The Teachings of Jesus: Greed

Someone in the crowd said to (Jesus), “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 toward God.”~ Luke 12:13-21
He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have. ~ Socrates

 You can't take it with you. ~ Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman

More, more, more.

 That seems to be the thesis of modern Western Culture.

 According to the text here from Luke, maybe it's been the thesis all along.

 I certainly can fall into the trap. But time and time again, more proves Socrates' point: more doesn't fix it.

 And for our hero in Jesus' parable here, more ended up not only not fixing it, but ruining it. More ended up wasting him precious time. More ended up being something he would literally never get to enjoy.

 Nowhere here does Jesus condemn the ownership of property or of having wealth in and of itself. 

 But how, he wants to know, do we use it?

 And are we satisfied with what we have?

 For the young man questioning Jesus at the beginning, he seemed quite unsatisfied with what he had. 

 For the man in the parable, he seemed too satisfied and so doesn't use it as he could have - or should have.

 Jesus talked about money more than nearly any other topic except the Kingdom of God. He knew the dangers surrounding it: the dangers of always wanting more, and the dangers of hoarding what we already have.

 Instead, Jesus invites using our resources in ways that are generous, healthy, and fruitful.
Prayer: Lord, I know that Gordon Gecko was wrong: Greed is not good! Remind me of that...I'll probably need more than a few nudges! Amen

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