Wednesday, May 29

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Luke 12:15

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.”

Years ago, when my brother and I were in high school and middle school respectively, our family was invited to spend a day on a small yacht that belonged to some family friends. For some reason I did not go along but my brother did.

My brother had never been on a yacht before so the whole thing was pretty exciting. Then when lunch time came the lady whose husband owned the yacht brought out big plates of fancy lunch meats and cheeses. My brother remembers seeing the neat rows of rolled-up turkey and roast beef slices with the little toothpicks stuck in them and thinking to himself that he had finally arrived at the pinnacle of opulent living, albeit through the largess of the family that owned the yacht.

Just about that time another yacht floated by and this yacht absolutely dwarfed the yacht owned by our friends. As the huge vessel cruised by, the woman whose husband owned the smaller yacht kind of nodded her head toward to big yacht and said, “That’s how the other half lives!”

My brother says at that moment it dawned on him that he didn’t live in either half!

I think this is what Jesus is talking about in Luke 12.

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.”

Again, let’s look at this teaching from the perspective of the gospel. I have sometimes heard this passage used to make people feel guilty for having possessions or for being wealthy. While there are times that might be appropriate, I don’t think it’s the main point of Jesus’ teaching! I think Jesus is trying to deepen our understanding of the gospel.

So why is it “good news” that our lives are not defined by our possessions?

First, when we define our value by our possessions and wealth we always feel poor. We can always look around and find someone who has a little more than we do, and, by comparison, makes us feel poor. This is what my brother felt that day on our friend’s yacht. In fact, it’s also what the lady who owned the yacht felt when she saw the bigger yacht sail by!

Second, when we define our value by our possessions we become slaves to more. We covered this yesterday when we talked about greed, but if we define our worth by how much we possess, we have no choice but to want more…and more…and more!

Finally, and this is why the gospel is good news, when we define our value by the gospel, instead of by our possessions, we are set free. 

The gospel tells us we are valuable because God created us; knows us; and loves us enough to die for us. The gospel tells us we are not defined by our physical appearance; our personal accomplishments; our family or culture; or our wealth. 

We are defined by the truth of God’s word that tells us we were created for an eternal relationship with him and that, by faith, Christ has set us free from sin and death.

And that truth makes us rich indeed.

Pastor Brian Coffey