Christ United Presbyterian Church
August 4, 2013
Sermon: “Idolatry is Good!”
In the epistle lesson Paul says: “Put to death, therefore,
whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and
greed (which is idolatry).” And then he
adds: “But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander,
and abusive language from your mouth.”
In the 1987 movie “Wall Street,” Michael Douglas playing the
role of investment banker Gordon Gekkko says:
“The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better
word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and
captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms;
greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of
mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save [this company], but
that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA.” In case you think that the speech was just a
piece of creative fiction, it’s actually an almost word for word quote from a
real speech that was made by a prominent investor in 1986 (Ivan Boesky, May,
1986, UC Berkley School of Business).
That remains a pretty accurate and scary description of
American society and its economic behavior for these past two decades. In September 2008 that greed caused the
collapse of a major part of our economy and we still haven’t recovered
fully. Meanwhile greed hasn’t
disappeared at all and some would say we are in greater danger today that we
were 5 years ago. God continues to allow
us to reap the fruits of our idolatry, our folly and our sin.
Paul equates “greed” with “idolatry.” What is greed: “Greed is the inordinate desire to
possess wealth, goods, or objects of abstract value with the intention to keep
it for one's self, far beyond the dictates of basic survival and comfort.”
And why is “greed” a form of “idolatry”? Thomas
Aquinas wrote, "Greed is a sin against God, just as all
mortal sins, in as much as man condemns things eternal for the sake of temporal
things." In other words one or more
of those things that Paul warns us against replaces God. Whatever you desire the most is your
God. And in greed the object of your
desire and you yourself become objects of worship.
Some people confuse partisan politics with Christian
reality. Some people might say that if
you preach on the passage from Colossians – or a whole lot of other passages in
the Scriptures including the Sermon on the Mount or today’s Gospel lesson –
that you will offend a lot of people because you will appear to be endorsing
“liberal” politics.
That’s a pretty shortsighted view of the Gospel message. I know a lot of people with right wing
political views who don’t have any money, and I know some very rich people who
espouse left wing political views. Greed
– what Paul tells us is idolatry – is not the mark of a political
perspective. It’s a mark of sin. And repenting of greed is not the mark of a
single political perspective; it’s the mark of a Christian.
We need to remember that Paul is writing to a Christian
congregation. He’s not telling them that
greed, or “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth”
will disappear form the world. He’s
telling them that it needs to disappear from within the congregation, from
within the church. He’s saying that if
you call yourself a Christian, if you are an active member of the congregation,
then these things must be removed from your life.
Paul makes it plain in all of the epistles to the young
churches that they – as disciples of Christ – must demonstrate this better way
to the world in order to earn the respect of the world and a proper hearing for
the message of the Gospel.
Some congregations can get caught up in greed as a body. It’s not just individuals. Some congregations don’t recognize their
calling to go into the world and use their resources to feed the hungry,
shelter the weak, bring justice to the accused, defend those living under heavy
burdens of oppression. Scripture makes
it clear that it’s to bring the witness of God’s loving-kindness and mercy into
the world that we exist.
Congregations have no other reason to exist, but some
congregations simply don’t recognize that.
Some congregations with significant financial resources think that those
resources are to be used to build monuments – mausoleums really – to their own
continued existence rather than to respond to the call of Christ’s Gospel and
use those resources to spread God’s love and mercy. They have turned their fellowship into idols
and covet their resources.
Our congregation has some critical physical plant repairs
that need to be taken care of, and they will cost money. We know that.
I’ve suggested to the Session that those repairs need to be done now so
that when the day comes that a new pastor is called to Christ United
Presbyterian Church the congregation will be ready to move forward and not be
burdened with a building that’s falling down around us.
Our congregation is at a tipping point. Looking forward we need to define how we
shall respond to the challenge of the Gospel’s demands. Supporting a building is not a mission,
although a building can become a resource used for mission such as Esther’s
Kitchen. As we stand at this tipping
point we need to decide what the ministry and mission of our congregation will
be. It’s not enough to simply exist as a
group of people who come together for an hour or so on Sunday morning and sing
hymns and greet one another. It’s not
enough to say that we want to increase our numbers.
Before a new pastor is called to this congregation, this
congregation needs to know why it should continue. It needs to define how it will bring the
message of God’s love and mercy to this community and to the world. And as we seek our mission and struggle with
how to realize it, we must also remember the other things that Paul requires of
a Christian church. We must do it
without “anger, wrath, malice, slander,
and abusive language from your mouth.”
God’s presence surrounds us. God’s mercy and forgiveness
provides us with the freedom to take risks for the sake of the Gospel. God’s call to us requires that we respond to
the needs of this broken world to show the world the God whom we adore.
In a few moments we shall gather around the Lord’s Table, the
place that we most fervently remember what Christ has done for us. He calls us to share that gift with all the
world. He calls us to see with His eyes
the things of this world that break God’s heart and to bring God’s message of
hope and healing to everyone we see.
Amen.
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