Mired by Greed

miredLiving in the Spirit
September 17, 2016

Scripture Reading: Luke 16:1-13

‘Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? –Luke 16:10-11

You are probably sick of me saying it, but I do believe that greed, which includes lust for power, is the major sin of our times and perhaps all times. We like to ignore that truth. We like to think we are immune from such a grievous sin. We talk about eliminating racism and misogyny. We express remorse at our failure to welcome the stranger. We do not go back to their root cause. Jesus is quoted as saying: For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21) First Timothy 6:10 further describes the nature of greed: For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. The so-called prosperity gospel gives credence to 1 Timothy.

How do we mesh our culture with God’s or do we? Is the question better phrased how do we make God’s way our culture? I think most of us had hoped that that is what we have been doing for most of our lives. Is it time to take another look? Is it time to hang God’s plumb line* of justice next to our lives and measure how skewed we are from it? Is it time that we let go of our limited perceptions of the narrow way of God and seek with all our hearts to follow the example of Jesus?

Prayer: God of Justice and Mercy, lift us from the mire of greed, wash it from our being, and lead us down the path you have carved before us. Amen

*See Amos 7

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All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.