This week’s vice in our series of sermons on vices and virtues is greed. He sought purpose, he sought relevance, he sought hope and Jesus wanted to give it to him, he wanted to set him free. But the man couldn’t take the direction, his stuff got in the way.

He was so trapped that he sought out Jesus to ask him how to get that one thing all his power and youth and wealth couldn’t get him, eternal life. And at that, the man went away grieving, for he had many possessions. You lack one thing, go, sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, then come, follow me. So, Jesus gets to the heart of the matter. I’ve done all these since I was young, he replies. Keep the commandments, don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, and so on. Jesus goes through the usual chatter with him. In a way it’s ironic that someone who should have had all the freedom in the world comes before Jesus and is exposed as someone who is trapped. Maybe he had so much wealth that he had nothing to do but to contemplate the bigger questions of life and maybe he found out that money can’t buy you everything, at least it can’t buy you eternal life. He comes before this rabbi, this Jesus, who hangs around with fishermen and tax collectors, and he kneels before him and asks, Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?įrederick Buechner, the Presbyterian minister, theologian and author, once wrote, “The trouble with being rich is that since you can solve with your chequebook virtually all practical problems that bedevil ordinary people, you are left in your leisure with nothing but the great human problems to contend with: how to be happy, how to love and be loved, how to find meaning and purpose in your life…” Maybe that’s what brought the rich, young ruler to Jesus.

So why is he running up to Jesus and kneeling before him? Well, for a guy who’s young, rich and has power, he seems to be lacking something. We’ve come to know him as the rich, young, ruler, a pretty good combination if you ask me. What’s up with the rich man in the story from the gospel reading this morning? In other gospel accounts we discover that the man in our story isn’t just rich, he’s also young and a ruler.

Click here for PDF version: Aug-Vices and Virtues | Greed and Charity

What is the purposes of having vices