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Intro
1. Last
summer the London Zoo posted a sign in front of their newest exhibit.
It read: "Warning: Humans in Their Natural Environment."
a.
The exhibit featured eight Homo sapiens in a sealed enclosure adjacent to
another sealed enclosure of various primates. The human "captives"
spent their time sunning on a rock ledge, playing board games, and waving to
spectators. A signboard informed visitors about the species' diet, habitat,
worldwide distribution, and threats.
b.
The goal of the exhibit, according to Zoo spokesperson Polly Wills, was to
downplay the uniqueness of human beings as a species. "Seeing people in a
different environment, among other animals," said Wills, "teaches
members of the public that the human is just another primate."
Tom Mahoney, one of the participants in the exhibit, agreed. "A lot
of people think that humans are above other animals," he said. "When
they see humans as animals, here, it kind of reminds them that we're not that
special." ["Humans Are
Ones on Display at
London
Zoo," yahoonews (
8-26-05
)]
2. Is
the zoo true?
a.
The Bible says: NO.
1)
Last week we saw how God made us in his image.
That is, God made us to relate to him and others in love, to rule for
him, and gave us resources to do this.
2)
When we reflected God in these ways, the result was
Paradise
.
b.
Paradise
didn’t last. Human beings tried
to become like God and ended up becoming sub human.
3. Paul writes Colossians to
people who were on the way to being recreated in God’s image by following
Jesus Christ. He bluntly warns them
to stop behavior which blocks this transformation.
Colossians 3.1-6:
Since,
then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where
Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not
on earthly things. For you died, and
your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with
him in glory. Put to death,
therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity,
lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.
V 5 is A
blunt command: Put
to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature.
1.
There’s a big difference b/t hunting a bear and trying to keep one as a pet.
Paul says: When it comes to
this stuff, don’t keep pets. Shoot
to kill.
2. Whatever
belongs to your earthly nature. What’s
that? Your love for chocolate?
No. Backtrack to vv 1-4 and you see what he means.
a.
The contrast there is b/t seeking ultimate satisfaction in your relationship
with God through Christ, and seeking it (good) things God has made.
b.
So, we must put to death the practice of seeking ultimate fulfillment through
parts of creation rather than in knowing the Creator.
Listen again to Paul’s list
in v 5 of what to put to death. Put
to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality,
impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
What’s he most
concerned about? The
greatest threat to God’s image being restored in us?
1. It’s
not misuse of our sexuality.
a.
Obviously, it’s a big threat. The
first thing Paul says to put to death here is
pornei,an..
Guess what word we get from that? God
says to put to death everything from sex outside of marriage to evil desires
which spark it. This is a topic for
another day, but just note that porn never led anyone to sparkling joy, that
Wilt Chamberlain didn’t find satisfaction in his 20,000 conquests.
People long for God and hammer the sex button. God says: “Stop!”
b.
But the greatest threat to being our true selves is not misuse of our sexuality.
Greed is. Paul shows this in
three ways.
1)
He lists greed last. The final word
is the climax of the verse. (Like 1
Co 13: three
things remain, faith hope and love, the greatest of these is love)
Here: Put
to death….and greed.
2)
He also highlights greed w/ two small words.
In Greek, you don’t need to put an and
before the final word in a list (example: it’s not there in v 8).
Paul does this here to set greed apart.
He also puts the word the in front of greed—which doesn’t come through in smooth
English.
3)
Finally, Paul adds a phrase to describe greed:
…greed, which is idolatry.
c.
In making a bigger deal about greed than sex gone sideways, Paul is following
Jesus, who also said much more about money.
Why? Because greed is a
stealth sin. Notice the
progression in v 5. He starts
with a sin as easily noticed as natural gas, and ends up with one as hard to
detect as radon gas.
2. And
now to the last phrase, ….…greed,
which is idolatry. Do
you know what Jesus warns about more than misuse of money?
Most of all? According to material sold by Faith Alive, Jesus warns most
of all against idolatry. Col 3.5
says: Greed is idolatry.
a.
Idolatry is worshipping false gods. In
Paul’s day people worshipped gods and goddesses like Apollo
and Aphrodite in order to have a fulfilling life.
Greed is seeking a fulfilling life in money and what money can buy.
A person in the grip of greed worships an false god, the god Money.
Trusts in money and what money can buy for security and a fulfilling
life.
b.
How well does the god Money satisfy?
1)
Numbers from Investment News (
5/6/02
): What
are the odds of winning the state lottery?
1 to….7 million. What are
the odds that a lottery winner will file for bankruptcy:
1 in…3.
2)
Our family of churches did a survey some time ago.
In the CRC, those making under 20k gave 7.7% of their income back to God.
Those making 80k and up gave back 4.2%.
3)
The more you have, the more you want, the more you think you need—and that’s
greed. The Bible says in Eccl 5.10:
He who loves money never has money
enough. Col 3.5 calls it greed,
which is idolatry. False gods
can’t satisfy. And then you die,
and leave it all behind.
c. V 6 says what the true
God thinks of this false god: Because
of these, the wrath of God is coming.
1)
Greed is rejecting God as the one who can alone can satisfy, and it’s hurting
people God loves. Motivated by
greed, mechanics lie, hackers steal identities, predators peddle drugs and porn,
CEOs pillage companies, credit card companies incite crippling debt,
citizens trash their integrity on 1040s, spouses neglect their mates, parents
neglect their children, and more people die of hunger every 10 days than were
killed in the tsunami.
2)
Because of these, the wrath of God is
coming. God’s wrath isn’t
flying into a rage. God’s wrath is
walking away. Letting people die in
the cold arms of the false god they have chosen.
January
is national radon month. Do you know
what radon is? Radon
is a cancer-causing, radioactive gas—the
second leading cause of lung cancer in the
US
.
You can't see radon.
And you can't smell it or taste it. But
you can test for it. Greed is like
radon: deadly, hard to detect. How
do you test for greed?
1. Check
your prayers. Who are they
about?
a.
If greed has its hooks in us, we pray mostly about our own needs and wants.
A person closer to Jesus is also asking God to help others, wants God to
help others with their needs. “Give US this day our daily bread.”
b.
Check your prayers. Who do you pray
for? With passion?
2. Check
your backbone.
a.
Can you say NO to buying something others have or do?
Something you can’t afford to have or do without going into debt
shorting God? Can you tell your kids
NO when they want you to buy what others have but you can’t afford?
b.
I remember coming up to my dad in 8th grade, not for the 1st
time. Asking for a snowmobile. This
time I had my gun loaded. Brent to
Dad: “Dad, I checked, and every
family in my class, except us and one other, has a snowmobile.”
Dad to Brent: “If that other family gets a snowmobile, you know what?
You’ll be the only kid in your class
without a snowmobile. We can’t
afford a snowmobile. Not going to
happen.”
c.
I survived. Looking back, I think I
learned a little something about contentment. Our home remained free from the
stress of debt. My mom and dad kept
right on being givers. My brothers and I learned from the quality of their lives
that it really is more blessed to give than to receive.
3.
Which points to #3: Check your
checkbook.
a.
If you got a gift card to Sports Chalet for Christmas, what would you buy?
You’d buy what you love, right? If
you love golf, you’ll buy golf stuff. If
you like clothes more than sports, you’ll go for clothes.
And so on.
b.
We buy what we love. We put money on
what we value most. And we don’t
spend money on what we don’t care much about.
c.
Check your checkbook. Or your credit
card statement. Or your on line
banking record. Where your money
goes shows what you love. What do
your records say about your love for God?
4. Check
your dreams.
a.
Why would you want more money?
If you daydream about what it would be like if your income soared, or
just think about a bump in income, what comes to mind?
How would you use the money? Is
it all about you? If so, imagine the
greed detector going off.
b.
Eric Grasmeyer’s a college Junior. I
was asking him about what he was planning to do, what he thought God wanted him
to do with his life. He said
something like: “I want to make a
lot of money. The wrong people have
the money. They just spend it on
themselves. The right people need to
have the money so it will go to the right places.”
c.
Check your dream. Is it to give, or
to get?
I hope this little check list has helped us check for greed.
What do we do if we find it? Colossians
3.5 is clear: shoot to kill.
Put it to death. But how?
How do you put greed to death?
1.
First move is: Confess it. You
can’t kill a sin unless you admit you’ve committed it and are sorry about
it.
a.
Next week we celebrate the Lord’s Supper.
In line with 1 Co 11, it’s our practice to examine our lives before God
for sin b/f participating in the Supper. What
we learn from Jesus and Paul is that greed nearly tops the sin charts.
If this was true peasants in
Palestine
and first generation Christians who tended to be lower class, it’s certainly
true for mostly middle class members of LBCRC who live in the richest country in
the world.
b.
Do you see that too often you pray just for you, don’t dare to say NO, give
God leftovers rather than your first and best, dream about getting? Tell God
you’re sorry, and remember that Jesus died to pay for our sins, including the
sin of greed.
2.
Confess the sin of greed. And turn
to God for something BETTER.
a.
When little kids are doing something wrong and dangerous like trying to pry the
little safety thingy out of an outlet, you tell them to stop, but you don’t
stop there. You give ‘em something
better to do or to play with.
b.
God offers us something better than God-rejecting, people hurting, unfulfilling
greed. Drop down a few verses.
V 10 says that through Christ, God is at work to renew us in his image,
the image of our Creator.
1)
You see, we don’t belong in zoos as exhibits.
2)
God made us special, to bear his image. God
our Creator is so full of love, contentment, and joy that he wants to gladly
give. I want to be more like our
God, don’t you?
Conclusion
1. This
week, work to detect the sin of greed, so you can confess it.
2.
Then come back next Sunday ready to celebrate God’s grace in the Lord’s
Supper, and to hear more about God’s “something better”—his extreme
makeover.
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