2cent Sunday

Greed. What’s the first thing you think of when you hear that word? Did you think of money? Did you think of material possessions? Did you think of Wall Street Bankers? What first comes to mind upon hearing that word can be telling of what is in the heart.

My mind leaps to money but greed comes in all forms. My pastor has preached a series on financial stewardship that he has entitled Greed, Gratitude and Generosity. I’ve been loving each and every word. If you are interested in this series, you can find it here.

The sermon concerning Greed was based upon Luke 12:16-20 which says,

¹⁶ And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. ¹⁷He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

¹⁸ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. ¹⁹ And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

²⁰ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

Notice this man and his blessings. His harvest was abundant, so much so that he decided to build bigger barns for his crops which he thought he could then retire and live on his fruitfulness. God’s words to him seem harsh here. You fool, you will die this very night and then who will profit from your abundance? From this I take that we too often rely on what we can make for ourselves, how we can provide for ourselves. In our abundance we build “bigger barns” (read more cars, boats, houses and “stuff”) when really our days are numbered and we should trust in “the Lord of the Harvest” for our provision. The man in this parable decided the solution to his problems was to build a bigger barn. How could he have chosen differently? What if instead of building a bigger barn, what if he would have taken that grain and fed the multitudes? That would have given him the opportunity to trust the Lord for his remaining days AND blessed many.

When tempted to “build bigger barns” (as we all are) let us think about our blessings and how we might bless others. How different would the world look if just a few of us chose to live in this manner?