Introduction
Each of the characters in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
represent a different sin that plagues humanity. We started by looking at gluttony. Then we considered sinful pride. Our topic today is greed.
Ephesians 5:3-5
3 Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or
greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. 4 Obscene stories, foolish
talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be
thankfulness to God. 5 You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or
greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy
person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.
The Madness of Greed
Greed is a terrible sin. We make a big deal out of things
like murder and sexual immorality. But the Word of God says greed is just
as bad as being a sexual pervert. In fact, the Word today says a greedy
person is an idolater. Imagine a person
who bows down and worships a statue--thinking it is God. That person is a
fool. They turn their back on the One
True and Living God in favor of an inanimate statue made by human hands. They reject God for something that cannot
help them. They are evil and the greatest of all fools.
Greed is an inordinate desire to acquire or possess more than one
needs. Our desire can be for more food, money, status, or power. It may be like Varuca Salt in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory who wanted the
golden egg and the goose that laid it (and a party and a feast, a bean
feast!). What we want is not
the issue; it’s that we greedily want more, more, more! And no matter how
much we get, it is never enough. The
ironic thing about greed is the greedy person is never truly satisfied.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 says, “Those who love money will never have enough. How
meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! “The more they have,
they emptier they feel.”
Do you think it is only a coincidence that so many in America feel
empty and dissatisfied? We are one of the wealthiest nations on earth. We have so
much! A study was done that showed
Americans spend more money on trash bags than
the combined Gross Domestic Product of the poorest 90 countries in the
world. (I.E., if we take 90 of the
poorest countries on the planet and combine the amount of money they spend on
everything—food, shelter, clothing, medical care, the basic necessities of life
to survive and everything else—it is still less than the amount Americans spend on
bags to hold all the stuff we throw away into the garbage heap.) And yet, Americans, so often, are the ones
who feel empty and dissatisfied with life. We feel like we need more. Ecclesiastes 5:10 has never been truer.
“Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think
that wealth brings true happiness! “The more they have, they emptier they feel.”
Veruca Salt probably didn’t realize how her
temper tantrum was so disgusting. We
rarely realize how awful our greed is when we are in the midst of it. When we are consumed with getting what we
want, we don’t realize (or care) how bad we behave or who we hurt; all we care
about is getting what we want. Greed can
lead people to the most heinous crimes, because people will do anything (and
feel justified in their actions) to get what they want. Greed (disguised as the harmless idea that “we
need it”) becomes the justification to hurt others, to steel, to murder. Parents, driven by greed to acquire more
stuff, neglect or abuse their children. Greed
leads countries to go to war as they vie for power and millions die in the
process. Greed causes one person to
gorge themselves while another starves to death. Worst of all, greed drives a wedge
between us and God—the source of life and all that is good. We try to fill the emptiness in our soul with stuff when it is God alone who can satisfy. Greed
drives us away from the only One who can truly satisfy our deepest longings.
How Can We Break
Free from the Madness of Greed?
First of all, we must repent. To repent means to admit
you are wrong and stop doing it. Of course, most people will nod their
head in agreement when I say we need to repent of greed. I don’t
think most people understand the full ramification of what I’m saying. So let
me try to make it more clear. Take a moment to think about what kind of
sin is the worst imaginable sin of which you could be guilty? I mean something that in your mind is so
terrible, the shame and sorrow of it would almost kill you if you were found to be
guilty of it. For some, maybe this would be some sexual perversion you
can imagine--something that if anyone knew about it, you would absolutely
die. If it’s not some sexual sin, maybe
you killed someone or abused someone. Maybe
it would be to abandon your family. I
don’t know. What would it be for you?
Now, I want you to understand, greed is just as horrible and
disgusting and shameful in God’s eyes as whatever that other sin you thought of
was. Now, we need to repent of greed knowing it is an abomination to
God. We need to fall on our knees and
admit: “I’m so sorry I’m greedy, Lord! I was wrong! Help me stop being greedy!”
Now,
if we’re truly going to break free from greed, we’ve got to replace the darkness of greed with the light of Christ. What I mean is, you’ve got to let Christ fill
your soul. Greed is us trying to satisfy with stuff an emptiness that only Christ is capable of filling. You’ve got to fall in love with Jesus. Does that sound cheesy? I’m sorry, but I don’t know how else to
describe it. When you fall in love with
someone, you want to spend all your time with them. You crave their presence, their affection,
their time. You want to be with them
more than anything else. You spend your
money to buy them gifts—sometimes even frivolously. You don’t care because they are the most
important thing in your life—more important than anything you have. A real relationship with God through Jesus
Christ is the only thing that can truly satisfy the human soul. So instead of indulging your deeping cravings
by greedily seeking material things, let Christ fill your emptiness instead.
Practice contentment. The Bible
tells us again and again to learn to be content with what we have. Hebrews 13:5, “Don’t love
money; be satisfied with what you have.”
1 Timothy 6:6, “True godliness with contentment is itself great wealth.” The secret to being happy and satisfied is
not getting more. There is nothing out there that you’re missing that you
need to be happy. Christ has already
given you everything you need. What is needed, is a change in your own
attitude. When you learn to be truly
thankful for what you have and content with it, you will be truly happy and at
peace. On the other hand, if you cannot be happy, satisfied and content with what God has given you right now, you will never be able to be content with the things He might give you in the future. So, work hard to simplify your
life. Get rid of stuff you don’t need
rather than trying to get more. Make it your
goal to get by on as little as possible.
The simple life is the contented life; it is the happy life.
Be
generous. The opposite of greed is generosity. Generosity naturally flows from a person who
is filled with the love of God. Greedy
hands are closed; generous hands are open.
In Psalm 23, it says, “You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over.” I love that image. It’s like a cup that’s filled to the brim and
the waiter just keeps pouring and the liquid is running all over the
table. That’s how God blesses His people. He loves us so much and gives us the things
that really matter. He gives us so much,
we can’t hold it all. The greedy person
tries to get another cup (and another and another and another…) so they can
catch and save it all up. The generous
person is happy to share the abundance of the Lord. Generous giving is a powerful antidote to
greed. It massages our stiff, greedy
fingers open as we let go of things that do not satisfy. In giving, we find far more satisfaction than
we ever found in the things themselves.
Conclusion
The greatest, most generous gift ever given
was the body and blood of Christ our Lord. Jesus gave His precious life so that we can be forgiven of our greed and every other sin. Let us then repent and turn to Him for forgiveness and grace and healing. The life He wishes to give us is so much better than the stuff we greedily hoard.
