Greed
by Rev. Paul Howden
February 13, 2008
The Seven Deadly Sins

I.            The Church’s teaching on the Seven Deadly Sins is a structured way of expressing original sin. Original sin is the basic evil nature we have as fallen beings. Man is not naturally good, he is bad. We have a sinful bent. This evil bent has different parts to it. What are they? What are those bad inclinations in us that cause sinful actions and attitudes? The Seven Deadly Sins is a way of putting original sin into categories. Pride was our subject last time; greed will be our topic this evening, and next Wednesday we will examine lust.

Greed, the second deadly sin includes: avarice, parsimony, niggardliness, stinginess (these last three mean ungenerous or tight), covetousness, envy and rapaciousness. It means the excessive love of money and worldly goods. It used to be that the most common notion of greed had to do with hoarding gold, like a miser. For instance, a man built himself a secret walk-in safe in his basement. He didn’t even tell his wife. He collected gold coins and kept bags of it there, never giving a cent of it to anybody. One day he accidentally locked himself into the safe. His family wondered where he was, but couldn’t find him. A week passed. The locksmith remembered that he had built that secret vault for the miser years ago. He took a key and went to the house, and led the family downstairs to the secret door, and unlocked it. There they found the miser dead, his arms embracing his heaps of gold. Greed had killed him.

For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth.

The wicked man blesses the greedy while rejecting God. This man’s priorities were backwards. The renunciation of God had led him to a greedy lifestyle. He thought greed was a blessing. His heart and mind and body searched for the good things in life, apart from the Giver.

Let’s read 1 Corinthians 6:9.

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

Here we see the gravity of greed. Pick out the words, “thieves and covetous.” Covetous here mean rapacious. “Rapacious men shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.” The word rapacious means the spirit which is always reaching after more and grabbing that to which it has no right. It is a rapacious appetite for gain; it is aggressive getting. It aims to get in order to spend, so that it can live in more luxury and greater pleasure; and it doesn’t care about whom it takes advantage so long as it gets. The word that is translated “thieves” is harpax. It means grasping. It is interesting to note that it is used for a certain kind of wolf. Sheep ranchers will tell you that a wolf can break into the fold and kill up to 50 sheep in one night, not to eat but for the sheer sport of it. The word is also used for the grappling irons by which ships were boarded in naval battles. A pirate could throw his grappling hook onto a merchant ship, pull it close so the pirates could jump on board and steal everything they wanted. Harpax is the spirit which grabs and grasps that to which it has no right with a kind of savage ferocity.

But godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (1 Timothy 6:6-10)

Greed is the source for all kinds of sin. A covetous, grasping spirit is in opposition to all Jesus taught about the unselfish, giving spirit. The covetous person never can be satisfied. Covetousness makes a god of money and leads to materialism as a way of life. Those material possessions may take the form of books, computer games, real estate, cars, jewelry, dresses, shoes, gadgets, etc. However, true riches are in Christ. He is the source of your riches and contentment.

Nowadays, greed more often takes the form of maxed out credit cards and bankruptcy. People can’t stop themselves from accumulating things on credit. They can’t get off the treadmill because they are deeply in debt. They stop tithing to the Church, they are so burdened with debt. They spend little time with their families, they are so busy trying to make money. What good is it to gain the world but lose your soul? A heavyweight boxer came from Europe to the U.S. and won the championship. He won $5,000.00 for his knockout, and insisted that he be paid in gold, which he put in a money belt around his waist. On the ship sailing home they hit a storm and the vessel began to sink. Everyone jumped into lifeboats. The boxer jumped but fell short and landed in the water and it carried him down, drowning him. The love of riches sank him.

This is similar to the prodigal son. He wasted his inheritance quickly and ended up eating with the pigs. Luke 15:11-16.

And he said, A certain man had two sons:  And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.  And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.  And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.  And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.  And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

Greed and avarice can lead to a life of crime. Prisons are full of folk who have written bad checks, used stolen credit cards, and robbed houses, cars, and stores. Phil Schultz preached a sermon at the Scranton Rescue Mission. In that sermon he mentioned the mind-set of the thief. He is constantly looking for a way to steal something. The thief checks out windows to see if they can be opened, car doors too. He sees a woman walking with a purse that could be grabbed. He watches over the fence to see if there is something worth taking.

Avarice and greed and rapaciousness are the source of organized crime, the mafia, drug dealing, corporate corruption, union corruption, bribery, kickbacks, extortion, graft, get-rich-quick schemes, and scams of every stripe.

II.            Qualifications.

1.) One aspect of greed is the person who hoards money. The miser will accumulate money without sharing it. That is wrong. On the other hand, it is good to save money, and practice industry and thrift. Just because you save money doesn’t mean you are greedy. Money is clean as long as you put God first. Just because you work hard at your calling doesn’t mean you are greedy. Your financial prosperity could be well-earned. There is a fine line between financial prudence and greed. Wise money management is a discipline we must learn, and part of mature money management is savings, budgeting and staying within a budget.

2.) The sin of greed doesn’t mean we condemn business or the free market. The Parable of the Minas proves that (Luke 19:12-13). The nobleman goes into a far country and gives his servants ten minas with the instructions: “Do business till I come.” When the nobleman returns, the hardworking, risktaking businessmen were rewarded with the management of cities. What happened to the servant who did nothing with his mina? He was punished.

Of course there are crooked businessmen: the grocer who cheats, the guy on Ebay who sells a worthless product, the telemarketer who is simply trying to rip you off. Cheaters and thieves are inspired by greed. Many corporations will do anything immoral to make a buck. But greed and theft are just as common under socialism as they are under capitalism. Some leftists claim that greed is what drives American society, and therefore America is a uniquely greedy, oppressive and imperialistic nation. Well, that is an easy thing to say, but untrue. Poor socialistic nations are just as greedy. Their greed comes out in different ways – rampant and widespread bribery, corruption, and theft.

Anti-Semites have for centuries denounced the Jews as especially greedy and money-grubbing. The Jews had a hard time refuting this charge. Hitler used it as an excuse to try to exterminate them. All cultures and peoples are afflicted by greed, just as all people are afflicted by original sin. What we learn from Scripture and experience is that both rich and poor are greedy. All races are greedy. The poor get tired of their poverty and come to envy the rich. Under socialism, the poor are tempted to exploit the rich through the redistribution of wealth. In the Bible, business and entrepreneurship is a legitimate and holy calling. Janet Deputy for instance had a plumbing business for 70 years. She said she began her career in the plumbing business when she was no bigger than a twig. The Ahmanson family in Southern California have used their riches to help the church and the kingdom of God in a dozen different ways. Entrepreneurs like them are heroic. Taking risks, small businesses and corporations offer an article or service that someone wants, that will help their life in some way and make it pleasant. Well-meaning, well-intentioned monastics, academics, political activists, and clergy will sometimes glorify Christian socialism, and Liberation Theology. Granted voluntary poverty and simplicity as lifestyles can bring about some spiritual advantage, but state-sanctioned mandatory poverty and simplicity will always create more spiritual problems, and not be free of greed. 

Moreover, The Thirty-Nine Articles prohibits the forced redistribution of wealth in Art. XXXVIII, “Of Christian Men’s Goods, which are not common.

The Riches and Goods of Christians are not common, as touching the right, title, and possession of the same; as certain Anabaptists do falsely boast. Notwithstanding, every man ought, of such things as he possesseth, liberally to give alms to the poor, according to his ability. [P. 622 in BCP]

The article prohibits communism. There were socialist Anabaptist groups at that time that enforced economic equality and attempted to set up their socialist utopias. It was always a disaster.

3.) A hyper-spiritual view sees all material possessions as suspect.

And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:  And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.  Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.  Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.  Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. (Deut. 28:1-5)

In a general sense, when you are obedient to God’s Word, He will bless you spiritually and materially. If you are already happy, money can make you happier. If you are unhappy, money will make you unhappier (from Dennis Prager). Those blessings do not come to you on an exact one to one correspondence. There are many exceptions, but in general it is true. Health and wealth Gospel is false because it guarantees wealth based on a person’s faith, and makes prosperity man-centered.

Having a hobby or pastime is a healthy thing that will usually cost some money. You can treat yourself from time to time. Property and matter and material possessions, can and should be redeemed. Just as we are to redeem time, we are to redeem space and our material possessions. We are only stewards of the possessions we have, and we should use them for God’s glory. Property, possessions, and money are not inherently evil.

These are some of the qualifications for understanding avarice. Yet, after all the qualifications have been established avarice is a huge problem, a common problem. I am greedy. I have to control my greed in many ways. You are greedy if you search your heart.

III.            Other considerations.

Even though our houses are twice bigger than houses in the 1960s, storage rental units are a big business today. People are accumulating too many things. Their houses are too small so they have to rent a storage unit, or two or three units. It is sad when the elderly become senile and begin to keep everything. It happened to my grandma. She stacked newspapers and boxes and clothes from floor to ceiling all over the house. You could only get from room to room through narrow trails. It was hazardous. Her excuse was senility, others don’t have that excuse. Greed is one of the factors behind much unnecessary material accumulation. Do you have possessions you don’t need? Do you buy things you don’t use? Get rid of them and repent of greed. There will be a spring garbage pick-up in most neighborhoods coming up soon. Take advantage of it. Get rid of half your possessions. Sell them. We have our attic sale coming up. Donate your things so that we can use the money for good causes.

Gambling is fraught with greed. One store owner, commenting on the sixteen years he was a gambling addict, said, “I’d close my eyes and see myself winning huge sums of money, hobnobbing with the beautiful people, driving a luxury car. I was the guy who made the casino close the table because I cleaned them out.” That was his dream. Gambling is primarily driven by greed. Gambling is hardly something a Christian should support.

Some people get into the shopping habit where shopping becomes idolatrous. Rather than seek their satisfaction in Christ, they seek it in going to stores and malls and buying things. Some shopping is innocent, but not the excessive debt-building, debt-producing habits. There are also impulse purchases, buying something on impulse, buying without forethought: a car, a boat, a flat-screen television, an iPod. If you are happy, money can make you happier; if you are unhappy, money will make you unhappier. You loathe yourself for wasting money, just like you loathe yourself after unnecessarily gorging yourself with food.

If you are addicted to shopping, break that habit. Make a budget, stay within that budget, and become frugal, simple and content. The apostle Paul taught, “Now godliness with contentment is great gain…And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content” (1 Tim. 6:6-10). Don’t let materialism influence your shopping habits. You can find contentment with the clothes on your back and something to eat. Thus, resist buying something just because you feel depressed or bored. If you can’t control yourself with credit card purchases, cut them up with scissors. When you go shopping, ask yourself, “Do I really need this?” “Can I wait to get it?” “Will this be pleasing to God?” “Should I buy it on credit, or save up and buy it with cash?” If your shopping is undisciplined, pray to God for help. Repent of it and try to get a handle on it.

How about inheritance problems? Brothers and sisters and relatives can launch into vicious fights about who gets what when a mother or father dies. In one case a man murdered his mother’s fiancé because her will had been rewritten in the fiancé’s favor, cutting him out with practically nothing. He was so preoccupied with money, and so obsessed with getting his mother’s inheritance that when it didn’t happen he killed the guy who was in the will. Look what happened to Esau (Genesis 25:29-33; 27:41).  Esau hated Jacob for receiving the blessing and birthright. He gave it away for a pot of stew. He wanted to kill his brother like Cain murdered Abel. First he was greedy for the stew, then greedy to get back the birthright.

Another curious fact about greed is that the more money a greedy person gets, the more money he will want. There is no tipping point at which the greed of the greedy person will vanish. Don’t ever think that a person is too rich to want more. He or she will want more. Some men and women will enter into a loveless marriage just to get the money of their rich spouse.

Greedy, covetous persons are wretched and miserable. They cannot be content. They never relax. They never stop grasping and getting. Moreover, the greedy person is heartless. When he sees a person suffering need, he doesn’t offer help.

The greedy person is stingy. For example, he will not give his family members money for pleasure or amusement because he wants the money for himself. He is reluctant to tithe at church and complains about church expenses. He doesn’t try to support missionaries. When he is at a restaurant he refuses to pick up the tab. He always wants somebody else to pay the bill. The greedy person is stingy. He is stingy with his money and stingy with his time and service. He will refrain from helping people in need with his time and effort. He will not do small favors. The greedy person often pays his bills late. He flies off the handle when somebody breaks something by accident in his house or garage. He doesn’t want to give anything away.

James 2:2-4 brings out a form of greed. Admiration for the rich just because they are rich is another facet of greed. Avarice can show partiality towards those with money.

In Matthew 26:6-9, 14, Judas hated the woman for wasting the ointment on Jesus. He was greedy for money. Indignant at what the lady had done, he went off to sell Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. The ointment was the last straw.

IV.            What can I do to overcome greed? You ask.  Remember that you are merely a pilgrim in this life and you will not be able to take any of your things to heaven. 1 Timothy 6:10 says, “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” We are not owners of the possessions we have, we are merely stewards of them. Don’t confuse the two. Everything belongs to God. What we have is on loan from Him. “Hold everything loosely.” That is something Corrie Ten Boom said. A good lesson on greed would be to read Corrie Ten Boom’s book, or The Gulag Archipelago by Alexander Solsynitsyn. The one went to a Nazi Concentration Camp; the other to the Gulags of Siberia. Their stories show how tenuous and unimportant material possessions are in this life.

Think more about heaven and less about earth. Ask the Lord to give you the grace to become more heavenly-minded. Eternity is more important than time. The soul and the spiritual dimension of life is more than the body.

Remember the emptiness of mere things. Getting things and buying things will not give you the ultimate satisfaction you seek in your life. That satisfaction comes only from Christ. Empty yourself of yourself that the heavenly treasure which is Jesus Christ may fill you and satisfy you. Get rid of some of your earthly goods that you might remember the true source of all your riches.

Keep in mind that greed hardens your heart, and limits the joy of life. It is impossible to be happy and greedy. If you are unhappy, you are not going to get happy by purchasing something. It will make you unhappier. Your unhappiness runs too deep for money to help. Trust God to supply your needs. Find your happiness in giving, not receiving. Take to heart the Tenth Commandment: “Thou shalt not covet.” [P. 87 BCP.]

Cultivate the virtue that is in direct opposite to greed; namely liberality, generosity, openhandedness and unrestrained giving.

Give. Give to the church, give to some poor person, or a charitable cause. Give your tithe to the Church. Pick out one or two missionaries and begin giving them 1% of your income. Send them checks on a monthly basis. Give to those in need and do it with liberality and openhandedness.

If greed and materialism and wasteful spending are hindering your walk with the Lord, repent of it. Do like the Prodigal Son. Return to the Lord. Your Heavenly Father will forgive you. Resolve with the help and grace of God to become mature and responsible with less love for material accumulation and consumption.

Cultivate gratitude. Acknowledge that the good things in life come from God. Be grateful for what you have.

Think of the Lord Jesus Christ and how He gave everything He had in the service to others. He didn’t even have a place on which to lay his head. He was stripped of his raiment when they nailed him to the tree. By way of contrast, Judas sold His Lord for 30 pieces of silver. Look what it got him: tortuous guilt and misery. Tonight and during this season of Lent choose to be more like Jesus and less like Judas. Trust in God, not in riches.

Let us pray.