Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23; Colossians 3:1-5,9-11; Luke 12:13-21
It was not uncommon for people in Palestine to take their unsettled disputes to respected Rabbis; but Jesus refused to be mixed up in anyone’s disputes about money. Instead, Jesus used this request as an opportunity to teach a lesson about the proper attitude his followers should have towards material things.
To those who had an abundant supply of possessions Jesus spoke this parable of the Rich Fool. And so I would argue that for most of us sitting here today, Jesus is speaking this parable to us. For we live at a time, in a place, where we have an abundance of possessions, quite frankly more than we could really even use in this life. And so to us, Jesus teaches us two things which stand out about this man.
First, he never saw beyond himself. There is no other parable which is so full of the words, I, me, my and mine. Someone once described these words as “aggressive pronouns.” You might say he was aggressively self-centered. When this man had an excess of goods the one thing that never entered his head was to give any away. His whole attitude was the very reverse of Christianity. Instead of denying himself he aggressively affirmed himself; instead of finding his happiness in giving he tried to conserve it by keeping.
In this a very important lesson on Christian justice is taught to us. It is an injustice for one person or group to have more than what they need when others don’t even have the basic things they need. It is a sin for one person or group to hoard more than what they need while not helping others who are in need.
This is why, we, at the Church of the Nativity, take 4% of the money you give us in our Sunday offering and give it away to other’s who are in greater need. We recognize how God has blessed this parish with an abundance, and so we share this abundance in your name with others. A significant portion of this 4% goes to the ministries of Fr. Jack Davis in Peru and Fr. Scott McDermott in Mexico. In addition to this we support on a monthly basis nine organizations in the Fargo-Moorhead area that provide ministry to those most in need, including ministries which uphold the sanctity of human life. Some of these monies also help to provide support to families and individuals in financial difficulty.
Just because we give a portion of this money to the needs of others, each of us is not individually exempt from doing the same. When we recognize that God has provided all that we need, we are expected to each give from our wealth to others. This is not just to be given from our surplus. It is to be given also from our want.
Sadly money, and the accumulation of wealth, has a tendency to destroy our spirit. An ancient Roman proverb said that money was like sea-water; the more a man drank the thirstier he became. As long as a person’s attitude is that of the rich fool his desire will always be to get more — and that is the exact opposite of the Christian faith.
A second problem the rich fool faced was that he never saw beyond this world. All his plans were made on the basis of life here. There is a story told of a conversation between a young and ambitious man and an older woman who knew life. The young man told the elder, “I am going to school to learn my trade.” “And then?” said the older woman. “I will set up my business.” “And then?” “I will make a fortune?” “And then?” “I suppose I shall grow old and retire and live on my money?” “And then?” “Well, I suppose that some day I will die,” said the young man.” To which the older woman said, “And then?”
The person who never remembers that there is another world is destined some day for the worst imaginable fate.
So learn a lesson from the Rich Fool. While it is important that we use the resources God has given us to provide for ourselves and our family, it is never right to take what God has given us and use it only for ourselves when there are others in greater need around us. In the end God will demand an account of you of how you have used the gifts he has give you.
[1] See Barclay’s New Testament Commentary
