“Materialism: Its Cause and Cure”
Luke 12:15

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost—Luke 12:15

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

In today’s Gospel Reading from the 12th chapter of St. Luke, Jesus tells us, “Watch out!  Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”  We consider this text under the theme:  “Materialism: Its Cause and Cure.”

A few years ago I told you the true story about a missionary in Africa who was asked by a visitor what was the greatest barrier he faced in doing mission work among the people there.  The people among whom this missionary labored were very poor, living mostly in mud huts.  The missionary himself was privileged to live in a hut made of cow manure, which was actually considered to be a better building material than mud.  Surprisingly, this missionary responded that the greatest barrier to his mission work among those people was materialism.  “How can that be?” the shocked visitor replied, “They don’t have anything!”  “Well,” the missionary said, “If a man has a mud hut, he wants a cow-manure hut; if he has a thatch roof, he wants a tin roof.  Materialism doesn’t depend on how much you have or don’t have.  Materialism is a disease of the heart, not the wallet.”

Compared to those African villagers, all of us have an abundance of material things.  If materialism is the greatest barrier to faith among them, then materialism is surely a threat to our faith also.  Doesn’t it almost seem like Jesus’ warning in our text is aimed directly at us, in our day, with our society that places so much emphasis on material things?  “Watch out!  Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

However, the problem is really not our possessions themselves but our priorities.  Materialism is a disease of the heart, not the wallet.  In today’s Epistle Reading from Colossians, St. Paul includes greed in a list of sins, and he defines for us what greed really is: “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is IDOLATRY.”

Greed is IDOLATRY.  That’s because when you make possessions your top priority, when you put acquiring possessions and maintaining possessions and enjoying possessions above God himself, when your possessions become #1 in your life, then your possessions have become your idol, your possessions have in fact become your god.

[In] [Immediately following] today’s Gospel Reading, Jesus says: “Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!”  That is the cause of materialism, a lack of faith and trust and hope in the true God: “O you of little faith!” 

“For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.” But instead, just like a pagan who bows down to an idol, you give your love and attention and devotion to things rather than to God; you put your faith and trust and hope in created things rather than your Creator.  Your possessions have become your idol; your possessions have in fact become your god.

You’ve probably seen the bumper sticker: “The One Who Dies with the Most Toys Wins.”  That was the attitude of the man in the parable Jesus told, the man who built bigger barns to hold his abundance.  “But God said to him, ‘You fool!  This very night your life will be demanded from you.  Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’”

Consider the tragedy of how we surround ourselves in this temporary life with every material trinket and bauble imaginable, but we give so little thought to where we will spend eternity.  Take it from an archaeologist: All the things you struggle to gain in this life will one day lie broken and rusted and buried beneath the sands of time.  In the Holy Land, I’ve excavated the tombs of dozens who died thousands of years ago, recovering what archaeologists call their “grave goods”: rings, bracelets, lamps, vases, bowls, and much more.  Just like them, all the things you struggle to gain in this life will one day lie broken and rusted and buried beneath the sands of time, perhaps to be discovered by some future archaeologist.  But, your soul will spend eternity either in heaven or in hell.

The book of Hebrews says, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’  So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.’”  That is the cure for materialism:  Giving your love and attention and devotion not to things but to God; putting your faith and trust and hope not in created things but in your Creator.

As St. Paul says in Romans, “If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things.”  God has already given you a treasure far more precious than any earthly possession; as Luther says in the explanation of the Apostles’ Creed: “Who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with his holy, precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death.”  St. Peter says that you have “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept for you in heaven.”

Therefore, as St. Paul says in today’s Epistle Reading, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

As St. Paul writes in 1st Timothy, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.  But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.  People who want to get rich fall into temptation and trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.  For the love money is the root of all kinds of evil.  Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

St. Paul does not say that money itself is evil, or that money itself is the root of all evil.  Money and possessions are actually blessings from God, to be used for our good and enjoyment, and for serving him.  But we must keep money and possessions in their proper place, for “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.”  The problem is not possessions but priorities.

Consider carefully your own life.  Is the acquisition and maintenance and enjoyment of possessions causing you to wander from the faith?  Have you been giving your love and attention and devotion to things rather than to God?  Have you been putting your faith and trust and hope in created things rather than your Creator?  Have you been making something other than the Lord #1 in your life?  As Jesus says, “No servant can serve two masters. . .  You cannot serve both God and money.”  “Chose this day whom you will serve,” Joshua declares, “but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Serve the Lord by making him the #1 priority in your life; serve the Lord by recognizing that all your possessions are really gifts from him; serve the Lord by living a life of thanksgiving and service to him; serve the Lord by worshipping him.  “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”

It is only when you stop trying to find fulfillment in the things of this life, that this life finally becomes fulfilling.  The great St. Augustine wisely put it this way: “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.”  “Set your heart on things above . . . not on earthly things.”

“Watch out!  Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”