\u00a0Novelist and Theologian Dorothy Sayers once wrote an interesting essay entitled \u201cThe other six deadly sins.\u201d\u00a0 She was complaining, nearly 50 years ago, that we\u2019ve essentially reduced all of the deadly sins to just one:\u00a0 lust.\u00a0 When someone\u2019s accused of \u201cimmorality,\u201d what does that mean?\u00a0 For most people today, that means sexual immorality.\u00a0 And, given the state of sexual morality today, that doesn\u2019t mean all that much anymore.\u00a0 But those other six deadly sins\u2014they\u2019re still out there, and they\u2019re still deadly. We have lots of flavors of immorality to deal with.\u00a0 The problem is we want to make most of them into minor character flaws.\u00a0 Pride becomes ego.\u00a0 Sloth becomes a lack of motivation.\u00a0 Envy becomes a lack of self-esteem.\u00a0 Gluttony becomes a reason to go on a fad diet, or maybe look into bariatric by-pass surgery. None of them are really regarded by most people as deadly.
\n\u00a0And deadly in this sense means more than physical death.\u00a0 It means eternal death\u2014sin serious enough to endanger our salvation.\u00a0 Although it\u2019s hard for us to hear it, this is serious stuff.\u00a0 And the one deadly sin that may be the hardest for us to look at is the one addressed by this week\u2019s scriptures:\u00a0 Greed. Greed values things more than people, sees all human interactions as essentially economic. Greed is a sin that knows no moderation; there\u2019s never enough.
\nMost people don\u2019t set out to be greedy.\u00a0 It\u2019s something that accumulates on the soul, like the stuff that accumulates in our homes, our financial institutions, and our waistlines.\u00a0 The gospel opens with someone in the crowd demanding that Jesus intervene in the division of an inheritance.\u00a0 On the surface, this might seem like a reasonable request.\u00a0 It\u2019s a matter of justice, after all.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 When justice isn\u2019t balanced by charity, it easily becomes a tool for greed.\u00a0 Is there anyone here who doesn\u2019t know of a family that\u2019s been torn apart by the division of an inheritance?\u00a0 If you want to see greed played out as a deadly sin, spend some time in a probate court.\u00a0 Wisely, Jesus refused to play the game, and instead tells the parable of the rich fool.
\nThat seems like an odd title for a parable:\u00a0 The Rich Fool.\u00a0 We usually assume that wealth comes as a result of smart decisions in investing or business.\u00a0 After all, a fool and his money are soon parted, right?\u00a0 The point of the parable is that eventually, EVERYONE and their money are parted.\u00a0 What makes this man foolish is that he devoted all his resources to the gathering and storing of his wealth.\u00a0 What was it all for?\u00a0 Maybe so his children would have something to fight over when he was gone.
\nBut the question, \u201cWhat\u2019s It All For?\u201d is one that all of us have to answer.\u00a0 What sort of treasure are you accumulating?\u00a0 What are we all accumulating?\u00a0 It has been said that the U.S. has less than 5 percent of the world’s population, yet we use 25 to 35 percent of the world’s resources and produce 25 percent of the world’s pollution and waste.\u00a0 A few years ago, the Medicare program declared that obesity is a disease, and one that\u2019s become epidemic.\u00a0 This is not a problem that most of the world has.\u00a0 While there are people with medical conditions that affect their weight, most of us are heavy because we\u2019re storing up treasure on earth.\u00a0 With some regret, I have to include myself in this category.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to sound accusatory of people who are overweight because they have enough to contend with.\u00a0 But as a country, having a disproportionate share of the world\u2019s resources doesn\u2019t appear to be making us collectively healthier.
\nIt\u2019s a clich\u00e9 that money doesn\u2019t buy happiness.\u00a0 Having lots of money, or lots of stuff, seems oddly comforting in the short term.\u00a0 We want to feel secure, and a big 401-K certainly feels safe.\u00a0 But to really be secure, to really be happy, requires all the things that can\u2019t be bought: loving relationships, a sense of belonging, the satisfaction of saying, \u201cI have enough,\u201d the peace that comes from an honest, adult relationship with God.\u00a0 Poverty is not a good thing, and clearly poor people can be just a greedy as the rich. In the same fashion, it\u2019s possible to someone who\u2019s well-off to be generous and giving. But today\u2019s Gospel is a reminder to all of us that wealth is not our god, and that what we most want and need in life transcends our economics.
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