Luke 12:15

"And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." (Luke 12:15)

Jesus warns that life is not measured by what we own—so beware the idolatry of covetousness, and learn to trust the God who clothes the lilies and feeds the birds.

Simplify and Focus

At the first weekend of this year I shared the words the Lord had impressed upon me at the end of 2008: simplify and focus. I believe the Lord was speaking them not only to me personally but to us as a church, and He is speaking them just the same now.

We live in an environment of great wealth. After nearly 233 years as a nation, we have experienced great increase of power, prosperity, and prominence, becoming the strongest and wealthiest nation in the world. Many attribute that strength to our capitalistic economic system, and no doubt it has played a large role. But one observable weakness is this: when capitalism is met with commercialism, it produces a consumerism that leads to materialism. It has come to the point where many people equate personal happiness with the purchase and consumption of material goods.

Covetousness Is Idolatry

Jesus' exhortation to beware of covetousness is important, because the Bible reveals that covetousness is idolatry—a sin the Lord will judge. In Colossians 3:5, Paul tells us to put to death covetousness, "which is idolatry," and verse 6 says, "For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience." We are to lay these things aside.

"In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth." (Colossians 3:7–8)

The word translated beware in Luke 12 is much stronger in the original Greek. In the present imperative, active tense, it means to actively guard against, to keep watch over—as if covetousness were an enemy aggressively seeking to overtake your life. Paul uses an equally strong word in Colossians: we are to mortify, to put to death, covetousness. It is so destructive that wherever we find it within the walls of our lives, we are to slay it.

A World Oriented Toward Covetousness

How are we to respond in a world where covetousness is so often presented as a good thing? Jesus tells us a man's life is not measured by what he owns. The phrase "he who dies with the most toys wins" may have begun as a joke, but in our day it has become almost a driving motto in America—the desire to acquire.

In the 1930s, historian James Truslow Adams coined the phrase "the American dream." Yet by 2006, CNN found that 54% of Americans considered the American dream unachievable. In 75 years the definition shifted from opportunity and liberty to things, possessions, and materialism. Gallup's daily tracking polls reveal that 55% of Americans say they're struggling, 74% are dissatisfied with the state of the nation, and in a nation founded on the pursuit of happiness, only 40% say they are happy.

Yet as we sit here, we are among the richest people in the world. If you consider the 6.5 billion people on earth, you are in the top 5%—even if the Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P have you thinking you've lost 40% of your wealth. Could it be possible that in our pursuit of happiness, we've been pursuing it in the wrong way, looking in the wrong place? People sing "I can't get no satisfaction," and if you're looking for satisfaction in this world, that song is as true today as when it was written.

Even the outrage we've seen this past week—picketers in front of the AIG building over excessive bonuses—if we honestly examine it, is built upon covetousness. That rage that says "that's not fair, that's not mine," is covetousness. We may think we've progressed beyond primitive peoples who carved idols, yet we have idolatry too, in the form of covetousness—and it will be judged.

Seek First the Kingdom

Solomon asked in Ecclesiastes what the point is of amassing wealth if, after you die, it's handed over to a fool. In his case it was true—his kingdom was divided after his death. In Matthew 6, Jesus said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Just before that, He told us not to be anxious about food, clothing, or shelter, because our Father in heaven knows what we need.

Colossians 3 echoes this:

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." (Colossians 3:1–2)

King David said in Psalm 62:10, "If riches increase, set not your heart upon them." We in California are learning this in a big way. From 1999 to 2006 wealth grew exponentially, and our state, the fifth largest economy in the world, gambled and invested those monies with the mindset of the people in Isaiah's day—that tomorrow would be like today, only more abundant. Then everything fell apart. We faced a $42 billion deficit last year and head toward another $8 billion this year, with the sales tax rising a full percentage point on April 1st.

"Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven." (Proverbs 23:5)

Paul charged Timothy: "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy" (1 Timothy 6:17). He would say the same to us, the rich of the world.

Class Warfare and the Pressure of Covetousness

We are a people oriented toward covetousness. We look at what others have and say it isn't fair, and that division causes wars and fights. James asks, where do wars and fights come from? They come from your desires to attain. We're seeing class warfare in 2009 that we haven't seen in about 40 years, almost at a boiling point. Several months ago I mentioned Isaiah 19—civil disorder and unrest are marks of the Lord moving upon a nation in judgment, and we are on the verge of it. I believe covetousness is pushing that pressure cooker to pop. And the enemy has oriented all of advertising to draw us in, to make us not merely want something but believe we need it.

Pilgrims Like Abraham

Last week, studying Stephen's testimony in Acts 7, we considered Abraham, the father of our faith. Hebrews 11:9–10 tells us he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country, "for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."

"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off... and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth... they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city." (Hebrews 11:13–16)

Abraham lived as a sojourner, recognizing that this life was not all there was, and God was not ashamed to be called his God. Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." For this reason we are told to seek first the kingdom of God. A Marine once told me, "Where the head goes, the butt follows." In Christ I have a saying: where the head goes, the heart follows. That is why Paul tells us to set our minds on things above.

The Contrast Between Believer and Unbeliever

In Philippians 3:18–19, Paul says, weeping, that many walk as "enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things." Those who are friends of the world make themselves enemies of God.

"For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body." (Philippians 3:20–21)

There is to be a contrast between believer and unbeliever—not necessarily in outward appearance, but in heart and in what motivates them. The believer is a citizen of heaven and looks expectantly for the coming of the Lord, knowing we will be transformed in the twinkling of an eye, this mortal putting on immortality. Recently I've really been looking forward to that—I hurt my back moving a few months ago and have been at the chiropractor, so I'm looking forward to that incorruption.

A New Heart

How are we different? God has given the believer a new heart. Ezekiel said, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you" (Ezekiel 36:26). Why do we need one? Because Jeremiah said "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9). Out of our wicked heart come evil thoughts and lusts. John tells us all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is passing away. Peter says it will all burn and melt with fervent heat. Worldly men are invested in things that will burn, yet we as the church are to be different.

The Parable of the Rich Fool

"The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?... I will pull down my barns, and build greater... and I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be?... So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." (Luke 12:16–21)

Four things to consider. First, "the ground brought forth plentifully." How quickly we attribute success to ourselves. In Isaiah 10, the king of Assyria boasted, "By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent." But God replied, "Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith?" (Isaiah 10:15). The man in the parable didn't make the ground fruitful—he was blessed to have a fruitful field.

Second, notice how many personal pronouns this man uses—ten times he says "I" or "my." His attention was upon himself, and he was self-deceived. Scripture warns, "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12), and "if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself" (Galatians 6:3). He saw everything as his own doing and was not thankful to God—the same indictment God repeatedly gave Israel: "I have blessed you, yet you have never been thankful."

Third, God's response: "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee." In God's eyes the rich man was a fool because he was more focused on his goods and his life than on his God and the next life. That is a danger for us too.

Fourth, Jesus' application: "So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." Remember, this is Jesus' word, not mine. Notice what it does not say—it does not say you're a fool for saving; you can establish a good biblical basis for saving. But if you're more focused on your goods than on being rich toward God, invested only in the temporal that will burn, the Bible says you're a fool. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Consider the Birds and the Lilies

"Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on... Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?... Consider the lilies how they grow... Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." (Luke 12:22–27)

This week I studied at home while caring for Ethan, and on Friday I sat looking out at my beautiful garden of weeds. Among them I saw little black and yellow finches, one eating seeds from a dandelion. That bird didn't plant those weeds—if he did, I'd have words with him. He didn't gather into barns; he wakes up hungry, finds his daily bread, and God provides it. Are you not much better than they? And the golden poppies along the freeway this time of year don't toil or spin, nor do they boast "I did it." If God so clothes the grass, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

"Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." (Luke 12:32)

Reach over and underline that in your neighbor's Bible: fear not. So many in America are fearful right now, but God says do not be afraid.

"Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not... for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Luke 12:33–34)

An Opportunity to Lay It Down

Perhaps you wonder why we're going through this rather than the book of Acts. Beginning tomorrow we'll have a 38-cubic-yard dumpster here—a step of faith. Maybe nobody will use it; maybe we'll empty it three or four times. But for the next week it's available to you, an opportunity to lay aside every weight that has ensnared you, to purge out the old leaven—a little spring cleaning—to put away the strange gods among us.

In Genesis 35, God told Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel"—the house of God. God wanted to fellowship with him. Jacob said to his household, "Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments" (Genesis 35:2). They gave him all their strange gods and earrings, and he hid them under the oak at Shechem. Why? So they could enter into fuller fellowship with God, simplify, and focus on the one thing that matters. The result: "the terror of God was upon the cities... and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob" (Genesis 35:5). God was glorified when His people obeyed.

The Freedom of Letting Go

This is an opportunity to lay aside things you may have accumulated—and even measured yourself by. In 2004 I moved to Germany and nearly everything I owned fit in two bags. Just the other day I pulled into my garage and wondered, where did all this stuff come from? We acquire things and say, "I'm probably going to need this," and put it in a box. How many of you have boxes full of things you're probably going to need someday? You don't, and neither do I. Sometimes you have to say, "Andrea, would you throw this away for me—just don't let me see it."

Isn't it freeing when you finally get rid of stuff? It's gone, and you feel relief. God desires to set us free. We have things that bind us and hold on to us, and this week you have an opportunity to let them go and find out whether it is as freeing as the Scriptures say.

And if you wonder why we're having a rummage sale—verse 33 says, "Sell that ye have." So whatever is worthy to be sold, we'll set aside and sell next Saturday; you can come buy new junk, though I'd encourage you not to. Let the community take it.

Beware of covetousness, church. Our adversary the devil, the prince of the power of the air, holds the advertising industry and has done a good job deceiving our nation into a materialistic focus. Capitalism and private enterprise are wonderful, but when they move into a consumer mindset where happiness comes by what I can get and have, it is not scriptural. God desires to set us free, and His Word shows clearly how. Christ has come to set us free. Amen. So come out and dump your junk.

Closing Prayer

Father, I do love Your Word. Lord, You desire fellowship and relationship with us, and You reveal in Your Word just how that is made possible by Your Son. Thank You for making the way open, and thank You for setting us free. I pray that we would take responsibility and lay these things down, that we would be free to follow and serve You with a zealousness and a passion we've never experienced before, that the world would recognize that You are our life, that our focus would be upon You, and that we'd be freed from the entangling entrapments of this world. Lord, help me to continually set my affection upon You, to trust You for my daily bread just as the birds of the air, to trust You as the One who clothes and takes care of us just like the flowers of the field. For Your Word makes it clear that those who trust in You experience a blessing. Teach us to trust, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.