http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+3%3A1-11&version=ESV
Colossians 3:1-11 and Lk 12:13-21 are the texts
Jesus says, “Be on your
guard against all kinds of greed.”
I am not going to use this as a whip today, but I would say that if your home is larger than 400 square feet and it does not have a dirt floor, if you do not carry a bucket to a river for your water, if you have heat and air conditioning, a vehicle and safe, flat roads, and if diarrhea is an irritant and inconvenience, but not a deadly disease, then by the world's standards you are rich.... And if you think rich only refers to people in Forbes' lists then what I have to say may apply to you!
Greed, the Greek
word pleonexia literally means ‘having
more’. There is nothing wrong with wanting more, unless you have enough. Greed
is a disordered desire to have more for the sake of having more. Greed is rooted
in insecurity & fueled by a sense of insatiable deprivation. Want and Need are normal, Greed is not.
Greed is a twisted, sick & sinful reaction
to need. The show on TV about "hoarders" give but one sad insight into greed run amuck. Yet a careful look at our attics and the size of our "barns" (houses) is a sad reminder that we are all touched by the illness. Greed is also “faith-less” flowing out of a radical mistrust of God and
other people. It is coldly competitive. It destroys everyone it touches.
God is generous… generous and gracious. He is a Giver.
We have seen this in the Gospel readings all summer. Let's review:
Jesus healed
the boy of a Roman soldier, an occupier.
Jesus stopped
a funeral procession and raised a dead man for compassion sake.
A woman pours
oil on Jesus’ feet in gratitude for God’s generous mercy.
Jesus
exorcises demons from a Gentile man living in tombs (unclean, unclean, unclean) then responds to the rude treatment He gets with graciousness .
Jesus refuses the apostle’s
request to call down fire on Samaritans who rejected Him. He does not respond in kind to their mistreatment.
Jesus shares
His power and authority with His disciples for the sake of others.
Jesus allows a
woman to sit at His feet giving her equivalent status to men, showing her unparalleled respect.
Over and over
again we have see God, in and through Jesus, showing mercy and kindness to the “undeserving.”
He refuses to retaliate against enemies. He rescues and blesses people for
compassion’s sake. He acts with compassion and mercy, treating people better
than they expect or deserve. God's mission statement?
His mission is to be incredibly generous with His time
and talent and the treasure which is within Him, benefiting others He meets. Always. even when they are not deserving or grateful.
On a recent
flight I had an experience of generosity. I was trying to balance Levi, his car
seat, his stroller, and two bags. Ann sent me on ahead while she remained at
the gate undergoing an extra-thorough examination by the TSA team. [Apparently,
counter-terrorism experts have decided that moms, armed with baby wipes and
formula, are a high level security risk!] As I struggled to keep Levi right side up and everything else spilling all over the floor, the pilot, on his way to the cock
pit, grabbed some of my stuff and said, “Let me give you a hand.”
The simple act
was quite helpful to me and quite generous of him. The pilot’s job description
does not include baggage handler. What he did and how he did it were an act of
grace. It was unexpected and unmerited. He could have just as easily said, “Please
get out of my way so I can get to work.” Instead he chose to help.
That is how
Jesus reveals God to be.
God is the
pilot of the “airship earth.” God’s focus and concern is more global than our
own. It is easy to imagine God is too busy with the big picture to take note of
what is happening to us in our little lives. It is a rational assumption that
we do not matter. We may not have faith;
we may not trust that God really cares. So, we turn to ourselves. We spend
our time, talent and energy gathering so we won’t feel dependent. We get more
and more—building bigger barns and silos to store our stuff. Sadly, it is a
failed mission before it starts.
Greed has no
goal line. It only has a horizon.
If we have one,
we need one more.
If we have ten, we need one more.
If we a hundred, a
thousand, ten thousand… a million, it does not matter.
We still need one more.
We can never
rest. Or feel gratitude. Ever….
We cannot see
the needs of others; we just feel our desire for more and compete with others to get it.
Because Jesus
loves you, He says, “Avoid it in all its forms.”
We do not need
bigger barns. We need to
Trust God….Be
grateful….Be generous…Be at peace.
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