“Truly Rich”
Luke 12:13-21[1]
I think it’s fair to say that we as a people are obsessed with our
possessions. We continually occupy ourselves with getting more—a better computer,
a nicer TV, a newer phone, just to mention a few of the “hotter” items on the
market. Experts recognize that this consumption of consumer goods is the engine
that drives our economy. And this isn’t just about “the one who finishes with
the most toys wins.” It’s ingrained into much of our decision-making. In a
society where we seek to secure our future by our own efforts, we are
constantly calculating ways of ensuring that our account balances are heading
upward. And for us, that just makes good sense. It’s hard not to think that our
lives consist in “the abundance of possessions.”
Part of this is simply a matter of living in a market economy. But
there are many aspects of the way we live in this economy that betray the power
of wealth over us. For example, many of us play the lottery. We see it as
essentially “free money.” But we fail to recognize the bigger picture:
“jackpots” are filled with money from people who buy lottery tickets. And many
of them cannot afford to be spending their money that way. So those who “win”
get rich at the expense of others. The fact that we rarely stop to consider
this bigger picture betrays the way our wealth can influence us to neglect the
welfare of others.
In part, that’s one of the reasons that Jesus criticized the rich
farmer in our parable from Luke’s Gospel for today. Again, we might think his
actions were prudent. Who wouldn’t store up a bumper crop in order to wait to
sell for a better price in a lean year? We would see that as simply “good
business sense.” But Jesus rather bluntly calls it “greed.” In our world,
planning for the future is essential, because we are all aware that there will
come a day when we can no longer provide for ourselves. But seeking to secure
our own future this way implies that we believe our lives consist in “the
abundance of possessions.”
That’s what the farmer in this parable believed. He says to himself, “Self, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat,
drink, be merry” (Luke 12:19). This might sound like a good thing. Who among us
doesn’t want to be able to retire comfortably?[2] Who
among us doesn’t worry at least a little about having “ample goods” to provide
for our needs? Like the farmer in the parable, it would seem that many of us
believe we can secure our own future through our wealth. And so we occupy ourselves,
as he did, with storing up “ample goods” so that we can “relax, eat, drink, and
be merry.”
In the parable, there is a background that plays a role here,
but it may not be obvious. As in many of Jesus’ parables, the excessive wealth
of some meant that others had to do without basic necessities. And one of the
flaws in this farmer’s thinking is that he’s thinking all about himself, not
about anybody else.[3]
Although he has a bumper crop, he’s obviously wealthy enough that he doesn’t even
have to sell his crop to cover his expenses. More than that, given his
extensive landholdings, hoarding his crop will very likely adversely affect the
food supply of the many others who are his neighbors. But he’s obviously not
even thinking about the welfare of these “neighbors.”
The real problem with this outlook on life is that it neglects the
dangers of wealth that Jesus so often warns against. Seeking an “abundance of possessions” has a way
of turning into hoarding everything
we can get our hands on. Finding our security in our wealth can lead us to
ignore the source of our true security. It can motivate us to “store up
treasures for ourselves” but to ignore what it means to be “rich toward God.” In
other settings, Jesus explains that true riches are those that cannot wear out
or disappear. Being truly rich comes from knowing God’s unconditional love for
us, and sharing that love with those around us.
Although some of us may disagree, in the Bible our faith affects
our attitude towards our possessions. When we encounter God’s love in Jesus
Christ, it’s supposed to change the way we live our lives. And Jesus makes it abundantly
clear throughout the Gospels that this extends to what we do with our
possessions. As he pointed out so clearly, we cannot “serve God and wealth”
(Luke 16:13). I think at least a part of what he was trying to say to us is
that our wealth has a way of mastering us if we’re not wise in the way we use
it. That’s why St. Paul warns us that we must “put to death … greed (which is
idolatry)” (Col. 3:5). Wealth has a way of going from a simple means of
exchange to a golden calf that we serve in place of God.
I think most of us would hear Jesus’ warning, “Be on your guard
against all kinds of greed” (Luke 12:15) and think that applies to someone
else, someone who is “really” rich. But in reality, it addresses us all with a
choice as to which master we will serve. Choosing to serve “the abundance of
our possessions” will rob us of the opportunity to be “truly rich.” When we
become so consumed by our wealth that we ignore others, we are living in direct
contradiction to the will of God. Being “truly rich” comes only as we find our
lives in the new life that God offers us all.
It is a life of learning that becoming content with God’s love turns
whatever we have into everything we could ever need. It is a life of loving God
in return and therefore serving those around us in love—especially by sharing
what we have with them. Jesus calls this
“being rich toward God” (Lk 12:21), or truly rich.
[1]
©2019 Alan Brehm. A sermon
delivered by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 8/4/2019 at Hickman Presbyterian Church,
Hickman, NE.
[2]
R. Alan Culpepper, “The Gospel of Luke,” New
Interpreters Bible IX: 257: “the rich man’s vision of the future sounds
uncomfortably like one that most of us have for our retirement years. Are we
really planning prudently? What gives our life meaning now, and what will give
it meaning then?”
[3]
Cf. Joel B. Green, The Gospel of Luke,
490-91.
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