“RICH IN GOD’S SIGHT”

Sunday, August 5, 2007

United Lutheran—Red Wing

Luke 12:13-41

“And the things you have prepared, whose will they be? So it is with those who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich toward God”.

Grace, peace, and mercy be yours in the name of Jesus the Christ.  Amen.

              Today’s readings remind us that though we worry and fret over material things, our life with God is what matters most.  What we achieve and how hard we work do not finally define life’s meaning.  God loves us abundantly and unconditionally, and no amount of effort on our part will change that.

              There are many stories about brothers in the Bible---Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, Moses and Aaron, James and John(Sons of Thunder), the Prodigal Son and the Elder Brother, and others.  One of the others is told of two brothers in the Gospel for this morning from Luke 12.  No names are used and only one is addressed by Jesus.  At the beginning of the Gospel, one of these two brothers calls out to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”

              The law was clear on inheritances.  It was very simple; the oldest son got nearly everything, a double share of all that was his father’s.  Since the brother requesting Jesus to intervene, to make the other brother divide the inheritance, we can assume it was not the older brother addressing Jesus.  We can also assume that he doesn’t believe he is being fairly treated.

But if he really had a case against his brother, he would go to the village elders and ask them for justice.  He doesn’t go there but comes to Jesus.  It suggests there is not a legal case at all, he just wants the division to be made fairer—to him.

              Interestingly, Jesus refuses to get involved. “Who set me up to be a judge or arbitrator over you?”  Judge or arbitrator—no!  A teacher—yes!  So he teaches by telling a story—a parable. He tells a story equally directed to the brothers who have placed more weight on the family inheritance-on getting their share-than on love.  It isn’t to these men only that Jesus speaks, since Luke indicates Jesus “speaking to them”. A crowd is there, so the wider community stands at risk and he seems to be addressing all.

              So the story is told, often called, “The Parable of the Rich Fool.”  (Briefly retell the story)

“The land of a rich man produced abundantly.”  It says nothing about him being a bad person.  It says nothing about him being a crook.  It says nothing about him living unjustly.  He has done nothing unfair, there’s nothing about him stealing land, refusing to pay wages, nor of cheating his neighbors.   It simply says he is rich, very rich, because his land has produced abundantly.

Sun, soil, rain have worked together to make him rich.  He quite likely has worked hard and done well.

              But the fact that he is wealthy is not the problem.  The fact that he has lots of goods is not the problem.  The problem is his attitude toward these goods.  The problem seems to be, that he has not only acquired more goods than he can use, not only has he acquired more goods than he needs.  He has acquired more goods than he can store.  If he has a dilemma, it’s a storage problem.   The barns and storehouses once adequate are now not big enough.  So he decides to do something about this problem. If he can’t store his harvest, then there is an obvious solution---build bigger barns.  Through the eyes of some, he appears to be blessed by God.

              But appearances, like possessions, can be deceiving.  Listen to the pronouns in the parable.  You may have notice(or not) that the words, “I” and “MY” are repeatedly used.

“What should I do, for I have no place to store MY crops…

I will do this; I will pull down MY barns and build larger ones...

There I will store all MY grain and MY goods…

And I will say to MY soul, Soul, You have ample goods laid

up for many years so relax, eat, drink, be merry.”

Did you hear it?  I,  I,  MY,  I,  I,  MY.    I,  MY, MY, I,  MY---You get the picture!!!  It’s all about me!

              While reading about this text for today, someone else reminded me of a scene from the movie, FINDING NEMO, and I had just watched that movie with our three year old grand-daughter, Gabrielle, a couple weeks ago.   There is a scene where a large flock of seagulls rush toward what they believe is a French fry or perhaps it was a shrimp, and they are squawking madly.  In the movie, whose main characters are either talking fish or talking birds, the seagulls are not particularly bright nor articulate.  They only know one word, “MINE!”  So they are all squawking…”MINE, MINE, MINE, MINE, MINE, MINE…..” Mindlessly and constantly!

              I thought of the “Rich Fool”.  And what is God’s response to this possessiveness and selfishness, “YOU FOOL!”  “You fool!”  For God sees the accumulation of what appears to be “his” as the source of his security, his way of life, and it constitutes a form of idolatry or greed.

As Paul states in our second reading this morning.   The rich man’s eagerness to accumulate leads him to violate the two great commandments: “To love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and your neighbor as yourself.”  To be called a fool is hardly complimentary. It cuts deep!

              A former intern, Mark, who served with us in San Francisco ventured out one evening after going to a concert at another church into a very tough neighborhood.  On the way back to his car he was mugged. He wasn’t seriously injured but he was terribly frightened and emotionally shaken.  His wallet, watch, and keys were taken.  But not his car!  He appeared at the parsonage door later that evening and when we talked about it I made the statement, “That was a foolish thing to do!”  I had said it in part out of my own anxiousness that he could have been seriously hurt along with my protectiveness for him as our intern.  At the time of our final evaluation of his internship(which was a fine internship), he told me that the most hurtful thing I said to him all year was that I had called him a fool after that incident.  It had cut him deeply!

              The Bible has some things to say about fools.  In both Psalms and Proverbs there can be a connection between being a fool and being selfish or self-centered.  

--Psalm 14:l—“Fools say in their hearts, ‘There is no God.’”

--Proverbs 12:15—“Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to advice.”

--Proverbs 28:26---“Those who trust in their own wits are fools; but those who walk in wisdom

              come through safely.”

--St. Paul speaks of the foolishness of the cross and in my mind suggests that if you want to be a fool, then be a “Fool for Christ.”

              The rich man in the parable is a fool not because he is rich.  He is a fool because he looks at his abundance as attributable to his hard word and only his.  He cannot see what he has been

given and where his true wealth is.  He cannot see the proper thing to do with his abundance—these gifts of soil, seed, sun and the rain.  He does not see as God sees!  But is oblivious to God by being oblivious  to the ones around him.  Here God looks at what is possessed and sees oppor-tunity for many to live abundantly.  God looks at the land and see plenty for all God’s people, looks at the resources and rejoices that many will benefit.

              The presence of the bountiful harvest evokes no thoughts of God in his heart, or neighbor, but only his own security and pleasure.  So the words of Jesus are both chilling and harsh…”Fool, this night your soul is required of you.  And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?  So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God!”

              Generally, we hope that our lives are on the right track.  We try to keep this tension or balance between needs/material things and things of the Spirit.  So that we can be “rich toward God”.  When we try to be objective, we are concerned about security both for the present and the future.  We have much on our minds.  We are easily preoccupied with our daily lives.  And not always concerned in the present moment of being “rich in God’s sight.”  But Jesus pulls no punches, points out that all of us end up empty-handed.   An old Spanish proverb puts it simply,

“There are no pockets in a shroud!”  The bottom line is, the only wealth that will finally count is not whether we are rich, but in Jesus words, “rich toward God”. “Rich in God’s sight”.

              One point that impresses me in this story is the sense of urgency. There is the realization that there is a spiritual urgency about life.  That urgency involves our own eternal salvation thru our relationship with Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  While Jesus dealt patiently there was and is a sense of urgency about everything he has to say.  There is a day of salvation, there is a day when life for us will be no more.  That time is fleeting, “the clock is ticking”.  That isn’t meant to be a threat nor to evoke panic.  Rather to evoke a sense of assurance that we are the children of God and inheritors of the Kingdom, like Luka this morning in baptism.

              There is also a sense of urgency having to do with mission.  We are rich in god’s sight when we recognize that we are on a mission from and with God.  We have a story to tell about this Jesus who claims us and it is a mission of forgiveness, renewal, reconciliation, renewal, servanthood, and justice.  We are rich when we are sharing those promises of Christ that we have claimed as our own in our journey of faith.  ”Grant us courage, lest we miss the kingdom’s goal,” we sing in that old hymn.

              There is an urgency, as we choose between those values shaped by our faith in Christ and where we place our trust.  How our priorities are formed and carried out.  We continue to remind one another that we are not only followers, but we are called to be disciples for the sake of the world.  That impacts what we do in mission within these walls as a congregation, whether it is outreach into the community, educating our children and grandchildren, lifting up issues that put us in the position of having to interface our faith with all that impacts our daily lives, how we worship this God with our hearts, hands, and voices, and whether our eyes, years, hearts, and minds are opened to the many opportunities to reach and serve in word and action in the broader global world.

              Rich here is a noun, but a verb.  Rich towards God is an action.  Rich toward God means how we use our resources and our wealth. We have been enriched by the love of God in Jesus Christ which impacts all of life.  “Take care…be on guard” says Jesus.  Rich toward God summons an expansive vision of how you and I use what we have for the sake of others.  Our practice of being rich toward God takes it cue from God’s richness toward us—in creation, in redemption, and in hope.  It means to beware of clutching and grasping.  Ironically, these words of warning can be words of joy to those who expend in the care of others, for the good of others.

              Craig Satterlee in an article in The Lutheran a couple years ago wrote of this text:

“THE CHALLENGE ISN’T TO ABANDON OUR BARNS OR GIVE AWAY ALL OUR GOODS.  IT’S HARDER THAN THAT; IT IS TO TRUST OUR SECURITY—OUR FUTURE AND THE QUALITY OF LIFE TODAY—TO THE LIFE THAT GOD IN CHRIST GIVES…WE NEED TO PLAN FOR TOMORROW—YES.  WE ALSO NEED TO HAVE FAITH FOR TOMORROW!”

              The wisdom of Jesus’ parable of the rich fool is in understanding that if we hoard as an attempt to secure life and the future, we are fools.  The person who relies on the created instead of the creator misses life and the point of life.  For true riches that secure life and the future are found only in God, the author and the giver of life.(Tom Jolivette—God Pause)

              As we come to the table this morning, we receive God’s forgiveness for what has been and hope for all that will be.  It offers us the hope to keep perspective and focus on this one who has and will continue to provide for our needs, but NOT for our greeds.  First and foremost living our lives out of God’s amazing grace in Jesus Christ.  Be rich…not in things, said Jesus…”but be rich toward God”.  “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness”, said Jesus.  And in yet another place he says, “For where your heart is, there will your treasure be also.”

Finally, these words from the hymn, “Be Thou My Vision”--#793 in the ELW.

“Riches I heed not, nor vain empty praise

Thou mine inheritance now and always

Thou and Thou only, the first in my heart

Great God of heaven, my treasure thou art!”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.  As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

                                                                                                                Pastor Clark Cary