"The Mania of Greed"
Rev. Alan Breems
Oasis Community Church, Moreno Valley, CA
Text: Eccl. 5:18-20
Every year at new years the Chinese designate that year after a certain
animal, the year of the pig or the snake or whatever. Well, this year at
Oasis, instead of naming our new year after an animal, we have chosen a
much more appropriate name for the new year, the year of the disciple.
Do you know what a disciple is? It is someone who is a learner from,
and follower of, someone else. For us, the someone else is our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ, and the reason why we want to focus on being disciples
is because it is an area of the Christian life which is often overlooked
or swept to the side, but which we want to bring to center court in the
new year.
You see discipleship, being a disciple of Jesus is sort of like the
marriage that comes after the wedding. A lot of people focus all kinds
of time, energy and money on a wedding, and do little to work on the marriage
that follows the wedding. When it comes to being a Christian, our initial
commitment to Jesus is sort of like the wedding. We make our vows to Him,
and in a sense He makes His vows to us, but what we want to forget about
is that being a Christian is more than your initial opening of heart to
Jesus or beginning to believe in Him or trust Him as your personal Savior.
It also involves a lifelong relationship with Him, a relationship that
requires a life long process of discipleship or learning from Him.
And it is that road of discipleship, the road that follows the example
that Jesus set for us when He walked this earth, the road mapped out for
us in the Bible that will be our focus for this new year at Oasis.
And to get us started on this road, I'd like to begin a new series message
entitled a Disciple and the Mania of Money. Now you may wonder, "Why start
with money? Why not start with prayer or worship or reading the Bible or
living a good moral life? Why start with the topic of money when it comes
to the road or pathway of discipleship?"
Well, there are a couple of reasons why. One of them has to do with
the fact that Jesus Himself who is our disciple, the one with whom we need
to develop a lifelong relationship as Christians spoke more about money
than any other topic in the Bible. Did you know that? More than prayer,
more than witnessing, Jesus spoke very clearly and specifically about money.
As a matter of fact, the entire Bible is filled with stories and teachings
about the topic of money.
And the reason why Jesus and the Bible itself speaks so often and so
forthrightly about money has to do with the second reason why I believe
money is a good place for us to start our look at the topic of discipleship
in this church, and that is that money is one of the most powerful weapons
in the hands of our enemy the devil. The devil throughout history and especially
today uses the money to destroy homes, marriages, businesses, countries,
and many, many people's personal lives.
But you know what? There's one other reason why I believe money is an
excellent place to start in taking a look at what it takes to become a
Christian disciple. And the reason is that money is perhaps one of the
best indicators we have to tell how we are doing as a disciple of Jesus.
Jesus said, "Where a person puts their money or treasure is where a
person's heart is." Talk is cheap. Anyone can talk about what it takes
to be a Christian. Anyone can talk about how great God is or what the Bible
teaches about certain things. But the true test of a disciple, Jesus said,
is found in their fruits, in their actions. And one of the clearest insights
I believe you can find into a person, especially here in America, is to
see what they do with the money that God gives to them.
Now, the book of Ecclesiastes, from which we are going to read to this
morning, was written by a man who had tons of money. His name was Solomon,
and he was one of the richest and wisest kings in the history of Israel.
He lived about 2800 years ago; and yet, what he teaches in this book is
definitely for today.
The mania of money that he addresses in the verses we are about to read
is the first mania that we are going to take a look at in this series of
messages about the mania of money, and that is the mania of greed. Greed
is the desire to want more and more and more of something, especially money.
Jesus said in connection with greed, "Watch out! Be on guard against
all kinds of greed!" Evidently, he knew what destructive force greed could
become in a person's life. And it's interesting that even one of the richest
men in the history of the world, Solomon, would warn us about the effects
of greed.
Truth of the matter is it doesn't matter who you are, we are all susceptible
to the mania, the craziness, that's what the word mania means, of greed.
And that's why we need to start this new year with the wisdom of God. Ecc.
was written for that purpose.
Now, I'd like to start with understanding what I call the symptoms of
greed. In v. 10, Solomon outlines some of
the ways in which you and I can identify whether we have been bitten so
to speak with the bug of greed or not. Here's what he had to say....
How can you tell if greed has gotten to you? It's a sneaky thing, but
there are some ways that I believe Solomon helps us look at our own lives
to identify the greed in all of us, things which have very much to do with
our discipleship, how or whether we truly are following Jesus, how or whether
we truly do have close what is sometimes called Godly relationship with
Jesus.
Here's the first symptom: the love of money. I
Tim. 6 says that the love of money is the root of all evil. Solomon
seems to say the same thing when he says; "Whoever loves money never has
money enough...." But what does the Bible mean by that that the love of
money is somehow wrong or evil? Does it mean that it is wrong to enjoy
or desire money? Are we supposed to be repulsed by or hate money? Who doesn't
like money? Right?
Does it mean if the Publisher's Clearinghouse rolls up to our door with
a million dollars we are supposed to hide and say, "Oh no! They're bringing
us money!" Or if we get a card from Aunt Martha with money in it, are we
supposed to say, "Oh, dog gone that Aunt Martha, all she does is send us
money!"
What's so bad about loving money? Well, when the Bible talks about the
"love of money," it's not talking about liking money or enjoying money;
rather, it is talking about liking it too much to a point where our like
or enjoyment of money has turned into a "love relationship" with money.
Paul, who wrote many letters to the early Christians about what it takes
to be a true disciple or follower of Jesus in the New Testament often would
equate greediness with another sin. Do know what it was? Idolatry, in Col
3:5 and Eph 5:5 he says that greedy people really are idol worshippers.
In the old days and in some countries today, people actually worship
idols made of wood or gold or some other metal. And the Bible was very
explicit: that type of worship of idols was wrong, that the only worship
we should do is a worship of the one true living God who has revealed Himself
in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
But even if most of us don't do that, don't bow before an idol, that
doesn't mean that because of our greed we don't in our own ways made an
idol out of our money or the things that we can buy with our money. You
know the things we get greedy for -- money, food, sex, power, material
goods-- can function as little gods. When we get depressed, we turn to
them for comfort. When we're happy, we give them the credit. And before
we know, we are not only worshipping them. We are their slaves. Someone
once said money is a great servant, but it is a terrible master.
Who is it or what is it that is your master in life- the thing or person
that you love the most, right? And whatever masters us disciples us. The
Bible says God is a jealous God. He will not share center stage in your
life with anything else -- especially money. When we begin to love money
in the way that Solomon is talking about here our money can actually replace
God.
And you know what? God has a great way to test us in this, to see if
He's really number one or if our money is number one, to see if we trust
Him more than we trust our money. It's very simple called tithing. God
says if you have the faith in me to take care you even if you give me the
first 10 of your income every week or every month, I'll know I'm really
your God.
Now that's one symptom of greed according to Solomon here -- the love
of money. Here's the second symptom -- an insatiable desire, a desire for
more that cannot be satisfied. It says....
Greed is not a function of how much you have. You can be extremely wealthy
and be greedy, and you can be poor as dirt and be greedy. Some people think
they don't have to worry about greed because they don't have enough or
make enough to be greedy. Such is not the case because greed is not a matter
of how much you have or don't have. It's a matter of how much you want.
Someone once asked J.D. Rockefeller,
one of the richest men in the world, how much was enough money. Do you
know what he said, "Just a little bit more." Sound familiar? Most of us
think that way. "If I could just make X number more dollars, I would be
so happy. We wouldn't have to worry anymore. All our stress would be over."
Wrong! (Topic: Greed)
I see a lot of people do this with giving. "We would love to give to
the church Pastor. We just don't make enough. When we make more money,
we're going to tithe. When we pay off this bill, for sure, that's when
we are going to start to give our 10 percent." And all the time the thought
is, "I just need a little bit more."
If you take paper money, the kind that most of want, and throw it on
a fire, what will the fire do? It will burn all the more. For many people
they think that just a little more money will put the fire out inside of
them. It may be the fire of fear or insecurity about their future. It may
be the fire of stress about certain bills. It may be the fire of loneliness
or depression, but the fact of the matter is that the greed which is fueling
this fire will not go away with a little bit more. Instead, the more you
get, the more you want. The fire burns all the hotter inside of you.
And that's why Solomon mentions one other symptom of greed -- emptiness.
He says at the end of v.10, "This too, (meaning the
greedy desire to get more) is meaningless," in other words, empty.
Throughout this book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon writes about the different
ways in which people are trying to fill the void or whole of their lives
with the different attractions of this world, and in this section of his
book he is taking a look at something he had plenty of, money. And from
his own experience, I know a lot of us think, "Well, I know people say
money isn't every thing, but I'd like to find that out myself." Please
take it from a man who had it all. His wisdom was this: money can not fill
the void of life. Money cannot give meaning to life.
And if you are experiencing that already, that your money is actually
bringing a disappointment to you or things that your money has bought are
turning up empty, it's time to take a look at your heart and examine whether
or not the bug of greed has been biting you or not.
Now, if these are the symptoms of greed -- you have love for money that
is unhealthy; you have an insatiable desire for more; and you are experiencing
an emptiness that comes from your money, then the next question to ask
is, "What is the cure?"
It's my guess that in some shape or form we all have struggled with
greed in our lives, the question is how do we overcome it? How do we begin
to weed it out of our hearts and lives? And the answer again, I believe,
is tied very strongly to the whole issue of discipleship, to our relationship
to Jesus. Without a strong relationship with Jesus, we are all very susceptible
to the danger of greed.
At the end of this chapter in Eccl. at v.18 you will see that as Solomon
was reflecting on the danger and emptiness of greed, he began to realize
what the solution to greed was. Look at what he says, "Then I realized...
is his lot."
What Solomon was recommending here was something that is recommended
throughout the Bible as a solution to greed, and that something is called
"Contentment." If you have your Bibles open turn once to the book of I
Tim. 6:6. Here Paul, this older Pastor is writing a letter to Timothy,
this younger pastor, and in this letter, Paul, who himself was at times
quite well off and at other times entirely penniless, reflects with Timothy
about the importance of learning to be content. He says, "But godliness
with... many griefs."
Godliness with contentment is great gain. Do you know what that means?
That the secret to contentment is to have a love for and trust in God such
that we believe that whatever He brings to our lives, whatever "lot," as
it says in Ecc. 5:18, that God has for our lives is not only alright with
us such that accept it but it is for our own good such that we are content,
we feel complete, we do not stress out about it.
Flip back to Ecc.5:18, look at what it
says .... The idea here is that we have a relationship with God that comes
through Jesus such that we trust God. Jesus Himself said, "Do
not worry about what you will eat or what you will drink or what you will
wear. Your Father in heaven knows that you need these."
You know when you invite Jesus into your life to be your Savior, and
He forgives you of your sins, one of the benefits of that according to
the Bible is that you can know you are a true child of God, that God is
your heavenly Father, and that as an all powerful, all loving, all wise,
all knowing, and all good Father, He is going to take care of you. As a
matter of fact, says Jesus, He has your life in such control that not even
a hair falls from you head without Him knowing about it.
But you see unless you and I are growing as disciples of Jesus, we will
never begin to trust God in that way, and find the contentment, the ability
to be satisfied with whatever "lot" the Lord has given to us at this time.
And unless we trust God in that way, the stress, the problems and fears
that this world brings upon us will cause us to turn to greed, to grabbing
for more and more of the goods and money of this world, to solve our problems.
It's not that we have to feel guilty about the things we have or our money,
instead it's that we learn to enjoy them with contentment not greed.
Now, that's one thing that Solomon realized was a solution to greed,
contentment. The second thing is found in the verses that follow, verses
19 & 20. It says, "Moreover... gladness of heart." The thing, which
I believe he's recommending here, is not just contentment with what God
has given us but gratitude. His point is not just that we need to accept
our lot but actually to be able to see the gifts of God within our lot
in life, and because of that to be grateful.
Now, for disciple of Jesus, this approach to life, gratitude, is very,
very important, that we learn to see our lives themselves as a gift from
the grace of God, that we learn that if Jesus had not died on the cross
for us and we had not accepted Him into our hearts and lives, then we would
be as good as dead before God, that everything this world has to offer
would do us no good.
As disciples or followers of Jesus we need to realize that because of
the sinful ways in which all of us have responded to God and His love in
our lives, God does not owe us a penny. God would have the perfect right
to strip you and me of every cent we have, every material thing that we
possess. Because you see when you begin to realize that God has that right,
you will begin to realize that whatever money, whatever type of home, whatever
type of car we own is a gift of His grace, a gift that comes even when
we don't deserve it.
The more we take that kind of attitude, as it says here in v.19, that
it is God who gives us any wealth in this world, and it is God who gives
us the ability to enjoy that wealth, the more God will be able to preoccupy
us, as it says in v. 20, with a gladness that comes from gratitude rather
than our own preoccupation with how much we don't have which comes from
greed.
You know what the Bible is recommending to us is the proverbial how
do you see the cup of your life, have full, and therefore you see it with
gratitude, or half empty, and therefore you see it with greed.
How grateful are you to your God? How grateful are you to your Savior,
Jesus? You know that the best way for us to measure gratitude in our lives
is -- to ask ourselves how giving we are of the gifts that we have received.
The more you and I truly believe that all we have is a gift from God and
are truly grateful for that gift, the more we will open our hearts and
wallets to be giving towards the needs of others; and the more we give
out of a gratitude for all that God has given us, the more I believe God
will fill our hearts in this new year with gladness instead of the mania
of greed.
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