(Luke 12.13-21) Pentecost 8
4 August 2019 – © Neil Millar
In services over the past few weeks we’ve been reflecting on the petition: ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ and this morning we’ve heard a parable about a man with an abundance of bread and the dilemma of what to do with it. As I read this reading earlier in the week, I was reminded of a recent conversation with a couple who’d done a pilgrimage from Canterbury to Rome. On the day they walked into Rome they were keen to attend the pilgrim mass at the Vatican. They described how they were pacing up the final hill in order to get there in time but that when they got to the top, puffing and panting, they realized it was the wrong hill, that the Vatican was on the next hill over!! Needless to say, they missed the mass. The man in this parable had, he thought, topped the ladder of success – had secured his life and future – only to discover that the ladder was leaning against a wall that wasn’t secure at all.
Well, like so many of the passages we’re heard in recent weeks, this parable is well-known. On the surface, the meaning seems obvious, its warning against greed and misguided priorities. As we delve a bit more deeply however, it emerges that the question of mistaking our way is subtle and quite difficult to discern. I haven’t been to Rome but I’m imagining that for a visitor hills and roads initially can appear much the same. Likewise, in our lives, the path of prudent provision and the path of greed may look quite similar in any moment. How do we discern and stay on the right path, avoid getting diverted or lost? Let’s take a closer look at the parable and see if there are any clues.
In terms of context, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. A large crowd has gathered along with his disciples and they are listening as he teaches. In the midst of this, someone from the crowd calls out to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’ Now folks, if I had a dollar for every family I’ve come across in conflict over an inheritance, I’d be a rich man. This seems to be a fraught area and behind the scenes the green-eyed demon of jealousy and greed is often sowing seeds of discontent. Of course, the Jewish Law, the Torah, had clear instructions when it came to inheritance so it wasn’t uncommon for a family to take their grievance and to seek the backing of a religious authority. On this occasion, Jesus refuses the role of arbitrator. Instead, he makes of the interjection an opportunity to warn of the pitfalls of entitlement, greed and materialism. ‘Take care’, he says, ‘Be on your guard against all kinds of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’
Take care; be on your guard. This suggests that the matter being discussed is subtle, that greed can lure and get its tentacles around us without us realizing that we’re being entangled. What does he mean? To flesh it out, to make it real, to get them reflecting, Jesus tells a parable. The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he ponders: What shall I do, for I have no place to store all this bounty? Now notice, first that he’s a rich man. He’s already well and truly okay when it comes to life’s necessities. And, he just got richer. That’s how it tends to be, with wealth comes more wealth. Why not, he’s already got good fields, he can afford the best servants; it’s not really so surprising that he’s the one reaping an abundant harvest. But as is also often the case, increased wealth doesn’t necessarily make for peace of mind. This guy has a problem, and its exercising his mind – what am I going to do with all this abundance? I know, he thinks, Plan BBB- Build Bigger Barns! Yes, that’s the answer, increase storage capacity, and then I’ll have ample laid up for many years, I can relax – ‘eat, drink and be merry’. Great idea, I can secure the future and live the high life without a care in the world.
Now, on one level it all looks pretty crass, but in fact, it’s not so obvious where this man is going wrong. I mean – ‘Make hay while the sun shines’, ‘make the most of the good times’, ‘God helps those who help themselves’; these ideas were drummed into most of us from our earliest days. Isn’t that what this man is doing – being forward thinking, being responsible, being prudent? Your typical financial planner would applaud a decision like this. It’s a great way to build wealth and provide for retirement. Our government offers tax breaks for people like this. What’s the problem? Why is he called a ‘fool’? Isn’t he being wise?
Well, the point Jesus seems to be making is that you can’t actually secure yourself this way. ‘This very night your life is being demanded of you’, God says to the man in the parable. Now I must say this is an arresting phrase. Did it mean that this man was going to die that night? In the story, it seems it did, and that’s the thing, your bigger barns and brimming bank accounts and hedonistic plans won’t secure you against that. But, is that all that’s being communicated here? It’s striking to me that God doesn’t say, this very night you will die, but ‘this very night your life is being demanded of you’. By phrasing it in the continuous present, I’m wondering if a further point is made about life (his life, my life, your life) being answerable. In other words, tonight (and every night) you’re being called to give an account of your life. Our lives are being demanded of us – we’re answerable for the way we’re living, and the truly responsible way to be living is as one who is rich toward God. This man was a fool because in his thinking, plans and action, he’d been diverted by greed and an obsession with security to focus only on his material sustenance. He’d lost sight of life’s larger dimension, a larger vision of life’s meaning and call. ‘Be on your guard’, Jesus says, to everyone present, ‘for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions’. Which raises the question of this larger vision, which Jesus characterizes as being ‘rich towards God’. What is this about?
Well, if we think about the spirit of the gospel, the spirit of the way Jesus lives, it hints at a cluster of values and dispositions. It involves a degree of contentment with what you have – the story’s told in response to someone who thinks they’re missing out. Jesus speaks of trust in life’s goodness and provision – an abundance mentality (‘consider the ravens’). In all of this, there’s an opening out to the world, rather than closing in on self; a willingness to give rather than hoard, to share not just secure the self – there’s joy, freedom, expectancy. It’s remembering that our life is for something – it doesn’t terminate in itself, it’s not an end in itself. It’s gift and it’s for giving. And this sense of abundance is sourced in living connectedness to God, the life of prayer and worship and listening. The man in the story is running his life without reference to what God might be asking of him. He tells his soul, ‘you’re secure’, rather than receiving and resting securely in the Father’s good pleasure.
So, what of us? I imagine that when many hear this parable they think, well, I’m not rich so this doesn’t apply to me – it’s a warning for greedy developers and the like. But you don’t have to be rich to become greedy and self-possessing. Jesus tells this parable to the whole crowd, and it concludes with a general statement, which is effectively a question for each of us: How am I living? What am I invested in? Am I mostly storing up, accumulating, hoarding my possessions for myself and my immediate family or am I being rich toward God? What do my day to day thoughts and actions suggest? Into what are my energies poured? Do they show me to be anxiously preoccupied with securing the future or as being generous and generative, still participating in the exchange of life, willing to risk the good things I have for the sake of God’s dream for the world? And what of us as a church?
I’m excited to think of what we’re doing in this service – signing up to a cooperative venture with Benedictus church. We’re taking a step that seems deeply congruent with this call to be rich towards God. At a time, when we could be simply circling the wagons, just working on to preserve what we’ve had, we’re responding to a call to share our life, to risk being in a relationship of exchange and mutual giving for the blessing of the world. An over-emphasis on securing the future so easily leads to stagnation, and it’s not what our life is for. This very day, our life is being demanded of us, we’re answerable to a bigger vision – for a common wealth.
So, it’s a joy to be embarking on this venture, a privilege to have this opportunity! It’ll have its moments and challenges – but, folks, I think we’re up for it! We’ve discerned this carefully, been prudent … both communities feel ourselves called into this, and now it’s time to step into it. The rich man told his soul he could ‘eat, drink and be merry’ all by himself; it didn’t go well! But together, we’re invited to share God’s feast with one another and the world, to practice the abundance of the heart. And the future?? Well, that’s in God’s hands, and actually that’s true security!
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