Our Texas morning comes from the gospel of Matthew and also the gospel of Luke. Matthew 13 beginning in verse 22. Ask for what was sown among thorns. This is the one who hears the word but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word. And it proves unfruitful. Ask for what was sown on good soil. This is the one who hears the word and understand it. He indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold in another sixty in another thirty from the gospel of Luke. And a ruler asked him, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him, why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother. And he said, all these I have kept from my youth. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, one thing you still lack, sell all that you have and distribute to the poor. And you will have treasure in heaven and come following. But when he heard these things, he became very sad for he was extremely rich. Jesus saying that he had become sad, said, how difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. Those who heard it said, then who can be saved? But he said, what is impossible with men is possible with God. And Peter said, see, we have left our homes and followed you. And he said to them, truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who will not receive many times more in this time and in the age to come eternal life. He entered Jericho and was passing through and there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd, he could not because he was a small stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down for I must stay at your house today. So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled. He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, be whole Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it for fold. And Jesus said to him, today salvation has come to this house since he also is a son of Abraham. For the son of man came to seek and to save the lost. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Good morning. Before I open this text up and preach, I wanted to make sure you are all aware of our pastor, Julian Russell, who was involved in a bicycle accident last Sunday afternoon. He fell off of his bike and broke his leg in four places and will be going through surgery once the swelling goes down most likely in the middle of this week. I also want to, obviously, pray for healing there, but also just for the time he's going to spend recovering. It's going to be a lengthy process. And I know he's discouraged because of all the momentum that's been building towards our ministry, urban ministry. So I just want to take a moment before we go into the Word to pray for him. Ask God's blessing on his life. Please join me in prayer. Father, it's an incredible thing to see how frail our bodies can be. We thank you, Lord, that this injury wasn't more serious to his head or back. He's had serious back issues before. We thank you, Lord, that that has not been a recurring thing here. But we do pray for his leg, Lord, and ask that it would be healed completely. That you would give the surgeons wisdom to use the skill that you've given them. That he might heal very quickly with minimal pain. Or Jesus in the time of recovery that you would draw near to him in such a way that he is deeply encouraged by your presence. Father, we pray that you would help him to see things he's never seen before in the gospel because of simply being forced to be quiet and still. We pray, Lord, too, that you would continue to bless the ministry that he leads into the urban areas of our city. That the folds of people who've gotten involved will continue to serve with generous hearts and zealous attitude, Lord. We ask that you would be blessed by all that we do for your glory's sake in transforming the world. Now, Father, if you open your word, we pray that you would change us. Holy Spirit that we really would be made different even because of what you're speaking to us today. God, this is a difficult subject because we are rich. We pray that you would remove all things that would distract us, our own presuppositions, our own financial needs, our own anxieties over our wealth. God, we pray that your spirit would do such a work that we would walk away with a peace knowing that you long to do that in us which is ultimately for our own good. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Thus, thank you for that. I would be a little concerned if she said the benediction. A few years ago, on our third trip to New York, our high school students were there serving. When you're on a mission trip, you have to be very flexible, particularly as it relates to food, often in what you are eating, but also when you are eating. And you can often become very hungry because you're just simply not able to eat when you normally eat. And this was the case. I was recognizing that the church in which we were serving was unable to feed us. I took one of our more hungry students, a boy named Drew, who probably is 6'4", and about 260 with me, to find food. I knew he would be eager for the task, and he was. We were turned about an hour later with several subway sandwiches for all of the group. Not long after we got there, I saw Drew sitting at a table. As he was sitting at this table, two of our boys, one summer intern and the other, was a high school student, were rubbing his back. It was an odd picture, so I walked a little closer, and when I walked closer, I realized that Drew was holding his throat, and that his color was not very good. Knowing how to do first aid because of a class I took in college, I walked over to Drew and asked the important question, can you breathe? If he was able to say anything like, no, then air was getting through. But indeed, if no noise came out, he was choking and choking the death. So I looked at Drew and said, Drew, can you breathe? And he looked at me and he said, there was no air getting in. And so I grabbed him and lifted him up, and I did what I had been trained to do, though I had never done. I put my arms around his rather large body and pulled, and out of his mouth came what looked like a half sub flying across the room. Drew soon had a new nickname from Drew to Choo. What was amazing about the story was that the Heimlich maneuver works. I saved someone's life. But what was most amazing was that two individuals sat there rubbing his back, telling him it was going to be okay, because they didn't know what to do, as he was choking the death. This morning, I believe in our church, I believe in this community, I believe in American general and churches throughout this country. There are those who profess to be Christians who are choking the death. And as they choked the death, there are spouses that are rubbing their backs, small groups that they've been a part of for years rubbing their backs. Family members, simply saying it's okay, when riches and the deception of riches is choking out in them the fruit that only God can produce. Can you breathe? Can you breathe? It's a difficult thing to talk about money anytime in a church, because people have strong opinions and they get upset. Perhaps that's why Jesus spoke about it so often. But I'm not talking about money this morning because we're one month away from the fiscal year and our budget is significantly behind. I'm talking about money because in the parable of the so-or in the third soil, this is the primary thing Jesus was teaching. The cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke out the vine. So this morning what I want to do is I want to identify four deceptions, four things that deceive us in regards to riches and then to look at two very specific ways we can avoid being deceived. I know that some of you are going to be upset with what I say. Some of you are going to be convicted and are going to rejoice in repentance. Others are going to come up and simply say, I've got to think about things. That's good. It's really good. I hope this morning that you will leave, if you're married, setting a time and date to talk with your wife. If you're single to talk with friends, to examine your own soul in terms of the way in which you honor the Lord or dishonor the Lord with your wealth. It's a very important discussion. I frame it though in the context of choking because if you witness someone choking the death, you would move quickly to their aid, wouldn't you? Or would you simply cuddle them and rub their back and say it's going to be okay. Too many and too many churches are doing that very thing. No more. Let's be honest with who we are and who God has called us to be. The four deception of riches or four ways in which riches deceive us are this. Number one, risk and vulnerability. Number two, ownership, three identity and four happiness. I'm going to take them one at a time. When it comes to being deceived, the first thing that we must be aware of is our risk and our vulnerability. One of the greatest deceptions of riches is that we think we are beyond being deceived. We're deceived and thinking we can't be deceived. What I mean is this. Some of you, because you have great wealth or because you are of a certain age where you've already dealt with how you need to deal with wealth, believe that you are beyond, you are immune to being deceived regarding wealth. It's not true. We are all always tempted to be deceived by riches. It's powerful. Money is seductive. It's not that money in itself is evil. It's the love of money that's evil. Many people get to a point though where they think they're beyond that deception. It's not true. Regardless of your age and stage of life, we are all capable of being deceived. Also, regardless of your theological understanding, some of you have a strong idea of what you should tie, what's demanded, what's not. You too can be deceived by riches. This morning I'm not going to talk about a percentage. I'm going to talk about a heart, a heart that is in good soil. Those who are at great risk for being deceived, that they cannot be deceived, are those actually who are faithful givers, those who are very generous, those who theologically got it down. Anyone who thinks that this sermon this morning is for those other people, are in danger of being deceived that they can't be deceived. That's the first thing. You must understand, or what I say next, you won't even listen to. We are all capable of this great deception. The second deception is ownership. Now I am the proud parent of four children. The first three said mommy first. This last special child, Esther Kate, said daddy first and often. And therefore she's my favorite. Just kidding my other three aren't in here right now. She's beginning to say other words. And I know in her top 10 soon will be the word mine. I'm not going to teach it to her. My wife's not going to teach it to her. It's just inner. It was in all of us. Mine. The linards been an Emily Leonard, our middle school directors have a little boy a few months younger than my daughter. Soon, not so long ago they began to play together. It's Hudson was playing with a toy in a play pin full of toys. He picked up one of her favorite things. She crawled over to it, grabbed it from them and hit him in the head. Mine is what she was thinking. But why has she ever seen me do that to her mother? Have I ever picked up the remote and hit her in the head and said mine, we are watching the NBA game tonight. She probably will as she gets older, but she has never seen that. So inherent in her is the symbol desire to say mine. Well, that really doesn't ever leave us. Even though we know the truth that God owns all things, even as we spoke in this morning of his right and powerful arm, all things belong to God. He governs and controls all of his creatures and all their activities. We say mine. It's mine. God indeed gives us riches and every person here this morning is rich because of where we live in this country just as Americans compared to the rest of the world. But none of it is ours. Ultimately, it's all gods. And yet you and I are deceived into thinking that no, this is my. This is my business. This is my business plan. This is my financial estate. This is my retirement, my social security, mine, mine, mine. But reality is it's not. It's all gods. You are called to be a good steward. This was the rich young ruler's challenge. He had gone to God, a rich man, a good man so to speak, he says in his own self testimony, but a man who walked away sad because God demanded it all. Perhaps the main reason is the third deception, which is the deception of a false identity, money more than anything incorrectly shapes our identity. It does it in a number of ways. I'm going to mention three very briefly. First, it inflates your view of self. I did not grow up with tremendous riches, but I was still rich. But I found that when I would be associated with those who are rich, I would begin to see myself differently. If I went to a restaurant with a certain person or was seen walking around at a sports event with a certain person, there was something that impacted my identity. I suddenly began to have an inflated view of myself. That didn't only happen in social settings, it can also happen spiritually. The rich young ruler comes to Jesus and he calls him good teacher. Jesus says, why do you call me good? There's no one good except God alone. But the rich young ruler was saying he's good. All these commands I have kept. You see, he had an inflated view of who he was. That's what the riches do. But the riches also do something else that's very, very dangerous, very, very deceptive. Riches can mask our poverty. Regardless of how wealthy you are, regardless of how much you own your poor, we are. Every one of us are the same. There's nothing in us that we bring to the table that causes God to say, I am so glad that you're mine. Except the riches that we have in Jesus Christ. And you see, when we have an inflated sense of self, because of our riches, we fail to see our own poverty. When we see our poverty and understand what Christ has done, then we have an accurate view of ourselves. And it's far greater and grander and richer than anything you have as a wealthy person. Christ is the Christian's identity. His inheritance is beyond anything you could amass in terms of wealth. Whatever power you think you have or could get, pales in comparison, like a small grain of sand to what God gives you as his own. And so great is that inheritance that he says the Holy Spirit keeps it for us, guaranteeing it for us, his children. That is incredible. The third issue of identity, however, is one of judgment or judgmentalness. Many people who are not in that real high area of wealth. Many people who maybe even struggle. Their identity can be layered and their desire to judge others who are that way. You can't do that. You don't know the hearts of other people. You make too many assumptions. Your identity is as a follower of Jesus Christ, period, regardless of how He has blessed you with wealth. The fourth one has to do with happiness. One of the great deceptions of wealth is that it will make you happy. If you want to have a fun search, google those who have won the lottery and now have a miserable life. Almost all who have won huge lotteries will testify that the lottery ruined their life. Now the great deception is this that you believe it wouldn't ruin yours if you won the lottery. I said that. Give me a chance. Let me have that 32 million. All spend it wisely. I have too many pages of testimony, literally testimonies of people who have said it ruined my life. But a movie called a simple plan that came out in the late 90s, I believe 1999, starring Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton in Bridget Fonda, I think paints an incredible picture of the deception of riches. The story is about three men who stumble upon four million, four hundred thousand dollars in a small farming community of Minnesota. The movie opened seeing his scene with Bill Paxton as he's working in this mill in a very normal, ordinary job. The very first word spoken in the film are his words and there is follows. When I was still just a kid I remember my father telling me what he thought it took for a man to be happy. Simple things really, a wife he loved, a decent job, neighbors and friends who liked and respected him. For a while there, without hardly even realizing it, I had all that. I was a happy man. As the story unfolds, Bill Paxton and his brother played by Billy Bob Thornton and another friend find an airplane that has crashed in that plane is 4.4 million dollars and the deception sets in. When Bill Paxton's character says we must get the police involved, this would be stealing. The friend says not so fast, let's think this through. And in that question deception gave birth that ultimately resulted in five murders including two of the three who found the money. The one who seemingly changes the most in the movie, however, is the wife played by Bridget Vonda. When Bill Paxton returns home with the money, she doesn't see it. He enters into the kitchen where his pregnant wife soon to deliver is cooking. And he says let me ask you a question. If you were to come up on let's say 4,400,000 dollars, what would you do with that? She says it's just me. I wouldn't take it. He said but if we took it, we will never have to worry about money again. And she says we don't have to worry about money now. But then he brings it in and he takes the bag and he unzips it and he dumps it on the table in there, 4,400,000 dollars fall out and she changes. The deception has set in. A few days later the first murder takes place. He comes home and he confesses to her what has happened and she says I know you did it because you felt trapped. You couldn't find another way. Choke. She then says that's what we have to be from now on. We have to be careful. We have to be thinking ahead all the time. Choke. At the end of the movie he throws the money in the fireplace. That what she wished he had done from the very beginning because it had destroyed his life. It didn't make him happy. The great lie and happiness is that money truly can save us and we would be deceived if we didn't think it had that power. The rich young ruler walked away sad. How many of us two would walk away sad if Jesus truly did demand everything. Specifically everything. How do we avoid that deception? I want you to listen to two things very carefully that might surprise you. I'm not going to tell you how to create your bank statement. I'm not going to speak about 10% or some other percentage. I'm going to speak about two gospel centered things that I think can transform your life, my life and his church. The first one is this. How do we avoid being deceived? Number one, by seeking to see who Jesus is. Look with me again at the story of Zacchaeus. It's Luke 19. It's there in your bulletin or you can open your Bible and follow along. In verse three it says this. Zacchaeus was seeking to see who Jesus was but on account of the crowd he could not because he was a small stature. Zacchaeus had heard about Christ. Certainly he knew something of Christ but as the crowds gathered as Jesus was moving through the town he wanted to see who he was. He was short as the scripture say and as the song teaches our kids. So he climbed into a tree he moved up in such a way so that he could see above the crowds who it is that Jesus was. He was seeking to see Jesus. But as he sought to see Jesus what did he discover? What he discovered was that Jesus was seeking him. Jesus walks down the path. And as he comes down the path he looks up into the tree he sees Zacchaeus calls him by name and says you must come down for I must stay in your house today. Zacchaeus climbed up into the tree to get above the crowd to see Jesus. What does he see that Jesus is seeking him. I want you this week to climb above the crowd. To climb above those who might be rubbing your back saying it's okay that you're choking on these riches and see who Jesus is. Because whatever the key is saw it moved him so much that he gave away half of what he had and he said he would pay back four times anyone he cheated. You want to talk about percentages? That's what seeing Jesus does. So the first step for us isn't simply to become these beautiful budget people it's to become someone so captivated with who the true Jesus is that that then moves us as generous people. If you look with me down at verse 8 you'll see my second point and Zacchaeus stood and he said to the Lord be whole Lord the half of my goods I give to the poor and if I have to fraud at anyone of anything I restore it for fold. So my second point is this how we avoid being deceived is to behold Christ and as we behold him having sought him having sought to see him we behold him and then beholding him we honor him then with our wealth as Proverbs teaches us with the first fruits of all that he has given us. But you do it out of heart that understands as you seek him you realize he's seeking you that's the gospel. Now I do want to talk about one percentage and this is where I know I'm going to offend and upset some. The percentage I want to talk about isn't whether you should tie 10% or not or 10% of the church or 10% somewhere else we will have that discussion someday. But I want to talk about another percentage because this is the percentage that I think is choking so many of us in this church at least for the last six and a half years that I've been here. I have heard every year is the financial committee reports to the deacons and the deacons report to the session that less than 40% of our members not those who come and visit and if you're visiting today I don't talk about money every week. Less than 40% of our members tithe anything to this church a year you're choking as a church we're choking if that's true less than 40% and yet members every one of you if not here in the early days of the church in the gym you stand here and you say I will support this church and the work of this church to the best of my ability if the best of your ability is to give nothing to this church in a year then you're far well too dressed. You have too many things you're not seeing correctly now you might say but Mark we give generously to other organizations like young life and campus crusade and Wycliffe I'm glad and I want you to do that but as a member of this church remember that our new identity statement in the fifth one says we seek to change the world. And the only thing that changes the world ultimately is the good news of Jesus Christ it's the most urgent task in the world to make that message known Jesus at the end of the story of Zacchaeus says for the son of man came to seek and to save the lost that is what this church is about and if you're a member and don't think it's important to give something to this church you need to explain to me why I want to know I want to see. Now you might say well I'm not sure I trust the way this church spends money I understand that I want to be very honest for a moment I've been in vocational ministry for 22 years and I was in vocational ministry for a long time before I ever tie to the church why a lot of reasons. Laziness in terms of putting together a good budget bad theology just not being willing to really understand what God's words said but mostly selfishness and control. I wouldn't sure how my small tithe was going to make a difference but if I was the one writing the check to the people I wouldn't support and knowing how they're going to use it I felt better about that. There was selfishness in that there was control in that and finally an elder in my church in St. Louis and looking at my budget in general when I felt compelled to have somebody else help me so I wouldn't be deceived by riches he said you don't give to the church. I don't and he challenged my thinking and I want to challenge your thinking today I want 100% every member to give something to this church because this church is serious about the mission of the gospel if you can't see that leave goes somewhere else worship somewhere else where you're confident in the way they're spending money because we're going to be serious about that. Are we going to do it perfectly no and if you have a critical spirit right now about the past I understand but we're going to seek God's face and seek to do it as it would desire him. One example we're moving from the Hampton court offices over here saving nearly 500,000 dollars a year so that we would be good stewards of the resources that God's given us. My new office is already in place it's just behind here near the end of this hallway so many of our other pastors if not there'll be across the street over there it's beautiful it's wonderful what can we do with that money now to impact the kingdom as your senior pastor I pledge to you that we will be aggressive at looking at how we spend the money will you be aggressive at looking at your own heart saying this is where I might be being choked. I want you to do something this week I want you to have a conversation with your wife your husband maybe your grown children your small group if you're single perhaps you don't want to talk to you know someone else and let them hear your heart in regards to God's gospel call to give why because in doing so I promise you you're going to do it. You're going to breathe you're going to breathe in gospel air like you've never breathed in before some of you might be saying I just lost my job an individual after last hour service came up and said I lost my job three months before last my job I stopped tithing the Lord convicted me earlier this week not knowing what you're going to preach on to start giving again even though I don't have a job that's trust that's beautiful that's fruit in his life. I know some of you have lost work some of you have had to let people go some of you know that more of that's coming I just urge you to open up the conversation with those closest to you so that you might not choke to death. Last thing, Zacchaeus when he climbed in the tree seeking to see who Jesus was he realized Jesus was seeking him but now watch what happens at the end of the story. Zacchaeus soon discovers that Jesus is going up on his own tree because that's the cost of seeking his own. That doesn't motivate you to give what will he has done everything paid everything in full that you and I might live have that conversation this week with him and with those who are close to you and breathe this gospel air. Father in heaven I have no history that deserves my being here talking about money for I have sinned against you in that way for so many years but I do witness your hand of grace and mercy and forgiveness and conviction. What I pray that that happens again in my life that I would not see that I am beyond being deceived and I pray that that happens throughout our congregation that we would see the joy of what you've done on the cross and it might swell in us this generosity that we might see truly that you are all and all that you are our identity that you're everything we need and that we will let go and surrender. And enjoy our relationship with you and not walk away like the rich young ruler sad God do something that only you could do in the hearts of every member of this body and all those who are visiting with us today that for the sake of your kingdom and your call we might bring you glory in the way we give in Jesus name we pray. Amen.