Habit in Disguise

The Sermon Study Guide is here.

Luke 12:13-21

September 14, 2014 • Portage First UMC

Little kids love to play dress up. They love to get into mom’s or dad’s closet and find clothes to try on. Or they love to wear old costumes and pretend they are someone else. Christopher never did too much of that, but Rachel loved to wear her princess dresses around the house. Of course, whether she had the dress on or not, she was (and is) always a princess! Part of the fun for kids is to be able to pretend they are someone else, someone other than who they are. Of course, when we grow up, we continue to wear disguises—maybe not princess dresses, but other sorts of disguises. We put on a face in public that is often different from who we are in private. We are nice to people when they are around and unkind to them when they aren’t. And one of the great American disguises is to pretend that we are better than we really are, that we are wealthier, more successful and more powerful than reality says we are. And it becomes to easy to believe our own press releases, so much so that we begin to believe we deserve all the best things in life. “I’m worth it!” we say. It’s in those moments we are most vulnerable to the third of our enemies of the heart, an enemy that is very often a habit disguised as something good, as a virtue.

Two weeks ago, we talked about guilt as an enemy of the heart, and guilt says “I owe you.” Last Sunday, we focused on anger, when says, “You owe me.” This morning, we narrow the focus even more as we zero in on greed, an enemy that says, “I owe me” (Stanley, Enemies of the Heart, pg. 69). But it whispers that phrase quietly, because, as I said, greed disguises itself. It often is made to look like a virtue. We wouldn’t probably picture ourselves as struggling with greed mot of the time. Rather, we say we are savers, and saving is a good thing. Or we’re planning for the future, and who can deny that you should make sure your family is taken care of? Or we are making responsible financial choices, and that’s a good thing as well, right (Stanley 70)? Greed is easy to hide because we convince ourselves we are doing the right thing by holding on to what we have. After all, we earned it. We deserve it. And more than that, we deserve even more than we currently have. I deserve every good thing that could possibly come my way.

Of course, it’s easy to identify greed in others. We shake our heads at the fact that the average American household has a credit card debt of $15,000, a debt they will probably never pay off. We say, “Those poor people. When will they ever learn?” But greed is not primarily a financial issue. Greed is a heart issue, a heart disease. It does, of course, manifest itself often in matters of money. For instance, greedy people talk a lot and worry a lot about money. Greedy people are not cheerful givers and are reluctant to share. Greedy people argue over small amounts of money and usually talk as if they have just enough to get by. If they had a little more, life would be better. Greedy people are reluctant to express gratitude and never let you forget if they’ve done something for you. Greedy people are poor losers and are never content with what they have. And most of all, greedy people attempt to control others with their money (Stanley 70-71). Does that sound like anyone you know? That’s usually an easy question to answer. The harder question is this: does that sound, in any way, like you?

I know that describes me from time to time. I’m aware of the greed that lurks in my heart. I don’t know why it is that every time I plan to preach on a topic like this, Apple decides to announce new products! I think Tim Cook somehow knows my preaching schedule! But as I watched the new gadgets being announced, I was thinking about my own life, and I got to thinking back to seminary, to the beginning days of our marriage. We basically had nothing. We lived in a little two-room apartment rented to us by the seminary and we used furniture that used to be on the deck at Cathy’s grandmother’s lake house. We clipped coupons, received government subsidy food, ate out about once every two weeks, and did dishes by hand every night. Cathy was our only income, and most of that went to pay for school. When we began in ministry, I made below Conference minimum salary because I wasn’t yet ordained, and even when I finally made it minimum, it wasn’t much. And as our income grew over the years, the heart disease called greed grew as well, and I still struggle with it. Those shiny new gadgets catch my eye every time. Last winter, when we had our flood in the lower level, we went through a lot of boxes full of stuff we haven’t unpacked since we moved here nine years ago, stuff we obviously didn’t and don’t need, and while some of it ended up here at the Rummage Sale, a lot of it also got put back in waterproof boxes and stored again, saving for “some day.” Stuff. Things. Greed is a habit I wrestle with and I don’t always win. It’s not a financial issue; it’s a heart issue.

Jesus knew the depths of sin in the human heart, and he knew how much greed can get ahold of us, and so one day he told a parable in response to a question he was asked. As Luke tells it, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem for the final week of his life. And while he and the disciples are traveling, someone (whose name apparently does not matter to Luke) calls out from the crowd with a question for Jesus: “Teacher,” he says, “tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me” (12:13). Rabbis, or teachers, in those days were often asked to arbitrate in matters of ethics or Jewish law (Card, Luke: The Gospel of Amazement, pg. 159; Liefeld, “Luke,” Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 8, pg. 961). And the man makes this request of Jesus, but we don’t know anything about the situation. We don’t know which brother is the oldest, though we can guess that the man asking the question is the younger of the two, because Jewish law said the younger would get less. Assuming two brothers, the oldest was to get 2/3 of the inheritance, and the younger would get 1/3. This man, it seems, wants it to be divided equally. Or maybe the other brother isn’t giving this man anything at all. And there’s an even more disturbing thing to consider: we don’t even know if the parents were dead yet. It’s possible these brothers are arguing about an inheritance they might get someday. (Sure glad families don’t do that today!) But we’re not told any of that. Rather, this man shouts a question out, trying to drag Jesus into the middle of their family dispute, and Jesus refuses. In fact, he turns away from the man and uses the situation to teach his disciples. He’s been telling them things to watch out for, and now he adds another one: “Watch out!” he says. “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed. Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” (12:15). And then, as he so often does, he tells a story.

There was once a rich man, Jesus says, who had a bumper crop one year. It was better than he expected, better perhaps than he’d ever had before. The rains came at just the right time, the sun shone at just the right time, the seed was good—all of the conditions came together to have a good crop. And so he has all this extra stuff—what will he do with it? That’s the question he asks himself. In Luke’s Gospel, anyone who talks to themselves or thinks to themselves is bad—it results in a bad end. So that’s Luke telling us that things are not going to go well here (Card 160). He says, “What shall I do?” And then, without consulting anyone, least of all God, he makes up his mind. “This is what I’ll do. I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself—” (again, talking to himself) “—You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry” (12:18-19). Bigger barns. That will solve his awful problem of having too much. Just build a bigger barn. Today, he would go rent a storage facility. Andy Stanley calls this BBS—Bigger Barn Syndrome. I need more and more and more and more, and even when I have what I think I need today, I’ll still need more (cf. Stanley 140). BBS threatens us all from time to time. But it’s not like the common cold; it won’t just pass. This heart disease is deadly, and Jesus demonstrates that in the rest of the story.

What the man did not factor into his plans was an encounter with God. God shows up and calls the man a “fool.” With a single word, this man’s world is shattered. He’s thought of himself as wealthy, independent, important, successful. But from God’s viewpoint, he is foolish. That’s the way the Bible defines someone who is far from God, who chooses their own way and tries to leave God out of the equation. “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God,’” writes the psalmist (14:1). In another place, the psalmist says, “People who have wealth but lack understanding are like the beasts that perish” (49:20). That’s what this man is. He is a fool; he is wealthy but lacks understanding. In the end, it’s not what the world thinks of him but what God thinks, and that is made clear by what God says next: “This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” (12:20). The word translated “demanded” there really has the meaning of a loan being called in. In other words, this man’s life—and our lives—are only on loan from God. We are not independent and self-important. We are stewards of a life given to us by God.

And then there’s that question that rings out at every funeral, over every casket and gravesite: in the end, what difference will all your stuff, the things your have greedily hoarded, make? Who will get what you think you own? Because everything we have, everything we possess, all that we think makes us successful and important will eventually either be tossed on the trash heap or belong to someone else. “It’s not a matter of if somebody else will get it; it’s just a matter of when and how” (Stanley 144). Because we are only stewards for a brief time.

So Jesus challenges his disciples—and us—with these words: “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God” (12:20). The first part of that verse is the essence of a greedy person: someone who stores up things for themselves and seeks to leave God out of the picture. And that can include those of us who come to church every Sunday. Coming to church doesn’t make us less greedy. We may feel uncomfortable on a day, like today, when the preacher talks about money and stuff and things, but that discomfort will be gone by this afternoon and we’ll be free to live the way we always have—God-less. That doesn’t mean we won’t give lip service to God, but Jesus is calling to more than that. He is calling us beyond being rich toward things, which is easy in our culture, to being rich toward God. What does he mean by that phrase? And what is it in that kind of life that can combat the greed that threatens us?

As Apple was announcing those new products this week, I was looking into this word Jesus uses in verse 15 that is translated as “greed.” What I found fascinating is that this word not only means a desire for financial gain, it’s also translated as “covet” and “lust” in other places. Basically, it means having a strong desire for something that is not yours, that does not belong to you and that you probably shouldn’t have. Greed is about much more than just money. It’s about stuff. It’s about wanting what your neighbors have. It’s about desiring someone you’re not married to. It’s a heart disease that strikes at the root of who we are, what we have, and what we want. And all the while, we forget that, every week here, we pray that prayer Jesus taught us. Do you remember what’s in that prayer? “Give us this day our daily bread.” Not our “weekly” bread. Not “enough bread for the year, or next year, or for retirement.” Daily bread. That’s a hard prayer for us to really pray, even though the words are easy enough to repeat, because when we really pray that, we have to ask why we have so much stuff. Why have we let greed have such a strong hold on us?

It’s easy to blame our culture. After all, we live in a consumer-driven culture, and fairly soon, all of the retailers will be telling us how we need things and how we ought to purchase big ticket items for Christmas for each other. That, they say, will make us happy and content. It’s a lie. It may make us content for a few moments, until the next big ticket item comes along. The only person we make happy is the retailer, on his or her way to the bank. And yes, the culture is “stuff-happy,” but it’s the culture we have created. Greed is not ultimately a culture issue. It’s a heart issue.

So how do we confront and combat this enemy called “greed”? Winning the war against greed requires us to have a changed attitude and a faithful practice. The attitude is called “stewardship.” Now, I’m not talking about giving—that’ll come in a few moments! Stewardship is about more than giving. Stewardship is a lifestyle, an attitude, a recognition that it all belongs to God and we are only the stewards, the keepers of what we have. We don’t own it. Even if our name is on the title or the contract, we don’t own it. It is God’s world, and he owns it all. In fact, in the very first pages of the Bible, that is clear. The command given to the first man and woman was to take care of the Garden God gave them (Genesis 2:15). Jesus says, “Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” (12:15), but for the greedy person, life is all about stuff. The stuff is an extension of who they are (cf. Stanley 72). For the steward, the stuff is just that—stuff. The real question for the steward is this: “Why does God give me more than I need?”

The answer, for the steward, is: so that we can engage in the practice of generosity. That’s one of the values we have here at this church: extravagant generosity. Unlike the man in Jesus’ parable, the steward asks, “Lord, what do you want me to do with the extra you have given me? How can I bless others with the blessings you have given me?” Greed is conquered by generosity. The practice of generosity calls us to trust God more than we trust our things, our bank accounts, our equity statements and the stock market. The practice of generosity reminds us that we have what we have so that we can bless the lives of others. Generosity is the practice of giving unselfishly so that we can make a difference in the lives of others for the cause of Jesus Christ. Extravagant generosity is taking that to the next level, sharing what we have and giving of our resources in unexpected and lavish ways, sacrificing what we have for the sake of others and for the sake of the kingdom of God. Research has shown that not only do Christians find more joy in their faith when they practice generosity, but congregations grow to the extent they are willing to be generous (Schnase, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, pg. 112).

The practical way we talk in this church about carrying that out is through the Biblical practice of tithing—giving the first ten percent of what we have to Jesus through his church. We have had a long-term goal of becoming a tithing church where all of us understand and are practicing at least that as a witness of our generosity. After all, the local church—Portage First—leads the way by tithing to the general church, to make camps and missionaries and works of mercy and kindness possible all over the world. But it’s hard for us to think about tithing, and yet I know that practice is the one that most challenges the greed in my heart. Cathy and I have not always gotten it right, and so I’m not setting us up as some sort of saints, but my experience is all I know, so that’s why I share it. Early on in our marriage, we justified not giving anything to the church we were a part of because we didn’t have much. We had very little income. And, to tell you the truth, I don’t know what it was exactly that turned my heart around, because I’m the one who manages our finances. But somewhere along the way, we were challenged to begin tithing, even on what little we had. In one of my Old Testament classes, I read about the only way we’re allowed to test God. In the prophet Malachi, God says directly we can test him in this: in tithing. He says, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse…test me in this…and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be enough room to store it” (Malachi 3:10). Now, this is not a “health and wealth,” prosperity message. It’s not about being blessed so we can have more. The message of the Bible is constantly this: when God blesses you, it’s so that you can be a blessing to others. God promised to pour out more on Israel so that they could bless their neighbors more. And he still does that. Test me in this, he says, and so we did. Cathy and I began making sure that the first check we wrote every week was ten percent to the church. And we always had enough. Always. God has been faithful to provide.

So then, we found ourselves, still in seminary, at a free concert at a local church where the call was made to sponsor children in a third world nation. And there was this undeniable tug at my heart, saying, “You’re blessed to be a blessing.” We still didn’t have much, but we began sponsoring a child. And we had enough. And then a friend went to Africa as a missionary, and asked if we could support him. So we did. And we had enough. And then another friend went to be a missionary in east Asia. Could we support her? So we did. And we had enough. We’ve always been blessed and we have sought to be a blessing. Now, our practice of generosity has been that the first ten percent goes to whatever church we are a part of. Other things and persons that we support come after that. One Advent, I had this crazy idea that I would say “yes” to every organization that asked for help by sending a little bit to them. And I felt good about that—until I realized that just put me on their mailing list to ask for more! But we’ve always had enough.

Now, greed still lurks around. The greed in my heart has not been completely defeated yet; the battles rages on. But when that shiny thing beckons, I remember I have made these commitments first. And I am always seeking to be ever more generous because only generosity can defeat greed.

Bishop Robert Schnase points out that church folks 150 years ago faithfully tithed, even though they had very little. Today, most folks give about 1 1/2% rather than the ten we’re called to start with in the Bible. Schnase says that’s because “our society’s values shape our perceptions more than our faith’s values do” (115). He wonders why the other practices of the faith are helpful but tithing is not considered to be? Do we really believe greed doesn’t have that big a hold on us? If we do, we’re deceiving ourselves. He asks, “Is the avoidance of tithing a fruit of faithfulness, or the result of submission to the values of a consumerist culture?” In our heart of hearts, we know the answer to that question. And then, he reminds us that we are reaping the benefits, even now, of someone’s extravagant generosity. I’m going to share his words here because he says it better than I can. “Every sanctuary and chapel in which we have worshiped, every church organ that has lifted our spirits, every pew where we have sat, every communion rail where we have knelt, every hymnal from which we have sung, every praise band that has touched our hearts, every church classroom where we have gathered with our friends, every church kitchen that has prepared our meals, every church van that has taken us to camp, every church camp cabin where we have slept—all are the fruit of someone’s Extravagant Generosity. We have been the recipients of grace upon grace. We are the heirs, the beneficiaries of those who came before us who were touched by the generosity of Christ enough to give graciously so that we could experience the truth of Christ for ourselves. We owe the same to generations to come” (116). The first step in conquering greed is practicing the tithe, so that others may come to know Jesus as we have.

But because greed is a heart issue, simply writing a check will not conquer it completely. There is also a need to put our feet into action and give ourselves away as much as our money. In just a couple of weeks, you have a small opportunity to do that during our Faith in Action Sunday. September 28 is the day; we’ll gather here at 10:00 for a short worship service and then send you out to work on projects for our community. You see, we can get just as greedy with our time and our energy as we do with our money. So there are projects of all sorts you can sign up for and get involved with. There will be a group writing words of encouragement to soldiers serving our country. The choir will be going to sing to those who are in long-term care facilities, and anyone who wants to sing is welcome to go with them. Mission Possible Kids will be taking DVDs and games to ministries that reach out to children in need, to share some of what they have with others. There will be a group giving of their time in praying for our community and our world, and it’s no secret that there is a huge need for that! Others are invited to make gift tags for the Christmas gift lift, presents that will go to those who might otherwise not have a Christmas to celebrate. And there will be a huge group setting up for this fall’s Rummage Sale in the fellowship hall, unloading the shed and setting up tables.

And then there is one other project that we will want everyone’s help with, and that’s our annual “Stepping Out, Stopping Hunger” campaign. We’ve done this for several years now, and while it may seem “old hat,” the need is still real. There are still hungry people in our own community. You may not see them, but they are there. And so we set out to, in a single week, collect enough food to fill the food pantry for a whole month. That’s somewhere around 10,000 pounds of food, give or take. Next Sunday, you will receive bags to fill, and you can fill them yourselves, or you can give your neighbors a chance to participate as well, to practice generosity. Our youth groups are going out next Sunday afternoon and making food collection into a scavenger hunt. We just ask that you fill the bags and bring them back in on Faith in Action Sunday. Now, again, here is an area where I struggle with greed. I remember very distinctly on one of these collections, I was standing in the aisle at the grocery store and picking out some food to put in the bags, some canned goods. My arm reached for the cheapest stuff on the shelf, and I felt a voice speak to my heart asking, “Is that what you serve your family, Dennis?” Well, no, I get the good stuff right next to it. “Why, then,” the voice asked, “are you getting the cheaper stuff for the other folks?” Well, to be honest, it’s because of the greed in my heart. Giving—generosity—extends to the way we meet the needs of others.

But, again, it’s more than writing a check. We’re called to community, to relationships, to investing in lives rather that just meeting needs. Meeting needs is important, but if we only are generous toward the faceless, nameless masses, have we truly made a difference for Christ? Generosity calls us to give of our time and our energy to serving others, actual persons. Here’s a question for us: do you know your neighbors? Do you know them well enough to know if there is a need in their family? And would you be willing to help meet a need? We have to invest in people’s lives to make a real difference, and that sort of investment also combats the greed and selfishness that surrounds us. The Triads that will be starting up this Tuesday will help us do better at that, as we invest in each others’ lives and invest in the life of our community.

There’s one other area, very quickly, where greed often settles in, and that’s when we get to retirement. The world tells us to do exactly what the foolish man in the parable did: eat, drink and be merry, take life easy. Sit on your porch, play golf, take care of yourself. You’ve earned it. You owe you this. But that’s not the call of the Bible. Billy Graham is famous for reminding us there is no such thing as retirement in the Bible. We may quit doing our paying job, but that just frees up time to be able to give of ourselves to others. I’ve watched my folks do this, as they’ve become involved in children’s ministry and Habitat for Humanity. Another man I know has been leading mission trips for his church; in fact, he’s rarely in town because he’s usually off somewhere making a difference. In this church, many of our retirees give of themselves. It’s not unusual to come in the building and see Bob Kellams or Jim Smith or Ron Cutler working on something that has broken or needs fixing up. Some of you volunteer at the Food Pantry or in other service areas. And of course, we’ve all benefitted from Connie and Tom Ellefson’s retirement, as they dove right into helping make the Education Wing the best it could be. Many, many others I could name, folks who aren’t content to be greedy but rather want to give of themselves to make a real difference. 

What about you? Where does greed most threaten to control your life? Do you find yourself being rich toward yourself rather than being rich toward God? God is calling you to give of what you have—time, talents, energy—to build his kingdom rather than your own. And when we do that, the world will think we are the foolish ones. Greed is the way to go, the world says. To do anything else, to live any other way, is crazy. That’s why I smiled when I ran across, on Facebook of all places, a Franciscan benediction, and I knew right away these were the words I wanted to close with this morning. The benediction says this: “May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world.” Amen.