8/21/22 – 11th Sunday after Pentecost – Greed and God's Gifts – James 5:1-11

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The Season
The Sundays after Pentecost focus on how Christians live in response to all that God has done for us. Our series now focuses on The Believer Follows Christ.


This Sunday
Earthly wealth is meaningless without God. The meaning of life cannot be found in the abundance of earthly possessions but in the abundance of heavenly blessings. The believer recognizes that everything the world seeks and offers is meaningless. Rather, he sets his heart on the treasure found in the fullness of Christ. The Follower of Christ knows earthly wealth is meaningless.
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First Lesson - Ecclesiastes 1:2,2:18-26
The Teacher, King Solomon, had more riches and worldly pleasure than we can comprehend, but experience had taught him that they are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Yet, in an effort to find meaning in life, so many pursue the “stuff” this sinful world offers. In the end, having the most toys adds up to nothing but an inheritance squandered by fools. Rather, true wealth, true value, true satisfaction only comes from the hand of God. If one seeks to find meaning in life, search no further than the wisdom and knowledge of God.

Second Lesson - James 5:1-11
The trap has been set and sprung for those who seek after wealth. Their very actions accuse and condemn them. The idolatry of greed has seized their hearts, driving them to deception and even to the point of murder in order to satiate their carnal lusts. Here is warning for us as we recognize in ourselves the same epicurean aptitude so prevalent in our hedonistic society. But God be praised, the old Adam has been buried and the new man arisen in Christ. Our hearts no longer find comfort in the temporal, but only in the eternal. The imminent judgment of the Lord no longer threatens us, but comforts us as we patiently endure the temptations of the flesh and wait for the Lord.

Gospel - Luke 12:13-21
It is shocking to hear Jesus deny authority over anything, much less something as mundane as an inheritance. But finally, that is the point. Earthly wealth is meaningless. The man called Jesus “teacher” but hadn’t learned the lesson. So Jesus teaches him and us how foolish it is to think that life consists of what we have. By contrast, the life of faith is lived in joyful thanksgiving for both the temporal and eternal blessings that come from above. By faith, this, then, is being rich toward God—a life of thanksgiving for all that he has given us through Jesus.

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