Guard Against Greed
Lenten Devotional Series Day 37. Today’s meditation is on Luke 12:13-21.
It seemed like a fair request. Jesus had been teaching the crowds that, as much as God cares for the sparrows in the world, he cares infinitely more for His people. He even knows the number of hairs on our heads! Surely Jesus would want to know about the trouble at home. So, the man spoke up: “Tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me!”
The man was likely a younger brother whose father had died. As was customary, his older brother had probably gotten the bulk of the inheritance. But this man wanted more. Perhaps he had been the one at his father’s side as he lay ill. Perhaps he had stayed home and cared for the estate while his older brother pursued his own interests. We are not told the reason, but the subtext is clear. “Jesus, make my brother give me what I deserve!”
Instead, Jesus asks, “Who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” Then, for the benefit of everyone, he says, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” These words strike at the root of the tangled, thorn-ridden weed that had taken hold in the man’s heart, a weed that winds its way through our hearts as well–entitlement.
The entitlement mentality says, “I am owed. I deserve.” It leads this man to demand that Jesus intervene on his behalf. Why then does Jesus respond with a warning against all greed? Because entitlement is the way we justify greed. In our daily lives, few of us could get away with blatantly greedy behavior. But, we can justify getting that which we think we deserve.
But where does it end? How far does our entitlement extend? This has been a recent question in our country, and not without consequence, as many think this mentality is a large part of what led to the housing crisis. Does everyone deserve to own a home? What else do with think we deserve?
Jesus’ answer not only to the particular question but the issue as a whole, is striking. He tells a story of a man who, having experienced bountiful harvests, decides to retire early, storing his excess grain and planning to live off it for the rest of his days. And Luke, skilled narrator that he is, gives us a clue into the man’s mentality as the word my is repeated like a drumbeat:
17 “What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store MY crops?’
18 I will tear 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.’
In response, God says, “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” The message is twofold: First, we are entitled to nothing, since even that for which we worked so hard can be taken away in a moment. And second, we own nothing in this world, not even our own souls.
Neither entitlement nor ownership. These truths are the remedy for greed. They kill it at the root, and the produce two kinds of sweet fruit: gratitude and generosity. Let’s reflect on each a little more.
When it comes to entitlement, the Bible teaches that we are deserve nothing other than God’s eternal wrath. But it also teaches that those who have trusted in Christ will never experience that wrath. This biblical picture of the human condition is not a popular one. Yet transformation awaits those who will see themselves truly in this light. The root of entitlement, which says, “Give me what I most deserve” is replaced by the root of grace, which says, “I am given what I least deserve!” Instead of greed, the fruit is gratitude.
Instead of ownership, the Bible says that we have a very different kind of relationship with our possessions. We are not owners, but stewards, caretakers of all that belongs to God. Stewardship frees us to leave a life of greed and pursue a life of generosity. With this in mind, Jesus goes on to say, “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Luke 12:33-34. Instead of greed, the fruit is generosity.
Today in prayer, begin with the Collect of the Day (below). Consider before the Lord whether you have any feelings of entitlement. Confess them to him as a way of guarding against greed. Then put your faith in Christ, trusting him for his love and mercy instead of what you truly deserve. Ask God to replace greed with gratitude and generosity, and then finish with the Lord’s Prayer.
Collect of the Day. Almighty God, we ask you mercifully to look upon your people; that by your great goodness they may be governed and preserved for ever, both in body and soul, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.