July 31, 2022: May God’s words be spoken, may God’s words be heard. Amen.
Like some of you, I bought a Mega Millions lottery ticket the other day. I only buy one. I figure, if God wants me to win it, one is all I need. Apparently, God has no such plans for my life, and that’s fine. Still, there is something really awesome about the moments between when you buy a ticket like that, and when you find out you didn’t win.
I know my mind wanders to dreams of starting a not-for-profit foundation, paying off the mortgage – mine and all of my family’s, or even installing AC in this really hot church (not to mention fixing the roof). Oh, and you bet I dream about taking a really fabulous vacation somewhere too. It’s all part of the fun. And for one very lucky person in Illinois, it is more than a dream, because they purchased the only winning Mega Millions ticket worth $1.28 billion dollars! And there were many others who scored large jackpots too. All of them, and all of us, might want to take note here about this parable.
In the gospel, Jesus tells us about the rich landowner who stored up the great harvest he had into large barns, and when he congratulated himself on his prosperity that would make him comfortable for the rest of his life, God called him a fool, and he died that night.
Now, you might be saying, why do we need to hear this parable – we didn’t win one of those jackpots (oh, and if you aren’t saying this because you DID win one, I want to see you after church). Well, the thing is, Jesus isn’t saying anything here about wealth being bad. This isn’t a story to condemn those who are rich.
Listen again to the conversation this rich landowner has with, not a spouse or friend or parent or neighbor or his dog, but only with himself: “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and 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; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’”
Now, there is nothing wrong with talking to yourself (might want to wear headphones so folks think you are on a call if you are out in public), but unless you think you are hearing answers back, that’s fine. But look at what he says to himself: I will do, I will pull down. I will store all my grain and goods. I will say to my soul ‘you have ample goods.” Talk about your self-absorbed sort. Can you imagine him on a date? He’d spend the first half of the night talking about himself, and then say “Oh, I’m sorry…I have been going on and on about me. So, what do you think about me?” And that’s when any sane person gets up and says “Oh, you know what…I forgot. I have to do laundry tonight.”
This man’s relationship is with himself alone – his greed is a symptom of his idolatry, as the author of the epistle to the Colossians that we heard this morning points out. God calls the man a fool not because he had a bountiful harvest, but because he had no regard for anyone but himself, not even for God. For his harvest did not come just from the work of his own hands as he believed, but by the grace of God.
There is a saying that the trouble with so called self-made folks is that they worship their perceived “Creator.”
Idolatry and greed are intertwined and deadly to the soul, not because they can lead to wealth, but because they lead us to think only about ourselves. In fact, there are many who have little with regard to material wealth today who are as lost as this landowner of the parable. And, there are also a good number of folks who are very wealthy, and who do amazing things on behalf of others. Money can do a lot of good. Having possessions isn’t the issue – it’s our relationship to them that can lead us astray.
At the end of the story, Jesus says about what happened to this rich landowner “So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.” And it is that last bit that is the key to it all. He was not rich toward God.
The answer to the riddle of this parable is found in the life of the one telling it – Jesus. God became incarnate, knowing the cost, so that we might enter into the fullness of relationship with our creator – so that we would truly know just how loved we are – so that we would understand that love, and share it abundantly. The incarnation is about a radical shift in perspective – God gave the greatest gift to us that we might in turn give that gift back – to God, and to all the world.
That is how we are rich toward God – by living our lives in relationship not solely with ourselves, but with God, and with all of God’s creation – all other children of God. Our gifts we are called to bear are compassion, mercy, generosity, kindness, and most of all – love. When we value those things above all, we are rich beyond measure. When we are wealthy in those things, we are indeed rich in the only way it matters – toward God.
Yet if we look around today, especially in our nation, we will find a whole lot of folks just like this landowner. People who maybe don’t have a lot of money or possessions (or perhaps they do), but who value things that will leave them empty. We hear things like “it is my God given right,” but not too much of “it is my God given responsibility.” Yet we are not a faith with rights, but one of responsibilities – to God, to our neighbor, and yes, even to ourselves.
Our charge from the beginning of time is to be good stewards of all of creation – to care for the gifts entrusted to us by God – to care for our neighbor and our earth as much as ourselves. This landowner decided to build larger barns to store far more than he needed – that certainly is his right. However, he did not think of those who went to bed hungry that night – perhaps even the laborers who built those barns and toiled in his fields to reap that harvest. That was his responsibility.
We must make a better choice, for we are followers of Jesus.
We need to empty our barn of the grain of indifference and fill it instead with the food of compassion for the stranger.
We need to empty our barn of the grain of arrogance and fill it instead with the food of kindness rooted in humility.
We need to empty our barn of the grain of greed and fill it instead with the food of generosity for those in need.
We need to empty our barn of the grain of individualism and fill it instead with the food of community of relationship with our neighbor.
And, we need to empty our barn of the grain of hate and fill it instead with the food of love for all of God’s creation.
If we do this, we will never be without, but will live the abundant life Jesus came to give us, and our souls truly will have ample goods to feed us all our days. For we will be rich in all that matters.
We will be rich toward God.
Amen.
For the audio, click below, or subscribe to our iTunes Sermon Podcast by clicking here (also available on Audible):
The Rev. Diana L. Wilcox
Christ Church in Bloomfield & Glen Ridge
July 31, 2022
Eighth Sunday After Pentecost – Year C – Proper 13 – Track 1
1st Reading – Hosea 11:1-11
Psalm 107:1-9, 43
2nd Reading – Colossians 3:1-11
Gospel – Luke 12:13-21
