Sermon Tone Analysis
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Greed and God
I had a conversation with one of my buddies back in NC a few weeks ago and he went to a pastor’s conference.
At the conference, the one of the things that stood out to him was a speaker who was encouraging pastors to talk about what are taboo subjects in many churches.
And I was curious what the subjects were
What do we need to talk about more from the pulpit that is going to aid the development of disciples in our congregation.
So I asked him what those subjects were.
What subjects should pastors preach about biblically that help in the formation of our walk with Jesus.
He said, Sex and Money.
And I can already see that some of you are getting a little uneasy.
We aren’t going to talk about sex this morning.
But we are going to talk about money.
Specifically the problems with greed in the hearts of men.
I’m not sure if you have noticed or not, but there has been a theme in Ecclesiastes.
A theme that there is nothing on this earth that satisfies.
There is no amount of satisfaction that we can achieve from the things under the sun that will last.
In v. 1-7, Solomon talked about how we approach God when we come to worship, and here, he is going to venture us back into the world.
And this morning Solomon is going to turn back to a subject that he has talked about earlier.
A subject that might make us a little uncomfortable.
B/c if we are honest with ourselves we all suffer, at least a little, from greed.
Maybe not to the extremes as some, but at least enough to claim that it is my money.
I can do what I want with my money.
I earned it.
But as followers of Jesus, we have to realize that nothing belongs to us.
It all belongs to God.
It’s all his.
And we need to be thankful for all that he has blessed us with.
We should treasure every little blessing that comes from God.
Knowing that we don’t deserve any goodness.
We should enjoy the gifts we tend to take for granted.
God’s goodness and grace on our lives is apparent and he deserves the praise and the honor for it.
Why is greed and the love of money so bad?
B/c Greed is destructive.
So how do we combat greed?
How do we fight against the tendency to be selfish and miserly with God’s Good gifts to us?
Gratitude and Generosity.
We will look at those a little later in the sermon, but first I want to talk about how we are going to traverse Solomon’s teachings this morning.
The Section of Scripture we are going to look at this morning has what is called a Chaistic structure.
Here’s what that means.
A Chiasm is a literary tool that drives home a specific point
The way the tool is used in literature is for us to see that the point in the middle is the bullseye.
A chiasm is made up of parallel parts.
At the beginning of the chiasm will be one statement or thought that is paralleled at the bottom.
Then the next thought or statement will be paralleled at in the sentenced next to end.
With the main point, the target, the bullseye the focal point in the center of the structure.
That’s what we see happen here in Ecc 5:8-6:9
Greed on the outside, but the focus on the inside.
The center of the passage.
The point of what Solomon is getting across comes in 5:18-20.
Finding Joy and delight in God and the gifts he has given.
And that’s how I will conclude the sermon this morning, but first we need to examine the bad news.
The problems with greed.
What we are going to see in the first part of the sermon is that greed is self-destructive and it also hurts others.
Let’s pray and ask for God’s guidance, correction, and conviction this morning.
Oppression
The first problem we see with Greed is that it hurts people.
This is observed by Solomon in the treatment of the poor through the act of the government.
The reality is that the government and those in power want to stay in power and in a wicked and corrupt government the way that they accomplish this is through systemic oppression of the poor.
Oppression and injustice happens in every type of governmental institution.
B/c they are ran by man.
and man’s heart is easily corruptible and likely to chase after greed.
For the communists, the state seizes control of production and demonstrates oppression through power.
For the capitalistic model of democracy that permeates our country, profit is seen as more important that people.
In each of these extremes, the well being of the individual is suppressed through the pursuit of greed.
And in Solomon’s example he says that one official protects another.
Meaning those in power want to stay in power.
They don’t want to allow for an outsider to come in and shake things up.
They don’t want to allow their power to be stripped away.
B/c with power comes money.
and with money comes greed.
So in order to keep the money, the governmental officials, through law and regulations must oppress those who don’t have any power.
Now you may be hearing this and think that I am vying for one type of government over another.
But I want you to know, much like Solomon, I know that when men get power, if they are committed to God then they are going to pursue whatever benefits themselves.
So I am not making a political statement here.
I am observing the reality of our world.
But I also don’t want us to look at the state of the governments and think that it would be better if we didn’t have governmental officials.
Solomon isn’t saying that either.
In fact, as a society we benefit from governmental oversight.
God has established that governments are a way to dole out justice in our world.
Even though they aren’t perfect, they are useful and God’s way until his perfect government is established.
That’s the hope that we get to long for and to look forward to.
So we see that greed is oppressive and hurts others, and now Solomon is going to turn and show us what Greed does to ourselves.
Empty Endless Pursuit
I want us to see and know something real quick.
Money isn’t evil.
Wealth isn’t wicked.
Wanting to provide for your family here and in the future is a wonderful mindset and goal.
The problem is the love of Money.
The love of money, or as it says in this text silver, is the issue.
Loving silver leaves us empty.
The greedy pursuit of wealth will never satisfy.
No matter how much you have you will never be satisfied.
And if you love money, you will always want more.
One of the richest people to ever live was John D. Rockefeller.
And someone asked him once, how much money is enough.
And his reply was, “Just a little bit more.”
So Solomon tells us that it is a hevel.
Vanity.
Meaningless.
Chasing bubbles.
We see here that the love of money is an addiction.
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