Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “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.” Luke 12: 13-21
I was amused and somewhat daydream-y when I saw that the
Lotto/Powerball was over one billion dollars! Oh, what could I imagine doing with all that money, even if shared with
other likely winners. Yes, I can imagine
it, but have not given into the temptation to buy such a ticket. Odds are astronomically beyond imagination of
winning – 300,000,000 to one!
Now just suppose one did win? How would they respond? Would they be like the rich fool in the
parable Jesus shares? This rich fool saw
how much bounty he had! He would tear
down his old barns and build bigger ones to store his abundant harvest.
Some observations: I notice the personal pronouns in the
passage… “I, my, I will, myself…” I also notice just how self-centered the rich
fool is with no care of those around him. Next, reality hits when God confronts the rich fool and says, “You fool,
didn’t you know this night your soul was required of you?” (The Message says it
more directly –“You are going to die!”)
Now to be fair to the farmer, there are some positives for
him – he is a planner, a thinker, and able to bring about a huge harvest. Great! But then all that is a waste. Jesus’ challenge in the parable is: Whose bounty will this harvest be
with the farmer gone?
Hence, the challenge is in the caveat that Jesus advises one
to watch out – Be on guard against all kind of greed, regardless of one’s possessions,
even if they have accumulated a lot. The
accumulation is not evil, but the fixation and focus on any kind of
greed is what can derail anyone. We are
stewards of not only possessions, but also time, relationship, and life.
One way to be vigilant is to keep perspective on the
so-called ‘prosperity gospel.’ It would
suggest that all one has to do is simply have the faith of a mustard seed and
it would result in a bounty of material blessing. Maybe, but then is it a faith that is rich
toward God?
Hence, the ultimate value of whatever one has or needs is
how rich one is toward God.
Look at Luke 12: 22 – 34. Essentially there is no need to worry. If God can adorn the lilies of
the valley, could not God provide for you or me with an abundant need? For wherever one’s treasure is, there will be
their heart also. It is with God!
Prayer: O God, remove all obstacles that block us from the abundance of Your grace and mercy. Help us to see our needs and rely on Your provision through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
Rev. Dr. John J. Duling
No comments:
Post a Comment