Tag Archives: Greed

Giving Up

Advent

December 14, 2022

Scripture Reading: Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
   you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
   before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.
Stir up your might,
   and come to save us!
Restore us, O God;
   let your face shine, that we may be saved.

O Lord God of hosts,
   how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
You have fed them with the bread of tears,
   and given them tears to drink in full measure.
You make us the scorn of our neighbors;
   our enemies laugh among themselves.

Restore us, O God of hosts;
   let your face shine, that we may be saved. –Psalm 80:1-7

This was an interesting scripture to read after spending time trying to analyze the mid-term election results. Several non-partisan groups worked hard to encourage Oklahomans to vote. We did not tell them how to vote but to study issues and the candidates, make their own decisions, and vote. Yet we had fewer people turn out to vote in the 2022 mid-term elections than in 2018. Oklahoma has one of the lowest voter turnout rates in the United States. This sounds to me like people who have given up on themselves.

As I read the Psalm quoted above, it too sounds like a people who had given up on themselves. Perhaps they had given up on God. When I read something like this, I wonder if these people are aware of a wrongdoing for which they believe they are paying penitence. Or are they people caught in the wrongdoings of others and cannot understand what they have done to deserve their dilemma? Probably a little of both. For example, do the poor of the world choose to be poor, or is their poverty necessary to support the greed of others? It certainly was a question for the Israelites and their descendants. whether the oppressors were outside their group or inside. What Paul would later write about as the principalities and powers (King James translation).  

This same scripture, Ephesians 6:12, in the NRSV, describes it as

For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

In this scripture, Paul invites us to struggle against the systemic patterns in our world that result in poverty and its many manifestations, among other negative outcomes. In a democracy, voting is a good place to start.

Prayer: Lord, strengthen us to stand up to the present darkness in our world so that everyone at least has enough. Amen.

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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Ruled by Greed

Eastertide

May 23, 2022

Scripture Reading: Acts 16:16-34

One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, ‘These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.’ She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ‘I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’ And it came out that very hour.

But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market-place before the authorities. When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, ‘These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe.’ The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. –Acts 16:16-24

Money—it is all about money. We are suffering from a pandemic of greed in our country that will be our downfall if we follow the patterns of history. When we reach some level of success as a people, we lose sight of God’s role in our progress and begin to see ourselves as the hope of our destiny. We are, indeed, responsible for how our society survives or even thrives but God is the designer of the universe. Our success is shaped by God’s creation and there is no place for greed in the Kingdom of God. I see it in the news analysis that this or that candidate will win because he or she has amassed the most campaign contributions. It pops up daily on my email, text messages, and phone calls. I receive ten to twenty calls each day from telephone numbers I do not know and do not answer because they are either spam or scams.

1 Timothy 6:10 says it best, 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. We, the people, can demand better laws to require transparency and limit contributions, but to do so we must wrestle with giving up what we perceive as the perks of greed.

Prayer: Lord, help us remove the greed from our lives to better deal with the greed that surrounds us. Amen.

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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Getting Rid of Greed

Lent

April 7, 2022

Scripture Reading: Philippians 2:5-11

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
   did not regard equality with God
   as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
   taking the form of a slave,
   being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
   he humbled himself
   and became obedient to the point of death—
   even death on a cross. –Philippians 2:5-8

How do we Let the same mind be in [us] that was in Christ Jesus?  How do we empty ourselves of all the clutter that separates us from God so that we have room to expand our ability to love like Jesus? The intentionality of effort must be great to grow in the faith, hope, and love that Jesus professed. I woke up this morning distracted by the greed that is causing much of the destructive behavior in our world today. Greed is the primary driver of poverty and war. Greed is our idol of choice and the pandemic that will destroy us if we cannot excise through God’s help, its power over us. The rich cannot get richer unless the number of people who are poor grows.  Greed drives a man to try to steal an entire nation from his neighbors. None of us are immune to greed. All must take the time to understand our motivations for what we do and why we do it. We then need to give to God that which has taken control of us leading us away from our faith, hope for the future, and the love of God.

The scripture above is one of the most meaningful and beautiful lessons in the Bible. Claiming it for a time, memorizing it, and recalling it regularly would be a great place to start the process of clearing out the clutter that distracts us. Once, clear we must let God fill us with love so the distractions do not return and our actions reflect our love.

Prayer: Lord, Let the same mind be in [us] that was in Christ Jesus Amen.

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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

gods of our creation

Living in the Spirit

November 4, 2021

Scripture Reading: Revelation 21:1-6a
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
‘See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.’

And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ Then he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.

The word translated “dwell with” above is the Greek word skēnóō, which in English more precisely represents tabernacle and means dwelling in intimate communion with the resurrected Christ – even as He who Himself lived in unbroken communion with the Father during the days of His flesh*.

The poetic vision described above is far afield from our world today. We are more divided than I can ever remember. We are not the one people of God; Jesus longed for us to be. We cannot be the one people of God because we worship many gods we create in images we desire. If our most significant concern about the world is whether the ideal Christmas toy for our child is on one of those boats that cannot unload and thus will not be available to purchase in time for Christmas, we are in deep trouble. The toy or the microchips needed for cars could have been manufactured in the USA if we had been willing to pay our fellow citizens living wages. Instead, Our companies contracted with businesses in countries that allow low wages, child labor, and unsafe working environments.

Empires fail when they get too greedy for their own good.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we turn away from you toward the lesser gods that entice us. Open our hearts to the worth of your peace and love. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/4637.htm

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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Fragile Destiny

Living in the Spirit

October 26, 2021

Scripture Reading:

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the ordinances—that the Lord your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, so that you and your children and your children’s children may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life, and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

I have a deep sense that our world is on the cusp of imploding, collapsing inward from the external pressure of greed. We seem willing to die or kill our future and the future of our descendants in exchange for amassing wealth. We use our talents and skills clinging to fossil fuels rather than seeking ways to replace them while retaining the economic impact they create. Jobs are crucial amassing wealth is not.  I am reminded of these words from the song, Circle, on Barbra Streisand’s CD Higher Ground:

When it comes to thinking of tomorrow
We must protect our fragile destiny
In this precious life there is no time to borrow
The time has come to be a family

Of course, we may not need to save the earth if we kill off all its inhabitants via starvation, pandemics, and terrorism. Are we climbing the Tower of Babel or perhaps swimming to grab the last seat on Noah’s Ark? Are we really willing to fall as Israel and Judah did, followed by their captors Assyria and Babylon? Can we not see ourselves in our history? Oh, but I forget we are now outlawing the teaching of history—finding ways to learn from our mistakes.

The good thing about a cusp is it marks a point of transition. We do hold our fragile destiny in our hands. Do we follow the ways of greed and lust for power, or do we listen to the path set forth by Micah 6:8?

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
   and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
   and to walk humbly with your God?

Prayer: Lord, save us from self-destruction. Turn us around and help us learn the wonder of living a life of love. Amen.

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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Money Rules

Living in the Spirit

October 10, 2021

Scripture Reading: Mark 10:17-31

Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ They were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’

Peter began to say to him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’ Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’ –Mark 10:23-31

I was born in tornado alley and lived in it most of my life. Over and over, I hear people who have lost their homes and vehicles say when interviewed by media, everyone in the family survived that is all that is important. We can rebuild. Roll that scene back and consider what was important in our lives before the storm. In the above scripture, Jesus is telling us to get our priorities right in real-time. He states it this way in Matthew 16:26, For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?

Individuals being snared by greed grow into a society driven by greed. Every day, I get between 20 or 30 emails asking me for money to support various candidates when we do not have another election until next year. The sad fact is that the person with the most financial backing usually wins. Worse still, raising money is necessary even to get a bill passed in Congress. We the people, no longer have a say in our governance, which now could be described as government of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich. The only way to address this problem is the vote. Every effort is now being made to take that away from us.

Money deciding our elections would not happen if we, the people, did not also worship wealth. Do we envy the rich? What are our priorities? Where does loving God and loving as Jesus fit into our priorities?

Prayer: Lord, cleanse us of lusting after the ways of the world and help us set priorities that lead to a world ruled by your love. Amen.

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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Divided by Greed

Living in the Spirit

July 5, 2021

Scripture Reading:
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19

David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. David and all the people with him set out and went from Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts who is enthroned on the cherubim. They carried the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart with the ark of God; and Ahio went in front of the ark. David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. –2 Samuel 6:1-5.

I have no idea how Israelites danced, but I always envision Native American fancy dancers when I read that the Israelites danced with all their might. The indigenous dancers are mesmerizing to watch. Such artistic dancing grew out of the tribal preparation for, or celebrations of a good hunt or battles won. David and company were celebrating the attainment of enough peace to return the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem from being stored to preserve and protect it. Such events were community building, what people of faith recognize as oneness. Jesus called us to be one*. I fear our hold on oneness is very fragile. We have been invaded by the evil of divide and conquer. While we see actual divisions, I sense we are more caught in inertia, concerned that making any movement might start a chain reaction. I have heard we are close to civil war again being spoken.

I am reading Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book Team of Rivals that documents the events surrounding the Civil War of the19th century—a good book. What I notice most about the description of this time and its politics is that greed did not rule politics then as it does today. Slavery is essentially a sin of greed. The abolitionists were in general concerned about the immoral nature of slavery itself.  The pragmatic politicians were trying to hold the nation together. The slave states were trying to maintain their economy, of which slavery was already an accepted, engrained necessity.

Every day I delete a trove of emails and text messages asking me to send $3 or $5 or $25 or whatever I can afford because, if I do not contribute, some horrid bill will pass, or some desperately needed legislation is going to fail. Our democracy is being bought and sold, and we seem helpless to stop it. Of course, I only get the requests that relate to my political persuasions.  I am sure others are receiving the same type of propaganda aimed at the opposite viewpoint. On July 31, 2015, Jimmy Carter said that the U.S. Is an ‘Oligarchy With Unlimited Political Bribery’**. While at the time I thought he might have been overstating the situation, I no longer think he did.

How are people of faith to respond. Inertia is clearly not the answer. Answering God’s call to oneness is the vision for which we strive. The first step is recognizing we need to take it. We need to seek God’s guidance in finding common ground for the Common Good and not stop until it is realized, for it will never be bought.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for trying to go along to get along. Free us from any hold greed has on us. Give us the courage to work toward oneness. Amen.

*See  John 17:20-23
**https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/jimmy-carter-u-s-is-an-oligarchy-with-unlimited-political-bribery-63262/

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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

God vs Greed

Living in the Spirit

September 16, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45

O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name,
   make known his deeds among the peoples.
Sing to him, sing praises to him;
   tell of all his wonderful works.
Glory in his holy name;
   let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Seek the Lord and his strength;
   seek his presence continually.
Remember the wonderful works he has done,
   his miracles, and the judgments he has uttered,
O offspring of his servant Abraham,
   children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

So he brought his people out with joy,
   his chosen ones with singing.
He gave them the lands of the nations,
   and they took possession of the wealth of the peoples,
that they might keep his statutes
   and observe his laws.

Praise the Lord! –Psalm 105:1-6, 43-45

Does God establish privilege for those who follow God? That seems to be the thurst of most of the stories in the Bible that begin with God’s saving grace and transition to a sense of privilege. Ultimately those who travel the path of privilege fail as the Israelites did when they were exiled.

In the scripture above, the Israelites had every right and responsibility to praise God for rescuing them out of slavery in Egypt. Did that give them the right to take other nations’ land, to steal their wealth because the Israelites observed God’s laws? Is taking land and wealth even within the limits of God’s laws? Greed colors our interpretation of scripture.

Exodus 20:15–You shall not steal.
Exodus 20:17– You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Leviticus 19:18– You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

Many of our ancestors left Europe in search of religious freedom only to take the lands of the natives where our ancestors settled. They imported slaves from African as the primary means of producing wealth from that same land. They justified it as God’s will through the theory of Manifest Destiny and the issuance of the Document of Discovery. And we carry the weight of those sins to this day.

Christ came and taught us a new way of living measured not by wealth or privilege but by the love we share as we celebrate the gifts of God’s grace available to all.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for attempting to cast you as the source of the greed that engulfs us. Free us from its chains and give us the courage to live fully in the abundance of your love. Amen.

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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

The god of Greed

Living in the Spirit

The Worship of Mammon

July 29, 2020

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 55:1-5
Ho, everyone who thirsts,
   come to the waters;
and you that have no money,
   come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
   without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
   and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
   and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
   listen, so that you may live.
I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
   my steadfast, sure love for David.
See, I made him a witness to the peoples,
   a leader and commander for the peoples.
See, you shall call nations that you do not know,
   and nations that do not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,
   for he has glorified you.

Paul Krugman’s article in the 7-28-2020 New York Times is titled, The Cult of Selfishness Is Killing America. I had just read that piece before I read the above scripture. Another scripture came to mind.

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. 1 Timothy 6:10

Socialism is now the dirty word of the year. I do not know anyone that wants collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and control of the distribution of goods. Most people I know are glad we have police officers and firefighters and food and sanitation regulators. I have had food poisoning, and I do not ever want to have it again. I do not like ruining my tires and suspension on bad roads. I know that quality education for all is a necessary foundation for having a productive workforce, as is good health. I heard on the news just recently that a big company did not choose to open a new facility in my state because we had a weak education system. Government that provides for the Common Good is essential to sustaining our capitalistic economy.

The greed that is ruling our land is ruining our economy. Those who came to what is now the USA for religious freedom soon got caught in greed’s snares with lust for land. We christened it and made it holy, calling it the Doctrine of Discovery and Manifest Destiny. Plantation owners discovered they could make a lot more money with slaves than paid staff. We denigrated a whole cadre of people linking their worth to the color of their skin and defining them as three-fifths of a person each so they could be counted in the distribution of legislators but could not vote. Still today, we have onerous and antiquated immigration policies that reinforce entering or staying in our country undocumented, resulting in people working for substandard pay with no benefits. Being undocumented also allows them to be controlled by the fear of deportation.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for letting the idol of greed dominate our lives. Amen.

*Definition of Socialism  see https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/socialism

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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

God Listens, We Can,Too

Living in the Spirit

June 10, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19
I love the Lord, because he has heard
   my voice and my supplications.
Because he inclined his ear to me,
   therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
What shall I return to the Lord
   for all his bounty to me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation
   and call on the name of the Lord,
I will pay my vows to the Lord
   in the presence of all his people.
Precious in the sight of the Lord
   is the death of his faithful ones.
O Lord, I am your servant;
   I am your servant, the child of your serving-maid.
   You have loosed my bonds.
I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
   and call on the name of the Lord.
I will pay my vows to the Lord
   in the presence of all his people,
in the courts of the house of the Lord,
   in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!

Once again, a black man has been killed by policemen. This time we all got to watch the killing via media. Repeatedly, I have heard the word “listen” regarding the plight of blacks in our society over the past few weeks. Our scripture today tells us that God listens to all God’s children and hears what we say. Ours is a dynamic relationship with God, where love is reciprocated with more love.

We do not worship the fixed statues of old granting them powers they were unable to possess. We tend to worship out-of-control aspects of society that, like a parasite, flirts with us and diverts our attention from what really matters, allowing it to sap our soul-strength from us for its benefit.  

Our nation was formed by primarily Europeans immigrating here some in search of freedom from oppression, some in search of freedom of religion, and others seeking fortune. Some came with the full blessing of their church. The questions of history, I suppose, will never be answered whether the amalgamation of those immigrants and the natives that were already here could have ever been peaceful and mutually beneficial. Abraham’s migrating from Ur to the land of Canaan was at first hospitable until it was not. Until the parasites of greed resulted in violence among the tribes.

Four hundred years ago, the idea of producing more and more crops to make more and more money at the cheapest cost possible resulted in slavery. Humans, primarily from Africa, were extracted from their homelands and sold to the highest bidder to provide the cheap work necessary to make the most money from those crops. And we are still paying a high price for this denigration of God’s children for personal gain.

God is crying for us to abandon these draining gods and calling us to a deeper relationship with God. God listens and will enable us to listen to one another if we open our hearts to God.

Prayer: God let your love overpower us to the extent that we can see all the evil distractions of this world and turn from them and practice loving one another. Amen.

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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.