I. Introduction: The American Dream [hold up a whole apple]
- Early settlers – 1600’s brought what they needed – food, clothing, tools, seeds
- Seeds of hope – away from oppressive rule of the English Crown
- Hope that ANYONE could come and find success and happiness
- Came to be known as the American Dream
- Did you know that apples are immigrants too?
- All kinds – Fuji, Macintosh, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Gala
- But what I learned is that the type of apple doesn't depend on the tree – it depends upon the cross pollination process...it is the outside influence of pollen that determines the type of apple the tree will produce.
- First settlers brought seeds of hope, religious freedom, nurture them
- Then cross pollination – with other twisted ideals
- Land of Freedom – Land of Opportunity – Land of Self-Obsession, Land of Greed
II. Earthly Investment Strategies
- James is believed to have been written in a time of great social tension
- The Roman government had control of Israel – the Jewish territories had been greatly reduced and people had lost their lands. Herod had implemented such high taxes that many had lost their farms and their homes...they were left to labor in fields as tenant farmers – giving most of their profit to already wealthy landowners while they remained poor. Any of that feel familiar yet? James saw that many were buying into the idea that to be wealthy and oppressive meant you were successful – but he knew that being a follower of Christ taught us something very different.
Hear what James has to say about wealth and riches...
James 5:1-6
1 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. 2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. 4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.
Wow, there is nothing gentle about that, is there?
James said to the wealthy that their ruined riches testified against them. In other words, their core, their true character, their selfish greed, could now be seen by everyone.
B. Every day, we turn on the news and we can see just what James was talking about – the true character of CEOs, Executives, Politicians, people in authority can be seen by all – their wealth has rotted. In their greed to have it all and keep it all – they have brought down innocent and hard-working people. They have taken the seeds of the American Dream, and cross-pollinated it with greed and selfish pride. Now we bear the rotten fruit of injustice and oppression.
C. Now it's very easy for us to sit here in the midst of our meager middle class existence and point fingers, isn't it? To blame all our problems on the rich and powerful? It would be nice if we could, but the truth is we all have to stop and ask ourselves, what values lie at our core that have contributed to this problem?
· We want something now and put it on our over-extended credit cards
· We take out loans on houses that we really can’t afford
· We want to have the newest car or the widest TV screen
· We steal office supplies from work, and cheat or our taxes
· We step on other people to get in line for that promotion
We are all looking for quick and easy ways to get more of the stuff of this world. And we forget that the stuff of this world doesn’t last. Maybe our core isn’t so different from the CEO’s or the politician’s. We are all valuing the wrong things, and trampling on each other in our hurry to get them.
We have ALL helped contribute to the problem. [pause]
So the question now is, how can we all contribute to the solution? [pause]
OR…maybe we need a new investment strategy for these troubled times??
III. An Alternate Investment Strategy
James, after giving this depressingly true description of the worldly value system that has invaded the core of each and every one of us, goes on the give us some good advice.
James 5:7-8
7 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. 8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near.
A. Be patient!
Oh, how we hate to hear this. We want instant gratification. That’s part of how we got into this awful economic mess. And it will take patience for us to get out. As a country, and as families and individuals.
When a farmer decides to grow a crop of productive apple trees, he doesn't just go out one day and up springs an orchard. How is an orchard planted? One tree at a time. How is a tree planted? One seed at a time.
The core holds the promise. [hold up the core] The core is the most important thing because it contains the seed. But in our hunger for the treasures of this world, we have eaten the juicy fruit of the apple and thrown out the core.
How do we change our crop of rotten wealth into a healthy crop pleasing to God? With patience. One seed, one person, one act at a time.
We have to remember to be patient. Things of value mature with time.
B. Keep a Long-term Perspective
Hand in hand with patience comes having a long-term perspective. With investments, you always hear that you are investing for the long-term, not trying to time the unpredictable ups and downs of the market. You want to invest in things that will have greater value in the future than they do now.
James reminded his fellow Christians that the Lord would return. The things of this earth are not going to last forever. Earthly treasure will have no value in God’s coming kingdom. The good crop God is looking for will last into eternity.
Jesus said:
Matthew 6:21
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Where we invest our time and our resources shows a lot about our core. We invest our time and resources in the things that are important to us. What are you investing in? Are you investing in things that last, or in the things of this world?
What are the things that last? People. God’s Kingdom. God. If we invest with a long-term perspective, this is where we’ll pour our treasure.
How do we invest in things that last? One seed, one person, one act at a time.
IV. The Kingdom Dream
At the very core of our being are seeds planted by God that are meant to grow us in His image. Some of us have tossed that core aside and forgotten about the image of God that we are supposed to reflect in our lives.
Daric Beiter
04/01/1974 – 04/01/2011
Friday morning, my family learned of another death that has deeply hurt us. Daric Beiter, Cross-Country coach and history teacher at Davie High School passed away on his thirty-seventh birthday. He was more than just a coach and a teacher though…he was a mentor and friend of all those who knew him. My oldest daughter, became like an adoptive daughter of Daric and Michelle. They probably have kept as much contact with her in since she has been away at college as we have. Daric was a truly amazing man.
I tell you this, not just to share the grief that we are experiencing, but also as an example of what we have been talking about. Daric, like the fleshy part of the apple is gone. But the core remains. All the love and the seeds that Daric has planted over the years remains and goes on to grow and reproduce in us…to spread out and touch other lives. That is the core of Daric Beiter, what lives on.
Folks, we have to get back to who we are at the core of our being. We need to remind ourselves what is of eternal value and what is not. We have to remember those seeds in us and in others. We need to be about caring for and nurturing healthy cores in us and those around us. The core is important because it holds the seed. And the seed holds the promise.
Your investment strategy reflects your core. Are you investing in the American Dream which seeks worldly treasures and success? Or the Kingdom Dream, which has the power to transform us from within, and yields treasures beyond measure by this world’s standards. It’s your choice.
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