The Marble Bag

The Marble Bag

Words of Faith 8-31-18

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2018

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL

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Luke 12:13-21

   Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."

   [14] Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" [15] Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

   [16] And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. [17] He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'

   [18] "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. [19] And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '

   [20] "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

   [21] "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

       My first personal experience with real, raw, unbridled greed was in the fourth grade. The current fad at recess was playing marbles. I found that I had a knack for the game we played "for keeps." I began to amass a rather large collection of bacons, clearies, boulders and even the coveted steelies, which were really just ball bearings. You would have thought that kids would stay away from my sharpshooting but something kept drawing them to the challenge, and I kept winning.

       Pretty soon I had so many marbles I could not possibly take them to school. I found an old burlap bag in the garage for my marble fortune and kept it hidden away in my closet. I did not allow anyone to know the location of my marble vault especially not my brother. But when no one was around, I took them out and sorted them into smaller bags. I was the king of marbles in the fourth grade and if they played with me long enough, I would have them all.

       Greed is a fascinating thing. It comes on us slowly. It was not where we intended to go. But somehow we get there slowly and find we are consumed by the desire for things.

       As Jesus was teaching, He suddenly encountered the ugly face of greed. Jesus was teaching about very serious warnings and promises concerning persecution when a man suddenly up a dispute that was very earthly. "Help me get some inheritance!"

       Actually it was a common practice to bring such things to a Rabbi for a judgment. The request was not so much a wrong one as just completely out of place and Jesus sensed the underlying motivation was greed. Greed has a way of blinding us from things that are eternal.

       Jesus responded saying, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" While Rabbis often delivered a sort of judicial opinion in such disputes, Jesus would have none of it. He was not concerned with such matters when there were eternal issues at stake. So Jesus used the opportunity to teach and minister.

       "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."  Watch out for the deeper issue of the heart, greed. Watch out that you do not define yourself by your possessions. Watch out for all kinds of greed.

         Jesus made the point with a parable.   A man was very blessed. Crops were good and the barns are full. The man asked himself the right question: "What shall I do? I have no place for all my blessing." But he arrived at a wrong answer. "Ah! I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then when they are full I will be secure. I will take it easy. Eat drink and be merry."   The man arrived at the wrong answer because he asked the wrong person... himself! If we ask the self what it wants, it will almost certainly come up with the wrong answer, a self-centered or self-serving answer. Had the man asked God, he might have arrived at an eternal sort of answer.

         God interrupted the man's plan to say: "You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. Who will get what is prepared for yourself?"   It is an interesting word that Jesus used here. The Greek means: "You mindless, stupid, ignorant, egotistical, rash, unbelieving, unwise fool!"  

         What is greed? Webster defines greed as "the desire to take all that one can get with no thought of others." Jesus defined it in a similar way. "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." To be rich toward God is to give in the same way that God gives. How sad it is when a person accumulates a lot of stuff only to discover when his life is demanded that he was very poor.

         Greed is an interesting sin because it is glorified in our culture. The culture celebrates the greedy not for what they give but for what they have. We don't think of greed in the same category as the "really bad sins." But what we think is of little importance, God views differently.

       How does God view the sin of greed? The Bible lists greed among the very worst of sins (Mark 7:22, Romans 1:1:29, Eph. 5:3). The Bible says that greed brings trouble to the family and stirs up dissension (Proverbs 15:27, 28:25).

       Greed has many forms. Jesus said: "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed. Apparently there are a variety of kinds of greed. Jesus says they are all deadly. There are all kinds of greed. There is greed for things, money, attention, influence, power, friends and travel experiences.

     Historically, greed is one of the great sins that infect the church. It is ironic that during the era of church history when greed was listed as one of the "seven deadly sins," the church became the greediest of institutions amassing vast properties and resources while the poor often suffered. The blessings of God were viewed as something the hoard rather than as tools for ministry.

       Institutional focus has led to massive trusts and financial accumulations that express a complete lack of trust in God for the future. The church must be on guard against holding things that were intended to be a blessing.

       Churches can also fall into a greed for people and members. The genuine desire to reach the world can be lost in a desire to have to build bigger and bigger barns in order to possess more and more people.

       How do we watch out for all kinds of greed?

       1) Ask God what He wants you to do with any blessing that comes your way. The error we most often fall into is that we ask old Mr. or Ms. Self: "What shall I do with my stuff?"   Instead, we are called to view everything as a trust from God that we steward or manage. God what do you want me to do? Where is this blessing supposed to go?

       2) Ask yourself if there is anything accumulated in your life that stands between you and God? It is a good question to ask from time to time. Is there anything I need to turn loose of? Is there something that would be a blessing to others? A special coat that you no longer wear? A watch you no longer use? Anything? Not just the junk we haul to Goodwill so that we fill the barn with more stuff! Is there something precious that God would have you give away?

       One Saturday afternoon the door bell rang. A little boy in about the third grade was at the door.   I was now in the sixth grade.   The boy said, "Can I see 'em?" "See what?" "Your collection?"   Ah... I had sort of forgotten about the marble collection. I had retired from the game while I was way ahead. So I sat the kid in the living room while I went and found my burlap bag. He dug through them with wide eyes. I don't know what possessed me but suddenly I said: You want em? "Well... I could never buy all these." "No I didn't mean buy them. You want em? You can have 'em."   He didn't stay around long in case I changed my mind. But he sure seemed like a happy kid. He could barely carry the massive fortune as he headed down the driveway.

       Later, I thought about it. Giving the marble bag away was not a particularly benevolent thing. It was more the realization that a fortune in marbles belongs on the playground somewhere and not in a closet. And you can't take them with you to Junior High School or you might even be called a "fool".

         The truth is that it actually is more blessed to give than to receive. That is why God loves to give so much. He loves to pour out blessing upon us so that then we can be a blessing to others.   And when we are a blessing to others we are rich toward God. We tend to be gatherings of people with a lot of marbles. We could find bigger bags and build bigger barns. Or we can ask, "What does God want me to do with this blessing?" It actually is something that requires trust and faith in Him that He will continue to care for us.

         Lord, I confess that I often have asked the right questions, but to the wrong person. Lord, what do You want me to do with the blessing You have poured out upon me? Lord, protect me from all kinds of greed. In Jesus' name. Amen.