Proper 13C                R Lundquist                           8/5/07

Ecclesiastes 1:12-14, 2:18-23  http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=53289702

Colossians 3:12-17   http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=53289753

Luke 12:13-21   http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=53289790

"Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions."

Sometimes the Sunday paper brings something just too good to pass up.  This morning, a flyer from HP advertising back-to-school computers:  “The URGE to BUY is GOOD…”, “…GIVE IN to the URGE.”  “Don’t think of it as TECHNOLOGY.  Think of it as a SYMBOL of your LOVE.”  Remember, life (and love) does not consist in the abundance of possessions.

In 1974 Harry Chapin released the song “The Cat’s in the Cradle,” a poignant pop lament that illustrates the truth of Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel lesson:

My child arrived just the other day,

He came to the world in the usual way.

But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay.

He learned to walk while I was away. 

And he was talking 'fore I knew it, and as he grew,

He'd say, "I'm gonna be like you, dad.

You know I'm gonna be like you." 

He’s put things before people.  He’s put planes & bills before his son.  And o, how our children (and grandchildren, and those who see us as important adults in their lives) learn from us!

Hearing the Parable of the Rich Fool this morning, we need to know what led up to this moment. Jesus is having dinner at home of Pharisee, and he is turning out to be not such a gracious dinner guest.  He blisters the guests for their greed and wickedness.  “Woe to you Pharisees!” he tells them 3 times.  And as he leaves the home, he is met by a crowd of hundreds, perhaps thousands of his followers, eager to hear him teach.  Finding himself caught between hostility the of Pharisees and the adoration of crowd, Jesus talks about… discipleship.                     

From Charles E. Connelly+ via Synthesis

So this guy, this doofus, comes forward with his inheritance complaint.  He’s distracted, he’s not paying attention, he’s concerned only for himself and his inheritance.  Jesus all but ignores his request, but uses the interruption as a teachable moment.  “Life is not possessions, he says”  Or as columnist Henry Fairlie put it,  “Avarice is not so much the love of possessions, as the love merely of possessing.” 

The Parable itself:  Listen again – “What should I do?  I hove no place to store my crops.  I will do this, I will build, I will store, my barns, my grain, my stuff.”  He is spiritually dead.  He has disdained the summary of the law – love God, love neighbor.  And he has not thought to share his wealth instead of hoarding it.  

Biblically, a fool is someone who, in practice, denies the existence of God (Ps 14:1).  A fool does not take God into account in daily life.  “So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."  And it catches up…

Well, he came from college just the other day,

So much like a man I just had to say,

"Son, I'm proud of you. Can you sit for a while?"

He shook his head, and he said with a smile,

"What I'd really like, dad, is to borrow the car keys.

See you later. Can I have them please?" 

He wants the car keys.  “I’m gonna be like you, dad.  You know I’m gonna be like you.”

But Jesus implies that a balance can be found.  It sounds like one can accumulate treasure as long as one is rich toward God.  One can do both – but you must pay attention, don’t get distracted!  Watch for, & respond to God in every moment.  From The Prayers of the People, p 329 of the Book of Common Prayer:  “Open, O Lord, the eyes of all people to behold thy gracious hand in all thy works, that, rejoicing in thy whole creation, they may honor thee w/ their substance, and be faithful stewards of thy bounty.”  Thy hand, thy works, thy creation, thy bounty.  Not yours.  Not ours.

Jesus talked a lot about your relationship w/ money.  16 of the 38 parables deal w/ wealth & possessions.  288 verses in Gospels (1/10) are about earthly treasure.  In the Bible there are 500 verses on prayer, fewer than 500 on faith, and 2,000+ on money & possessions.  Jesus talks more about wealth than about heaven & hell combined.

And remember:  money is not a thing.  You may have a pocketful of green paper and silver coins, but that is not “money.”  Money is condensed energy – it is the very real representation of your time, your skill, your focus, your expertise.  Anything that someone would pay you for – it is a symbol of your worth.  In a very real way it represents you.  Now that’s not bad – unless it causes anxiety & secrecy, unless it possesses you rather than the other way around.  When that happens:  you FOOL!  You have allowed your treasure to come between you and your God.

Discipleship.  This is what Jesus taught while standing in the tension.  Between hostility & adoration Jesus taught us how to follow him.  How to be rich toward God.  How to rejoice in creation & be faithful stewards. 

“When you coming home, dad?” “I don’t know when.”   It’s not the answer we long to hear.  Our heart want to hear a different outcome to the father’s story in song.  You know, to be rich toward God may mean changing priorities, some big and some small.  Years ago I heard a story of a newly married woman whose husband was transferred to England for 2 years.  “Oh well,” said her mom, “we’ll have to put off the plans to remodel the kitchen – we’ll be spending our money on visits to London.” 

            “We’ll get together then, you know we’ll have a good time then.”