A sermon preached by the Revd Dr Trevor Jamison at
Saint Columba’s United Reformed Church, August 3rd 2025
Colossians 3:1-5; Luke 12:13-21
Watch the whole service on YouTube
‘Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry).’ (3:5)
That’s what the Apostle Paul has to say: greed is a form of idolatry.
So What’s idolatry? Idolatry is worship of idols, and an idol is something you put your trust in, or give ultimate authority to, instead of putting your trust in, or giving that ultimate authority to God.
Often we associate idols with statues. The Ten Commandments include one against idol-making and worship of them: ‘You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in the heaven above or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them …’ (Exodus 20:4)
But note that “anything” on land, sea or sky. In ancient times people made idols – statutes – of creatures which related to the land, and fed them offerings in the hope that as long as they kept the idol happy then the land would produce the crops that kept people alive. So as long as you did the things that kept the idol happy the world operated smoothly, and you could live and prosper. When things did not go well – when storms flattened your crops, or drought prevented them from growing in the first place, it must have been because you had neglected or offended the idol. Still, it was all within your control; do the right thing, and the right things would happen as a consequence.
And Saint Paul links greed to idolatry: ‘Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly … [including the] greed (which is idolatry).’ (3:5) Now why should greed be a form of idolatry? Well, Jesus puts it in story form for us, in what’s often called the Parable of the Rich Fool. Responding to someone who asked him to tell his brother to divide up the family inheritance with him (12:13), Jesus responded in this way: ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’ (12:15)
Then he told them a parable. A rich man’s crops produced abundantly; the sort of situation that many idol-worshippers wanted. The crop was so abundant that his current set of barns could not hold it all, so he found himself thinking, ‘What should I do?’ (12:17) Living in a time when farming was a very precarious business – who knew how things might go with the next crop? – and poverty was widespread, with hunger a constant threat, the rich man had a number of options.
He could have sold the surplus at a reasonable or low price for the benefit of those who needed it. He could have paid a bonus to his workers (he didn’t harvest it all himself). He could even have given some away to the poor, the widows, and the orphans who feature so prominently throughout the Bible. But no! This was his response: ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.’ (12:18)
My barns, my grain, my goods. He already had all that he needed. We know that because we are told that he was rich to begin with. And maybe it’s good to share, but he was not for sharing. He was being greedy, thinking that his life consisted in possessing an abundance of possessions; the thing that Jesus warned people about at the beginning of this parable. And if, as Saint Paul says, greed is a form of idolatry, then who or what was the man’s idol in this situation?
Perhaps he is his own idol. He seems so certain that he is in control of his own life: I will undertake this big building project, confident that not only will more barns be needed for this year’s crop, but also for next year’s, and for those in the years to come. I will have ample leisure time: ‘’Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ (12:19) Or maybe he is putting his faith in the prevailing economic system, in the ways of the world. If he had been living today perhaps he would have put his faith in “market forces” or in “what the markets are saying”. Rachel Reeves could tell you all about that!
And who am I to criticise the rich man at the centre of the story in this parable? I too expect the economic system to continue to work in the way it has done for me in recent times. I work and in return I receive money. I spend some of it on things that I need, and on things that I enjoy. Other money I put into savings in the hope and expectations that they will grow in size, and I can always open more bank accounts. I buy property to live in, and I contribute to a pension scheme, which will sustain me in retirement, when I hope to take my ease; to ‘relax, eat, drink and be merry.’ (12:19)
But if in doing all of that I think that I am in complete control of my destiny and well-being, then I am fooling myself, and in a potentially harmful way: ‘But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?”’ (12:20) Now, let me tell you, I’m really hoping not to drop dead before I reach retirement, but that’s not something in my control. I can eat well, exercise more, rein in the drinking, and stay off the fags, but I can guarantee nothing. If I think I can do that – guarantee my life – through these practices; something which is not really in my power to deliver, then I’m my own worst idol.
Also, the more I focus upon my wants and my desires and what I can do to deliver them for myself, then the more others – my neighbours, concerning whom Jesus tells another parable (Luke 10:25-37), are marginalised by me, and perhaps even get mistreated.
Let’s be clear. I’m not suggesting that God wants me or you to be poor rather than rich, though I’m also sure that God does not want others to remain poor so that you and I can become yet richer, like the man in the parable. Also, I’m not suggesting that that we dispense with our current economic and financial systems, for they enable wealth to be generated and distributed to the benefit of many.
What I am saying, and what I think Saint Paul was saying in his letter, and Jesus was saying through this parable, is that if we focus only upon ourselves and our own desires then we neglect the neighbours God calls upon to love. And also, if we put all our faith in the current economic system, whatever it might be, instead of putting ultimate faith in God, then we are liable to suffer a shock, perhaps in terms of life today, and certainly in terms of the life which is to come.
Jesus concluded his parable by saying, ‘So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.’ (21:21) How much better for us then, if we make sharing with others a significant part of our lives, and also respond richly to God, who is the true source of all that is good in our lives today, and who controls of the destiny of our lives for tomorrow. Amen.