Between Two Thieves

            An old, humorous story depicting the evils of greed goes like this:        

    

            An old preacher was dying. He sent a message for his doctor and his lawyer, both church members, to come to his home.

            When they arrive, they were ushered up to his bedroom. As they entered the room the preacher held out his hands and motioned for them to sit, one on each side of his bed. The preacher grasped their hands, sighed contentedly, smiled and stared at the ceiling. For a time, no one said anything. Both the doctor and lawyer were touched and flattered that the preacher would ask them to be with him during his final moments.

            They were also puzzled; the preacher had never given them any indication that he particularly liked either of them. They both remembered his many long, uncomfortable sermons about greed, covetousness and avaricious behavior that made them squirm in their seats.

            Finally, the doctor said, "Preacher, why did you ask us to come?"

            The old preacher mustered up his strength, then said weakly, "Jesus died between two thieves… and that's how I want to go."

The Severed Arm

            Rick Ezell recounts the fable of a prosperous investment banker, who was driving his new BMW sedan on a mountain road during a snowstorm. He encountered trouble, lost control of his vehicle, and began sliding off the road toward the edge of a cliff.             

            Reacting instinctively, he flung himself out of his door and leaped from the car. The car careened down the mountain and burst into flames.

            The man escaped with his life, but he had experienced a grotesque injury. As he was jumping, the hinge of the door ensnared the banker’s arm. Consequently, the arm was severed at the shoulder.

            A trucker saw the accident and pulled his rig over to the side. He ran to see if he could help. He found the banker standing by the roadside—looking down at his car burning away below.

            The banker cried out, “My BMW! My new BMW!”

            The trucker pointed at the banker's shoulder and said, “Buddy, you've got bigger problems than a car. We've got to find your arm. A doctor might be able to sew it back on.”

            The banker looked at the spot where his arm had been, and began to moan, “Oh no! My Rolex! My new Rolex!”

            Sometimes, fables can reveal important truth. In our society, people are obsessed with material things. That is not a 21st-century phenomenon. People have always been what the Bible calls “greedy.”

             Those who trust in their riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf—Prov. 11:28.

Balloon Boy

            I saved a sermon on greed a few years ago. The illustration was six year old Falcon Heene being sent up in an air balloon by his father, who hoped the stunt would draw the attention of a TV network… and a contract for a new “reality” show.

            As you might imagine, one of the points of the sermon was the way greed had driven the father, Richard Heene, to put his child in danger. Other good points were made and, in the end, the message was extremely clear—greed is bad.  

            What made the sermon interesting to me was the Preacher: a major news magazine in the United States.

            The Bible has preached this sermon for a long time. Here is one way Paul preached it: For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs (I Tim. 6:10.) ESV

The Day American Told the Truth about $ Ten Million

            Back in 1991, James Patterson and Peter Kim published a book entitled The Day America Told the Truth. In a scientific poll of American citizens, one question they asked was, “What are you willing to do for $10,000,000?” Here was the response:

Would abandon their entire family (25%)

Would abandon their church (25%)

Would become prostitutes for a week or more (23%)

Would give up their American citizenship (16%)

Would leave their spouses (16%)

Would withhold testimony and let a murderer go free (10%)

Would kill a stranger (7%)

Would put their children up for adoption (3%) 

Hoisting Petards

            Here is a category in which a state does not want to lead the nation: staged accidents. According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, Florida leads the nation in staged automobile accidents. These Floridians do so to rob insurance companies out of thousands of dollars.

            Some of these citizens have ingeniously used technicalities of existing state law. Through their machinations, they have individually robbed insurance companies of as much as $10,000 on nonexistent accidents. They pull off these heists by taking advantage of the fact that, in Florida, one is not required to prove that any party (involved in an accident) was negligent.

            These abuses of the law reflect a spirit of greed. There will be consequences. This behavior inevitably drives up insurance rates for everyone.

            In HAMLET, Shakespeare wrote a phrase that we have translated into a figure of speech—“hoist with his own petard.” It means the equivalent of a bomb maker blowing himself up with his own bomb.

            Greed is motivating too many Americans to “hoist with [their] own petards.”

A Man’s Life and His Possessions

            I read little fiction, but one novel I enjoyed several years ago was A MAN IN FULL by Tom Wolfe. In the book, Charlie Croker, a very rich man, lies in his hospital bed musing on the betrayal of his friend, Inman Armholster, “All I have to do is say, ‘The deal’s off.’ One sentence is all it would take. I can salvage my honor-and lose everything I have. Why kid myself? This is Atlanta-where your ‘honor’ IS the things you possess.”

            Too many people think like Charlie—honor lies in what we possess. Jesus felt differently, “Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot” (LUKE 12:15b.)  THE MESSAGE

            

Answering Our Prayers

            The tale is told of a son who overheard his father pray that the needs of the poor might be fulfilled. The son said to his father, “Father, I wish I had your corn.”

            “Why my son? What would you do with it?” asked the father.

            The son replied, “I would answer your prayers.”