took on the role of a servant. 00:29:38.799 --> 00:29:44.160 His attention, his affections were to do the will of the Father, to seek his kingdom. 00:29:44.160 --> 00:29:48.160 And the will of the Father was to give us a crucified Savior. 00:29:48.160 --> 00:29:51.599 He is the one who is freely given to us by faith by the Father. 00:29:51.599 --> 00:29:56.160 And Jesus himself freely gives himself to the needy. 00:29:56.160 --> 00:30:01.839 Jesus himself is the inheritance that is talked about in the beginning of our passage. 00:30:01.839 --> 00:30:03.279 And he claims us. 00:30:03.279 --> 00:30:05.680 He claims us as his. 00:30:05.680 --> 00:30:16.640 Abraham Kuiper says, There's not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry, mine. 00:30:16.640 --> 00:30:29.039 While it's improper of toddlers and even adults to claim everything is mine, mine, mine, this is a proper response for the king and the judge of this world, and he claims us as mine. 00:30:29.039 --> 00:30:34.720 Look to him, put your attention on him, the founder and the perfecter of your faith. 00:30:34.720 --> 00:30:36.319 Let us pray. 00:30:36.319 --> 00:30:50.319 Father, we are grateful for your love for us in this, that you have given your son the true inheritance to ransom a people to be your sheep by his blood. 00:30:50.319 --> 00:30:53.279 And you tell us, Father, to fear not. 00:30:53.279 --> 00:30:59.599 Jesus, you are the one who sought the kingdom to the point of death, and you have purchased us in your own blood. 00:30:59.599 --> 00:31:01.039 We are not our own. 00:31:01.039 --> 00:31:08.559 Spirit, fill us with peace and joy and move us towards storing up treasures in heaven. 00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:10.640 We give you the glory. 00:31:10.640 --> 00:31:11.599 Amen.