Greedy is as greedy does

This weekend I had the privilege of traveling several hours with two farmers. During our trip I learned what silage was, and I was amazed at how many gallons rainwater pours onto a field. But one thing, or word, that really stood out during our trip was “greed.” I do not hear that word much. I speak it even less.
I realized this weekend that I forgot about the trappings, temptations, and motivations at play among a lot of my neighbors whose work and pay are almost directly tied to each other. I heard stories about a man who felt his own grandson was getting too good of a deal by leasing his grandfather’s farmland, so the elderly grandfather farmed it himself this year and died while working alone in a silo. Some people would call that tragic. My friend summed it up to greed, which is a tragedy all its own. He told another story of a conference put on by a ranching supply company, complete with frills like guided fishing excursions for no extra charge. But no one with him wanted to fish that day. They concluded that they would not make any more money fishing, so they might as well go back home and work. Previously, I had heard other stories about insurance or tax fraud (sometimes both) that take place routinely among some farmers. The person who told me about such things never outright said the word “greed.” But greedy is as greedy does.
I wonder what Jesus’ parable of the rich fool would sound like today. Luke sets up the story with a greedy question. Two brothers were fighting over who should get more stuff after their father died. They demanded Jesus to settle things for them, but he said this instead:
“‘Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.’ And he told them this parable: ‘The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink, and be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.’ Then Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes’” (Luke 12:15b-23).
In 2014 a financial planner would likely commend what this man did with his excess, given the uncertainties of any given year. But the rich man in Jesus' story was poor with God. Jesus does not say explicitly why, but John Chrysostom, who ministered to a wealthy metropolitan community in the fourth century, said that the rich man’s sin was his failure to see all the room for his surplus food in the mouths of the needy around him.
When we look at the abundance of our possessions in America, can we honestly say we guarded ourselves against greed? I cannot. I relate easily to the quarreling brothers and the rich fool. On the other hand, I find it difficult to relate to Jesus’ disciples who were told not to worry about their lives, even what they would eat or wear. Greed is most powerful where it is seldom thought about and rarely spoken.

Greed also feeds on our fears, so a little later Jesus tells his disciples, “Do not be afraid little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Luke 12:32-34). John Chrysostom was right. Jesus tells us exactly how we can be rich with God if we want to be.