“Greed is Good?”

In the movie “Wall Street,” Michael Douglas plays Gordon Gekko, the junk-bond king of the stock market, who is getting ready to speak before hundreds of business people gathered there for a corporate meeting. Everything about him tells you he is successful; the slicked-back hair, his Armani suit, the diamond cufflinks, -- and his arrogance. Grabbing the microphone Gordon Gekko says, “Greed is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed cuts through and clarifies the essence of the human spirit.” Wait a minute! “Greed is good?” Gordon Gekko is consumed by his wealth! Wealth and its symbols are all he can think about. That is what happens when we have a “love” of money. 

The way we overcome a love of money is by being generous. Generosity is the acid-test of whether or not we will love God, and not any other cheap imitations. If we’re generous to those in need, to our church, engaged and involved the ministries here, -- then we are acknowledging God’s power over the possessions and wealth in our lives. Perhaps the best evidence of generosity I heard about was from a man who was riding on a bus holding a bouquet of flowers. Seated next to him was a young girl who couldn’t take her eyes off that beautiful arrangement of freshly cut carnations. When the man’s stop came, he got up, looked at the girl, and handed her the bouquet of flowers. He said, “I can see you love these flowers. And I think my wife would like for you to have them. I’ll tell her I gave them to you.” The young girl received the flowers with thanks and then watched the man get off the bus and walk through the gates of a cemetery. That man was being generous. He knew that our greatest significance in life is to be rich towards God. I hope and pray it will be for you, because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Hope to see you for worship this Sunday, July 11, as I begin my sermon series on “The Bible You Thought You Knew.” Once again, we will be in person outside at 8:00 am on the FLC lawn (inside the sanctuary if it rains). If you attend at 8:00 am, you will be able to sit in your car and listen via the FM transmitter on 102.1. At 10:30 am, we will be in the sanctuary, while also broadcasting on Zoom, Facebook Live, and Youtube. 

Pastor John