September 30, 2018 How Much Is Your Life Worth?
How Much Is My Life Worth?
As I prepare for this Sunday’s sermon, I am reminded of how easy it is to wander away from life’s fundamental truths as taught by Jesus. Take the teachings of Jesus concerning the worship of stuff. You know… stuff. The things that seem so important when we first purchase them but now lie buried in the basement with little hope of resurrection. The job that was a dream until it turned into a nightmare. The money we set aside for those rainy days that never came. The investments and savings that are created more out of our fears and insecurities than reality.
Stuff. We convince ourselves that the more we have, the happier we’ll be. We convince ourselves that with the black magic of plastic cards we can afford every impulse of our hearts. We travel to places that will fill the emptiness of our lives. We escape from the boredom of reality in the dim light of a movie theater. We buy boats and cars and houses seeking that fleeting sense of satisfaction that we’re just a little bit more successful than our neighbors.
Even entire churches can get caught up in obsessing over buildings and financial security and “one-upping” the churches around them!
Jesus had a lot to say about stuff and the ways in which we trade the gift of life for meaningless pursuits. He asked “What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world but lose his own soul (Mark 8:36)?” Every second of labor, every moment of leisure, every day spent in pointless endeavors – Jesus sees as a deadly danger to our souls.
How much is your life worth? Is your soul worth the price of the pursuits you’ve chosen? We’ll dive into these questions this Sunday morning.
Grace and peace, Pastor Bob
Matthew 19:16-30