Description
UNCERTAINTY
Certain 3’s
Ed Young
August 11, 2002
I was sitting in a quaint café reading a newspaper when suddenly a four-word headline jumped off the page and caught my eye. It read, “Uncertainty Plagues the Nation.” I decided right then and there over a bagel and a cup of coffee to begin a brand new series of talks on this subject matter. All you have to do is take a quick panoramic view of our culture and you see that uncertainty is everywhere.
We are uncertain over security, with daily doses of suicide bombers, child kidnappings and intelligence failures. It sends a lot of us over the edge. It leads a lot of us to great areas of panic and anxiety. So we have some serious uncertainty over security issues. We have uncertainty over morality issues. We also are uncertain about religious matters, about spirituality. Islam, Buddhism, Mormonism, Scientology, Christianity. Which one is right which one is wrong? Are they kind of the same sort of stuff leading to the same destination? I’m not sure; I’m uncertain.
Well, we have heard from the armchair experts for far too long. We’ve heard form the talking heads for far too long about uncertainty. Let’s see what God says about this topic. So over the next several weeks I’m going to examine different sectors of uncertainty and we’re going to look at the certainties of God. Well, today in this opening session we are going to talk about some uncertainties that all of us are familiar with. Specifically I want to talk about and address the issue of Economic Uncertainty.
If you haven’t noticed lately the Bear has mauled the Bull. If you haven’t noticed lately most of our retirement nest eggs have been scrambled, poached, cracked, but they are definitely not sunny side up. Our portfolios are puttering along. Layoffs are looming larger than life. And we’re looking at all the economic indicators and we feel large levels of uncertainty. Uncertainty.
Jesus addressed this issue a long time ago in the book of Luke, Chapter 12. Listen to his story: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones and there I will store all of my grain and my goods and I will say to myself: You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy. Eat, drink, and be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool, this very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself, but is not rich toward God.”
Now some of you while I read that are saying to yourself, “Ed, man, that does not relate to me. Ehhh, irrelevant. I guess I’ll turn you off, Ed, because I am not rich…” I hope you’re not saying that. Because I am going to blow your definition of wealth out of this world. Are you ready? The annual household incomes for other parts of the world (in U.S. dollars). Nigeria: $960, Cambodia: $700, that’s dollars, Ethiopia: $560, Sierra Leon: $530 dollars a year. Suddenly I think our definition of being wealthy and rich might be changing. Look at 2000 US Annual Income Poverty Levels:
Independent Single Adult: $8,416.40
Married Couple: $11, 339.80
Family of Three: $14, 263.20
Family of Four: $17,186.60
Family of Five: $20,110.00
We might have two or three who fall into these annual poverty levels but even if you do against the backdrop of a downtrodden and destitute world you are rich. We are all rich. If we have more than a couple of changes of clothes we are wealthy compared to the world. What does it mean to be wealthy? It means to have discretionary dollars, and last time I checked all of us have got discretionary dollars. So, I’m rich baby. I’m rich. So Luke 12 relates to me. I am rich; I am wealthy. I had better pay attention.
What was going on here in this situation? This farmer did the Barn House Bust. This farmer put his stock in stuff. This farmer bowed to the god of gain, a god that many of us are bowing down to right now. Because most of us are so worried and freaked out and so uncertain about the economic indicators, we are missing what life is all about.
THE UNCERTAIN 3’s
If we have the mentality of the farmer, and it’s very easy to have this mentality, we will sign up for something that I call the Uncertain 3’s. No, I didn’t misspeak. I said the Uncertain 3’s. I want you to notice three things that will occur in your life and in my life just like it occurred in the farmer’s life when we are too mesmerized by economic issues.
Self-Absorbed
Number one, the first of the Uncertain 3’s, we will become self-absorbed. SELF-ABSORBED. Most of us own sponges. A sponge is a pretty cool thing because when it is dry, it’s dry but when you put that sponge on some kind of liquid it sucks the liquid up. It absorbs it. And this rich farmer was absorbing all the stuff just for himself. He thought life was putting more zeros and more decimal points and more zeros and more decimal points and stacking up more and more junk in barns tearing those barns down and building bigger barns. He thought that was the sum total of his existence. But Jesus said no, no, no; it should not be. This guy was self-absorbed. Look at Verses 17 and 18. “‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones and there I will store all of my grain and my goods.’”
Some of you right now are saying to yourselves, “That is good business! That guy is a good businessman. He’s saving his money, he’s stacking it away. That’s a good thing.” Well, Jesus saw right through that bunk. He saw selfishness. He had a read on this man’s greed. The Bible talks about the importance of saving. The Bible talks about the importance of having good business practices. But the Bible says when we have ownership, the stuff should not own us. And in this case the stuff owned this guy. He was self-absorbed.
My mother told me a long time ago, “Ed, one of the first words you ever learned as a child was the word ‘MINE.’” Mine. And you know what? I’m 41 years of age and I’ve been struggling with that word my entire life. And if you’re honest with yourself so have you. One of the first words we learned as kids? Mine! And we’re still struggling with it. Oh that’s mine. I want to absorb everything into myself. The farmer did that and he was a part of the Uncertain 3’s.
Self-Centered
But look at the second of the Uncertain 3’s. Not only was he self-absorbed he was also SELF-CENTERED. He was self-centered. This farmer saw himself as a little demigod sovereignly ruling over his little universe. He was calling the shots. He was doing the deal. It was his portfolio. It was his stuff. It was his crops. It was his business. It was his creativity. HE was the man.
Our lives are made for Christ to sit on the throne. Our dating relationships, singles, are made for Christ to sit on the throne. Our families and our marriages are made for Christ to sit on the throne. Our businesses are made for Christ to sit on the throne. Our finances are made for Christ to sit on the throne. Well, this rich foolish farmer who had no wisdom messed up. He was self-centered. It was all about him. Let’s play a game right now. (Humming the Jeopardy! Tune.) It’s called find the personal pronouns. I’m going to read you a couple of verses of Scripture and the object of the game is to see how many personal pronouns you discover. One, two, three, go: (reading Luke 12:17-19):
“What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops. This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones and there I will store all of my grain and my goods and I’ll say to myself you have plenty of good things laid up for many years.”
There are some serious personal pronouns there. I think there are about 11. Don’t quote me on that. I didn’t do very well in English but I think about 11 personal pronouns. This guy sounds like a professional athlete being interviewed on Sports Center. I, I, I, me, me, me, my, my my, I, I, I, me, me, me, my, my, my. He sounds like an entertainer, a singer, an actor or actress being interviewed. My, my, my, me, me, me, I, I, I. This guy had Personal Pronounitis.
God is made for the throne of our lives. God should call the shots. God is made to be Lord. He is made to be ruler. That’s one of the reasons that your life is not clicking right now. That’s one of the reasons that you are not hitting on all cylinders, because you are self-centered.
I have always messed up in my life when I said, “Okay, Jesus, let me drive the car. Thank you very much. I know what Ed Young should do. You see, I have a lot of experience. You just sit there in the co-pilot seat. Let me be little demigod, sovereignly ruling over a universe called Ed.”
I’ve always messed up. For a while, it will work. But after a while, I fall into something that we will talk about in a couple of moments. So self-absorbed. That is the first of the uncertain 3’s.
Self-centered. That’s the second of the uncertain 3’s.
Self-Reliant
Now, the third of the uncertain 3’s, he was SELF-RELIANT. We run into problems when we are self-reliant. Check out what Jesus said. I hope you didn’t miss it. In Luke 12:16, Jesus said, “The ground of a certain rich man had produced a good crop.” He didn’t say the rich man produced it. What did Jesus say? The ground produced it.
I always laugh when I hear people say, “Yes, I’m a self-made man. I’m a self-made woman.” I think, “Really? That is hilarious. That is so funny. Who put you in your family? Who gave you that laugh? Who gave you the voice? Who gave you the ingenuity? Who gave you the discipline? Who put you with that group of people? Who made you that money? Who?” The ground; God. You didn’t do it. You are not that smart. You are not that sharp. God did it and he did it for a reason because he loves you and because he blesses you. But we will never understand God’s blessings, never appropriate God’s blessings until we put him at the center of our lives, until we make him Lord, until we rely on him, until we allow him to absorb everything that we are about, everything.
Jesus said to this rich guy in this story, he said this rich guy was worried about his barns but God was talking about a burial. This rich guy was worrying about stock and accounting principles yet God was talking about giving an account of your life before me. This guy was talking about the here and now, and God was talking about the forever. A lot of us have our stuff stacked up and we’re tearing down barns, and building bigger barns and we score an A+, 100 on investment and portfolios. We look at the economic indicators but we are missing the most important stuff. We are missing the spiritual indicators and we are not ready for life because we are not ready for death.
You could say, “Well, man, must be nice. This guy had more stuff than he knew what to do with. Must be nice.”
Well, we all have more stuff than we know what to do with. Must be nice. If you are saying, must be nice, or man, I sure wish I had that problem, you probably struggle with greed and materialism. Is God right now getting a read on your greed? Is God right now saying to you, “You know, the economy means too much to you. There is more to life than stacking up stuff.”
Let’s say you stack up a bunch of stuff. Let’s say you tear down barns and build bigger barns. If you make a lot of money and you have a lot of stuff, you only have about thirty years to spend it and do stuff with it. Most of us will get sick and only have about twenty years to do it anyway. This mentality will mess you up.
Here is what Jesus said in Luke 12:21, “This is how it will be for anyone that stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”
Are you bowing to the god of gain? Are you into the economy? Are you putting your stock in stock instead of your stock in the Savior? If we put our stock in stock, here is what happens. Here is what we sign up for if we are a part of the uncertain 3’s, if we are self-absorbed, self-centered, and self-reliant. We sign up for worry. We take a downward spiral into the pit of worry.
Worry is Destructive
Do you know what the word “worry” means? It comes from an Anglo Saxon word which means to strangle. Whenever I put my emphasis, my spotlight, my mission on stuff and on things, it is just a matter of seconds before I end up worrying. Because worrying is what? It’s destructive. A lot of us are worrying right now. “The bear mauled the bull. The .com crashed. Alan Greenspan. The sky is falling. My retirement nest egg.” Worrying is destructive. That’s what Jesus said.
Look at Verse 25, of Luke 12. Isn’t it ironic that he is talking about the barnyard and barn house bust of this rich foolish farmer then, bam, he is talking about worry. “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” In the literal language it means, who of you by worrying can add a single inch to your height?
“Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”
Worry is destructive. What happens when we worry? It leads to panic attacks. It leads to missed opportunities. It can lead to the hospital and, ultimately, the grave. It’s destructive.
Worry is a Distraction
Worry is also a distraction. Luke 12:24, Jesus said, “Consider the ravens.” Then later on he talks about the lilies. Christ is arguing here from the lesser to the greater. He is saying to think about the ravens. Think about the lilies. Because they are ravens, “they do not sow or reap.” In other words, they don’t go to the office. “They have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!” The lesser to the greater.
God is going to take care of his creatures and he is going to take care of you and me. The only thing that will free us from anxiety and worry is pure faith. That’s the only thing. Faith in the right place. Not faith in things. Not faith in the economy. Faith in God. Isn’t it funny that we put our faith in something we think is so certain, but in reality is so uncertain? I think that is really interesting about human beings.
Worry is a Distortion
So, worry is destructive. It’s a distraction. It’s also a distortion. Jesus said, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
The evil one loves to distort the truth. He’s the master counterfeiter, the father of lies. He loves to tell big ones to you and to me. He loves to distort the truth. Sometimes, we can get to the point where we think that worry is a beautiful thing. I’ve been there before.
I think, “Well, I better start worrying about that because it’s beneficial. It’s good.”
So I just worry and worry. That’s crazy. In essence, worry is a sin before God. It’s a sin. It’s spending an inordinate amount of time, energy and effort on something that may or may not happen and most of the time, it doesn’t happen. Yet, we worry. Why? Because we are self-absorbed and we are self-centered and we are self-reliant. That’s the uncertain 3’s. It will lead to worry.
THE CERTAIN 3’s
But, let’s talk about the certain 3’s. I love this and you are going to love it too. If we come to the point in our lives where we say, “You know what? I’m tired of worrying. I’m tired of the uncertain 3’s. I want the certain 3’s.” Here is what we have to do. We have to ask God, “God, I want you to envelop me with your grace to wash me clean. I want to take self out and put Christ in. I don’t want to be self-absorbed. I want to be Christ-absorbed.”
Christ-Absorbed
That’s the first of the certain 3’s, becoming Christ-absorbed. Two weeks ago, I was in a third world country. I met several sponge divers. These guys spend most of their lives with little masks and snorkels diving in 18-22 feet of water collecting sponges. One of them told me he can hold his breath for like five minutes under water. Is that unbelievable? Wow. Anyway, they were telling me about the process of collecting sponges and drying sponges out and they said, “Come here. I’ll show you some sponges that are drying out.”
I walked over toward the sponges. As you know, my family and I have four dogs. The kind of funny thing about dogs is dogs warn you before they get sick. Dogs kind of go, (makes gutteral sound) and they give you that warning and you better pick them up and get them out. In my case, I have to drag them. I can’t pick them up. When I smelled those sponges drying, it was the worst odor. I am talking about an odor that will knock you flat and make you sick like a dog. It was unbelievable. Horrible. Those sponges were drying out.
When we come to the point in our lives where we say, “Jesus, dry me out. I’m tired of being self-absorbed. I want to take self out by your power and put you in.” During that process, Satan will make sure that we stink up the place. Because my self, Ed Young, my ego, my deal, stinks in the eyes of God. At the end of my best day, I am a miserable sinner and so are you. Go through the wave of odor. Don’t say, “Well, it smells. It’s going to be tough. I don’t know, God, if you have the power to take self out and put you in. I better not because it stinks too much.”
No, it doesn’t. He specializes in taking sin-stained people like you and me, self-absorbed people like you and me, and putting himself there. Once we allow Jesus Christ to come into our lives, once we soak up the water of life, we can be that sponge. We shouldn’t get water logged and heavy. We can be that sponge because we can give the water of life to every person, every interchange, every business deal, every conversation, every interchange at school, at the office, in our marriage or whatever. We can do that, giving out the water of life. We need to become Christ-absorbed.
1 Timothy 6:17, tells us this, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope (that’s being Christ-absorbed) in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” Don’t feel guilty when you are blessed. God has blessed you. Enjoy it. It puts a smile on God’s face when we enjoy what he has given us. But we have got to realize God has given us what we have and we are to leverage it for others and for God. When we do that, we can bring up channels of God’s grace as stuff flows from God to us, through us, and to others.
Christ-Centered
We need to also become Christ-centered. Take self off the throne and become Christ-centered. I talked about it a second ago. Look at 1 Timothy 6:18, “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds.” Once we allow Jesus Christ to take residence in our life, once we give him everything we are, then we become Christ-centered. We live a Christo-centric life.
Jesus says, go here, go there, live by my word, act like this, speak like this, talk like this, walk like this. Then suddenly, we take the spotlight off of ourselves and put it on God. When we put it on God, we get outside of ourselves and we don’t worry about poor pitiful me. I had a tough background. My diapers were put on too tight. My parents were too mean to me. This situation is the way I am. No, we have taken it off ourselves and put it on God. We have gone through that healing. We have been saved and sanctified and, now, we get outside of ourselves and we serve one another, we encourage one another, we pray for one another and we see the true indicators are not economic. They are spiritual.
Christ-Reliant
So, we become Christ-absorbed, Christ-centered. He runs the show. And also, Christ-reliant. Not self-reliant. Christ-reliant. We realize Christ gave it to us.
Look at 1 Timothy 6:18-19, it says “To be generous and to be willing to share.” I like that, to be generous. The essence of the Christian life is generosity. I like this too, willing to share. It doesn’t say share; willing to share. If I am Christ-reliant and Christ-centered, all I have got to do is be willing to share. God is not concerned about my ability. He wants my availability. If I say, “God, I’m willing to share,” he’s going to give me things and show me how to leverage my stuff. It will work from God to me, through me, to others.
When my kids were really small, they had a hard time sharing. I wrote a song about sharing that I have shared one time but I will share it again because it is an incredible song. The lyrics are very deep so be ready. If my children had something that they were being selfish with, let’s say Laurie had it. I would say, “Laurie, sing this song with me. ‘Share, share, share. Laurie likes to share.’ Then I would ask Laurie to hand the object to her sister. ‘Share, share, share. Shaaaarrrre!’” Let’s sing it together. No, I’m just kidding.
That’s what Jesus says to us, share, share, share. If you are a believer, everyone likes to share. That’s what God did. If God didn’t share, we would be in a heap of eternal trouble. We are to share, be willing to share.
Check out Verse 19, “In this way, they will lay up treasure for themselves.” I can lay up treasure for myself in heaven. How do I do it? I invest my time, talent and resources into people who are going there “as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” I want some of that, the life that is truly life.
Uncertainty. Uncertainty over the economy, over stuff. Maybe you can connect with the farmer. Maybe you are saying, “Ed, I have this gnawing low-grade sensation of being uncertain right now. I am uncertain, like that rich farmer, about my eternity. I’m uncertain about where I stand before God.” If you are, think about what I have talked about. Think about those Certain 3’s. Think about being Christ-absorbed. Jesus absorbed the penalty and the pain and the torment and the punishment for your sins on the cross. We deserved it. But right when we were going to get it, what did Jesus do? He stepped in front of us and said, “I’ll take the licks for him. I’ll take the licks for her.” That’s called grace. We don’t merit it. We can’t work for it. He just did it because of his awesome love. He absorbed our sin so we could know God personally, so we could know him.
How about Christ-centered? Are you trying to be a little demigod, sovereignly ruling over your universe? Are you saying you know the best thing to do, you know what you should do for a living, you know where you should take this relationship, you know, and you know. You are going to do what makes you look good, what gives you that buzz, that pleasure? You might do a pretty good job of it for about 2, 3, 4, or even sometimes 20 years, but you are going to live in the pit of worry. One day, you will end up like the foolish farmer because your soul will be required, because you are just one germ away from the afterlife. And God will say, “You messed up. You got so involved in this and that, that you missed the most important thing.”
So, why don’t you just take yourself off the throne and allow Jesus to rule and to be Lord of your life, become Christ-centered. Once we become Christ-centered, once we are absorbed by him, what happens? We can become Christ-reliant because the Holy Spirit inside of our lives will show us how to live as we defer to him. As we open ourselves up to him, he will give us leadings through his word, through Christian friends, through teaching, through song, through drama, through whatever, to show us the life that is truly life.
How about it? You are just one prayer away from changing uncertainty to certainty. Won’t you take care of that business right now? Won’t you prayer the prayer right now? What’s holding you back? Don’t let anything. Go for it.