Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23 | Psalm 49:1-12 | Colossians 3:1-11 | Luke 12:13-21
Luke 12:13-21
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’ 14 But he said to him, ‘Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’ 15 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.’ 16 Then he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17 And he thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” 18 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. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” 20 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?” 21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.’
Introduction
The new law of evolution in corporate America seems to be survival of the un-fittest… The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms—greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge—has marked the upward surge of mankind... Thank you very much.[1]
What you just heard was part of a speech made by Michael Douglas’s character in a 1987 film called Wall Street. We may hesitate at the rhetoric of it, but I wonder how much we really disagree with the fundamental premise of it.[2] This is, in fact, a commonly accepted principle in sociology and evolutionary biology. An article from Psychology Today notes: “Altruism may attract our admiration, but it is greed that our society encourages and rewards, and that delivers the goods and riches on which we have come to depend.”[3] Indeed, an Oxford-based research group published findings that seem to support this idea, using mathematical models of human social groups.[4] The advantageous nature of greed is now common knowledge.
But—and here’s the difficulty with this common knowledge—Jesus disagrees. And so, here’s the question for the remained of this sermon. What’s the problem with greed?
To really explore that question in this passage, we first need to understand what greed is. It is often defined as an intense and self-interested desire for something. That seems obvious enough. But Jesus adds to the definition, giving us a big clue in the warning he offers before he tells the parable. He says: “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Greed is mistaking what your life is about. It is intensely and selfishly desiring something, so much so that your life becomes about it—to the exclusion of more important things. In this case, Jesus specifically refers to material possessions, presumably because the presenting question is about dividing an inheritance. But he applies it more broadly, of course, drawing two very important conclusions in his parable: Greed does not secure, and greed does not satisfy.
1. Greed does not secure.
Firstly, greed does not secure. In the parable, the rich man reveals what he thinks that it will. In fact, this is the reason he wants to bigger barns, because then his stuff will last him a long, long time. He’s counting on his things—his grains and possessions and their enduring value—to secure his future.[5] And to an extent, this is reasonable. Planning for the future—saving for the future—is a reasonable thing to do. It’s prudent. It’s sensible. And let’s be clear, Jesus does not suggest that he should be spending it. This is not promoting a philosophy of living for the moment—carpe diem (which my wife, the Latin scholar, assures me does not mean fish of the day).
The problem is one of reliance. The rich man thinks that by storing his things, by securing his future in possessions, that his future is somehow, actually, secure. But Jesus challenges this notion. What good will storehouses of stuff do for your future when your life is demanded of you? Will that stuff give your life significance? Will anything for which you are desirous? Anything on which you have relied? Will any of this success and wealth give your life significance in the end? These are important questions for us. In what are we securing our future? Our bank accounts? Our reputations? Our jobs? Our health? Our homes? Will any of these things secure us when it comes time to depart this life and stand before God?
2. Greed does not satisfy.
Secondly, greed does not satisfy. Having made a plan for securing his future by storing his stuff, the rich man turns to immediate. “Relax, eat, drink, be merry.” The future is secure. Time to pursue some happiness.[6] You can’t have too much because you can’t have too much pleasure. Follow your passions. Pursue whatever makes you happy. Love who you want to love. Eat dessert every night. Life is hard. You deserve to be satisfied.
Except that Jesus, at the end of the parable, challenges this notion as well. When you are dead, what could it possibly matter what you had for dinner (unless, of course, you were poisoned). But still, the point is the same. The things we chase in this life—the highs and the thrills and the obsessions—do they really satisfy in any kind of meaningful way? Do they serve us when we are dead?
But again, do not misunderstand me. I’m not fatalistic and I don’t think Jesus us nihilistic. The problem is not eating and drinking. Nobody suggests that we should be unhappy. But rather, the question is one of perspective. Jesus is pushing this crowd, through this parable, to see from an eternal perspective. Food and drink and sex and power and whatever you think is going to spark joy in this life, will not—they cannot—satisfy in an ultimate sense. Something is more important.
3. So, what does secure and satisfy?
If greed does not secure nor satisfy, what will? If reliance on stuff—whether material goods or degrees or jobs or anything else, for future prosperity or fleeting pleasure will ultimately disappoint—what won’t? Is there something that actually can secure and satisfy in the eternal? Jesus gives a clue in the last sentence. “So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.” The man had made his plans of storing his things and enjoying them—all without reference to God. But Jesus indicates that there is something more important than simply being rich: being rich towards God.
In fact, Jesus makes this point in the very next passage: “He said to his disciples, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.’”[7] He continues: “…your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”[8] The riches that matter in the end—that could have mattered for this rich farmer with big storehouses—are the treasures of the kingdom of God. And don’t miss this. God knows precisely what we need—better than we do. He knows what food and drink and clothing are necessary.[9] Much more so. He knows the salvation we need—and provided for it in the gospel, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And so, we need not be base creatures, the carnal and fleshly beings that seek only for our own well-being, security, and satisfaction—greedy for ourselves. But rather, as Paul put it in the Colossians reading—those who have faith in Christ Jesus, those who, verse 1: “…have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” Verse 5: “Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly.” Instead, verse 15: “…let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.”[10]
Conclusion
This is not easy. I’m sympathetic. When you have bills to pay, having the money to pay them seems so important. When you have frustrations and disappointments in your life, momentary pleasures seem so satisfying. And it is so easy to look to anything but God, to ignore him and the kingdom that Jesus Christ brings. But it does matter for the eternal. How we save and manage and even pursue pleasure in this life matters very much to God. But that we rely on him, for our security and satisfaction, matters most.
Let me pray. Heavenly Father, help us to be those who pursue for your kingdom and find our riches in you, knowing that you have provided that which we need most. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.
[1] Stanley Weiser and Oliver Stone, Wall Street (Twentieth Century Fox, 1987). This speech was based on an actual speech at the Berkley School of Business by Ivan Boesky, an American stock trader (right up until he went to prison for insider trading).
[2] It is, of course, our recent history. Wars and major world conflicts, up until the 18th century, were primarily over religious ideas. Then, in the 18th century, in the newly formed United States of America and France, there was a shift. Now major world conflicts were primarily centred around political ideologies. But since the fall of the USSR in 1989, major world conflicts have primarily focused on economic issues. Wealth and its distribution is the centre.
[3] Neel Burton, “Is Greed Good? The Psychology and Philosophy of Greed,” Psychology Today, October 6, 2014. psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201410/is-greed-good
[4] This study was referenced in Jeffrey Kluger, “Science Proves It: Greed Is Good” in Time, March 28, 2014. time.com/41680/greed-is-good-science-proves/
[5] This would correspond to be the branch of virtue ethics and positive psychology that is oriented toward subjective well-being, an individual’s estimation of their well-being.
[6] This would correspond to be the branch of virtue ethics and positive psychology that is oriented toward positive emotions, an individual’s sense of temporal life and sensual pleasure in the Epicurean sense.
[7] Luke 12:22-23.
[8] Luke 12:30b-31.
[9] It is actually in the food and drink of the Eucharist that this assurance of salvation is experienced.
[10] These verses are taken from Colossians 3:1-11.