| July 20, 2008
You are welcome to reflect on this message From The First Baptist Church in America pulpit Providence, Rhode Island – July 20, 2008 “The Myth of More” (Luke 12:13-21) Dr. Dan Ivins, preaching
Our text today is concerned with one of the most difficult human transactions there is. It’s dashed more hopes, hurt more feelings, severed more relationships, fraught with the occasion for equal pleasure or pain, namely, receiving a valuable inheritance. Or deciding who gets what? Most of the time we’re used to Jesus helping folks. That’s what messiah’s are supposed to do. What we don’t hear about is how often he refused. But Jesus knew how to say “no” with the best of them. You’ve got to have a self to tell people “no.” And Oh, that Boy had a self! In the gospels, he showed up late for a funeral, and got chewed out for it by Martha for letting his friend Lazarus die. He refused to defend himself before Pilate when his life was in the balance. On another occasion, he coldly rejected flimsy excuses and told a grieving husband, “let the dead bury the dead!” When tempted he made no deals with the devil to turn stones to bread, or rely on magic from the pinnacle, or come down from the cross. Rather than go around Samaria, he went out of his way to go through it. He repudiated the sword in the garden, spurned the tears of the weeping women on the Via Dolorosa, and wouldn’t allow Mary Magdalene to give him an Easter hug. Jesus loved the crowds but he was no crowd-pleaser.
And then today’s text shows Jesus not only had a self. He also had good sense! He flat out rejected the opportunity to get involved in an inheritance settlement. Keenly aware of how often this thorny issue crops up, Jesus told a couple of stories in the Gospel of Luke, about the precarious nature of being remembered in an inheritance. Or forgotten.
Everybody knows the story of “the prodigal son;” about a young man who just wanted and then wasted his birthright. And this other one who wanted him to “divide the inheritance.” But Jesus wouldn’t play along. He’s like: “Whose problem is this?” Jesus had better things to do than to take sides in a win/lose family situation. God knows how the worst comes out in people when somebody with a lot to leave, dies. This guy approached him, and he’s hot. He complains about his older brother and wanted Jesus to straighten him out. “Make him do what’s right!” Because Jesus wants us to do right, right? Not this time. He sees Jesus as a fair-minded judge and comes with a simple request. His goal was reasonable. But he’s barking up the wrong tree! He made the mistake of trying to get Jesus to make somebody do something. “Teacher tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” Rather than go directly to his brother, he found it easier to triangulate with a third party and work on his brother through Jesus. “You tell him, Jesus!”
But Jesus never let himself get hooked into being a party to triangulated relationships. Because he wasn’t just “fair and balanced,” he also understood human nature. Always, always: “What do I get out of this?” He knew the intense jealousy that settling an estate kicks up. So he declined. “Friend ... who set me to be an arbitrator over you?” Uh uh! He wouldn’t touch this one with a ten foot pole! He’d heal somebody in a New York minute. Physically or emotionally. “Which is easier? To say take up your bed and walk?” Or say “Son thy sins are forgiven?” Turn water to wine! Raise the dead! But when a will was at stake, the avarice, manipulation, vindictiveness, and jealousy predictably shows up.
Instead of adjudicating the issue, Jesus told a story. Unless you stand to gain or lose from it, most anybody can see this wasn’t a problem of improper distribution of wealth. But a selfish attitude that allows property to alienate brother-from-brother. This guy is possessed by the prospect of getting something for nothing: the house, a chariot, jewelry, fur coats, couple of million? All the stuff somebody accumulated in a lifetime, only to leave to others. But when the endowment looked like it wasn’t going his way, well its straighten him out Jesus! “Tell my brother to divide the family legacy,” so that I get my share. It’s not like this brother was cheating or hurting somebody. He only wanted what was fair. He just bought into the biggest lie of all time: believing happiness is something that can be bought. Something within us whispers “You deserve more than you have.” More money, more fame, more pleasure, more thrills, more power. What is it that makes us never content with what God gives us?
The myth of more! Because that’s what somebody keeps telling us will bring “the good life.” History shows otherwise. Some of the most miserable souls to walk the face of this earth have barrels of money, but don’t know how to laugh! And end up overdosing on the myth of more. That’s why the prospect of settling an inheritance, becomes such a spiteful occasion. But Jesus warned the man of something more important than getting a slice of the family pie: “Be on guard against resentful covetousness!” Learn to want what’s enough. Want what you have, so you’ll have what you want. “For one’s life does not consist of the abundance of possessions.”
The preacher can say that till he’s blue in the face, but folks won’t hear it. It’s too ingrained in our way of life. Jesus turned this guy down because he’d never contribute to a diminishment of our character. He didn’t care much about us “getting our rights.” He just inquired, “Who gave him that right?” Then without waiting for an answer, he turned to a far more crucial matter: the envy which divides brothers and destroys community and creates mistrust. "Beware against every form of it!" God knows it’s a greater danger than “not getting what’s coming to you.” It’s not enough to think in terms of fairness. A greedy person can be legally right, and thoroughly bad.
There’s an Abe Lincoln story about him walking down the street, in Illinois one day, holding his two wailing boys in each arm. "Mr. Lincoln, what's the matter with your kids?" said a neighbor. "The same thing that's the matter with the world," Abe said. "I have three walnuts. And each one wants two!" Greed is much more serious to God, than what somebody inherits in a will. It’s the debilitating outlook which constantly wants more.
A miser makes a terrible neighbor, but a wonderful ancestor. Who’s the most satisfied: a tightwad with six million, or a couple with six kids? My guess is the one with six kids, because the one with six million wants more! Six kids is enough! Greed, like drugs is insatiable. According to the Bible, wanting more than enough is idolatrous, grounds for being excluded from the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9-10). Greed can keep you out of heaven but it won’t keep you out of church. In church we rarely think of wanting more as being in the same category as adulterers, murderers and thieves. Everybody except Wall Street thinks greed is bad, but not that bad. Its badness lies in what it does to you. People who’ll stop at nothing to get more, become hard-hearted and soft-minded, especially when they’re only demanding “their rights.”
The sin of wanting more has sunk the world into a dependency recession. Gas is $4.47 a gallon in Connecticut. People are fuming. "Tell the Arabs to divide their oil with us!" “Who appointed me a judge and arbiter over you? Beware against every form of greed; having more doesn’t mean living better." Wanting more money but getting only a story, Jesus illustrated his point in a pithy parable with a punch-line, about the one who dies with the most toys doesn't always win. A rich man’s money cost him everything he had! Jesus was blunt about it. He didn’t mince words. You’re a fool if you know what’s right but don’t care about what’s good. And he leaves no doubt about what’s good: "not even when one has an abundance does life consist of his possessions." Rather "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will take care of themselves." That's a lesson a lot of people never learn in their days and nights on earth. Beware of “the greed creed” that says, "Seek first all these things and the kingdom of God will be added unto you." Jesus wanted people to be more, not just have more: more gracious, more understanding, more cooperative. Less selfish, less resentful, less competitive.
The old movie “Stars in my Crown” has a vivid scene in it that shows how to divide a will. Joel McRae played the role of the preacher. Along with a poor black-man, who was like Uncle Remus, to several generations of kids who grew up there. He told lots of stories, taught them to fish and hunt. And was greatly beloved. He owned a small cabin and lived there alone after his wife died.
But a valuable copper deposit ran right through his property. The wealthy business leaders tried to buy it cheap. But the man wasn’t familiar with the ways of a money-culture. And simply wanted to live out his days in the only house he’d ever known. So naively, he refused to sell. Because a lot of money was at stake, is turned ugly. When he couldn’t be bought-out, they threatened his life. Even some of those he befriended became his foes. Finally, they said “If you aren’t off this property by sundown we’re coming to hang you!”
When the preacher got wind of it, he went to the man’s house. At sundown, the executioners arrived with a rope, hiding behind white hoods. The preacher met them on the porch, standing with the condemned and said: “John knows he’s going to die, so he asked me to write his last will.” Then he proceeded to read it. He said to give his fishing pole to Pete. Because he remembers the first catfish he caught. His .22 rifle goes to James. He’ll never forget him bagging his first squirrel. He wants Buddy to have his favorite cap. Item by item, this kind old man gave away to the very people who came to take his life. And the impact of his innate goodness was MORE ...than their greedy spirits could take. So one by one, the mob turned away in silence, until only the money-men were left with empty hands.
The preacher’s grandson was watching all the action from a distance. After the crowd dispersed, he ran up on the porch and said: “What kind of will was that, Grandpa?” “It’s the will of God, son–the will of God!”
Pastoral Prayer: 7-20-08
We thank Thee for what you have entrusted with us, whether earned or inherited. Show us how to prevent our sense of self-worth from being so dependent upon how much we have. We’re grateful for the enjoyment our belongings give us, for the confidence they provide. But we must confess how that which belongs to us plays endless havoc with our character. Making us envious, when others have more than us, or resentful if they want as much. Guarding our possessions makes us anxious when threatened, or smug when things go our way. Protecting our assets makes us tell lies, take unfair advantage and pretend that you or others don’t exist. But mostly it tricks us into thinking that getting rich is the main reason to live.
May this worship cause us to open our eyes and treat our possessions as a precarious privilege and a weighty responsibility, and to realize that when it comes to cash, how easy it is for us to be not only selfish but foolish. Enable us to possess our possessions and not be possessed by them. May we show that by our generosity in giving to you through the church. Show us how to lay up riches in heaven, by exercising our faith in you and love for our neighbors, instead of the things we have. There are those around us who don’t have enough, and those who have too much. Teach us the lesson that life does not consist in the abundance of our possessions.
Be close to all who are ill, in need of healing; the grieving ones, in need of hope, and those who are lost, in need of wholeness. Remind us of the true wealth you have given to us in Jesus Christ, who was “rich but for our sakes became poor, that thru his poverty we might become rich.” Amen. |
