As a pastor, sometimes you face some interesting, bizarre challenges in working with people in your congregation. It hasn't been uncommon following a death of a loved, especially a last surviving parent, that the adult children come to me and want me to tell their sibling(s) how to divide their parent's estate. On one occasion I received a call from one such surviving adult child telling me that I should call that person's brother and tell him to return a piece of furniture that rightfully belonged to them, and then proceeded to tell me all the reasons. The mother who passed and both the children were active members in our church. The issue was causing a major rift in the family and had become so divisive that they were no longer speaking to each other.
I don't believe that my response was what that person was looking for when they called me. The mother who had just passed was a godly, fun-loving women who could be very direct when she needed to be. I loved her and loved being around her. She had passed away unexpectedly. She was full of life and very active even though she was well advanced in years. She had a quick wit and a poignant way of getting her point across. So I simply replied, "You both are solid believers in Christ and I'm sure your mother would certainly have something to say to you both. What do you think she would say to you both right now?" That was the end of the conversation and they resolved the issue.
Sometimes the quest for material possessions get the better of us. The Bible word for that is greed. Even people who are mostly generous can get caught in the grip of greed. I'm not talking about envy or jealousy or even selfishness. I'm talking about pure, unadulterated greed; that deep, insatiable desire to have more and more and more.
We adopted a puppy about 8 months ago who has gone through all the puppy growing stages. It is funny to watch him because he is not satisfied having just one toy in his mouth at a time. Often times he has two or even three in his mouth. He will even chase his ball with one or two other toys in his mouth. It get's even funnier when he has two or three in mouth and tries to drag his old sheet around that he has in his bed. He has to get them in the right order or he can't fit them in his mouth.
My wife and I laugh at our dog trying to manipulate his jaws around his toys, but it causes me to wonder what God thinks of us trying grab all the stuff we can into our little mits. Our consumer society in the west plays on those inner desires of wanting more. And even though we don't think of ourselves as greedy, we are captured by it nonetheless.
In Luke 12:13-21 Jesus gives us a gentle but stern warning about the greed that can creep into our lives, even without us being aware. Notice that Jesus points out how our attitude can shift from just trying to be productive to getting more and more and bigger and bigger; making life about us.
The antidote for greed is generosity! Jesus clearly states that there is a huge difference in making life about yourself and the emptiness it ultimately brings and a life that He says is rich toward God. Being rich toward God is about investing in His Kingdom, not just financially, but wholeheartedly. The nature of God is give. The nature of man is get. Remember Jesus also says here that it's not about how much a person has, greed can seize us no matter what our income level is, so we should guard our hearts.
God, I don't want my life to be about me and getting all I can. I want it to resemble You. I want to be a giver. I want to pour myself out before You by pouring my life out to others, especially those in need. I want to be rich toward You, Lord. Help me guard my heart against those inner desires for more material things.
I don't believe that my response was what that person was looking for when they called me. The mother who had just passed was a godly, fun-loving women who could be very direct when she needed to be. I loved her and loved being around her. She had passed away unexpectedly. She was full of life and very active even though she was well advanced in years. She had a quick wit and a poignant way of getting her point across. So I simply replied, "You both are solid believers in Christ and I'm sure your mother would certainly have something to say to you both. What do you think she would say to you both right now?" That was the end of the conversation and they resolved the issue.
Sometimes the quest for material possessions get the better of us. The Bible word for that is greed. Even people who are mostly generous can get caught in the grip of greed. I'm not talking about envy or jealousy or even selfishness. I'm talking about pure, unadulterated greed; that deep, insatiable desire to have more and more and more.
We adopted a puppy about 8 months ago who has gone through all the puppy growing stages. It is funny to watch him because he is not satisfied having just one toy in his mouth at a time. Often times he has two or even three in his mouth. He will even chase his ball with one or two other toys in his mouth. It get's even funnier when he has two or three in mouth and tries to drag his old sheet around that he has in his bed. He has to get them in the right order or he can't fit them in his mouth.
My wife and I laugh at our dog trying to manipulate his jaws around his toys, but it causes me to wonder what God thinks of us trying grab all the stuff we can into our little mits. Our consumer society in the west plays on those inner desires of wanting more. And even though we don't think of ourselves as greedy, we are captured by it nonetheless.
In Luke 12:13-21 Jesus gives us a gentle but stern warning about the greed that can creep into our lives, even without us being aware. Notice that Jesus points out how our attitude can shift from just trying to be productive to getting more and more and bigger and bigger; making life about us.
The antidote for greed is generosity! Jesus clearly states that there is a huge difference in making life about yourself and the emptiness it ultimately brings and a life that He says is rich toward God. Being rich toward God is about investing in His Kingdom, not just financially, but wholeheartedly. The nature of God is give. The nature of man is get. Remember Jesus also says here that it's not about how much a person has, greed can seize us no matter what our income level is, so we should guard our hearts.
God, I don't want my life to be about me and getting all I can. I want it to resemble You. I want to be a giver. I want to pour myself out before You by pouring my life out to others, especially those in need. I want to be rich toward You, Lord. Help me guard my heart against those inner desires for more material things.