Luke 12:13-21
In the days of the Wild West there was an armed bank robbery in California involving a large sum of money. The bank hired a bounty hunter to track down the thief, and when the search led to Mexico he realized he’d need to hire an interpreter. One was found, and the bounty hunter promised a handsome reward if they recovered the money.
The robber was eventually captured at gunpoint. The bounty hunter asked, through the interpreter, where the money was hidden. The thief replied in Spanish that he had no idea of what they were talking about. But having solid evidence of his guilt, the bounty hunter said to the interpreter, “Tell him if he doesn’t tell me where the money is, I’ll blow his head off. I’m not bluffing.”
Believing him, the robber told the interpreter exactly where it was hidden. “What did he say?” the bounty hunter asked. After a moment’s hesitation, the interpreter answered, “Senor, he says he’s ready to die like a man.”
That’s a fictitious story, of course, but the sin of greed is every bit as deadly. Banks, corporations, the wealthy and those in power often choose selfish gain over the good of others. Income inequality has skyrocketed in the past several decades, and with it an unsustainable level of social injustice. The top 1% of households now own more wealth than the bottom 90% combined. (Repeat.) Let that sink in. How has it come to this? The answer is simple: greed, the cause of untold suffering and oppression in the world.
Greed is defined as “the selfish desire for more of something than is needed, to the detriment of another.” That last phrase is a crucial part of the definition: “to the detriment of another.” When we selfishly acquire and amass more money or luxuries than we need, it always comes at the expense of others.
In this account, Jesus was approached by a man with a complaint about his brother keeping the family inheritance for himself. The oldest son was already given a double share under Jewish law, but he wanted to keep it all. Disputes of this kind were normally settled by rabbis, but rather than acting as a judge in personal disputes, Jesus used the opportunity to warn against the spiritual danger of greed for any of us.
In his parable, a rich man chose to hoard his good crop so that he could live in selfish comfort, rather than caring about helping his neighbors. But that very night his life was required of him by God, and his greediness was suddenly exposed for the sin it was. By failing to share his blessings, he had missed the spiritual value of generosity.
We know John Wesley as the leader of the Methodist movement. But not many realize that he also earned a fortune from the sale of his writings, making him one of England’s wealthiest men. Yet, throughout his life he lived on the same modest income and gave away all the rest, the equivalent of $50 million in today’s currency. He invested his wealth, not in personal comforts and luxuries, but in the cause of God’s church and advancing his Kingdom. He very wisely used it all for the sake of love. Jesus spoke of this as storing up our treasure in heaven.
I love the idea that in the next life we’ll see all the good our giving has done, the fruits of our generosity--whether person-to-person or charitable giving--and the blessing it has been to others. It’s a beautiful thought, and an inspiration to share more of our worldly riches with those who are in need.
Greed and generosity are opposing spiritual forces. Selfishness and greed have the effect of shriveling our souls by wasting our potential for love, whereas generosity becomes the source of God’s richest blessing and joy. He wants us to live as instruments of his love and goodness toward others. And just as it pleases parents to see their young children sharing something of theirs with another child, it greatly pleases him when we share our blessings. God honors and rewards generosity. It’s one of the most important spiritual laws of the Kingdom.
“Cast your bread on the waters, for you shall find it again after many days,”, in the words of Ecclesiastes (11:1). Jesus said something very similar when he taught, “Give, and it shall be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38).
An example of that principle is found in the story of two young men who were students at Stanford University in its first class of 1891. With their funds desperately low, they had the inspiration to invite the world-famous concert pianist Ignacy Paderewski to perform on campus, devoting any profits from the ticket sales to their tuition costs. Paderewski’s manager asked for a guarantee of $2000, which they agreed to pay.
Yet, in spite of their hard work in promoting and staging the concert, they only managed to raise $1600. Afterwards, they told Paderewski they had come up short, but they gave him the entire $1600, along with a promissory note for the remaining $400, assuring him they would send that amount as soon as possible. They hoped he would accept their offer.
“No, that won’t do at all,” Paderewski replied, and their hearts sank. Then, tearing up the promissory note, he returned the money and said, “Now, take out of this $1600 all of your expenses, and each of you keep 10% of the balance for your work. Then you can give me the rest.” HIs kindness and generosity meant that they could remain in school.
They graduated and went on to their own successful careers. Twenty years later, the First World War broke out, devastating Europe. Ignacy Paderewski was now Poland’s prime minister, and he was at a loss over how to feed his starving people. There was only one person in the world who could help him: Herbert Hoover, a genius of logistical supply who was organizing food and humanitarian relief to post-war Europe.
Thanks to Hoover, thousands of tons of food began flowing into Poland. Deeply grateful, Paderewski traveled to Paris to thank him personally for saving the lives of his countrymen. “I was glad to do it, Mr. Paderewski,” Hoover said. “Besides, you don’t remember it, but you helped me once when I was a college student in need, myself.”
Think about it: if Paderewski hadn’t shown such generosity, Hoover would most likely have had to quit school, and would never have been in the position to help Poland, or the rest of Europe, as he did. That single act of generosity made an enormous difference for the greater good of the world. And every generous act has its own potential to help others, as we all know from personal experience in ways both great and small.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught us not to hoard our treasure here on earth, but to invest it in heaven. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt 6:19-21). It’s important to realize that all earthly treasure is only temporary, but whatever we share with others for the sake of love will remain. And it will be a blessing not only to others, but also to ourselves.
John D. Rockefeller, Sr., founder of Standard Oil, was an ambitious, hard-nosed tycoon whose only concern was acquiring ever greater personal wealth. Then, at the age of 53, he fell severely ill and lost his hair, was unable to digest food and became deeply depressed. He was given only a year to live. One night, struggling to sleep, he realized that he had missed the real value of his fortune. “Millionaires seldom smile,” as Andrew Carnegie once famously observed, and Rockefeller’s greed had only made him miserable.
He awoke the next morning with a new mission: to use his vast wealth to make a difference for good. He gave away hundreds of millions of dollars to hospital, universities, medical research, his church and missions. His funds helped to discover the cure for a host of diseases. And he lived to the age of 98! His life was saved when he stopped focusing on himself and began to care more about others.
That’s a dramatic example, of course, but we’re all given our own opportunities to share with others in ways that will make a difference for the greater good, for the advancement of the Kingdom of God, and to the benefit of our own souls. Let’s recognize the sin of greed for the evil curse it is, and instead choose to live in the rich blessing of generosity, one of God’s paradoxical gifts. By giving our lives away for Christ’s sake, we find them.
Amen.
