July 31,
2016 Pentecost 11 Luke 12:13-21
I must confess that I did not watch much of either party’s
political convention. The older I get
the less and less I can stand political speech.
Perhaps I’m wrong, since I didn’t watch any, but I assume both parties
have dished out plenty of political dirt, impossible promises, and
half-truths. It all sounds good, but it
never becomes reality. Sometimes what I
wouldn’t give for the straight truth – tough as it may be.
Our gospel reading from Luke gives us some straight truth about
business and safety and money and power.
And when you look at this straight truth you easily see why people
prefer the lies of our politicians. If
Jesus were to speak at one of our political conventions I can almost guarantee
you he would be booed beyond anything we’ve seen recently. And he’d probably be chucked out midway
through his speech.
Jesus is still journeying to Jerusalem with his disciples. This particular moment there happens to be a
crowd around. A man in the crowd says to
Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” This may seem to be a bold request, but a
rabbi (or teacher) could be expected to give a ruling on the inheritance laws
in Numbers and Deuteronomy. Since this
man is asking for help it is safe to assume that he is not the oldest son. The oldest son would have automatically
gotten just about everything. But
apparently he does expect to receive something significant. His brother isn’t cooperating and this
younger son wants Jesus’ support.
In our world an inheritance can be a big deal. We create wills to determine how our assets
are to be distributed and there is a whole legal system to make sure it happens
and happens properly. So, with something
so important what is Jesus going to say?
The straight truth from Jesus is that isn’t not important at all. If I extrapolate Jesus’ teachings from what
Luke’s gospel says I think Jesus would teach that our entire civil justice
system is unimportant at best and a bastion of evil at worst. Jesus would say it is people conflicting over
resources like money and property; both of which are irrelevant to eternal life
and God’s kingdom.
But Jesus’ harsh straight talk is only getting started. Right after he says, “Friend, who set me to
be a judge or arbitrator over you,” he tells the parable of the rich fool, and
this one hurts even more.
By all wise business practices this rich landowner should be
commended. By some means he has come to
own a successful farming operation.
Through his management his land has produced a bumper crop – a crop so
big he cannot store it all. He has a
number of choices before him. He could
sell the excess, but that wouldn’t be very wise. I know from my own experience in farming that
selling a bumper crop at harvest time is a sure way to get a low price. Everyone has had a good year and the market
is flooded. If possible, you hold onto
the grain and wait for prices to rise.
You may end up holding onto the grain for months, or even until almost
the next harvest to get a good price.
Commentator Joel Green notes that this landowner also has the
choice of creating temporary storage for his grain. He could build something just to hold this
year’s abundance, then remove it in the future.
But he doesn’t choose this path.
Instead he chooses to tear down his existing bins and build bigger
ones. Apparently he thinks future years’
crops will also be good.
All of this makes good business
sense. This is a wise businessman who
has a successful business and is planning for future growth. But is he the hero of his story? No.
Apparently Jesus not only has little use for civil law he also has
little use for good business!
Keep in mind this is a parable, not
a true story. And to make it all a bit
perplexing, on September 18 we’re going to read the Parable of the Dishonest
Manager. In that parable Jesus praises a
corrupt and shrewd businessman for his shady dealings.
Ultimately something deeper than
good or bad business practice is going on here.
This is not a course about business ethics. In the parable of the rich fool Jesus is
bringing out a few very difficult truths.
One of them you know well. Money
can’t buy happiness. Those whose lives
are centered around getting more and more and more are caught in a downward
spiral. They’ll never be happy.
Another truth you probably also
know. Money and possessions can easily
give us a false sense of security. The
rich fool thought he could sit back for ages to come and live the good
life. He had land. He had crops.
He had money. In other words he
had security; or so he thought. Look at
his words. He doesn’t acknowledge God at
all. He says, “Soul, you have ample
goods laid up for many years: relax, eat, drink, be merry.”
God is going to get the final word
though. “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded
of you. And this things you have, whose
will they be?”
Our politicians promise that a
robust economy and a strong military and a solid justice system will provide
safety and prosperity for the nation.
Not so. God is not, never has
been, and never will be, bound in even the slightest way but nations or
governments or politics. God is God; end
of story. Perhaps the only really true
thing that comes from our government is the ironic statement we put on our
money, “In God we trust.”
The final and ultimate reality
underlying what is wrong with this rich man is also a trap we easily slip
into. We think the things we have are
ours. They’re not. We think that titles and deeds and receipts
give us ownership of property and cars and stuff. But they don’t. The earth and everything in it belongs to the
Lord. We are wise to remember that.
What Jesus does teach about
possessions and status and power is advice we are very wise to take. We are stewards of them during our lifetime,
and nothing more. They are God’s
property. They are tools we can use in
service to others and thus in service to God’s kingdom.
Let me end with a little parable of
my own. An elderly woman just entered a
nursing home. She kept to her room. Every minute she sat in her chair holding back
tears and torn apart by shame. Why did
she feel this way? Because her mind was
swimming with images of her friends looks when the found out she was out of
money and her house had to be sold to cover expenses. She felt the rejection of her children and
grandchildren. They’re lives were too
busy to visit. But other residents had
family whose priorities were different and visited regularly. Apparently she failed as a mother too. She looked at her arms and hands and legs and
feet. She looked at her sagging
belly. She remembered all that they used
to be able to do, but not anymore. She
couldn’t even go to the bathroom by herself anymore. How embarrassing! TV was full of happy, wealthy good looking
people who were getting life right. They
were vital and capable. She was a
failure with no purpose, no value. All
she had left was to wait around to die; and that couldn’t come soon enough.
But God said to her, “Why do you
cry? I made you. I claimed you as my daughter. You are my own and I am always with you. These things are truly yours. They always have been and they always will
be. There is no shame in one made in my
image. Live, embrace, and share the good
news of what I can do.” The woman’s
challenge was to embrace that, her true reality, and not the loss she felt over
things that never really were her own.
May you find true value in God and
God alone. And may you always find joy
and contentment in what God is doing through you.
