"All Kinds of Greed"              Cicero United Methodist Church                             August 1, 2010

Text: Luke 12: 13-21                          Jack Keating

            I'm told the patrons of a local bar were so sure that their bartender was the strongest man
around that they offered a standing $1000 bet. The bartender would squeeze a lemon until all the
juice ran into a glass and hand the lemon to a contender. Anyone who could squeeze just one more drop of juice out of the lemon would win the money. Many people tried over time (weightlifters, truckers, dock workers, etc.) but nobody could do it. One day a short, thin, balding, little man came into the bar, wearing black-rimmed glasses and a double knit polyester leisure suit. He announced to the bartender in a faint, tiny, squeaky voice, "Td like to try the bet."

            After the laughter had died down, the bartender said, "OK", grabbed a lemon and squeezed away. Then he handed the dry, wrinkled remains of the lemon rind to the little man. The man clenched his fist around the lemon and the crowd's laughter turned to total silence as one drop fell into the glass - then another and another. Six drops, in all were squeezed from the emaciated lemon rind.

            As the crowd cheered, the bartender paid the $1000, and asked the little man, "What do you do for a living? You're obviously not a lumberjack or a weight lifter."

            An almost imperceptible smile came across the little man's lips, as he replied in a quiet, but satisfied voice, "I'm a church treasurer."

            Today's thoughts deal with the greed with which we fill our lives, either knowingly or
unknowingly.

            A few years ago a survey was published that asked respondents why there was so much talk about money in so many churches. It seems, you know, that there are more teachings in Scripture about money than almost any other topic. Many of the most popular hymns deal with giving and, so folks were asked why it is that so many churches spend so much time talking about money.

            It seems to me there are two possible answers to that question.

            The first is that there is so much emphasis on money in so many churches because those

churches require, want, and need more of it!

            Bills must be paid.

            Projects must be funded.
Outreach must be done.
Salaries must be paid.
Buildings must be maintained.

            And so forth and so forth and so forth.

            So lots of churches talk about money ... so they can get more of it! And all too often they talk about it in terms that might seem similar to the British highwaymen of old. Just like those who used to say ... "You money or your life ... " all too many churches seem to indicate by their preaching, their television appeals, and their literature, that if you give them more money, you will live a blessed and long life. Somehow they teach God will love you more; but alas, if you do not give more, you will not be blessed .... And God will not love you as much.

            And quite honestly that kind of talk turns me off .... Probably even more quickly than it turns you off.

            It turns me off because it equates entry into the kingdom of heaven with giving money to this or that ministry or to this or that church--- it turns me off because it equates the amount of love you get from God with the amount of money you give to God's work --- and that, quite frankly is a perversion of the gospel. You see the gospel says in no uncertain terms that God loves us unconditionally; that God's saving love toward us has nothing at all to do with how much we give or how much we do, that God's offer of a healing touch has nothing to do with our virtue or our sin.

            But bills do have to be paid. The work of God does need the gifts that God has given us to do that work. Quite frankly the work of God needs our wallets. And it always has. And, I think, that truth needs to be plainly and honestly spoken .... the truth concerning tithing - the truth about giving God our first fruits - our best fruits.

            So listen once again to these words from the third chapter of the Book of the prophet
Malachi. Words that were written some three hundred years before Christ, in the time when the land of Israel was suffering from drought and disaster, from poverty and disease:

            "Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you", says the Lord Almighty. 'But you ask, 'How are we to return?' "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me." But you ask, 'How do we rob you?"

             In your tithes and offerings. You are under a curse - the whole nation of you - because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines of your fields will not cast their fruit", says the Lord Almighty. "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be the fruitful land."

            The problem with money in this church, or any church could simply be solved if we all did what the Bible says we should do ... which is to offer to God the full tithe, the first fruits, the
unblemished portions, the cream of the crop - and did so routinely and without muttering or
murmuring - about it. And that should be easy because the TV evangelists are right in one point as they plead and beg and make fancy offers of free gifts to get more of your dollars. God does bless those who give him his due.

            That's the truth about money and the church, plainly spoken.

            And once spoken I don't believe one should make a big fuss about it. It is enough surely to remind folks about what it is God has done for them and will yet do for them

-          and to ask that they pray to God about what their commitment is both for their regular tithes

-          and should there be a need their special offerings.

            In the church we should practice what we preach - we should ask for our "daily bread" and then let go of the asking the rest of the day, and trust that God will answer our prayer - that God will meet our needs.

            Giving is, after all, between God and the giver. And so is receiving: ... between God and the receiver.

            It should be enough to tell the faithful what the need is and let it go at that, it should be
enough to occasionally remind folk of what the biblical teaching on giving is and then go on to examine the other teachings in the Bible without begging and pleading.

            But unfortunately some churches spend a lot of time berating those who are faithful givers to give more and turning off those who are new believers in the Lord by focusing their efforts on getting more out of them - rather than encouraging them to a closer walk with Christ, a walk which, in the end will produce the fruit of a life that is totally committed to God.

            So the first answer to the question - why is there so much emphasis on money is that in many churches and in many ministries - there is a real need for more money and maybe a real greed for more money.

            In either case - need or greed - this kind of emphasis on money reflects a poverty of Spirit
that is not the kind indicated by the beatitudes. It is not the poverty of humility and obedience, but the poverty of indifference and rebellion towards the Will of God.

            The second answer is that there is a lot of emphasis or talk about money in the church
because there is a lot of talk about money in the Bible, especially in the Gospels. We see a Jesus who seems to be constantly speaking to people both plainly and in parables about the dangers of wealth, or about wealth, whether it be little or much. Just think about:

            --the poor widow who gave her all to the temple treasury

            --the vineyard owner who paid his workers, even those hired last, the same wage

            --the rich young ruler who was told to sell all he had and follow Jesus

            --the steward who was forgiven a great debt, but refused to forgive a fellow servant with a small debt

            --the sheep who share their food, clothing, homes, and time vs. the goats who do not
The list goes on and on and includes today's Gospel reading

            --where we heard the story usually titled, "The Parable of the Rich Fool", the story of one
who saved and saved and saved for his future - only to die before that future could come.

            The beginning, or set up, of the parable is, however, pretty instructive to today's topic. A
man asks Jesus to tell his brother to divide the family inheritance with him.

            And Jesus responds to him with the words "who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?" And then he says to the crowd, to us, these words:

            "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life doesn't consist in the abundance of possessions."

            Indeed this is the key to the talk about money in the bible .... The role it plays in our lives ... And the role that it cannot play in our lives, no matter how much we might want it to, or how much the world tells us it can.

            "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life doesn't consist in the abundance of possessions."

            It sure doesn't! But there are still all kinds of greed.

            Some is simple avarice--- the kind of wanting more that will make people drive hundreds of miles and stand in lines for hours to buy a Superball lottery ticket. Or to work 14 hours a day so that you can get ahead - where enough is never quite enough.

            Some is fear - the fear that leads people to stowaway their wealth "for a rainy day" and then never use it even when it does rain.        .

            And some is just plain old idolatry - as St Paul calls greed in his letter to the Colossians. The idolatry that regards money and what it can do for oneself and ones family as more important than what it can do to bring about Shalom - a time of peace.

            You know what I'm talking about, don't you?

            --- The idolatry that we see in those who don't hesitate to spend 40 or 50 or 60 or more
dollars for a dinner out with the family each week, but who chuckle at the idea of giving a tenth of the sun each week to the work of God.

            --- The idolatry that sees people who will cheerfully buy their children designer clothing and running shoes at well over $100 a pop, but who then refuse to share with the hunger and starving in the world because they worry that the agency who conveys the gift, the government who administers it, or the people who receive it in the end, will end up spending the money on everything but essentials.

            --- The idolatry that sees people who will keep the best portion for themselves and give the leftovers to those who beg at the door. Those whose idea of making a sacrifice for the sake of the gospel is to attend church on Sunday morning rather than go shopping. Those whose idea of making an important offering to the Lord is to buy five new shirts and give the old discarded one to the bargain basement or the Salvation Army rather than putting them in the trash.

            Why is there such an emphasis on money in so many churches? Well there are at least two possible answers. One is not so good - and the other - well it is the gospel truth.

            There is, in all churches worthy of the name of Christ, the same emphasis on money as there is in any other of his teachings.

            Money and our attitude concerning who deserves it and who doesn't is a barometer of our spiritual health and insight. Money and how we use it and feel about it is symbolic of where we are at.

            This is one of the purposes of the teaching concerning offering our first fruits to God and
giving God a tithe, be it 5% or 10% or 20% of what we earn. It reveals who we are and what we
believe, although I must hasten to point out that there is many a good tither, many a good giver, who give out of a sense of duty- rather than our of a sense of joy and love and trust in God.

            Still, all in all, whether or not we freely offer the cream of our crops, the best of what we
have, to God is a test of our faith - of where we are at. It does not win us salvation. It does not
bring us a larger portion of the love of God. But it does show us where our hearts are ... and what we really believe or what we really desire.

            Hear once again the words of the Lord. Ponder the message that he is speaking to you this

day when he says....    

            "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life doesn't consist in the abundance of possessions."

            And consider where you would be in your relationship to the Lord - and to all the world -
should this very night your soul be required of you.

            And do, from that meditation, what God is calling you to do, and do it in faith and in trust and in joy, knowing that whatever it is, it is of God - and God is good.

            Blessed be the name of the Lord. Amen.