Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
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Scripture |
Luke 12:13-2113 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” 16 Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17 And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 18 Then he said, ‘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. 19 And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.” |
Devotional |
This is one of those hard sayings of Jesus. Jesus is calling us to do or live in a way that we had rather not live. We have been taught to save money for college funds, old age, to buy a home, and other good and worthwhile possessions. But Jesus was talking about rich folk, not us. How could Jesus be speaking to us? Jim Rice editor of Sojourners reminds us: But we can’t get off so easy. Jesus’ warnings ring as true today as ever and it appears to our wealthy culture perhaps even more aptly than it did to first-century Palestine.” Can Jesus be speaking to us? The rich man in this parable uses his wealth to “eat, drink, and be merry.” He seems to have lost the focus, which we would never do. We would not consider owning a larger house that we really need with closets that hold more clothes than we can ever wear out. This is only what rich folk do! How does the rich man’s thinking resemble ours? “He who dies with the most toys wins” is a popular saying today and more true than we would like to admit. Several years ago, my wife Joy broke her ankle, which took several weeks of recovery. About the time she began walking without crutches, our neighbors returned from a trip. While they were out of town, we collected their mail and watched the house. They brought us a gift on their return. T-shirts. Across the front of Joy’s were the words, “Joy is walking again.” The saying on mine “He who dies with the most tools wins.” How could my neighbor see me this way? I only have the tools necessary for woodwork but someone could think eight routers is too many. Can it be possible to store up treasures for themselves but not be rich toward God? Jesus points toward the spiritual. Our true blessings come from hearing the word of God and doing it. Jesus encourages us to look at our inner life and listen to our own inner voice. This inner voice tells us when we have enough toys and possessions. Too many is when it changes our attitude toward others and God |