The Seven Deadly Sins “WHEN IS ENOUGH ENOUGH?” Proverbs 11:24-31 / 1 John 3:11-18 / Luke 12:8-21 Pastor Thomas Hall The librarians are worried about us. They’ve been eyeing me checking out all the books in their library on “sin:” I have this huge stack of books like, Whatever Became of Sin?, The Jekyll and Hyde Syndrome, The Addiction of Sin, The Seven Deadly Sins Made Easy. So they wonder if maybe I’m helping you all to sin more skillfully. Well, it’s true that we are spending our Lenten season exploring the “Seven Deadly Sins.” We’ve discovered that while sin in general can wound our relationship with God and neighbor, we’ve also learned that all sin is not equal. Some sins are so damaging, they spiral out and impact our lives and communities in much more dangerous ways. Some sins have deep hooks that not only wound us, but they imbed their hooks deep within our personality and bind us. So far, we’ve discovered for instance, that pride paralyzes us, that envy not only wants the grass that is greener on the other side, but wants to torch the greener grass if it can’t have it. The deadly sin of anger kills 8,000 of us each year and puts a million of us in wheelchairs. And sloth is not laziness, but a decision not to love, not to get involved, but to play it self and mind our own business. But that’s only half the story. We’ve also looked at the saving grace of Jesus. Only Jesus can truly save us from our sins. So we come this morning to the sacred cow of America: avarice. The Bible has much to say about the “stuff” that drives us. You may be surprised that God has always intended for his people to have wealth! God has always given the wealth of the earth to his people for their enjoyment. But here is the catch: they in turn, are required never to forget who have them that wealth. Take Deuteronomy for example. God says, When you have eaten and had all you want, when you have built fine houses to live in, when you have seen your flocks and herds increase, your silver and gold abound and all your possessions grow great, do not become proud of heart. Do not forget your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery: who guided you through this vast and dreadful wilderness, a land of fiery serpents . . . who provided you water and fed you with manna . . . Beware of saying in your heart, “My own strength and the might of my own hand won this power for me. Remember the LORD your God: it was he who gave you this strength to gain wealth. Be sure that if you forget the LORD your God, if you follow other gods, if you serve them and bow down before them—I warn you this day—you will most certainly perish.1 So, throughout the Old Testament, wealth and riches may be a sign of God’s blessing, but can quickly cause God’s wrath. What is at stake is our faithfulness. Will we be faithful to God in all of our abundance? Let’s think about the Gospel lesson this morning. Some Joe is moderately successful. Maybe he finds a niche in the business food chain. Makes some real bucks over night. That’s okay. Wealth isn’t a curse, it’s a blessing—depending on our relationship to it. In the story here’s what happens. The new Fortune 500 guy on the block makes a corporate decision: let’s expand! Let’s buy more real estate and build, build, build! That’s okay, too. It’s good to grow one’s business. So what’s the problem, then? Well, listen in as this rich guy talks to himself: “Self, I’m proud of you. You did it! You’ve got enough stuff stashed away to do you for a long time. Recline, dine, wine, shine!” So the guy wants to spend the rest of his life poolside. But God interrupts the first week of his good life to say, “You nitwit—at this very moment your goods are putting the screw on your soul.”2 The problem is not wealth, not in growing your investments or in planning your retirement, but what wealth can do to us when our possessions possess us. Two clues about this fat cat: first, he lacks a sense of legacy; that is, he has no vision beyond the immediate. He never saw beyond this world. Second, this is the only parable of Jesus that is so full of, “I” and “me” . . . “my” and “mine.” Listen in on another conversation. “What are you going with your life?” “Oh, I’m going to go to college and really learn business.” “And then?” “Well, then I’m going to set up a practice.” “And then?” “Oh well, then I’ll make an excellent salary.” “And then?” “What’s with the ‘and then’ stuff? Well, I suppose I’ll be able to take early retirement and enjoy traveling, maybe; I’ll live on my money.” “And then?” “Well, I suppose I’ll die someday.” “And then?” Someday, we will be this rich person; and God’s going to ask us, “where did we go with your life? What have you done with Your time, your talent, your skills, your treasure?” So Jesus ends up his little story about the rich guy with some these words: “This very night you must surrender your life; your soul is required of you!” I now want to make a special announcement for all of those who are not rich enough for this story to apply to their lives. In 1 Corinthians, Paul says, “For all things are yours, everything belongs to you, Paul, Apollos, Peter, the world. Life and death, the present and the future, all of this belongs to you. For you belong to Christ and Christ to God.”3 Paul says all things are yours! That means real estate! Your property line runs 25,000 miles in every direction; the sun and moon and stars—are yours too. All the laws of light and sound and growth and gravity and the laws of high tide and low tide are yours too. All of the mountains and valleys and orchards and forests and vineyards are yours. All things are yours—life. All of its births, its childhood, its adolescence, its maturity, and senility are yours. All of its nearly six billion people and languages and dialects. All of its cannibals headhunters, its dictators, assassins, terrorists, and thieves are yours. All of its presidents, governments, professors, teachers, students, and illiterates. All of its doctors, nurses, diseases, hungers, and thirsts are yours. All of its invalids, deaf, dumb, blind, lame are yours. All of its preachers and its 1.9 billion Christians are yours. All things are yours, even death. All of its release from pain are yours. All of its safe lying down to sleep at night and safe waking up in the morning are yours. All of its angels and archangels and the great cloud of witnesses that surround you. All the understanding of things never understood, all the wonder, the love, the praise, the adoration are ours, all the peace that passes understanding is yours. All things are yours, things present. All the status quo is yours. All the tension between first and second and third worlds is yours. All the Middle East situation is yours. All the tension in Bosnia, Ireland, and Central Africa is yours. All the racism is yours: all the poverty, slums, hard-core unemployable are yours. All the music, art, poetry, and beauty are yours. All the churches, hospitals, and libraries and national parks are yours. All things are yours, things to come. All peace on earth and good will among all human beings are yours. All life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness are yours. All quietness and confidence forever are yours. In short, all things are yours, for you are Christ’s and Christ is God’s. You see, you and I, we are the rich guy in Jesus’ parable. We are very rich with God’s blessing. And it is the power of the saving grace of Jesus to help us rewrite the parable. The question what will your story tell? What are you going to do with your wealth? Amen. _____________________________ 1 Deuteronomy 8:11-19. 2 Luke 12:20. 3 1 Corinthians 3:21-23.