The Hazards of Riches

Scripture Lesson: --Matthew 19:23-26 NIV

I. Introduction:

A. Last week we dealt with the story of the Rich Young Ruler.

1. The last thing which is said about him is that "He went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions."

2. In our Scripture Lesson today, Jesus goes on to illustrate and point out the great danger of riches.

a. In verse 23 Jesus says: "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven."

3. And then to illustrate just how difficult it really is, he uses a very vivid word picture; in verse 24 he says: "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven."

B. In order to try and soften what Jesus said, there have been several different interpretations and explanations give to this illustration Jesus gives.

1. Some have tried to suggest that the "eye of the needle" referred to the small low and narrow gate which was next to the city's main gate.

a. The walled cities of that day often had two gates:

(i) There was a big main gate which was open during the day for all the trade and traffic.

(ii) There was often beside it a small low narrow gate which was just big enough for a person to stoop down and squeeze through into the city at night when the main gate was closed.

b. This gate would have been way too small and impossible for a camel to get through.

c. Since this gate was sometimes called the "eye of the needle", some have suggested this was the "eye of the needle" Jesus was referring to.

2. Another interpretation which is interesting is given because of the similarity between the Greek word for "camel" and the Greek word for "rope".

a. The words are spelled exactly alike except for one vowel.

b. So some have suggested that in coping the manuscripts the vowel might have been changed inadvertently by one of the scribes.

c. With this interpretation what Jesus would be saying is that it "would be easier for a rope (the big kind used to tie-up a ship) to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven."

d. It still makes for a vivid picture.

3. But the likelihood is that Jesus was speaking very literally;

a. With a hint of humor in his voice Jesus is saying: "It's just as likely for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven as it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle."

4. In OT times the Babylonian Talmud speaks twice of the impossibility of an elephant passing through the eye of a needle.

a. This figure of speech and hyperbole was no doubt well known to Jesus' day.

b. It would be similar to us saying: "Do pigs fly?" --"Do chicken have teeth?"

5. Whichever interpretation you wish to take of Jesus' illustration the point is still the same.

C. So the question comes: "Why is it so hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of heaven?"

1. This morning I want to look at five hazards to riches; --five hazards those who are rich face.

D. Before I do that, I want to raise one more question: "How rich is rich?"

1. Jesus doesn't define how rich, rich is.

2. As I said last week, most of us here this morning probably would not claim to be rich.

a. If there is someone here who claims to be rich this morning, I don't mean to offend you.

b. But compared to Bill Gates or Opra Winfree or Paton Manning, I doubt that any of us here would call ourselves rich.

3. Yet on the other hand, compared to the majority of other people in third world countries, like Haiti or India, we would have to be called rich.

4. So how rich is rich?

a. Being rich is a relative thing.

5. The point is: Jesus has something to say to all of us here this morning.

a. He's not just talking to the Bill Gates or the Michael Jordan's.

6. So what are the Hazards of riches we all need to look out for?

II. Hazards of Being Rich:

A. One of the first hazards of being rich is the fact that money-making and money management takes a lot of time.

1. Most of us here know that money doesn't grow on trees.

a. Our kids seem to think it does at times; but it doesn't.

2. To make money takes a lot of time and hard work.

a. It's even been said that "time is money".

b. (I've never quiet been able to believe that because we all have the same amount of time, but we don't all have the same amount of money. The point is: Time is more money for some people than for others.")

3. And because making money does take so much time, it is very easy to gradually find that you have less and less time for what you say your real priories are:

a. -priorities like spending time with your family.

b. -priorities like spending time for God and the things of the Kingdom of God.

4. And before long we find ourselves making excuses: "I just don't have the time."

5. And so the question comes: "Why don’t you have time?…. --Why don't you have the time for family? --Why don't you have the time to be a neighbor? --Why don't you have time for the Lord's work?

6. And the answer comes: "We don't have the time because, we're too busy making a living.., to busy making money to pay for all our toys.

a. And so not having time for family and the things of God and not having time to be a friend or neighbor, becomes a symptom of a very serious spiritual illness.

b. The illness, if not treated in time, always leads to spiritual death.

7. Because Jesus says: "it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven."

B. A second hazard of the rich is the fact that weak men and women are often corrupted by money and riches.

1. It's been said that "every one has his price."

2. If we care enough about money, we can be bought and made to do almost anything.

a. We can be made to compromise our honest business practices or professional ethics.

b. We can be made to use our friends and family.

c. We can be made to deny our faith.

d. We can be made to ignore our conscience.

e. We can even be made to kill, if we care enough about money and riches.

3. It always happens very gradually until you are so entangled you find it nearly impossible to escape when you do realize what has happened.

4. We're reminded again that Jesus said: "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

C. A third hazard of the rich is that riches often give a false sense of independence and security.

1. If a person is strong enough not to be corrupted by money and riches, then he/she often becomes hardened to the fact of his need for God or others.

2. No matter how rich we may be, our riches are never something we accomplish all by ourselves.

a. We are always reliant upon the ideas, inventions, and labors of others; --those present, those gone on before us, and even those who are yet to come; and most of all, upon the Creator who has given us everything.

3. The poet and song writer has said:

"No man is an island,

No man stands alone..."

4. We are all dependent on one another, yet riches often give us a false sense of independence and self sufficiency… with my money, I don’t need you anymore.

a. If we you have enough money and if you want something bad enough, you begin to think you can simply buy it.

b. Or, if we happen to get into a difficult situation, we begin to think we can buy our way out of it.

5. Illustration: That's what OJ Simpson and his “Dream Team” of lawyers did… --that’s what Michael Jackson is trying to do… --that’s what a lot of rich people have been able to do.

6. We get to the point we think we can buy our way into happiness and out of sorrow.

a. One man in the Bible wanted to buy eternal life… --another man tried to buy the Holy Spirit.

7. But it just doesn't work.

8. Jesus says: "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven."

D. A fourth hazard of the rich is that their riches often shackle them to this earth.

1. Jesus earlier said: (Matt. 6:21) Where your treasure is there will your heart be also."

2. If a person has a big stake in the things here on earth, he/she is very apt to forget that there is even a heaven or hell.

3. Illustration: After a tour of a very beautiful and luxurious castle and estate, a tourist was over heard to say: "Boy, these are the kinds of things that make it difficult to die."

a. William Barclay points out that: "If is perfectly possible for a man to be so interested in earthly things that he forget heavenly things, to be so involved in the things that are seen that he forgets the things that are unseen." (IDB, p. 241)

4. It's the things which are seen that are temporal, --which pass away with time; but it is the things which are unseen that are eternal.

5. Jesus said: "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of heaven."

E. A fifth hazard of the rich is that riches tend to make us selfish.

1. It's been said that "that enough is always a little more than what a person has."

a. We are never quiet satisfied with what we have.

b. Illustration: We live and work for the day when we can just have a tent trailer and be off the ground when it rains.

(i) And then after a few years it's a camper so we can have a bathroom and closet....

(ii) And then it's a new pickup to pull the camper....

(iii) Then it's a four wheeler and trailer to pull behind the pickup.....

(iv) And on and on it goes...., as human beings we're never quiet contented with what we have no matter how much we have.

2. The result of all this is that when a person does become wealthy, instead of having the desire to share it with others, we very often have the desire to hold on to it for ourselves for fear we will loose it all.

a. We forget that ultimately we will loose everything we try to keep; and we will only be able to keep that which we give away.

b. Jim Elliot was right when he said: "He is no fool who gives what he can not keep, to gain what he can not loose."

3. Jesus said: "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven."

III. The Impossible Made Possible:

A. It was at this point that Jesus' disciples said (vs. 25), "Then who can be saved?"

1. Jesus' answer was: "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (vs. 26)

2. Man cannot save himself no matter how rich or poor he may be.

B. It's always interesting to see what becomes most important to us when everything is take away.

1. Over and over again when everything, but life, has been taken away from us, there has always been three things that became ultimately important.

a. This was true of those who were in the Nazi death camps.

b. It was true of those who were prisoners of war in Viet Nam.

c. It is true of those who face their own terminal illness and death.

2. What is most important when everything else is gone but life itself? --What becomes most important?

C. First, God becomes most important.

1. In the Story of the Ten Boom family, both Corrie and her sister, Betsy, were Christians.

a. Yet when everything was gone: --when freedom was gone, --when all their possession were gone, --when security, and health, and almost life itself were gone, their faith in God, --prayer and reading their smuggled Bible, became the most important thing to them.

2. The prisoners of war in Viet Nam, even those who had no profession of faith before being captured, often reported that when they were captured and everything was gone, many of them soon came to seek strength and help from God.

3. When everything is gone, men and women begin to realize that "with men this is impossible”, and so only with God is there any hope..."

D. Second: When everything else is gone, others become very important to us.

1. In times of hardship and disaster, people often forget about themselves and their differences and they are willing to help each other more than at any other time.

2. When all else is gone but life itself, we are more willing to risk helping someone, even when that risk may mean our own life.

3. Story: This was illustrated at 911 by the firemen and police men of New York City, who rush into the world trade center, when everyone else was trying to get out… when their world was literally falling down around their ears, they risked and gave their lives for others..

E. Third, we think more of the next world, when everything else is gone.

1. When everything else is gone, we realize the importance of being ready for eternity.

a. We know there has to be more to life than just this.

b. When everything else is gone, it's easier to die.

2. During times of sever economic depression or sever persecution, men and women have always been more open to the Gospel and God's saving Word through Jesus Christ.

3. Jesus said: "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

IV. Conclusion:

A. Jesus does not say that it is absolutely impossible for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

1. Zacchaeus was a rich man, yet he unexpectedly found his way into the kingdom by Jesus' personal invitation.

2. It is not that those who are rich are automatically shut out of the kingdom; --or that riches are a sin.

3. But riches are a hazard…

a. And we must be very aware of these hazards.

4. Riches often keep us from seeking after that which is most important: --our relationship with God and others and setting eternal priorities.

5. Jesus said: "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

B. Question: Have you found that which is most important in life?.....

1. Is God the center of your life and controller of your possessions?

2. Have you found the blessing and the joy of sharing with others what God has given and blessed you with?

3. Which life are you living for?

a. --life just for today?....

b. --or life for eternity?....

4. Jesus said: "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."