Time’s Up, Part 2

Today on Summit Life with J.D.

Greer. What kingdom are you leveraging your resources for? Do you live as if eternity is real and it is imminent? If you did an honest assessment about what you are using your resources for, what kingdom is it pointing toward? And what kingdom are you pointing and teaching your kids to live for also? Welcome back to Summit Life, the Bible teaching ministry of pastor, author, and apologist J.D.

Greer. I'm your host, Molly Vidovitch. You know, something is always going to be first in our lives, and you know what I'm talking about.

What is it we simply don't think we can live without? Today, Pastor J.D. continues the message we began yesterday titled Time's Up to show us that while both God and money can be important to us, we simply cannot serve both of them.

One has to step to the front, and I'm sure you can guess which one. As we better understand our roles simply as stewards of all of God's gifts, we can then better devote our short time on earth to serving our master and preparing for eternity. Remember, if you ever have questions or would like to know more about this ministry, you can visit us online at jdgreer.com. But for now, let's jump back in where we left off in Luke chapter 16.

You ready? Here we go. Verse one, Jesus told his disciples there was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So we called him in and he asked him, what is this that I hear about you? Give an account of your management because you cannot be manager any longer because you're such a bad manager. You're so slack and you don't get up to 11 o'clock and you go out to lunch every day. And so the manager said to himself, oh no, he just got fired. What do I do? He's gotten his two week notice. My master is taking away my job.

I'm not strong enough to dig. What am I going to do? I know what I'll do so that when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses. So we called in each of his master's debtors. And he asked the first one, people that are just, you know, master money, how much do you owe my master?

900 gallons of olive oil. He replied. The manager told him, hey, I tell you what, you owe him 900. Take down right now, sit down, take out your checkbook and make it 450. Then he asked the second one, how much do you owe?

1000 bushels of wheat. He replied. I told him, take your bill and make it 800. What just happened?

Let me put this in modern terms in case you were like the 900 gallons of oil and you just like, you know, throw it on. An accounts manager for a really rich guy is giving us two week notice. Basically he's fired, but he's got two weeks left from the job. So he goes home and in despair, he says to his wife, wife, what am I going to do?

And then he has a brilliant idea. He calls the boss's clients who still owe his boss money. He says, hey, I see here that you owe my boss $100,000. I tell you what, sit down right here, right now, write out a check for $25,000 and I will give you an official debt settled certificate.

And we'll just call it even. And he does that with every single person who owes his boss money, right? So after he's fired now, he's got a huge bunch of people who feel like they owe him a big, huge favor. Then Jesus in a really surprising twist in the story, verse eight, the master who just gotten hosed by the way, okay?

The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. I mean, seriously, if you've never read the Bible before, did you see that coming? Here is the son of God like, and that is a really, really smart manager, right? Jesus is such a great storyteller. Then Jesus explains the surprising lesson. You see, the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. In other words, Jesus is saying, if you know that your current reality is coming to an end, wouldn't it be wise to use whatever moments you have left to prepare for the next reality?

If you've gotten your two-week notice, isn't it wise to use whatever remaining time you have in that window to get ready for the reality that you're about to go into? Shouldn't you be making friends for the next reality? So what does that mean? Jesus asked for the money and the resources that God has made you manager over. I tell you, verse nine, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves in eternity so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. Jesus continues, for whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with very much. Whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who's gonna trust you with real riches?

And if you've not been trustworthy with somebody else's property, who in the world is gonna give you property of your own? Jesus explains here that in some mysterious way that I'm not sure I totally understand, but some mysterious way, our faithfulness with our resources here is going to determine both our responsibility level and our enjoyment level in the life to come. The point is that God gave us what he gave us down here to steward. Steward is a word that just means somebody who manages something that belongs to somebody else.

When you're a steward, you're not the owner, you're the manager. I mean, you all realize, right, that as God sees it, every single resource that you have, all of your money doesn't really belong to you, right? I mean, you understand that, right? God gave us what he gave us and has a purpose for them. My question for you is, be honest, is that how you see your resources? Do you see your resources as fundamentally yours or fundamentally God's? Who really owns them? Because if you see your resources as yours, you will ask, how much of this do I have to give to God so that he won't curse me and I won't feel guilty? But if you see your resources as fundamentally his, you ask not about 10% of it, but about 100% of it, what does he want me to do with this?

And what are the eternal purposes that he gave me these things for? If time on earth is short, if you've already been given your two weeks notice and you have been, right? Your two weeks notice is you're looming death.

I don't want to be depressing in here, but death rate in America still holds steady at 100% and shows no sign of waning. Your two week notice may last, it may last 60 years, it may last literally two weeks, but all of us have been served a two week notice. And if that two weeks, however long it actually is about two weeks compared to eternity is as short as eternity must demand that it be, how should we be using that last two weeks? One of my favorite Psalms is written by, not by David, but by Moses, Psalm 90. And in Psalm 90, Moses prays a prayer that I have prayed regularly since college. Psalm 90 verse 12, teach us to number our days. So teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts. Notice the connection between numbering your days and the developing of wisdom. I love how Martin Luther translated that verse into German and then re-translated it back into English.

I'm not gonna read it in German. Teach us to think daily about death so that we might finally learn how to live. It is only by thinking often about the brevity of life that you're ever going to develop the right attitude toward the days that you have. How long is eternity and how do you not look at your life like James says in James four, that it's just like the morning vapor that comes out of your mouth when it's a cold morning and you blow out and it just appears for a moment, he says, and then it is gone.

Only when you learn to think that way will you develop the right attitude toward life. I told you the story of a guy that many of you never heard of, but he's very influential. And in fact, I quote him all the time.

You don't realize I'm quoting him, but his name is CT Stud. He was a professional cricket player in Great Britain in the late 19th century, which I told you doesn't seem that impressive now, but back in the day, that was the world's most popular sport. And he was like the LeBron James of cricket, right? He was the star of English national team, but he begins to be haunted by the thought that his life is having no eternal significance. And so at the height of his career, he backs out and just says, I'm going to go live in China. And then he went to India and then parts of Africa where eventually he died.

I mean, imagine somebody doing that now. Imagine LeBron James holding a press conference and being like, I'm taking my talents to Siberia because that's where people need Jesus. Of course, people all over the world asked him, why don't you do something like that? And I gave you the statement that he made that basically went something like, well, if Jesus was God and died to save me, then why wouldn't I give up my life to bring his message of salvation to others? That's the part I shared with you. Part I didn't share with you is that he wrote a poem, a poem that my dad used to quote to me all the time when I was a kid.

It makes its way into sermons. Now, you never knew it was from T.T. Studd. Here's the poem.

T.T. Studd wrote this poem in explanation for why he was doing what he was doing. The poem said, only one life to live will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last. Only one life, yes, only one, to let me save thy will be done. And when it lasts, I'll hear the call. I know I'll say it was worth it all.

Because only one life to live will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last. I can tell you just with incredible gratefulness in my heart that my parents drilled that into me.

I really think when it's all said and done, that's going to be the greatest legacy that they will leave for me. My dad was the plant manager of a textile factory. My dad's a member here at our church now. But he was a plant manager of a plant with about 900 employees in it. And I remember visiting him one time.

I was about 12 years old. And my mom drove us up. We went in the back parking lot where all the managers, where all the executive staff parked. And I noticed that my dad's car was like way worse than everybody else's. All these other managers had the BMW and the Lexus and nothing wrong with that if you drive one.

I'm not judging you. But they had all those things. And my dad had this car that, I mean, it was like 10 years old. And it was just, and I walked in. I was like, dad, don't you make more money than all these people?

Like why are they driving all these cars? And yours is like the worst one on the lot. I just remember him looking at me and saying, son, none of that matters. That doesn't matter. This stuff doesn't matter.

This is what matters is there's missionaries that we support that we often would have in our home when they were home on furlough and that we would pray for as a family at dinnertime. He said, that's what matters. And so, yeah, we kind of dial it back over here because we want to be rich in those things there. I've told you before, I remember him, on the years when he would get a bonus because their factory had done well, I remember him always sitting at the dinner table wanting to discuss what we were going to do with that bonus. And every year I would be like, the J.D. Greer fund is deficient.

We should put it there. And every year is like, no, no, no, when God multiplies us like this, he does it so that we can invest it in the kingdom of God. My mom did it in her way, in her own way. She taught it to me. I remember one of the conversations I most dreaded having with her was when there's a senior in college that sends God calling me to go overseas.

And at that point I thought it was going to be permanent. And I hear they had invested so much to get me into college and to be my best. And I was going to just drop out of my law studies and go into pursue Christian ministry. And my mom and dad were both Christians. I've told you that, but for some reason, I just thought that this was not going to go well because I knew that they supported missions as a concept, but I was like, it's probably different when your own kid is going to go there. Like, hey, we want other people's kids to do that, but not my kids.

And I remember just dreading it. And so I asked mom and I thought, divide and conquer. So I was like, mom, why don't you meet me first?

Cause she'd be softer. And so I met her at a restaurant halfway between my college campus and our home. And I remember going in there and just trying to explain to her why I thought this was a good idea.

Finally, I just said, mom, I know this is probably really disappointing for you. I know you probably had this vision of me living really close and making a comfortable living and raising your grandkids in a place where you could see them every day, but I just really sensed God wants me to go live overseas where people don't know about Jesus. And then I just sat there. I was ready mentally. I thought it was going to have this argument and no, you can't.

And we've invested too much for you to throw it all away and go do that. And I was maybe tears. Instead, what she, remember her looking back at me and she said, JD, your father and I have been praying for God's will for your entire life. And if this is how God wants to use your life, we're not going to stand in your way.

And I can tell you that nothing would make your dad not prouder than knowing that you gave your life back to God for his service. And I just, I was stunned. She wasn't done. Here's what she said.

Listen to this. We will have all eternity to enjoy the blessings of our family. So if we miss out on some of them down here, that's okay. Because we've got all eternity for that, but we've only got a few years to ensure that other people's sons and daughters around the world have a chance to be included in our family in Christ. Only one life to live will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last. That is the legacy that I was given by my parents.

And I can tell you it is greater than any other thing they could have left for me. Thanks for listening to Summit Life with Pastor JD Greer. To learn more about this ministry, visit our website, jdgreer.com. We'll get back to today's teaching in a moment, but first it's almost Valentine's Day.

Hint, hint, gentlemen. And a lot of us are thinking about relationships this time of year. So we decided here at Summit Life to provide a new featured resource to help you think biblically about all of the relationships God has given you, your family, your friends, coworkers, and even simple acquaintances. It's a devotional study called One Day at a Time, a 60-day challenge to see, serve, and celebrate the people around you, written by a good friend of JD Greer Ministries, Kyle Edelman, who's a pastor in Louisville, Kentucky. One Day at a Time features 60 daily devotionals, and each one includes questions for reflection and a challenge to inspire you to make a difference in the world every day. Learn to love like Jesus loved, one person at a time. We'll send you a copy with your gift of $35 or more to this ministry today.

To donate, give us a call at 866-335-5220 or visit us online at jdgreer.com. We know this resource will provide a unique blessing to you and those you love. Now let's return for the conclusion of today's teaching.

Once again, here's Pastor JD. So one simple question I have for you. What legacy are you leaving for your kids? What legacy are you leaving for others that are in your life? What kingdom are you leveraging your resources for? Do you live as if eternity is real and it is imminent? If you did an honest assessment about what you are using your resources for, what kingdom is it pointing toward?

And what kingdom are you pointing and teaching your kids to live for also? Seems like in the last few years, there's a concept that's gotten really popular. The bucket list comes off from a movie in 2007 where Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson were gonna try to do all the things they wanted to do and never got to do before they kicked the bucket because they both got a terminal disease. So before you kick the bucket, what is it that you're going to do?

What's in your bucket list because you assume that after you die, you'll never have a chance to do that anymore? But I've told you before, does that make any sense for the Christian? You see, the book of Revelation tells me that at the resurrection, Jesus is gonna usher us into the new heavens and the new earth. And scholars say the word new means renewed. Renewed means that heaven is not some ethereal existence in the clouds where we all sit around in diapers with nerf bows and arrows and play our harps all day. Heaven is a renewed version of this earth, perfected and without the curse of sin. And that means that all the things that I miss out on down here, I'm gonna get to experience a perfected version of up there. All the mountains, all the stars, the rivers, oceans, planets, animals, culture, arts, music, architecture, even extreme sports that I never got to experience here.

They're all gonna be waiting for me there. In fact, Revelation 21, 26 even says that God will bring into heaven the glory and the honor of the nations, which scholars say means he will bring into heaven the best of the best of the best in the best of culture, the best Italian food, the best of Arabian and colonial architecture, the best art, Mardi Gras without all the debauchery, Disney World without the lines, the Jersey Shore without New Jersey, all the things that we want without the curse. And by the way, we don't know what we'll be capable of physically, but Jesus's resurrection is supposed to give us a hint.

And in Jesus's resurrection body, he could fly and walk through walls. So here's how I see it, and I don't even think that I'm exaggerating, right? I've always wanted to climb Mount Everest or Mount Kilimanjaro. My wife has just taken about any of those off the table until our kids are 30, okay? So by that point, I'm probably not gonna feel like it anymore. But if I never get to that down here, that's okay. Because in heaven, I'm gonna climb the renewed Mount Kilimanjaro, which is gonna be a lot better anyway. And when I get to the top, I'll just probably fly on over to the heavenly Tuscany and have dinner that evening. So the point is you can put up your bucket list, you don't have to worry about anything you're gonna miss out on, and you can leverage your few remaining moments for eternity. You see, there is one thing that we cannot do there that we can do here. And that one thing is tell people about Jesus.

So if you wanna put something on a bucket list, you should make it that. It means the only wise thing to do with your resources, Jesus says in Luke 16, is to make friends for eternity. Use them to give people a chance to go from darkness to light. Use them so that people have a chance to hear that there is a savior who has defeated death on their behalf and has died to forgive their sins so they could be welcomed into an eternity of joy forever. As Keith Green used to say, this generation is responsible for this generation of Christians all around the world. Friends, do you understand this?

There are people all over the world that have never heard about Jesus. And it doesn't bring me a lot of satisfaction just to say that one day, 100 years, 200 years from now, all the people groups are gonna be reached. I want them to be reached in my lifetime.

Why? Because the people alive on earth now are my responsibility. This is the only chance they got. They got one chance to hear about Jesus, and I am that chance. And in that last day, when our master returns, the only thing that's gonna matter to you is whether you were a faithful steward and used your resources for that purpose.

And then Jesus makes a statement that we started this message with. The statement that embodies his most important teaching on money. Nobody, you see, nobody can serve two masters. Either you're gonna hate the one and love the other, you'll be devoted to the one and despise the other. You simply cannot serve both God and money. Both of them can be present in your life, they can be. Both God and money can be present in your life, but only one is gonna be at the center.

Only one of those two will be first. One of them you're gonna look to for happiness and security, and therefore you will pursue it. The other one, you will have more of a casual relationship with.

You cannot serve both God and money. One of them you're gonna look to, that's where I'm gonna find happiness, that's where I find security, so you're gonna pursue it. The other one, you have more of a casual relationship with it. Is it God or money for you?

Which is when which category? Lots of things can be important in our lives, but only one thing can be first. And whatever is first in your heart is gonna get your best. And you're gonna be willing to settle for good enough and everything else, and everything else you're gonna settle for good enough. If what you drive or where you live or where your kids go to school, if that's what is first in your heart, that's gonna get your best. And then things like the kingdom of God, that gets the leftovers, it gets good enough.

You imagine the couple. My wife and I were like this once where you're trying to get your first house, and almost everybody had this conversation. Because the realtor shows you two houses, or there's two kind of finalists. And one of them is the house that you can afford, and the other one is the house that you really can't afford yet, but you really want to be in that house because it's just right.

And you got all these reasons why you want to be in it. And so you had a conversation that sounded like this. You're like, sweetheart, we can get this other house, this bigger house that we really want to be in. But if we're gonna do that, things are gonna have to change, right? We're not gonna be able to go out to eat all the time anymore. We're not gonna be able to go to Starbucks all the time.

We're not gonna be able to get new cars anytime soon. But you were like, it's worth it to get in this house. We'll do this for this time so that we'll do good enough here so we can have the best here. There's nothing wrong with that conversation at that time in your life. Some parents do that when it comes time for college. We can get our kid in the school, but in order to do that, everything else has got to change. What I told you is this. There ought to be a conversation like that every time you make decisions about giving to the kingdom of God, if it's first in your life. You ought to say, hey, we can do that, but it's gonna have to cause these things to change over here. If God is gonna get my first and my best, then there's gonna be a lot of things in my life that are gonna have to get good enough.

And I remember what I drive or where I live or the kind of vacations I go on. Listen, my question for you has been, is the kingdom of God important to you? Or is it first?

Because only one thing can be first. Last verse in this passage, look at this, verse 14. The Pharisees who loved money heard all this and they were sneering at Jesus. Why were they sneering? Well, it tells you why. Because they love money.

They love money. And Jesus was attacking what they looked at for life and all of its blessings. And that's what you do. You sneer when somebody threatens you at your core. Notice then we're trying to argue. They knew he was right.

They knew he was right. Sneering reflects the heart that says, I just hate that you just went there. So my question for you is, is that you right now? Are you sneering right now? Are you sitting there saying, why do you gotta go there? I hate it when you go here. Why do you always gotta talk about this? And be honest.

Is it because it's attacking the thing that you love and the thing that you depend on for life and security and happiness? Because if so, you might have the same heart the Pharisees had. I'm just asking.

I'm just asking. Is it because your money is so precious to you that you don't want anybody, not even Jesus messing with him? Our goal is that we'd be a congregation of people who serve God, not money, who put God first, not money, and thus leverage our money for eternal purposes. God doesn't need our money to accomplish his purposes, but he desires our giving as a sign of a heart fully committed to him. Isn't that what you want? A heart committed to him? Then consider what your wallet says about your devotion. That's a strong challenge to us today, here on Summit Life with J.D.

Greer. In case you missed it earlier on the show, I want to be sure that you know about our latest featured resource that takes our love and devotion to Jesus to the next level. This month, we are sending all of our financial supporters and gospel partners a copy of Pastor Kyle Eidelman's new resource called One Day at a Time, a 60-day challenge to see, serve, and celebrate the people around you. Learning to love people like Jesus did takes intentional practice and repetition, and this devotional helps you build this vital habit into your daily life.

It's also a built-in discipleship opportunity to grow in your love for other people and then help someone else to do the same. You can receive your copy today with a gift to this ministry. Give us a call at 866-335-5220. That's 866-335-5220, or give online at jdgreer.com. While you're on the website, be sure to sign up for our email list to get ministry updates and blog posts from Pastor J.D. delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign up when you go to jdgreer.com. I'm Molly Vidovitch. Be sure to listen next week when Pastor J.D.

explains what our decisions on money reveal about what we love and treasure in this world. See you next time for Summit Life with J.D. Greer. Today's program was produced and sponsored by J.D. Greer Ministries.