The dictionary defines GREED as the desire to possess wealth, goods or objects with the intention to keep it for one's self, far beyond the dictates of basic survival and comfort.
That means, a person who is greedy will covet something even if he does not really need it.
He will hide it for some future use.
Someday, he will forget about this and covet for others things as well.
The cycle goes on and on.
The clutter grew and grew.
I Timothy 6:10 (NIV) says: "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."
This verse tells us that it is NOT money that is the root of all evil.
It is the LOVE of money that is a root of all kinds of evil.
There is a big difference.
Money should not be loved.
God should be loved more.
Once you love money, greed will creep in and destroy you slowly.
Once you love God more, greed will die down.
People who have been faithful to God before have wandered in their faith because they love money than God.
We know that Gehazi was a faithful servant of the prophet Elisha for many years.
One day, what looked like an ordinary ministry opportunity became his downfall.
He was overtaken by greed and was not able to recover from it.
Along the way, he made a detour and lost his way.
We must remember that all forms of sin can destroy us slowly if we do not detect it early and overcome it.
Sometimes, we are not aware of it, but it had already penetrated our entire system.
How can a small sin grew so large?
Why is it that in spite of all his past experiences with the prophet Elisha, yet Gehazi was still defeated?
What went wrong in his life so that we can learn from this?
We will analyze this in our message for today.
I hope and pray that you have the desire to learn today.
Let me start with a story:
Russian author Leo Tolstoy tells the story of a rich man who was never satisfied.
He always wanted more, more and more.
One day this rich man heard of a wonderful chance to get more land.
For a thousand rubbles he could have all the territory he could walk around in a day.
But he had to make it back to the starting point by sundown or he would lose it all.
This wealthy man arose early and set out.
He walked on and on, thinking he could get just a little more land if he kept going further and further.
But he went so far, he realized he must walk very fast if he were to get back in time to claim the land.
As the sun got lower in the sky, he quickened his pace.
Then he began to run.
Finally he came within sight of the starting place, so he exerted his last energies, plunged over the finish line, fell to the ground and collapsed.
A stream of blood poured out of his mouth, and he lay dead.
His servant took a spade and dug a grave.
He made it just long enough and just wide enough and buried the avaricious man.
The title of Tolstoy’s story is: “How much land does a man need?”
He concluded by saying, “Six feet from his head to his heels was all he needed.”
You can’t get it all or keep it all.
That is how greed grows: just a little bit more...
First, we will discuss...
WHY WE NEED TO OVERCOME GREED:
WARNINGS FROM THE LIFE OF GEHAZI
1. GREED CORRUPTS OUR MINDS. 2 Kings 5:20 "20 Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said to himself, “My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”
The story starts with Naaman, the commander of the army of King of Aram, a valiant soldier, but stricken with leprosy.
Then, a young girl taken captive from Israel served Naaman's wife.
The young girl told Naaman's wife of the prophet in Israel who could cure him of leprosy.
Naaman went to his master King of Aram and told him what the girl from Israel had said.
“By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”
Naaman fought a lot of battles for the king.
He wanted Naaman to be healed.
So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing.
The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”
As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he misinterpreted this, tore his robes and said, “Am I God?
Can I kill and bring back to life?
Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy?
See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!”
He thought Naaman was asking him to be the healer.
It was not him but God who could heal Naaman.
He should have directed Naaman to go the prophet.
When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes?
Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.”
Definitely, Elisha knew already the problem and the solution.
So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house.
Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”
This messenger was probably his servant Gehazi who until now was very faithful to his master.
But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.
Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?
Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?”
His expectations were different.
He wanted to be healed his way.
So he turned and went off in a rage.
Naaman’s servants were more reasonable.
They went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it?
How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!”
They are saying, this is actually a simple matter that he could easily comply if you really want to get healed.
I am glad he listened to his servants.
So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.
From then on, he was changed in his physical appearance and spiritual desires.
This is what true healing can do.
Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to thank the man of God.
He stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.”
He wanted to present a gift to Elisha as a token of his gratitude.
But the prophet answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing.”
That means God's miracles could not be paid back by material things.
That means God wanted Naaman to surrender his life to God and be a witness to his own people.
And even though Naaman urged him to accept the gifts, Elisha refused.
Here is a profound statement that Naaman uttered as a sign that God's healing was deep.
“If you will not,” said Naaman, “please let me, your servant, be given as much earth as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord.
But may the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I have to bow there also—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this.”
That means he is beginning to realize that worshiping idol is a sin.
That there is God who is alive who needs to be worshiped.
The transformation is happening slowly.
Nothing must hinder this.
Freely you received it.
Freely you should give.
“Go in peace,” Elisha said.
Naaman would be a different witness when he goes home.
However, Naaman's heart transformation became Gehazi's corruption in the thoughts.
After Naaman had traveled some distance, Gehazi was in deep thoughts.
His thought was no longer in the service to God.
His thought was occupied by the blinding silver and gold that Naaman brought.
He had a new treasure in his heart.
He even lost his respect to his master Elisha.
He said to himself, “My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”
Do you know that Greed always starts in the mind.
It begins with a thought that getting from other people is more important than service to them.
The focus is on what he could get not what he could give.
When the thought is entertained, it grows and grows.
The mind is slowly corrupted and the reasoning changes abruptly.
Beware of greed.
It can destroy.
2. GREED CONTROLS OUR ACTIONS. 2 Kings 5:20 "20 Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said to himself, “My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as theLord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”
Because greed has taken root in his mind, it now shows in his actions.
Gehazi said: "I will run after him and get something from him."
His actions are now motivated by his thoughts.
He did not just walked, but he ran.
There was haste and urgency involved.
All human energies are focused towards one goal of getting.
This is what sin can do to us if we allow this to control us.
The time and energy that was supposed to be used in serving God and other people are now focused in coveting and getting.
Not only that, we read further that
2 Kings 5:24 24 When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the things from the servants and put them away in the house. He sent the men away and they left.
Gehazi put them away in the house.
That means, he hid those stuff in his house.
That is the same thing that Achan did when he took a beautiful robe from the Babylonians with some silver and gold and hid them in the ground in his tent.
He thought he could hide it from God, but he was wrong.
God sees everything.
Someday, God will judge us in relation to what we have done on this earth.
This is the lessons we must learn: If our thoughts are pure, our actions are pure.
If our thoughts are corrupt, our actions are corrupt.
These two are correlated.
That is why we must always be careful when we do things for other people.
We must always check the intentions of all our actions.
3. GREED PERVERTS OUR WORDS. 2 Kings 5:22 "22 “Everything is all right,” Gehazi answered. “My master sent me to say, ‘Two young men from the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent[d] of silver and two sets of clothing.’”
Here we find Gehazi's words were affected by his thoughts and his actions.
He began to lie to Naaman.
He said that his master sent him.
Elisha did not send him to Naaman to ask for some stuff.
He said that there were two young men from the company of the prophets who just came in from Ephraim.
There were no such thing.
All these are lies.
And then, he asked for some talents of silver and two sets of clothing.
And then, Gehazi lied again.
This time to his own master, Elisha.
2 Kings 5:25 "25 When he went in and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” “Your servant didn’t go anywhere,” Gehazi answered."
Do you know that our words can be perverted because of sin?
Do you know that people lie because they are trying to hide their sins?
Do you know that God wants us to be honest always?
The more pure your heart is, the more honest you are before God and before people.
So, let's review:
Greed can pervert.
Not only our thoughts but also our actions and our words.
We are supposed to use our words to heal and to bless people.
We are supposed to use our words to encourage and to tell the truth.
We are supposed to use our words to speak wisdom and life to people.
But when we allow sin to enter, we are overcome by greed.
Instead of life, death would come out from our mouths.
Instead of spiritual power, defeat.
Brothers and sisters, this is not supposed to be the case.
We must commit our words to God.
We must commit our lips to God.
We must commit our thoughts to God.
We must commit our actions to God.
4. GREED DESTROYS RELATIONSHIPS. 2 Kings 5:27 "27 Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi went from Elisha’s presence and his skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow.
We find in here God's judgment to the sin of Gehazi.
The leprosy from Naaman was transferred to him and to his descendants.
That means his actions affected the future destiny of his generations.
All of them would suffer the consequences of Gehazi's sin.
Then, it was the last time that he saw Elisha face to face.
Sin destroyed his future and his relationships with people.
That is the extent of the damage it can do.
You might think it is too severe.
But it is not.
That is the justice of God.
He is a holy God and he could not tolerate sin.
He could not work in a person whose thoughts, actions, words and ideas are abomination to Him.
He could not use a person dominated by sin.
He could only use a person who is obedient to Him.
Whose hearts are humble and meek and committed.
That is why we must be warned from the mistakes of Gehazi.
Beware of the Gehazi spirit.
We have been warned.
Now we will go to some positive truths.
Lessons we can learn from the life of Elisha the prophet of God.
HOW CAN WE OVERCOME GREED?
LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF ELISHA
1. WE MUST BE REMINDED OF OUR CALLING: TO SERVE GOD WHOLEHEARTEDLY 2 Kings 5: 16 "16 The prophet answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing.” And even though Naaman urged him, he refused."
Here we read what Elisha declared before Naaman.
He said first of all that the Lord he is serving is alive.
He is not an idol made of stone and mortar.
He could hear.
He could talk.
He could guide.
He said that God calls people to serve Him.
He said that God called him personally to serve.
That means God can call anybody to serve Him.
He could call Naaman as well for a purpose as a testimony among his own people.
The only way we can overcome greed is to focus on our calling.
Gehazi was overcame with greed because he lost sight of his calling.
If you knew that your calling is the most important thing in this life, then you will not be distracted by other less significant things.
The devil will try to hinder us from pursuing our calling, but we must not be believe him.
We must always remember our calling.
And so, what is our calling?
We are called to love God and love others.
W are called to serve God and to serve others.
We are called to be a living testimony for God.
We are called to be faithful to this calling.
Romans 11:29 (NIV) "For God's gifts and his call are irrevocable..."
That means, it is final, not able to change or reversed.
Do you know that you are called by God to serve Him?
Do you know that the Lord you are serving is alive?
Therefore, he demands wholehearted devotion and service.
We must always remind ourselves with this.
2. WE MUST REMEMBER OUR MISSION: THAT PEOPLE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN MONEY.
2 Kings 5: 16 "16 The prophet answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing.” And even though Naaman urged him, he refused."
Here in this verse, Elisha not only remembered his calling but also his mission.
He said: "I will not accept a thing."
That is financial and moral integrity.
That means, people are more important than money.
We use money to serve people.
We do not use people to get money.
His security is in the name of the Lord.
Does that mean that he doesn't need these things?
No. Of course not.
He is a human being too.
He needs those things.
He had people to feed.
He had bills to pay.
But His testimony is that God knows our needs.
That God is the one who will take care of him.
That since God called him in the ministry, God will surely provide for all his needs.
God's plans and purposes must be above everything else.
And so, God planned for Naaman to be healed as a FREE gift of grace.
And because this is a free gift from God, there is no payment involved.
To receive a payment will cheapen the work of grace.
If Naaman paid for this with silver and gold, he would not value the miracle as significant.
And so, Elisha did not take anything from Naaman.
He remain true to his mission.
That is how he overcame greed.
Even if Naaman urged him, he refused.
Here is the last verse for us to meditate.
2 Kings 5: 26 "26 But Elisha said to him, “Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take money or to accept clothes—or olive groves and vineyards, or flocks and herds, or male and female slaves?"
Elisha reminded Gehazi that there is a time for everything.
There is a time for ministry.
There is a time to help people.
There is a time to make money.
There is a time not to accept money.
When Naaman was healed, it was not the time to make money.
They could do that some other time, but not today.
But today, the mission to transform lives was more important.
And so, we must be reminded of this truth always.
SUCCESS IS NOT MONEY
Money can buy a palace of breathtaking splendor, but money cannot buy you a home filled with love and respect from people who live there.
Money can buy the finest physicians in an hour of sickness, but money cannot buy the God-given gift of health.
Money can buy you a bed of solid gold, but money cannot buy you one minute of rest or inner peace.
Money will attract legions of people to you, but money cannot buy you the treasure of one true friend.
Money will tract people to you like bees to honey, but money cannot buy true friends. They will be takers, not givers. As soon as your money is gone, they will be also.
Money will buy books, but money cannot buy brains.
Money will buy food, but money cannot buy a healthy appetite.
Money can buy a crucifix around your neck, but money cannot buy a Savior in your heart.
Money can buy a church pew with your name engraved on it on gold script, but money will not buy you a ticket to heaven.
Success is not money.
