If Life Isn't about Our Stuff...

Luke 12:14

Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

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Money, get away
Get a good job with more pay and you're okay
Money, it's a gas
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash
New car, caviar, four star daydream
Think I'll buy me a football team

"Money" by Roger Waters recorded by Pink Floyd from "Dark Side of the Moon"

Hasn't anybody figured out yet that the love of money is the root of all evil. It isn't money itself, it's loving money above everything else. There's a theological word for that, its idolatry. Idol-a-try. When we put money, when we love money more than we love God, the we to quote another Pink Floyd song, are skating on the thin ice of hot life.

Jesus warns us, be on guard against all kinds of greed. Then Roger Waters gives us a primer on conspicuous consumption, and he does it with a look at wealth and poverty. Beware, watch out. Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.

But look in your garage... A good part of my garage is filled with the things that don't go in the house. America has actually created a business where we have invented a place where we can rent an extra garage! Some people put extra cars there. Others put their boats there. Some have recreational vehicles there. Others use it as a spare garage. I know I did.

So, if life doesn't consist of our stuff, then what? Take a moment, look around and see. Your family? Your Lord? Even your dog! Life is built around relationships, that's what makes life. Wanting a relationship with a jet ski is the most pathetic thing I could imagine. No, it's people. It's friends. It's even that black lab who barks at strangers (when I wish he wouldn't).

I can't possess them. Or their love. Or their time. Those things are given, freely. Just as God gives and gives freely. Just as God in Christ gave himself freely on the cross so that we may have what does not spoil or rust, life eternal. Life to spend with family, friends, the dog, and of course God's own self.

That's better than anything money can buy.