Who Pays For People’s Greed?
Good Morning Friends,
Our temptation and that of Jesus have something in common. The spiritual life requires a journey into the desert. We must try to deny all desires and temptations and though we may not be as successful as Jesus in avoiding sin we need to embrace the solution Jesus offers in a process of replacing vices with virtues in the discovery of righteousness. You see, we all must fight for what is good because we are connected. That is why we must be on the side of the oppressed. Friends, we are called to a social and relational Gospel that many would like to deny. So today we face the issue of wealth and sharing. We dive into scripture to discover some golden nuggets of wisdom. And it is here in the deep waters we face the challenge of being in just relationships with everyone…even our enemies. Friends, we must become enlightened with an answer to today’s question about social justice that helps us to overcome sin in our lives and avoid regret. The question is this: Who Pays For People’s Greed?
Scripture: Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.
James 5:1-6 (NRSV)
I made great works; I built houses and planted vineyards for myself; I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house; I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and of the provinces; I got singers, both men and women, and delights of the flesh, and many concubines. So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me. Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 2:4-11 (NRSV)
For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward. “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched. “For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
Mark 9:41-50 (NRSV)
The greedy person stirs up strife, but whoever trusts in the Lord will be enriched.
Proverbs 28:25 (NRSV)
As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.'” He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”
Mark 10:17-27 (NRSV)
Message: Well the short answer is that everyone pays the price of greed, even the greedy for they of all people fail to experience the joy of generosity. The thing is that when we put our accumulation of stuff in the light of eternity, it does not hold up. Being the richest person in the cemetery wins no prize. Enough is enough. Having more is pointless. The one who dies with the most toys does not really win. The problem here is greed. Greed turns love into lust, leisure into apathy, hunger into gorging, honor into arrogance, righteous indignation into rage, and admiration into envy. If it were not for greed, we would suffer fewer of the other evils of the world. Greed has a way of taking the very beautiful and reducing it to a price tag and transaction. But here is the thing, greed is about our relationship to money and stuff, no matter how much or little we have. It is not about quantity. It is about relationship. And it is a lonely, miserable life when one’s worth depends upon what I can do for me. Greed tends to be solitary, miserly, because there is something about greed that puts us in competition with our neighbors and ultimately in alienation from them. Jesus teaches a different economy where self-worth is tied not to what we earn or accumulate but what we distribute. Jesus was trying to teach that rich young ruler a new desire for generosity so that he might overcome his greed. You see, the power of a new love is the strength needed to overcome a sinful behavior. We are not simply to turn away from sin. Instead we need to replace the sin with a virtue. Friends, 100% of our money is a gift from God to be used to the glory of God. We are to build up the Kingdom of God by serving our neighbors in all that we do.
Pray we overcome greed with generosity. Pray we not define ourselves by what we have or can provide but in relationship with God. Pray we gain all we can, save all we can and give all we can. Pray we realize that God is enough. Pray we embrace an economy of kind abundance. Pray we understand the power of replacing vices with virtues as a way of not sinning. Pray we grasp our connectedness and the importance of healthy relationships that honor God by loving the oppressed and discovering the joy of serving. Pray we realize that gold is turned into garbage if we are not generous.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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