All Kinds of Greed
Rev Dr Mark Porizky
8/5/07
Luke 11:13-21
Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’ But he said to him, ‘Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’ And he said to them, ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’ Then he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” Then he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.’
While
in
You
Are Invincible.
You
Are All-Powerful.
You
Are Unstoppable.
You
Are on Your Way to the Grocery Store.
There
is no question that we live in a materialistic society, and that money is the
driving force behind much of what happens in our daily lives. People who want to
live a life based on spiritual values often find themselves struggling with the
issue of money. They have to answer questions such as how much is enough? What
should I do with my money? Does God want me to have money? Can you be
comfortably well-off and still be spiritual? Should I give all my money to the
poor? Should I give any of my money to the poor?
What
is the Biblical position concerning money?
When
you read the Gospels, you may be surprised to find Jesus spoke about this topic
often. Sixteen of the 38 parables deal with how to handle money and possessions.
The Bible offers 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 verses on faith, but more
than 2000 verses on money and possessions.
Since
the Bible has so much to say about the subject, it is surprising we have so many
misconceptions about money. Some of our erroneous ideas are based on
misinterpretation of Scripture, others come from the culture we live in. Let's
quickly examine a few of them. (notes
in bulletin…)
Misconception
number one: Money is the root of all evil.
This quote has been attributed to the Bible, but it is
in fact a misquote. Actually, the Bible says, "The love of money is a
root of all kinds of evil." (1 Timothy 6:10) There's a big difference.
Money, by itself, is neither good nor bad—it is our attitude toward money that
determines its usefulness.
Misconception
number two: God needs my money or the church will fail. God
is not poor. He owns it all. When you give to God, you are not "helping God
out of a jam." In the book of Psalms, David quotes God as saying,
I
have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every
animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.
(Psalm
50:10)
Misconception
number three: Having enough money will make me happy. The
problem is that the target for "enough" keeps moving. Financial guru
Ken Roberts said that when he first began building his fortune, he thought that
one million dollars was the magic number that would make him happy and eliminate
all of his worries. When he became a millionaire, he realized that he needed $5
million to be happy and at peace. When he accumulated a net-worth of $5 million,
the target changed to $10 million. He finally realized that no amount would ever
be enough—his peace of mind would have to come from something other than his
bank account.
Misconception number four: If I had enough money, I could do a lot of good. In almost every survey, when people are asked the question, "What would you do with a million dollars?" Nearly everyone says, "I would give some to charity." While it is true that most charities and churches are not in a position to turn down a donation, it is also true that, as a church, we have needs superceding our financial obligations. Money doesn't solve social problems, people do. Money doesn't spread the gospel, people do. Giving money is good, and we'll talk more about this in just a few minutes, but please understand: if you want to make an impact on the world, it requires something worth much more than money. It requires your time, love care and compassion, much, much more.
Misconception
number five: God doesn't want me to have money. Some
people teach there is a certain spirituality in being poor. They refer to Jesus'
command to the rich young ruler that he sell all he owned and give it to the
poor. But remember, Jesus said this only once—to a man who was obsessed with
money. God had other followers who appear to have been affluent. In the Old
Testament, David, Solomon, Job, and Abraham were all wealthy. God doesn't insist
that you become poor, but he does insist that you have the right attitude toward
money.
So
what is the right attitude about money? Well, Jesus said,
(v.
15) Watch out. Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does
not consist in the abundance of his possessions.
Jesus
said our greatest danger is to become greedy. If you think only of stockpiling
things for yourself, and neglect your relationship with God and your obligation
to others, you will ultimately self-destruct. Today we will look at three things
you can do to guard against greed, and to develop the attitude toward money that
Jesus would want you to have. First of all...
1.
Realize money isn't the most important thing in life.
Universities are full of students who
are pre-med, or pre-law, or working toward an MBA, not because they have a
passion for their field, but because they believe their degree will enable them
to earn a good living. You know what happens to many of these students—years
later they find themselves in the workforce, earning a enviable salary yet
dissatisfied with their careers and feeling too trapped to make a change.
Last
February when Peyton Manning led the Indianapolis Colts to the Super Bowl, I was
reminded of his decision to play his senior year at the
I
remember an interview I saw on ESPN in which an agent said this decision could
cost Peyton millions of dollars and cause him to drop several positions in the
draft. Manning's response was, "These people don't get it. I wouldn't trade
playing my senior year at
People
who make career choices—or any other choice for that matter—based solely on
financial priorities often find these decisions come back to haunt them. Money
is a miserable master. When you let it guide the decisions you make, you will
find that it leads inevitably to less satisfaction than promised.
Jesus
said, "A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his
possessions." There is more to life than making money. To the extent that
we remember this, we can safeguard ourselves against greed. Secondly...
2.
Learn to enjoy the financial blessings in your life.
No
matter where you fall on the socio-economic scale, there are some people above
you and some below you. I know too many people who are not able to appreciate
what they have because they are so focused on what they don't have. True, there
are people in this world who do not have the financial pressures you have, and
from your point of view, their life may appear to be easy and carefree. Maybe
you think that's unfair. At the same time, there are those who do not have it as
easy as you do. Instead of thinking about what is missing from your life, be
grateful for all you have.
In
October I will be flying to
I
don't want to sound like I'm picking on Californians, although now that I’ve
become a Northeasterner, well, I do like picking on Californians.
But, the fact is, I see this attitude, not just in
Do
you want to get rid of the "I never have enough" mentality and begin
to enjoy your financial blessings? Do you want to experience financial freedom?
There's a way to do it. It's simple, but it's not easy. It takes a little effort
at first. Here it is: Live within your means. Spend less than you earn, and
don't buy anything you can't pay for with cash.
Some
of you may respond, "That's impossible!" The truth is, it is possible.
The key to financial freedom is not to increase your income, it is to decrease
your wants. The wealthiest person is the one who is satisfied with the least
number of things.
I
know this is true. When Barb stopped
working…
Jesus
said, "Be on guard against all kinds of greed." This means that we
should strive to enjoy the things we have. Third...
3.
Practice giving to others.
In
today's parable, this man's sin was not that he was successful. His sin was that
he was selfish. He produced a good crop and thought only of himself. He
neglected spiritual priorities. As a result, his soul was required of him that
very night, and he never received any of what he had prepared for himself. Then
Jesus said,
(v.
21) This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is
not rich toward God.
It's
no coincidence that the word "miser" and the word
"miserable" come from the same root. God didn't bless you financially
so you could keep it to yourself. When you try to hang on to everything, you
lose the joy of abundance. You also miss out on the joy of being a blessing to
other people.
The
only way to release the grip of materialism is to learn to give. Most people
intend to be generous, but too often we put it off until we can afford it. For
most of us, that day may never come because our expenses tend to rise with our
income, it is easy for our entire paycheck to be consumed by
"necessities." If we do not make a concentrated effort to start
giving, then we'll procrastinate forever.
Jesus
also told us,
Do
not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and
where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in
and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew
6:19)
Every
year, Forbes magazine posts a list of the world's wealthiest people.
According to their most recent study, there are currently 946 billionaires in
the world. Depending on your current circumstances, that may make you quite sad.
Perhaps this will make you sadder: aside from Warren Buffet (who gave away $44
billion last year), they only donated 1.2 percent of their earnings to
charitable causes.
That
reality makes me think about the man who came to the famous Senate chaplain,
Peter Marshall, with a problem. The
man’s problem was tithing. He said: "I have a problem. I have been
tithing for some time. It wasn't too bad when I was making $20,000 a year. I
could afford to give the $2,000. But you see, now I am making $500,000, and
there is just no way I can afford to give away $50,000 a year."
Dr.
Marshall reflected on this wealthy man's dilemma but gave no advice. He simply
said: "Yes, sir. I see that you do have a problem. I think we ought to pray
about it. Is that alright?"
The
man agreed, so Dr. Marshall bowed his head and prayed with boldness and
authority. "Dear Lord, this man has a problem, and I pray that you will
help him. Lord, reduce his salary back to the place where he can afford to
tithe."
Friends,
Jesus is teaching a different, basic principle of life from the one the rest of
the world is offering: The secret to living is giving.
What
would Jesus do about money? It is plain to see his attitude toward money is
different in many ways than ours. He is not against your having money; he just
doesn't want money to have you. He warns us to be on guard against greed—to
watch out for the mentality of "more more more."
The
best way to combat this is to recognize that money isn't everything, and to
recognize that we already have much to be thankful for, and to discover that the
secret of living is giving. This will loosen the grip that materialism can have
on your life. It will enable you to have control of your money, without your
money having control of you.
Will you pray with me now?
St.
Andrew Presbyterian Church, Groton
,
Web Site: WWW.SAPC-CT.ORG
Office Email: OFFICE@SAPC-CT.ORG
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