In a Fallen World, We are all Greedy!

The story is told of a man who did his arithmetic early before entering church, like we all do. He reached into his wallet and removed a thousand shilling note. This he set aside for “the business of men.” So he put it in the left pocket. Then he removed a fifty shilling note, crumpled it as if it was stolen, then he put it in his right pocket. This was his gift for God.

When the time for giving offering came he quickly reached into his pocket without thinking much. Apparently the man had forgotten his earlier division of his wealth into what was God’s and what was his. The shock hit him outside, after the service, when he reached into his left pocket to discover it was empty. Holding his breath he dipped into his right hand side pocket to discover a crumpled fifty shilling note. God had robbed him!

It is tragic when it is not a physical disease that afflicts one, but the “disease” of money. Notice when one borrows a pound and is given not one but two. Immediately one is beset with a sinking feeling of failure. Pray, why hadn’t he asked for three pounds?

Others ask for help, and in their estimation they expect to be given something commensurate with the donor’s worth. Woe is when the donor does not give in relation to his wealth. It is then you hear the one being helped asking with a sneer, “Is this all he is worth?” or “How can he give me something like this? It is better if he had kept it!” Some “beggars” though are principled, though they be only beggars. These believe it is beneath their dignity to accept help below a certain amount, therefore they politely return it, with thanks.

Greed begets jealousy. Take suffering for example. When one moans it is too much, it is usually in relative to others. Why are they not suffering, or why is their suffering “small”? The Swahili have a saying that “Kifo cha wengi ni arusi.” The death of many is like a wedding. It may be misery but at least many are in it, and that gives everyone comfort. Likewise friends may be won or lost if it is only one individual who is continually succeeding, and the other not. It is better if they were all failing, or they were all succeeding. That way the soul of a natural man is comforted. Misery makes strange bedfellows of all us. When it comes to all men then people see the hand of God in it. But when it comes to only one person like Job then people see the hand of witchcraft at work.

In the Parable of the Workers in Matthew Twenty, some laborers “went out early in the morning” to a rich man to ask for work in his vineyard. “And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.” In the third hour he found some workers lingering idle in the market. He sent them also in his vineyard. He said he would give them whatever was right by him. So they agreed and went. “Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle…” He sent them also in his vineyard.

Now trouble came in the evening when guys lined up to receive what was their due. Then the rich man gave a pound to each, from the first to the last. The first guys read mischief and they were not amused. They murmured at the rich man for his “injustice.” They felt piqued that guys who had come for only “one hour” should be made equal with them.

The rich man had his time in “court” too. He rebuked his workers for their insolence in attempting to direct his affairs. The laborers’ sounded like criminals complaining to the judge, “Why have you let the others free?” The rich man growled,  “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good”? The prophet Jeremiah bemoaned that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked”. Again it is written that “everyone is given to covetousness”, and that “from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.” God was right then and He is still right today.

And so He drives in that lesson that “the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.” This parable has very wide application, but I will stick to greed, whether it be in the ministry or in the world. It should humble us that God is no debtor to man. That God is not a Capitalist, or a human-shark, out to gain as much profit from you – but contrary His grace (his undeserved mercy), and his love to all, is clearly revealed here. That it is sufficient for all. Let us not be jealous of others’ ministries, or enterprises, or good fortune!

It’s not how we begin but how we end that matters. Will your zeal be as strong as when you began, or will it flounder at last? Finally ye that are unthankful, murmurers, remember to be thankful for everything, even the little, “for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 The 5:18). So learn to be content with what you have, for murmuring shows unthankfulness, and God considers that as rebellion. Elsewhere He likens it to the sin of witchcraft.