Resisting Greed and Worry
The following video transcript has been lightly edited
Greed and worry are a wrestle for us all. There's always a part of us that think if we just have a little bit more than everything will be. Meanwhile, we spend a lot of our life worrying about all the different parts and pieces, the material goods, what we're going to do, who's gonna come here, how we're gonna get there.
And in the midst of both of those things, it traps us and haunts us. And that's not something that God would have for us. So today we're gonna look at how we might resist greed and worry in our lives because we all face that challenge all the time. We're gonna do it through a parable in Luke, in which Jesus tells in response to the question, Hey, tell my brother to split the inheritance with me. Posited in that idea is that somehow if he got half of the inheritance, then his life would be easy. So Jesus tells the story about a rich man. Who has everything the land is producing abundantly. And how he says to himself, well, I have so much that I don't even know what to do with it, so I'm gonna rip down my barns, rip down my store houses, build more, stockpile everything, and then I'm gonna eat, drink, and be merry.
I won't even have to worry about a thing. And then the story ends with Jesus saying, you fool. Tonight, your life is being called from you and all the possessions you have, they're meaningless
From there. Jesus goes on to say that we're not to worry. Rather we're supposed to consider the birds of the air and that life is not about food and clothing and houses, but that it's about something more and asks us what can we add?
How can we even add an hour to our life by worrying? The answer is we cannot. And so while we walk through this life, there's this part of us that believes that if we just got all that we needed and if we were able to make all that we want happen, then everything would be great. But in fact, it's not true. And so within Jesus' teaching, there's a few ideas that I think help us learn how to resist greed and worry in our lives.
The first is that we want to be grateful for the good fortune we have. So the rich man has this inheritance and the land is producing abundantly. It just so happens that this was given to this person and that the land is producing abundantly something he doesn't even really have full control over.
And that's a great thing for us to always remind ourselves. We like to think that all that we have is because we have made it happen, but reality is something different. Our lives are always intertwined with history and other people and circumstances, and so what we have is not something that is just ours that we've built, but rather it's a gift.
And when we choose to practice being grateful for the good fortune we already have, it helps us fight against greed and worry in two ways. It's hard to be greedy when you're grateful for what you have because you're just. Able to be present in the goodness. When you give thanks for your family and you give thanks for the job you have, and you give thanks for the beauty outside, and you give thanks that you live in a time of history and you get to stroll into a store like Wegmans and get anything you want.
It's hard to think at that moment about the little bit more that you need because you're just being grateful for what you have. On the other side, as you practice this gratitude, you're reminded that what life is is not about getting a little bit more, in fact that you have more than enough. And so it helps you fight against the worry because you're in a place in which you're like, Hey, I'm grateful for the good fortune I have, and I'm gonna be present and enjoy that.
The second tool to help us resist greed and worry is to remember to not put our trust in ourselves. So in the parable, basically the rich person says, well, I'm going to do this and I'm going to do this, and I'm going to do this. Putting all of his trust in his kingdom that he has built. The reality of that situation is you and I putting trust in ourselves and our ability to accomplish all things and meet all challenges and do all things is like trusting in a plastic fork.
It's brittle and it breaks, and you're at that barbecue and you go to put your fork in it and it, and it just snaps right off. And you think to yourself, man, this thing is not reliable. The hard truth is you and I are not as reliable as we would like to believe. We need the gift and grace of God and the gift and grace of others.
And so instead of putting our trust in ourselves, we wanna put our trust in God's kingdom. Well, what does that look like? You know, I think Scotty Scheffler gave us a great example of it this week. So he's playing in the Open and he says that, you know, he's realized that winning is fleeting, but what he loves, what he enjoys is the practice and the competition, and as he gives himself to that, sure enough, what happens is it results in winning. I think the same thing is true for us. It's not that the things we give our life to our work and our family and our hobbies, that there's anything wrong about them, but when we see them as something that is entirely ours and that we have to manage and maintain, then co.
What comes with that is this sort of allure of just a little bit more and the anxiety and worries that go with it. Instead, when we seek God's kingdom, we give ourselves to things like play and work and love and rest. And as we enter into those things, those are the times where you lose track of time.
You sit at the dinner table and you laugh with your friends. You have a day at work in which you feel connected and engaged. And so it's not that we want to rest in our abilities, but rather we want to turs in God's goodness, and then live out of that place in which we enter fully into life and protect against worry and greed.
Lastly, what we want to do is we wanna identify what is the faithful action or patient presence that we can take. So Jesus says, Hey, life is more than clothes and food and where you will sleep. Consider the birds of the air. They have everything. And how could you even add an hour to your life by worrying?
And the answer is you cannot. And so rather than get caught in either worrying about how to fix the situation that you can't get fixed or clamoring for some sort of next thing that's gonna make everything better. What we want to do is we wanna look at what's in front of us and we want to decide, hey, does this require faithful action or does it require patient presence?
Either of those could be right. Maybe sometimes it's a mix of the two. Faithful action are the actions that we take up as stewards. They're the actions we take up that are peace and patience, and presence and kindness and gentleness and self-control. They're faithful actions to the world, to our people, to God.
They reflect God's character and they bring us into being fully human On the other side. Sometimes there's things that we can't fix, we can't change. We have to endure them. And rather than get lost in either ruminating about the would or should coulda or trying to solve the problem in the future, what we wanna do is we wanna enter into the present and allow ourselves to be in a place in which we think, okay, I'm gonna walk through this, and just as I've walked through other things, I will walk through this.
Even when I can't figure out how to do it, I'm gonna do it in a way that connects me to God and connects me to others. Because when we're in that place, when we're either taking faithful action or we're being purposely patient and present, then we don't have space for greed and worry.
I know like you, greed and worry are a challenge for me. They just are. I think it's part of our culture and yet none of us want to hold onto them. And so by taking these three actions this week, it'll help you resist and fight greed and worry from keeping you trapped in your life by practicing gratitude of the good fortune you already have by trusting in God's kingdom versus the your own that you're building because it's not reliable.
And lastly, determining what is the faithful action and patient presence to take in the midst of whatever challenges that I'm facing. And then you too will have the experience of res of resisting, greed and worry. Hope you have a great week. Take care.
