Sermon On Materialism

Nancy Pearcey, an American author once remarked: “When a person accepts materialism as a life philosophy, its effects do not stay neatly contained within the mental realm. It leads to destructive personal behavior and harmful public consequences.” Luke 12:15 reminds us: And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

Materialism is defined as a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values. It can include such penuriousness as greed, acquisitiveness, rapaciousness or incompassion. This translucent characteristic trait may reveal a significant degree of selfishness or self-absorption. Everyone in life has the individual option of whether to be of a materialistic nature or not. For those who make the wrong choice, the overall effect impacts in a negative or possibly harmful way on the ubiquitousness of life. In 1843, Charles Dickens, a noted author wrote a novella entitled: “A Christmas Carol” which epitomizes a classic tale of morality and a subsequent change in convictions for its focal character. It features a man by the name of Ebenezer Scrooge, a miser, who is the sole survivor in a former partnership of a firm of moneylenders. His late partner, Jacob Marley passed away seven years earlier and the story begins on a cold Christmas Eve. Isaiah 53:6 confirms: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - everyone - to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

The tale was written in five staves and initially features a ghostly appearance by his ex-partner who warns him of the dangers of his avaricious ways. He, himself, was in a den of iniquity and is now enduring sufferance for his former actions. In the following staves, he is visited throughout the night by three further apparitions, representing the Spirit of “Christmas Past,” the Spirit of “Christmas Present” and the Spirit of “Christmas Yet To Come.” Each have salient points to convey. During the individual staves, various incidents are shown of previous experiences encountered and the goodness that prevailed, the strong possibility of lacking the goodness and welcome that may be dismissed at the present time, and a stern vision of the future happenings, if he doesn’t change his ways. The visits have the necessary impact to open his eyes to the realities of the world, to see and accept the error of his ways and he ultimately vows to change. Scrooge becomes a person of extreme kindness to others, together with a generous and compassionate heart. He finally embodies the spirit of Christmas as it was intended.

Revelation 20:1-6 reminds us: “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands.

They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.”

In reality, a miser can’t really be said to live a happy life. Freedom of choice is severely restricted and conformity to a fruitful existence remains discarded or forgotten. A miser is too inwardly concerned with frugality. It becomes the central core and focus in life. It supersedes everything else and disregards the most important and pleasurable thing that life can offer, contentment. It becomes extremely time-consuming and takes much effort. William Blake, an English poet once remarked: “To the eyes of a miser a guinea is more beautiful than the sun, and a bag worn with the use of money has more beautiful proportions than a vine filled with grapes.” Proverbs 23:6-8 confirms: “Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy; do not desire his delicacies, for he is like one who is inwardly calculating. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you. You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten, and waste your pleasant words.”