The
ground of a certain rich man brought forth abundantly. He reasoned
within himself, saying, 'What will I do, because I don't have room to
store my crops?'
He
said, 'This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns, and build
bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. I will
tell my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years.
Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry."'
"But
God said to him, 'You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of
you. The things which you have prepared—whose will they be?'
So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is
not rich toward God." (New Testament, Luke 12)
Jesus' words scare me. This parable
scares me. I feel scared because I can't help but wonder if I am, if
you are—if we are like the rich fool in the story. I wonder if I am
the fool and you are the fool and we don't even realize it because
almost everyone else in our North American culture is also the fool.
I say this with all due respect.
As a little boy I watched my dad work
hard, take over his father's company, make a very nice living, buy us
bigger and bigger homes, nicer and nicer cars...on and on.
And though I know my father is a generous person, in light of this
parable, though, I wonder about the real value of accumulating
wealth, if it is not to be shared.
In our parable, this morning, Jesus is
not attacking wealth, per say, but the foolish idea of amassing money
to use for the sole purpose or personal enjoyment. Notice in the
parable how the rich fool focuses on himself in the course of his
reflection: “I will do this and I will do that and I will secure
myself a more enjoyable future with all that I have made.” Jesus
suggests that accumulating wealth, socking it away, buying more and
more stuff is, to some degree, harmful for a life with God.
This is a tough thing for us to hear
exactly because Jesus' words fly in the face of our economic
philosophy. Jesus' words cut at the quick of the American dream. The
rich fool is the very embodiment of what many of us embrace as the
right way to live.
Jesus isn't alone in his critique of
amassing wealth for the purposes of selfish enjoyment or securing our
future—as if money can secure our lives. Every major world religion
suggests the very same thing as Jesus.
Taoism, which is primarily a Chinese
religion states: Do not race after riches, do not risk your life for
financial gains, or you will let slip the heaven within you.” And
Sikhism, which is an Indian religion, says, “Blessed is the straw
hut where God's praises are chanted; worthless the white mansions
where God is not remembered.”
My dad, of course, was just following
what his dad taught him who was just following what his dad had
taught him. It's the Protestant work ethic nicely mixed with Adam
Smith's little idea called capitalism. It's how we understand the
world. It's how we understand ourselves. Make more, acquire more, and
you will be more.
Have you ever imagined Jesus standing
in the mall or on the floor of the NYSE? Have you ever wondered what
Jesus might say to someone with the bumper sticker, “He who dies
with the most toys wins?”
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