Bible Passage and Commentary
Day by Day Through the Bible
Greed is a Bottomless Pit: Luke 12: 13-21
“Take heed, and keep yourselves from all covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”
In the 1987 film, Wall Street, Michael Douglas won an Academy Award for his role as Gordon Gekko, the very personification of greed. In a speech to the stockholders of a corporation he was about to take over, Gekko delivered a riveting speech in which he declared:
"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 Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA."
The inspiration for Gekko's speech was the 1986 commencement address delivered by Wall Street money maven Ivan Boesky at the UC Berkeley's School of Business Adminsitration. Boesky told the assembly that, "Greed is all right, by the way. I want you to know that. I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself." Not long afterward, Boesky was sent to prison for insider trading.
In today's Gospel, Jesus refuses to be drawn into a sibling rivalry in which one brother demands that the other brother give him his share of his inheritance. The custom at that time was for the heirs to share the inherited land and work it together rather than divide it up.
Jesus saw the man's request as a sign of greed.
The Bible warns us about greed 25 times and reminds us that our lives do not consist of the abundance of our possessions. Yet, we live in a society that encourages conspicuous, profligate consumption, a country in which children learn to "Super size me" and where parents “shop ‘til they drop.”
Greed is responsible for many of the recent scandals that have wracked corporate America. We now have CEOs of major corporations earning more before lunch time than their employees earn in a year. Yet they still want more. Greed is behind the credit crisis that has brought Wall Street and Main Street to the edge of a financial abyss. Yet they all expect a government bailout. Greed is what drives the pharmaceutical companies to charge exorbitant prices. Greed is what fuels the sale of illicit drugs and the use of steroids by athletes who are supposed to be role models. What we really need is a pill to treat the feverish spread of greed.
When we approach the altar to receive communion, we extend an empty hand to receive the host. That outward gesture symbolizes the way we must let go of the things of this world and break the grip of greed in order to take Jesus into our lives. What is Jesus asking you to let go of today?
Friday, January 30, 2009
But he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? And he said unto them, Take heed, and keep yourselves from all covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he reasoned within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have not where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, be merry. But God said unto him, Thou foolish one, this night is thy soul required of thee; and the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God
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Bob Larranaga