One of the mothers in the church told me Friday night that she thought her youngest boy would be a good illustration of greed, but it didn’t end up where she had expected. He came up to her with a proclamation. “Mommy, we need another Christmas.” Two of his pens from Christmas ran out of ink that same day, so she thought, "Maybe, he’s going to “need” more pens or “need” more toys." “So David, why do we need another Christmas?” “Cause we need another Christmas tree with ornaments.” We don’t know exactly why David needs another tree. Maybe to spruce up the living room? And while his first thought was not about Jesus, at least it was not about getting more stuff.
Today’s topic is greed. I cannot think of a more aptly timed subject. With all the economic turmoil, it seems as though greed is nearly daily in the news. We hear constant reports of someone lying, cheating, stealing, and being irresponsible or unjustly compensated in the pursuit of wealth. Of course that has been going on since Adam’s first sin in the garden, but now we are seeing the consequences of greed crippling the economy of the entire world.
This teaching is a little different for me than ones in the past. The last few I have done have all been based on passages in either Acts or Luke. Those are pretty straightforward. You and I both know what I’m going to talk about. I’m going to start with the passage and go through it beginning to end with some illustrations along the way. Today’s message is topical: Knowing and Overcoming Greed. As I started to prepare for this, I was suddenly overwhelmed with how much information is out there.
Obviously, the world is consumed with the buying, selling, and accumulation of things. Also, the Bible is full of examples and teachings on money. According to Crown Financial Ministries, there are over 2,000 Scriptures about finances. How we handle money indicates something important about our spiritual condition. If it didn’t, we wouldn’t see it so often in the Word. Because there is so much out there we could talk about and before I get lost in the details, I want to give an overview of where I’d like to go today.
We’re talking about Knowing and Overcoming, so I would like to break the subject in half. First I want to focus on “Knowing” what greed is, and some statistics about greed. Also, I’ll sprinkle in warnings found in the Word about greed. Then, I want to talk about Overcoming Greed. In overcoming greed, I want to settle on 3 topics: Greed vs Stewardship, Greed vs Contentment, and Greed vs Charity. Hopefully by contrasting these three items, we can see victory in our own lives as well as encourage those around us how to experience victory.
Knowing Greed-
Back when I was a kid, if you wanted to know the definition of something, you looked it up in the dictionary. Today, we go to the internet. If you go to Yahoo! and put in “greed” as your search, it is amazing what comes up on the side bar.
• Greed
Buy greed now! Fuel your passion on eBay Motors.
Greed at a great deal! Greed on eBay Motors.
Shop greed! Great deals on greed!
It turns out that there is actually a company called Greed Wheels. They sell all sorts of custom wheels. Fittingly, their motto is, “Enough is never enough.” On their “About Us” page, it reads, “Greed Custom Wheels are more than just wheel concepts, they are a lifestyle.” Isn’t that amazing?
In just a quick internet search, phases turn up like, “Greed is good,” “Greed is our creed,” and “He who dies with the most toys, wins.”
Webster’s dictionary defines greed as a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (as money) than is needed. I also included the definition of materialism as the umbrella of a greedy lifestyle.
Materialism is the theory that physical well being and worldly possessions constitute the highest value and greatest good in life.
Before I go on, I want to be clear on what greed is not. Greed is not affluence or prosperity. If you have a nice car or you live in a nice home, that does not mean by default that you are a greedy person. Greed ≠ Affluence. Greed ≠ Prosperity. Jesus said, “a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Accumulating stuff as your life’s purpose or goal is wrong.
Patrick Morley pointed out in his book, “I Surrender” that there are 4 errors of prosperity.
1. Taking credit for prosperity – I did it on my own.
2. Ingratitude for prosperity – I’m not taking credit for it, but I’m not giving credit to God either.
3. Guilt over prosperity – Rather than finding God’s purpose in my blessing, I’m ashamed to be blessed when others are not.
4. Dependence on prosperity – I depend on my stuff to meet my needs rather than Christ.
This is fourth error is where greed steps in. Over-accumulating beyond what is needed to retire, to go into full-time Christian service, to keep a business running, or to provide for children’s education is accumulating too much.
If God owns everything, what is the purpose of prosperity? One key reason that God blesses some with prosperity is to extend the kingdom of God. Jesus himself said, “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” Luke 16:9
If you become dependent on prosperity or accumulating “stuff,” why is that wrong?
We all (believers and unbelievers) seem to recognize extreme greed as evil. In the midst of corporate scandals, there is great public outcry. When the “honest working man” has his savings wiped out because of deception or mismanagement, the media is quick to report it over and over. Bernhard Madoff is in the news because he seduced people with the promise of high returns on their investments. In reality, he used a Ponzi or a pyramid scheme to pay off the early investors with the capital of the later investors. The total investment scheme was $50 billion dollars! Many firms and some non-profits had more than 50% of their assets tied up with him. At least 3 charities will shut down as a result of this fraud. "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick" (Jeremiah 17:9)
I guess most remember CEO Kenneth Lay and Enron. That 2002 corporate accounting scandal destroyed Enron, a $100 billion company and the Arthur Andersen accounting firm along with it. Enron employed approximately 22,000 people in 2000 and approximately 4 as of 2008. Arthur Andersen fell from a high of 28,000 employees in the US and 85,000 worldwide. The firm is now down to around 200 based primarily in Chicago. Most of their attention is on handling the lawsuits and presiding over the orderly dissolution of the company. What was the crime? Its reported financial condition was sustained substantially by institutionalized, systematic, and creatively planned accounting fraud. Why did they engage in this fraud? To maintain the market value of the company which was $65 billion dollars at the peak. "He [the wicked man] will not become rich, nor will his wealth endure" (Job 15:29)
Of course, the current bailout of our financial institutions also finds its roots in greed. The American taxpayers will foot the $700 billion bailout from last October to stabilize our banking industry. Why was the banking industry in danger? Many financial institutions were investing in “debt.” They were bundling and dealing in home mortgages as if they were assets. This process resulted in some firms, like Lehman Brothers going bankrupt.
I pulled this from an article on Wikipedia about leverage. Leverage is like borrowing. If you borrow beyond your means to repay, that’s bad. Proverbs 22:7 says, “the borrower is servant to the lender.”
There are economic periods when optimism incites to a widespread and excessive use of leverage, what is called overleverage. One of its forms, associated to the subprime crisis, was the practice of financing homes with no or little down payment, playing on the hope that the price of the assets (the property in this case) will rise. Another form involved the five largest U.S. investment banks, which borrowed funds to invest in mortgage-backed securities, increasing their leverage between 2003-2007 (see diagram). During September 2008, the five largest firms either went bankrupt (Lehman Brothers), were bought out by other banks (Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns) or changed to commercial bank holding companies, subjecting themselves to leverage restrictions (Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs).
Overleverage amounts to gambling with your house payment. It’s money you can’t afford to lose. You don’t have enough to cover your losses in the event that you’re wrong.
That’s corporate greed. Somehow, it seems very impersonal and hard to grasp. What about how individuals handle money? We talked about overleverage as a form of gambling. What about individual gambling as an indicator of greed in our culture?
Interestingly enough, when I started to research this I found out that gambling is not gambling anymore. It is now called “the gaming industry.” Apparently, that makes it less offensive than gambling.
For 2006, UNLV researched the gaming industry in Las Vegas. Estimated amount spent on gambling: $170 billion. Estimated gross winnings by the casinos in Las Vegas: $12.6 billion. (That’s how much money people lost.)
From 1974 to 1994--20 years--the amount of money Americans legally wagered has risen 2,800 percent, from $17 billion to $482 billion.
In 1973 state lotteries had $2 billion in sales. By 1997, the revenues reached $34 billion
Internet gambling has nearly doubled every year since 1997 – in 2001 it exceed $2 billion
Two (now three) decades ago, 2 states had legal gambling and 48 states outlawed it. Today, 48 states have some form of legal gambling. Only Hawaii and Utah do not. (Still don’t, but I read a story that said Hawaii is considering legalizing some form of gambling due to economic pressure, a state budget short fall of $1.8 billion per year.)
Gambling has become a $40 billion dollar (1997 numbers) a year industry in the United States. Gambling generates more revenue than movies, spectator sports, theme parks, cruise ships and recorded music combined.
The fastest growing industry in the world is Indian gambling. There are 150 Indian casinos in the U.S. as of May 1997. Indian gaming is a $27 billion a year business in the U.S. (1997).
A U.S. News & World Report computer analysis of 55 counties that got casinos between 1990 and 1992 found that the 4 percent increase in new businesses in these counties matched that for the rest of the nation, leading to the conclusion that gambling does not generate economic expansion in the areas in which it operates.
After casinos opened in Atlantic City, the total number of crimes within a thirty-mile radius increased 100 percent
Of people who gambled, the average gambling budget for a Las Vegas trip was $580.90., On average, those gamblers gamble 4 hours per day. Average trip lasts 4 days. A nationwide survey by the U.S. Travel Industry Association found that 38% of all U.S. residents have been to Las Vegas in their lifetime. A record 29.6 million travelers visited Las Vegas in 1996. In 1996 there were over 100,000 hotel rooms (101,106) in the city of Las Vegas. New York City has 63, 279 hotel rooms. In 1996 Las Vegas hosted 3,827 conventions and 112 trade shows.
The largest percentage of visitors to Las Vegas were in the age group of 65 and older (22%). 35% of the 1996 Las Vegas visitors had earned a high school diploma. (Estimates in the general population is 70% graduate high school.) 26% of the 1996 vistors graduated from college.
"Players" with household incomes under $10,000 bet nearly three times as much on lotteries as those with incomes over $50,000
Over 60% of American adults gambled last year or over the past twelve months on some activity. Over 80% say that gambling is legitimate and casinos are okay.
Experts outside the gambling industry estimate that people with gambling addictions account for about 5% of all players--but 25% of casino and state lottery profits.
15 million people display some sign of gambling addiction
The average debt incurred by a male pathological gambler in the U.S. is between $55,000 and $90,000 (it is $15,000 for female gamblers)
The suicide rate for pathological gamblers is twenty times higher than for non-gamblers (one in five attempts suicide)
Sixty-five percent of pathological gamblers commit crimes to support their gambling habit
That’s pretty scary stuff. It doesn’t get much prettier if we look in other areas of Americans finance. Take personal debt for example.
The total overall household or personal debt outstanding in the United States increased by another trillion dollars to 13.8 trillion dollars in 2007. [GDP, the value of all final goods and services produced in one year, is $13.8 trillion]This is an eight percent increase over the year before and a 97 percent increase since the year 2000, when it was 7.0 trillion dollars.
The Federal Reserve gathers data on all reported funds on a monthly basis. The two main components of household debt outstanding are mortgage debt outstanding (2007 total = $10.5 trillion) and consumer credit (2007 total = $2.6 trillion). The rate of increase for mortgage debt has been much higher than that for consumer credit. Mortgage debt increased by eight percent over the last year (slightly lower than the nine percent increase last year), but more than doubled (119 percent) since 2000. Consumer credit debt increased by 8.3 percent from last year and 53 percent since 2000.
In 2006, 9.2 billion credit card offers went out to America's three hundred million people-more than thirty offers to every man, woman, and child!
That’s scary, but then I found out about a problem I had never heard of before. Have you ever heard of compulsive buying? This appears to be a problem on the rise.
From the LA Times (http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jul/21/health/he-shopping21)
In a land where citizens are implored to shop as an expression of patriotism, where little girls can attend summer camp cruising the stores of a mall, and where the average credit-card holder is $1,673 behind in payments, buying things in the United States is more than a hunt for daily provisions. It’s a national pastime, a form of therapy, a means of self-expression.
But for more than 1 in 20 Americans, shopping is something darker. A study published in the October 2006 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry found that at some point in the lives of an estimated 5.8% of the U.S. population, shopping will become a source of shame, a cry for help, the cause of job losses and broken relationships, a road to financial ruin. They are “compulsive buyers” – troubled by intrusive impulses to shop, prone to lose track of time while doing so, plagued by post-purchase remorse, guilt and financial woes and sometimes given up on by loved ones.
A more recent study, published in the December, 2008 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research suggests that the number may be closer to 8.9%, more than 25 million Americans.
The American Psychiatric Association defines compulsive buying as an Impulse-Control Disorder. “The essential feature of which is the failure to resist an impulse, drive, or temptation to perform an act that is harmful to the person or to others … the individual feels an increasing sense of tension or arousal before committing the act and then experiences pleasure, gratification, or relief at the time of committing the act. Following the act there may or may not be regret, self-reproach, or guilt.”
We see from the gambling and debt statistics and now compulsive buying that greed is a growing problem. People continue to spend money beyond their means. The desire to have more and accumulate wealth or stuff is at least partly rooted in our culture.
We enjoy a mind-boggling level of prosperity in our country. In his book, Jesus Wants to Save Christians, Rob Bell offers some startling statistics about America's affluence:
America controls nearly 20 percent of the world's wealth. There are around six billion people in the world, and there are roughly three hundred million people in the U.S. That makes America less than 5 percent of the world's population. And this 5 percent owns a fifth of the world's wealth.
Nearly one billion people in the world live on less than one American dollar a day.
Another 2.5 billion people in the world live on less than two American dollars a day.
By far, most of the people in the world do not own a car. One third of American families own three cars.
Americans spend more annually on trash bags than nearly half of the world does on all goods.
And yet, by the gambling and debt statistics, it is obvious that we still want more. People are struggling and striving to have more and have it now. Why? II Peter 2 describes false teachers as “experts in greed” the New American Standard version says false teachers “have hearts trained in greed.” v. 14 and that “many will follow their shameful ways” v. 2.
I’m going to borrow again from Patrick Morley, this time from his book, The Man in the Mirror published 20 years ago in 1989.
"The dominant economic theory in the last 40 (now 60) years has been consumerism. Consumerism is the economic theory that a progressively greater consumption of goods is beneficial. In 1957, Vance Packard wrote a book called The Hidden Persuaders which shocked the nation. He discovered and blew the whistle on a large scale effort to channel our unconscious habits and manipulate our purchasing behavior. Advertising companies had formed an “unholy” alliance with psychologists to manipulate the American consumer.
"The end of World War II left an industrial machine with capacity to produce far greater amounts of products than people were buying. So the question became, how to stimulate people to buy more and as a result the science of motivation research was born.
"Why do we always want a new car after two or three years? Why don’t we drive them until they fall apart. The answer is psychological obsolescence. Advertisers discovered a way to make us ashamed to own a slightly used car, outdated computer, or take your pick.
"In late 1955 the church publication Christianity and Crisis commented grimly on America’s “ever expanding economy.” It observed that the pressure was on Americans to “consume, consume, consume whether we need or even desire the products almost forced upon us.” It added that the dynamics of an ever-expanding system require that we be “persuaded to consume to meet the needs of the productive process.”
"Don’t you find it intriguing that this prophetic 1955 statement could readily be a comment on life today?
"Today, a lack of contentment pervades the life of the American consumer. That’s because forty (now sixty) years of consumerism and media influence have caused a basic shift in values. Unfortunately, most of us are trying to achieve the Madison Avenue lifestyle (let’s call it the beautiful, wrinkle-free life) than the economy will support. The media creates the lifestyle image that the producers of goods and services want to sell. It is unrealistic. It is artificial. Only a weary few achieve it.
"The result of trying to achieve the beautiful wrinkle-free life and failing produces an excruciating anxiety level. It’s a lack of contentment that intensifies the more we are exposed to our consumerism society.
"This figure on the screen shows two types of pressure produced by pursuing the beautiful, wrinkle-free life. First is media-generated standard of living anxiety. This is the extent to which our total spending still didn’t achieve the lifestyle level we set as our goal. Eliminating this anxiety is virtually impossible if we have bought into the beautiful wrinkle-free lifestyle because, as Solomon said, “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income” (Ecclesiastes 5:10). The more we get, the more we want. “Anxiety” is the natural by-product of chasing the beautiful, wrinkle-free life.
"The second is debt pressure. On the figure, notice the difference between spending and income. To the extent that our spending exceeds our income we must accumulate debt. We can create a standard of living for ourselves two ways: income and debt. Our productivity has a value, which is the income we earn. The other method is by borrowing money from future income we expect to earn.
"The double whammy of media-generated standard of living anxiety and debt pressure is enormously depressing. Not only do we have the tension of not reaching the lifestyle we set as a goal, we have the pressure of the debt we accumulated trying to get there. The debt makes us bitter and angry because we realize we played the part of a fool and deceived ourselves."
Morley goes on to talk about the need for American Christians to make the choice between chasing after the beautiful wrinkle-free life and choosing not to love the world. And, we’ll come to that in a minute, but I hope that picture can help you in at least two ways.
First, I hope it opens your eyes a little to the cultural war that is constantly going on. There are a whole lot of hurting people out there who feel like they can never measure up or they themselves are marginalized because they have failed to achieve the world’s standard. Worse still, there are people who are seriously debt laden because of choices made in the past. Others still are indulging in unwise financial activities (borrowing, gambling or pursuing get rich quick schemes). More and more people have come and are coming to realize that chasing wealth and things is “vanity, a chasing after the wind.” Each of us as a believer has the chance to reach these hurting people with the hope of the gospel.
Second, I hope it serves as a reminder in our own lives to guard ourselves against the “deceitfulness of riches” which can choke out the Word in our own lives as Jesus warned in the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:22).
So beyond its devastating effects, why is greed on the list as one of the seven deadly sins?
The answer is found in Colossians 3:5 - Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
Likewise, Ephesians 5:5 says, “For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person-such a man is an idolater-has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”
Greed is Idolatry.
Three (or four) of the 10 commandments deal with greed. The first commandment: No other gods before me. The second: you shall not make an idol. The ninth: you shall not steal, and the tenth: you shall not covet your neighbors house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Why so many? Because greed is idolatry: dependence on our stuff and not on God.
Job 31:24-28 “If I have put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, 'You are my security,' if I have rejoiced over my great wealth, the fortune my hands had gained, if I have regarded the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor, so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand offered them a kiss of homage, then these also would be sins to be judged, for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.”
We’ve taken a long hard look at greed, and it is a pretty scary subject. Now that we can say we know something about greed, it’s time to talk about overcoming greed.
Overcoming Greed-
I remember helping Ken and Carol move up to Six Mile. It was a hot day and moving is always hard work. I remember Paul being there, and at some point he said, “There’s nothing like helping someone move to make you want to sell all your possessions and move onto a commune.” I’m afraid at this point, you’re either ready to sell everything or to give up on any aspirations to go out and earn money for fear that you would begin to trigger greed in your heart.
That’s why I want to talk about greed vs stewardship.
Greed vs Stewardship
What is stewardship? It really means managing someone else’s affairs. In this case, we are talking about our lives and our possessions. When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we “changed jobs.” We gave up ownership of our lives because we were dead in our sins. Now, God is in control and He gives us our lives back, not our old lives, but new lives filled with the Holy Spirit. Now we are stewards. No longer do we make our decisions for ourselves. No longer do we look out for our own interests only. We should no longer act independently or selfishly. We must “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and … run with endurance the race that is marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1).
In addition to giving us new life, God has given each one of us special gifts and abilities. He is expecting us to use them for His glory. Just as in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25), “For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” It is our responsibility to use the gifts that God has given us, and that includes our vocational gifts.
But if we are not supposed to accumulate wealth or pursue the things of the world, what is our goal.
Colossians 3:23-24 -Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Use your skills, abilities, and wealth to further the Kingdom of God. In that way, you will store up treasure in heaven.
Greed vs Contentment
What is the purpose of advertising? It’s purpose it to get you to buy something. What method do advertisers use? Anything they can. They want to get at your fears. They want to establish a felt need in your life. They want you to be discontent with your circumstances so that you just have to have whatever they’ve got to sell. That’s the world’s message. Just a little bit more will satisfy.
That’s not God’s message. Why did Jesus come to earth? He said in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Ecclesiastes 5:19-20 Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work--this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.
The diligent find freedom in their work;
the lazy are oppressed by work. Proverbs 12:24 (The Message)
Well-done work has its own reward. Proverbs 12:14 (The Message)
1Timothy 6:6-11 But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 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. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.
Our hearts should be motivated to live beyond the cares of this world. Again, from Patrick Morley,
All the benefits of prosperity are temporal. All the risks of prosperity are eternal. No matter how affluent or influential we become in the prosperous, material world, we will not find eternal profit from temporal kingdoms. Despite all our prosperity, we must still come daily to the foot of the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ to inherit an eternal kingdom. … The only profit that matters is an eternal one.
Chasing after instant gratification today will give us nothing. We need to be content and seek after God Most High.
Greed vs Charity
Charity is mentioned as the virtue opposite of greed. It has two meanings. First, is agape or unconditional love. Second is generosity toward others.
Greed clearly puts us first. We are satisfying our longings. Charity would be to give help to those in need.
Philippians 2:3 says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”
Our giving statistics are a self-fulfilling prophecy. If our hearts are chasing after the world, so will our money. As a result, giving by American Christians is less than it was in the past. From generousgiving.org
While the amount of money that American Protestants give to churches has risen steadily since the end of Second World War, our rapidly increasing wealth has far outpaced any increase in giving. Statistics show that the American church is less generous now, after a half-century of unprecedented prosperity, than it was at the depth of the Great Depression. Our church giving over the last two decades has remained stagnantly around 2.5 percent whereas 40 years ago Christians were giving 3 percent, and 80 years ago 3.5 percent.
II Corinthians 9:6-8 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
I want to close with a passage from Isaiah 44:13-22
The carpenter measures with a line and makes an outline with a marker; he roughs it out with chisels and marks it with compasses. He shapes it in the form of man, of man in all his glory, that it may dwell in a shrine. He cut down cedars, or perhaps took a cypress or oak. He let it grow among the trees of the forest, or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow. It is man's fuel for burning; some of it he takes and warms himself, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roasts his meat and eats his fill. He also warms himself and says, "Ah! I am warm; I see the fire." From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, "Save me; you are my god." They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand. No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, "Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?" He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, "Is not this thing in my right hand a lie? Remember these things, O Jacob, for you are my servant, O Israel. I have made you, you are my servant; O Israel, I will not forget you. I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.
You are redeemed by the blood of the lamb. Our sins have been swept away. We can run the race marked out for us. God desires to do great things in each one of our lives. Let us serve him as good stewards, being content and loving others.
Today’s topic is greed. I cannot think of a more aptly timed subject. With all the economic turmoil, it seems as though greed is nearly daily in the news. We hear constant reports of someone lying, cheating, stealing, and being irresponsible or unjustly compensated in the pursuit of wealth. Of course that has been going on since Adam’s first sin in the garden, but now we are seeing the consequences of greed crippling the economy of the entire world.
This teaching is a little different for me than ones in the past. The last few I have done have all been based on passages in either Acts or Luke. Those are pretty straightforward. You and I both know what I’m going to talk about. I’m going to start with the passage and go through it beginning to end with some illustrations along the way. Today’s message is topical: Knowing and Overcoming Greed. As I started to prepare for this, I was suddenly overwhelmed with how much information is out there.
Obviously, the world is consumed with the buying, selling, and accumulation of things. Also, the Bible is full of examples and teachings on money. According to Crown Financial Ministries, there are over 2,000 Scriptures about finances. How we handle money indicates something important about our spiritual condition. If it didn’t, we wouldn’t see it so often in the Word. Because there is so much out there we could talk about and before I get lost in the details, I want to give an overview of where I’d like to go today.
We’re talking about Knowing and Overcoming, so I would like to break the subject in half. First I want to focus on “Knowing” what greed is, and some statistics about greed. Also, I’ll sprinkle in warnings found in the Word about greed. Then, I want to talk about Overcoming Greed. In overcoming greed, I want to settle on 3 topics: Greed vs Stewardship, Greed vs Contentment, and Greed vs Charity. Hopefully by contrasting these three items, we can see victory in our own lives as well as encourage those around us how to experience victory.
Knowing Greed-
Back when I was a kid, if you wanted to know the definition of something, you looked it up in the dictionary. Today, we go to the internet. If you go to Yahoo! and put in “greed” as your search, it is amazing what comes up on the side bar.
• Greed
Buy greed now! Fuel your passion on eBay Motors.
Greed at a great deal! Greed on eBay Motors.
Shop greed! Great deals on greed!
It turns out that there is actually a company called Greed Wheels. They sell all sorts of custom wheels. Fittingly, their motto is, “Enough is never enough.” On their “About Us” page, it reads, “Greed Custom Wheels are more than just wheel concepts, they are a lifestyle.” Isn’t that amazing?
In just a quick internet search, phases turn up like, “Greed is good,” “Greed is our creed,” and “He who dies with the most toys, wins.”
Webster’s dictionary defines greed as a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (as money) than is needed. I also included the definition of materialism as the umbrella of a greedy lifestyle.
Materialism is the theory that physical well being and worldly possessions constitute the highest value and greatest good in life.
Before I go on, I want to be clear on what greed is not. Greed is not affluence or prosperity. If you have a nice car or you live in a nice home, that does not mean by default that you are a greedy person. Greed ≠ Affluence. Greed ≠ Prosperity. Jesus said, “a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Accumulating stuff as your life’s purpose or goal is wrong.
Patrick Morley pointed out in his book, “I Surrender” that there are 4 errors of prosperity.
1. Taking credit for prosperity – I did it on my own.
2. Ingratitude for prosperity – I’m not taking credit for it, but I’m not giving credit to God either.
3. Guilt over prosperity – Rather than finding God’s purpose in my blessing, I’m ashamed to be blessed when others are not.
4. Dependence on prosperity – I depend on my stuff to meet my needs rather than Christ.
This is fourth error is where greed steps in. Over-accumulating beyond what is needed to retire, to go into full-time Christian service, to keep a business running, or to provide for children’s education is accumulating too much.
If God owns everything, what is the purpose of prosperity? One key reason that God blesses some with prosperity is to extend the kingdom of God. Jesus himself said, “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” Luke 16:9
If you become dependent on prosperity or accumulating “stuff,” why is that wrong?
We all (believers and unbelievers) seem to recognize extreme greed as evil. In the midst of corporate scandals, there is great public outcry. When the “honest working man” has his savings wiped out because of deception or mismanagement, the media is quick to report it over and over. Bernhard Madoff is in the news because he seduced people with the promise of high returns on their investments. In reality, he used a Ponzi or a pyramid scheme to pay off the early investors with the capital of the later investors. The total investment scheme was $50 billion dollars! Many firms and some non-profits had more than 50% of their assets tied up with him. At least 3 charities will shut down as a result of this fraud. "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick" (Jeremiah 17:9)
I guess most remember CEO Kenneth Lay and Enron. That 2002 corporate accounting scandal destroyed Enron, a $100 billion company and the Arthur Andersen accounting firm along with it. Enron employed approximately 22,000 people in 2000 and approximately 4 as of 2008. Arthur Andersen fell from a high of 28,000 employees in the US and 85,000 worldwide. The firm is now down to around 200 based primarily in Chicago. Most of their attention is on handling the lawsuits and presiding over the orderly dissolution of the company. What was the crime? Its reported financial condition was sustained substantially by institutionalized, systematic, and creatively planned accounting fraud. Why did they engage in this fraud? To maintain the market value of the company which was $65 billion dollars at the peak. "He [the wicked man] will not become rich, nor will his wealth endure" (Job 15:29)
Of course, the current bailout of our financial institutions also finds its roots in greed. The American taxpayers will foot the $700 billion bailout from last October to stabilize our banking industry. Why was the banking industry in danger? Many financial institutions were investing in “debt.” They were bundling and dealing in home mortgages as if they were assets. This process resulted in some firms, like Lehman Brothers going bankrupt.
I pulled this from an article on Wikipedia about leverage. Leverage is like borrowing. If you borrow beyond your means to repay, that’s bad. Proverbs 22:7 says, “the borrower is servant to the lender.”
There are economic periods when optimism incites to a widespread and excessive use of leverage, what is called overleverage. One of its forms, associated to the subprime crisis, was the practice of financing homes with no or little down payment, playing on the hope that the price of the assets (the property in this case) will rise. Another form involved the five largest U.S. investment banks, which borrowed funds to invest in mortgage-backed securities, increasing their leverage between 2003-2007 (see diagram). During September 2008, the five largest firms either went bankrupt (Lehman Brothers), were bought out by other banks (Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns) or changed to commercial bank holding companies, subjecting themselves to leverage restrictions (Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs).
Overleverage amounts to gambling with your house payment. It’s money you can’t afford to lose. You don’t have enough to cover your losses in the event that you’re wrong.
That’s corporate greed. Somehow, it seems very impersonal and hard to grasp. What about how individuals handle money? We talked about overleverage as a form of gambling. What about individual gambling as an indicator of greed in our culture?
Interestingly enough, when I started to research this I found out that gambling is not gambling anymore. It is now called “the gaming industry.” Apparently, that makes it less offensive than gambling.
For 2006, UNLV researched the gaming industry in Las Vegas. Estimated amount spent on gambling: $170 billion. Estimated gross winnings by the casinos in Las Vegas: $12.6 billion. (That’s how much money people lost.)
From 1974 to 1994--20 years--the amount of money Americans legally wagered has risen 2,800 percent, from $17 billion to $482 billion.
In 1973 state lotteries had $2 billion in sales. By 1997, the revenues reached $34 billion
Internet gambling has nearly doubled every year since 1997 – in 2001 it exceed $2 billion
Two (now three) decades ago, 2 states had legal gambling and 48 states outlawed it. Today, 48 states have some form of legal gambling. Only Hawaii and Utah do not. (Still don’t, but I read a story that said Hawaii is considering legalizing some form of gambling due to economic pressure, a state budget short fall of $1.8 billion per year.)
Gambling has become a $40 billion dollar (1997 numbers) a year industry in the United States. Gambling generates more revenue than movies, spectator sports, theme parks, cruise ships and recorded music combined.
The fastest growing industry in the world is Indian gambling. There are 150 Indian casinos in the U.S. as of May 1997. Indian gaming is a $27 billion a year business in the U.S. (1997).
A U.S. News & World Report computer analysis of 55 counties that got casinos between 1990 and 1992 found that the 4 percent increase in new businesses in these counties matched that for the rest of the nation, leading to the conclusion that gambling does not generate economic expansion in the areas in which it operates.
After casinos opened in Atlantic City, the total number of crimes within a thirty-mile radius increased 100 percent
Of people who gambled, the average gambling budget for a Las Vegas trip was $580.90., On average, those gamblers gamble 4 hours per day. Average trip lasts 4 days. A nationwide survey by the U.S. Travel Industry Association found that 38% of all U.S. residents have been to Las Vegas in their lifetime. A record 29.6 million travelers visited Las Vegas in 1996. In 1996 there were over 100,000 hotel rooms (101,106) in the city of Las Vegas. New York City has 63, 279 hotel rooms. In 1996 Las Vegas hosted 3,827 conventions and 112 trade shows.
The largest percentage of visitors to Las Vegas were in the age group of 65 and older (22%). 35% of the 1996 Las Vegas visitors had earned a high school diploma. (Estimates in the general population is 70% graduate high school.) 26% of the 1996 vistors graduated from college.
"Players" with household incomes under $10,000 bet nearly three times as much on lotteries as those with incomes over $50,000
Over 60% of American adults gambled last year or over the past twelve months on some activity. Over 80% say that gambling is legitimate and casinos are okay.
Experts outside the gambling industry estimate that people with gambling addictions account for about 5% of all players--but 25% of casino and state lottery profits.
15 million people display some sign of gambling addiction
The average debt incurred by a male pathological gambler in the U.S. is between $55,000 and $90,000 (it is $15,000 for female gamblers)
The suicide rate for pathological gamblers is twenty times higher than for non-gamblers (one in five attempts suicide)
Sixty-five percent of pathological gamblers commit crimes to support their gambling habit
That’s pretty scary stuff. It doesn’t get much prettier if we look in other areas of Americans finance. Take personal debt for example.
The total overall household or personal debt outstanding in the United States increased by another trillion dollars to 13.8 trillion dollars in 2007. [GDP, the value of all final goods and services produced in one year, is $13.8 trillion]This is an eight percent increase over the year before and a 97 percent increase since the year 2000, when it was 7.0 trillion dollars.
The Federal Reserve gathers data on all reported funds on a monthly basis. The two main components of household debt outstanding are mortgage debt outstanding (2007 total = $10.5 trillion) and consumer credit (2007 total = $2.6 trillion). The rate of increase for mortgage debt has been much higher than that for consumer credit. Mortgage debt increased by eight percent over the last year (slightly lower than the nine percent increase last year), but more than doubled (119 percent) since 2000. Consumer credit debt increased by 8.3 percent from last year and 53 percent since 2000.
In 2006, 9.2 billion credit card offers went out to America's three hundred million people-more than thirty offers to every man, woman, and child!
That’s scary, but then I found out about a problem I had never heard of before. Have you ever heard of compulsive buying? This appears to be a problem on the rise.
From the LA Times (http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jul/21/health/he-shopping21)
In a land where citizens are implored to shop as an expression of patriotism, where little girls can attend summer camp cruising the stores of a mall, and where the average credit-card holder is $1,673 behind in payments, buying things in the United States is more than a hunt for daily provisions. It’s a national pastime, a form of therapy, a means of self-expression.
But for more than 1 in 20 Americans, shopping is something darker. A study published in the October 2006 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry found that at some point in the lives of an estimated 5.8% of the U.S. population, shopping will become a source of shame, a cry for help, the cause of job losses and broken relationships, a road to financial ruin. They are “compulsive buyers” – troubled by intrusive impulses to shop, prone to lose track of time while doing so, plagued by post-purchase remorse, guilt and financial woes and sometimes given up on by loved ones.
A more recent study, published in the December, 2008 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research suggests that the number may be closer to 8.9%, more than 25 million Americans.
The American Psychiatric Association defines compulsive buying as an Impulse-Control Disorder. “The essential feature of which is the failure to resist an impulse, drive, or temptation to perform an act that is harmful to the person or to others … the individual feels an increasing sense of tension or arousal before committing the act and then experiences pleasure, gratification, or relief at the time of committing the act. Following the act there may or may not be regret, self-reproach, or guilt.”
We see from the gambling and debt statistics and now compulsive buying that greed is a growing problem. People continue to spend money beyond their means. The desire to have more and accumulate wealth or stuff is at least partly rooted in our culture.
We enjoy a mind-boggling level of prosperity in our country. In his book, Jesus Wants to Save Christians, Rob Bell offers some startling statistics about America's affluence:
America controls nearly 20 percent of the world's wealth. There are around six billion people in the world, and there are roughly three hundred million people in the U.S. That makes America less than 5 percent of the world's population. And this 5 percent owns a fifth of the world's wealth.
Nearly one billion people in the world live on less than one American dollar a day.
Another 2.5 billion people in the world live on less than two American dollars a day.
By far, most of the people in the world do not own a car. One third of American families own three cars.
Americans spend more annually on trash bags than nearly half of the world does on all goods.
And yet, by the gambling and debt statistics, it is obvious that we still want more. People are struggling and striving to have more and have it now. Why? II Peter 2 describes false teachers as “experts in greed” the New American Standard version says false teachers “have hearts trained in greed.” v. 14 and that “many will follow their shameful ways” v. 2.
I’m going to borrow again from Patrick Morley, this time from his book, The Man in the Mirror published 20 years ago in 1989.
"The dominant economic theory in the last 40 (now 60) years has been consumerism. Consumerism is the economic theory that a progressively greater consumption of goods is beneficial. In 1957, Vance Packard wrote a book called The Hidden Persuaders which shocked the nation. He discovered and blew the whistle on a large scale effort to channel our unconscious habits and manipulate our purchasing behavior. Advertising companies had formed an “unholy” alliance with psychologists to manipulate the American consumer.
"The end of World War II left an industrial machine with capacity to produce far greater amounts of products than people were buying. So the question became, how to stimulate people to buy more and as a result the science of motivation research was born.
"Why do we always want a new car after two or three years? Why don’t we drive them until they fall apart. The answer is psychological obsolescence. Advertisers discovered a way to make us ashamed to own a slightly used car, outdated computer, or take your pick.
"In late 1955 the church publication Christianity and Crisis commented grimly on America’s “ever expanding economy.” It observed that the pressure was on Americans to “consume, consume, consume whether we need or even desire the products almost forced upon us.” It added that the dynamics of an ever-expanding system require that we be “persuaded to consume to meet the needs of the productive process.”
"Don’t you find it intriguing that this prophetic 1955 statement could readily be a comment on life today?
"Today, a lack of contentment pervades the life of the American consumer. That’s because forty (now sixty) years of consumerism and media influence have caused a basic shift in values. Unfortunately, most of us are trying to achieve the Madison Avenue lifestyle (let’s call it the beautiful, wrinkle-free life) than the economy will support. The media creates the lifestyle image that the producers of goods and services want to sell. It is unrealistic. It is artificial. Only a weary few achieve it.
"The result of trying to achieve the beautiful wrinkle-free life and failing produces an excruciating anxiety level. It’s a lack of contentment that intensifies the more we are exposed to our consumerism society.
"This figure on the screen shows two types of pressure produced by pursuing the beautiful, wrinkle-free life. First is media-generated standard of living anxiety. This is the extent to which our total spending still didn’t achieve the lifestyle level we set as our goal. Eliminating this anxiety is virtually impossible if we have bought into the beautiful wrinkle-free lifestyle because, as Solomon said, “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income” (Ecclesiastes 5:10). The more we get, the more we want. “Anxiety” is the natural by-product of chasing the beautiful, wrinkle-free life.
"The second is debt pressure. On the figure, notice the difference between spending and income. To the extent that our spending exceeds our income we must accumulate debt. We can create a standard of living for ourselves two ways: income and debt. Our productivity has a value, which is the income we earn. The other method is by borrowing money from future income we expect to earn.
"The double whammy of media-generated standard of living anxiety and debt pressure is enormously depressing. Not only do we have the tension of not reaching the lifestyle we set as a goal, we have the pressure of the debt we accumulated trying to get there. The debt makes us bitter and angry because we realize we played the part of a fool and deceived ourselves."
Morley goes on to talk about the need for American Christians to make the choice between chasing after the beautiful wrinkle-free life and choosing not to love the world. And, we’ll come to that in a minute, but I hope that picture can help you in at least two ways.
First, I hope it opens your eyes a little to the cultural war that is constantly going on. There are a whole lot of hurting people out there who feel like they can never measure up or they themselves are marginalized because they have failed to achieve the world’s standard. Worse still, there are people who are seriously debt laden because of choices made in the past. Others still are indulging in unwise financial activities (borrowing, gambling or pursuing get rich quick schemes). More and more people have come and are coming to realize that chasing wealth and things is “vanity, a chasing after the wind.” Each of us as a believer has the chance to reach these hurting people with the hope of the gospel.
Second, I hope it serves as a reminder in our own lives to guard ourselves against the “deceitfulness of riches” which can choke out the Word in our own lives as Jesus warned in the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:22).
So beyond its devastating effects, why is greed on the list as one of the seven deadly sins?
The answer is found in Colossians 3:5 - Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
Likewise, Ephesians 5:5 says, “For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person-such a man is an idolater-has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”
Greed is Idolatry.
Three (or four) of the 10 commandments deal with greed. The first commandment: No other gods before me. The second: you shall not make an idol. The ninth: you shall not steal, and the tenth: you shall not covet your neighbors house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Why so many? Because greed is idolatry: dependence on our stuff and not on God.
Job 31:24-28 “If I have put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, 'You are my security,' if I have rejoiced over my great wealth, the fortune my hands had gained, if I have regarded the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor, so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand offered them a kiss of homage, then these also would be sins to be judged, for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.”
We’ve taken a long hard look at greed, and it is a pretty scary subject. Now that we can say we know something about greed, it’s time to talk about overcoming greed.
Overcoming Greed-
I remember helping Ken and Carol move up to Six Mile. It was a hot day and moving is always hard work. I remember Paul being there, and at some point he said, “There’s nothing like helping someone move to make you want to sell all your possessions and move onto a commune.” I’m afraid at this point, you’re either ready to sell everything or to give up on any aspirations to go out and earn money for fear that you would begin to trigger greed in your heart.
That’s why I want to talk about greed vs stewardship.
Greed vs Stewardship
What is stewardship? It really means managing someone else’s affairs. In this case, we are talking about our lives and our possessions. When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we “changed jobs.” We gave up ownership of our lives because we were dead in our sins. Now, God is in control and He gives us our lives back, not our old lives, but new lives filled with the Holy Spirit. Now we are stewards. No longer do we make our decisions for ourselves. No longer do we look out for our own interests only. We should no longer act independently or selfishly. We must “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and … run with endurance the race that is marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1).
In addition to giving us new life, God has given each one of us special gifts and abilities. He is expecting us to use them for His glory. Just as in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25), “For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” It is our responsibility to use the gifts that God has given us, and that includes our vocational gifts.
But if we are not supposed to accumulate wealth or pursue the things of the world, what is our goal.
Colossians 3:23-24 -Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Use your skills, abilities, and wealth to further the Kingdom of God. In that way, you will store up treasure in heaven.
Greed vs Contentment
What is the purpose of advertising? It’s purpose it to get you to buy something. What method do advertisers use? Anything they can. They want to get at your fears. They want to establish a felt need in your life. They want you to be discontent with your circumstances so that you just have to have whatever they’ve got to sell. That’s the world’s message. Just a little bit more will satisfy.
That’s not God’s message. Why did Jesus come to earth? He said in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Ecclesiastes 5:19-20 Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work--this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.
The diligent find freedom in their work;
the lazy are oppressed by work. Proverbs 12:24 (The Message)
Well-done work has its own reward. Proverbs 12:14 (The Message)
1Timothy 6:6-11 But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 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. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.
Our hearts should be motivated to live beyond the cares of this world. Again, from Patrick Morley,
All the benefits of prosperity are temporal. All the risks of prosperity are eternal. No matter how affluent or influential we become in the prosperous, material world, we will not find eternal profit from temporal kingdoms. Despite all our prosperity, we must still come daily to the foot of the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ to inherit an eternal kingdom. … The only profit that matters is an eternal one.
Chasing after instant gratification today will give us nothing. We need to be content and seek after God Most High.
Greed vs Charity
Charity is mentioned as the virtue opposite of greed. It has two meanings. First, is agape or unconditional love. Second is generosity toward others.
Greed clearly puts us first. We are satisfying our longings. Charity would be to give help to those in need.
Philippians 2:3 says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”
Our giving statistics are a self-fulfilling prophecy. If our hearts are chasing after the world, so will our money. As a result, giving by American Christians is less than it was in the past. From generousgiving.org
While the amount of money that American Protestants give to churches has risen steadily since the end of Second World War, our rapidly increasing wealth has far outpaced any increase in giving. Statistics show that the American church is less generous now, after a half-century of unprecedented prosperity, than it was at the depth of the Great Depression. Our church giving over the last two decades has remained stagnantly around 2.5 percent whereas 40 years ago Christians were giving 3 percent, and 80 years ago 3.5 percent.
II Corinthians 9:6-8 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
I want to close with a passage from Isaiah 44:13-22
The carpenter measures with a line and makes an outline with a marker; he roughs it out with chisels and marks it with compasses. He shapes it in the form of man, of man in all his glory, that it may dwell in a shrine. He cut down cedars, or perhaps took a cypress or oak. He let it grow among the trees of the forest, or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow. It is man's fuel for burning; some of it he takes and warms himself, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roasts his meat and eats his fill. He also warms himself and says, "Ah! I am warm; I see the fire." From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, "Save me; you are my god." They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand. No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, "Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?" He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, "Is not this thing in my right hand a lie? Remember these things, O Jacob, for you are my servant, O Israel. I have made you, you are my servant; O Israel, I will not forget you. I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.
You are redeemed by the blood of the lamb. Our sins have been swept away. We can run the race marked out for us. God desires to do great things in each one of our lives. Let us serve him as good stewards, being content and loving others.
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