Greed in disguise

Let's check our cravings

"Jesus said to them, Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions" (Luke 12:15).

I've never met anyone who admitted to being greedy. I don't even think Jerry Springer or Geraldo have had greedy people on their shows. It's a good thing there aren't any greedy people around anymore, because greed is the target of some of the New Testament's harshest judgments. Colossians 3:5 advises us to kill it. On the lists of sins we always find it in the very worst company.

Greed isn't one of your fascinating, flamboyant sins. In fact, it's so distasteful that it travels in disguise.

Sometimes it lurks under a plea for fairness. I can't tell you when the normal, good human desire for fairness turns to greed. But surely one sign is that the cause becomes an obsession. We've all met people who are determined to get "their rightful share" of an inheritance and who make themselves sick over it. Clearly greed can become self-destructive behavior.

Another disguise for greed is ambition. Think of all the novels or even biographies of men and women who have sacrificed everything only to find that the ladder of success collapses and brings them down. It's easy to pity them because we don't see ourselves as consumed by that burning desire for fame.

But this particular sin comes in two forms. Chemists tell us that at heart, flame and rust are the same process. There's the fast-burning, combustible variety that's flame. And there's the gradual, corrosive variety that's rust. But they both end up consuming their object.

I've often heard owners of an RV or sailboat say, "If it were only two feet longer, it would be just right!" And if it's not the length of the RV it may be the size of our TV screen. Is peace ever possible to that slow-burning craving that is never satisfied, never able to say "enough"? Julian of Norwich wrote that God does not want us to sin, not because it offends God's justice but because sin will cause us pain.

Jesus reminded us that our life does not consist in the abundance of our possessions. There is only One who can hold us safe in both life and death. "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:2-3). El

Call the Presiding Bishop's Hotline: (773) 380-2930. Messages change every two weeks.

Copyright Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Sep 2001
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