The Rich Fool
Preaching
Preaching The Parables
Series III, Cycle C
1. Text
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."
2. What's Happening?
First Point Of Action
Calling Jesus Teacher, someone in the crowd asks Jesus to tell his brother to divide the family inheritance with the man. Calling the man Friend, Jesus wonders who set him to be a judge or arbitrator over him.
Second Point Of Action
Addressing the crowd, Jesus cautions them to be on their guard against all kinds of greed because our life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.
Third Point Of Action
Jesus tells the parable of The Rich Fool. A farmer has a great crop and not enough room to store it. He decides to tear down his barns and build bigger ones to store all of his grain and his goods. He then will tell his soul that since he has plenty stored up for many years, he can relax, eat, drink, and be merry.
Fourth Point Of Action
Continuing the parable, God tells him that he will die that very night. What good will his stored up goods do toward that?
Fifth Point Of Action
Jesus tells the crowd that is what happens to those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.
3. Spadework
Arbitrate
To arbitrate, judge, determine, or decide the path for the greedy brother in the present parable was an intervention that Christ refused to make. His arbitration was for justice: "Speak out, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy" (Proverbs 31:9). "I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice" (Ezekiel 34:16).
His arbitration was for peacemaking: "He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Isaiah 2:4). See also Micah 4:3.
Through the voice of scripture, God offers guides for realigning our direction away from greed. One guideline is to get in touch with that integrity deep within us beneath the greed and the selfishness. "The Lord judges the peoples; judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me" (Psalm 7:8).
What would happen if we also were to follow these words? "... [D]o good, be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, so [you] may take hold of the life that really is life" (1 Timothy 6:18, 19).
Personal fulfillment is available through other means than by squirreling away possessions: "Happy are those who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times" (Psalm 106:3). "It is well with those who deal generously and lend, who conduct their affairs with justice" (Psalm 112:5). "[L]earn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow" (Isaiah 1:17).
"He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8).
Greed (greedy)
Greed is an insatiable craving that forgets about all else except acquiring more than one needs or deserves. Of the nine references to greed, Job 20:20-22 images the gluttony and the misery of greed: "They knew no quiet in their bellies; in their greed they let nothing escape. There was nothing left after they had eaten; therefore their prosperity will not endure. In full sufficiency they will be in distress; all the force of misery will come upon them." "[T]hey have grown fat and sleek. They know no limits in deeds of wickedness; they do not judge with justice the cause of the orphan, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy" (Jeremiah 5:28).
Matthew 23:25 and Luke 11:39 refer to the hypocrisy of the Pharisees who "clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside [they][you] are full of greed and [self-indulgence][wickedness]."
In the New Testament letters, greed is improper among saints. Greed is earthly, idolatry, and leads to exploitation with deceptive words. The hearts of the ungodly are trained in greed. See Ephesians 5:3, Colossians 3:5, 1 Thessalonians 2:5, and 2 Peter 2:3 and 2:14.
"Greedy" occurs seventeen times. Psalm 10:3 and Proverbs 1:19 refer to being "greedy for gain." In 1 Samuel, the phrase is "look with greedy eye" (1 Samuel 2:29 and 2:32).
Throughout the Bible, an aborted life is the standard payment for a greedy nature. "Then in distress you will look with greedy eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed upon Israel; and no one in your family shall ever live to old age" (1 Samuel 2:32). "Such is the end of all who are greedy for gain; it takes away the life of its possessors" (Proverbs 1:19).
Those who are greedy "curse and renounce God" (Psalm 10:3). The greedy person "stirs up strife" (Proverbs 28:25).
Two couplets from Proverbs present a correction for greed: "Those who are greedy for unjust gain make trouble for their households, but those who hate bribes will live" (Proverbs 15:27) and "The greedy person stirs up strife, but whoever trusts in the Lord will be enriched" (Proverbs 28:25).
Is a modicum of greed universal to humanity? "For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely" (Jeremiah 6:13). See also Jeremiah 8:10.
The prophet Nehemiah suggests that eating is only part of celebrating. The other part of joy is sharing it: "Then he said to them, 'Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength' " (Nehemiah 8:10).
What a thought Hosea stirs in suggesting that we are greedy for the dark side of ourselves: "They feed on the sin of my people; they are greedy for their iniquity" (Hosea 4:8). Greediness comes in a variety of forms: "greedy for money" (1 Timothy 3:8) or "greedy for gain" (Titus 1:7). See also 1 Corinthians 5:10-11 and 6:10 and Ephesians 4:19.
Greed can be defined as idolatry: "Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God" (Ephesians 5:5).
Idol
The second of the Ten Commandments reads, "You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth" (Exodus 20:4).
Are the early, high-energy years the time we are particularly vulnerable to greed? We become the work-aholics, the play-aholics, and the cocoon-aholics. We make as much money as we can. We invest as much money as we can. We acquire as much stuff as we can. We give little thought to sharing our wealth, our goods, or our time with those who are impoverished. The more we get, the more we feel the weight of acquisition. What we do give to church, charity, or stranger is a laughable token.
Are the later years the time we are particularly vulnerable to greed? When we have "done our giving" in the raising of children and our children's children, paid off the mortgage and the college loans, and "become complacent in the land," we yield to doing for ourselves -- a trophy house, an Alaskan cruise, eating an outrageous and unhealthy amount of food, still buying this and buying that to occupy the void within the heart, and generally acting "corruptly by making an idol in the form of anything, thus doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God ..." (from Deuteronomy 4:25).
Consider the "things" that accumulate for dusting in light of the words of the prophet Habakkuk: "What use is an idol once its maker has shaped it -- a cast image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in what has been made, though the product is only an idol that cannot speak!" (Habakkuk 2:18).
Consider the money wasted on an accumulation of memory treasures, collection after collection. The living memory of having shared that money in an act of kindness that improved the quality of another's life lies as an unexplored intangible treasure. "Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry)" (Colossians 3:5).
Is it possible to redirect our passions? If we contain a "greedy gene," is it possible to convert that energy into a life that really is life?
Thus says the Lord God: Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured, you have not brought back the strayed, you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them. -- Ezekiel 34:2b-4
Possessions
There is a difference between a cache of hoarded possessions and the plentitude that is the reward of an observant God:
God answered Solomon, "Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may rule my people over whom I have made you king, wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like." -- 2 Chronicles 1:11-12
Christ shows little understanding toward those who focus on material goods: Jesus said to the man who wanted to earn eternal life, " 'If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.' When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions" (Matthew 19:21-22); "Sell your possessions ..." (Luke 12:33a); "So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions" (Luke 14:33).
While, according to the attitude above, Jesus would have preferred that Zacchaeus give up all his possessions, even a halfway turn about was worthy of rejoicing: "Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, 'Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost' " (Luke19:8-10).
Paul reminds us that the life that is really life is about more than even limiting one's material goods. The Pauline benchmark reads, "If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:3).
4. Parallel Scripture
On Taking Responsibility
Compare "But [Jesus] said to him, 'Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?' " (Luke 12:14) with Jesus' words to the crowd: "And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?" (Luke 12:57). (See Weather Signs, Parable 10, Cycle C.)
On The Life That Is Really Life
Compare "[F]or one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions" (Luke 12:16) with "[D]o good, be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, so [you] may take hold of the life that really is life" (1 Timothy 6:18-19); "If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:3).
The Futility Of Greed
Compare "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?' So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God" (Luke 12:20-21) with the following:
"Now the end is upon you ... I will judge you according to your ways" (Ezekiel 7:3);
"They knew no quiet in their bellies; in their greed they let nothing escape. There was nothing left after they had eaten; therefore their prosperity will not endure. In full sufficiency they will be in distress; all the force of misery will come upon them" (Job 20:20-22);
"Then in distress you will look with greedy eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed upon Israel; and no one in your family shall ever live to old age" (1 Samuel 2:32); and
"Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God" (Ephesians 5:5).
5. Chat Room
Doug: Hey, Sandy, are you logged on? Hey, anyway, is double heart disease one of the rewards of a subtle greed?
Sandy: Double heart disease? I get it about the physical heart disease from the glut of food and the pressure of the quest. What is this "double" about?
Doug: The sickness in my soul that keeps me pushing any way and every way for more while becoming less satisfied and less satisfied and less satisfied, that is
Greedy for inner peace,
Greedy for prestige,
Greedy for retirement,
Greedy for praise,
Greedy for comfort.
Power-hungry,
Space-hungry,
Activity-hungry,
Friend-starved.
Empty-hearted.
Soul-less.
Sandy: I see, not that other greed of
Eat, drink, be merry,
Material things,
Treasures, riches,
Stuff, stuff, and more stuff,
Clout,
Preparing forever,
Worrying without end.
How many vehicles is enough
How many acres
Houses
How much preparation
How much fun
How many invested dollars?
When is enough, enough?
Bryce: Okay, you two poets. Enough is enough. Sounds as if you have a good case of a tipped Protestant work ethic.
Sandy: Tipped Protestant work ethic?
Bryce: You know, the moral value of work, thrift, and our individual responsibility for our actions. I started out okay, myself. From youth, I knew how to work hard. I took my training and began my career. I took responsibility. I thrived.
You remember your first paycheck, don't you? It was mine, all mine. I earned it. I couldn't wait to buy something with it. I was hooked. I became more responsible. I began to save a portion, then saved more and more, but there was so much I wanted to buy. Then it all mushroomed. I had to work more and more to afford what I wanted. I know when enthusiasm turned into passion. I'm still not sure when passion crossed the line to become greed.
It looked good on the outside. On the inside, every other dimension of my life was suffering -- my body, family, relationships, my soul. It was not what I had hoped for. It was advancing me all right -- parading me right toward death.
Doug: So how did you get things back into balance?
Bryce: I had caught on to the work part of the work ethic but missed the thrift aspect. It had seemed unnecessary. What was unnecessary was the way I spent money, time, energy, and, most of all, my gifts and human resources. I began to examine my idols, the little gods in my life that had grown great with false stature. I started to ask questions before I did anything -- Why? Are you sure? For what purpose, really? What is the benefit? I asked these questions about what I ate, how I played, how I related to others, how I spent myself.
Doug: What about hope? Why can't someone intervene in our lives before we become hopeless, before it is too late? We botch things awfully because we are free spirits. Then we pay the consequences of a spiritually corrupt day-to-day living style.
Sandy: That's the point. That's where the responsibility dimension of the work ethic comes in. I'm a free spirit, free to make the right choices, free to make the wrong decisions, free to harvest the result, but I am created free. That's what makes the times of turn-around fascinating. We are little different from Zacchaeus.
You asked what moves us to hope. I find hope is within the surprise, in the supposed incongruity and the paradox. Where is the surprise? Less is more. Simpler is richer. Giving is receiving. Downsizing in every area. Raising a few notches higher the level of a simpler lifestyle. Giving more than hoarding. Taking the sharing alternative to storing.
The dimension of my soul that needed tending found healing by giving myself. I switched some of that run-ragged time to volunteering in a one-to-one project. I discovered that I was still alive in there. I discovered the fun of helping to awaken joy in others and watching them also come to a more meaningful life. My own double heart disease began to heal itself. It has become the best time of my life.
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."
2. What's Happening?
First Point Of Action
Calling Jesus Teacher, someone in the crowd asks Jesus to tell his brother to divide the family inheritance with the man. Calling the man Friend, Jesus wonders who set him to be a judge or arbitrator over him.
Second Point Of Action
Addressing the crowd, Jesus cautions them to be on their guard against all kinds of greed because our life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.
Third Point Of Action
Jesus tells the parable of The Rich Fool. A farmer has a great crop and not enough room to store it. He decides to tear down his barns and build bigger ones to store all of his grain and his goods. He then will tell his soul that since he has plenty stored up for many years, he can relax, eat, drink, and be merry.
Fourth Point Of Action
Continuing the parable, God tells him that he will die that very night. What good will his stored up goods do toward that?
Fifth Point Of Action
Jesus tells the crowd that is what happens to those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.
3. Spadework
Arbitrate
To arbitrate, judge, determine, or decide the path for the greedy brother in the present parable was an intervention that Christ refused to make. His arbitration was for justice: "Speak out, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy" (Proverbs 31:9). "I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice" (Ezekiel 34:16).
His arbitration was for peacemaking: "He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Isaiah 2:4). See also Micah 4:3.
Through the voice of scripture, God offers guides for realigning our direction away from greed. One guideline is to get in touch with that integrity deep within us beneath the greed and the selfishness. "The Lord judges the peoples; judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me" (Psalm 7:8).
What would happen if we also were to follow these words? "... [D]o good, be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, so [you] may take hold of the life that really is life" (1 Timothy 6:18, 19).
Personal fulfillment is available through other means than by squirreling away possessions: "Happy are those who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times" (Psalm 106:3). "It is well with those who deal generously and lend, who conduct their affairs with justice" (Psalm 112:5). "[L]earn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow" (Isaiah 1:17).
"He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8).
Greed (greedy)
Greed is an insatiable craving that forgets about all else except acquiring more than one needs or deserves. Of the nine references to greed, Job 20:20-22 images the gluttony and the misery of greed: "They knew no quiet in their bellies; in their greed they let nothing escape. There was nothing left after they had eaten; therefore their prosperity will not endure. In full sufficiency they will be in distress; all the force of misery will come upon them." "[T]hey have grown fat and sleek. They know no limits in deeds of wickedness; they do not judge with justice the cause of the orphan, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy" (Jeremiah 5:28).
Matthew 23:25 and Luke 11:39 refer to the hypocrisy of the Pharisees who "clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside [they][you] are full of greed and [self-indulgence][wickedness]."
In the New Testament letters, greed is improper among saints. Greed is earthly, idolatry, and leads to exploitation with deceptive words. The hearts of the ungodly are trained in greed. See Ephesians 5:3, Colossians 3:5, 1 Thessalonians 2:5, and 2 Peter 2:3 and 2:14.
"Greedy" occurs seventeen times. Psalm 10:3 and Proverbs 1:19 refer to being "greedy for gain." In 1 Samuel, the phrase is "look with greedy eye" (1 Samuel 2:29 and 2:32).
Throughout the Bible, an aborted life is the standard payment for a greedy nature. "Then in distress you will look with greedy eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed upon Israel; and no one in your family shall ever live to old age" (1 Samuel 2:32). "Such is the end of all who are greedy for gain; it takes away the life of its possessors" (Proverbs 1:19).
Those who are greedy "curse and renounce God" (Psalm 10:3). The greedy person "stirs up strife" (Proverbs 28:25).
Two couplets from Proverbs present a correction for greed: "Those who are greedy for unjust gain make trouble for their households, but those who hate bribes will live" (Proverbs 15:27) and "The greedy person stirs up strife, but whoever trusts in the Lord will be enriched" (Proverbs 28:25).
Is a modicum of greed universal to humanity? "For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely" (Jeremiah 6:13). See also Jeremiah 8:10.
The prophet Nehemiah suggests that eating is only part of celebrating. The other part of joy is sharing it: "Then he said to them, 'Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength' " (Nehemiah 8:10).
What a thought Hosea stirs in suggesting that we are greedy for the dark side of ourselves: "They feed on the sin of my people; they are greedy for their iniquity" (Hosea 4:8). Greediness comes in a variety of forms: "greedy for money" (1 Timothy 3:8) or "greedy for gain" (Titus 1:7). See also 1 Corinthians 5:10-11 and 6:10 and Ephesians 4:19.
Greed can be defined as idolatry: "Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God" (Ephesians 5:5).
Idol
The second of the Ten Commandments reads, "You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth" (Exodus 20:4).
Are the early, high-energy years the time we are particularly vulnerable to greed? We become the work-aholics, the play-aholics, and the cocoon-aholics. We make as much money as we can. We invest as much money as we can. We acquire as much stuff as we can. We give little thought to sharing our wealth, our goods, or our time with those who are impoverished. The more we get, the more we feel the weight of acquisition. What we do give to church, charity, or stranger is a laughable token.
Are the later years the time we are particularly vulnerable to greed? When we have "done our giving" in the raising of children and our children's children, paid off the mortgage and the college loans, and "become complacent in the land," we yield to doing for ourselves -- a trophy house, an Alaskan cruise, eating an outrageous and unhealthy amount of food, still buying this and buying that to occupy the void within the heart, and generally acting "corruptly by making an idol in the form of anything, thus doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God ..." (from Deuteronomy 4:25).
Consider the "things" that accumulate for dusting in light of the words of the prophet Habakkuk: "What use is an idol once its maker has shaped it -- a cast image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in what has been made, though the product is only an idol that cannot speak!" (Habakkuk 2:18).
Consider the money wasted on an accumulation of memory treasures, collection after collection. The living memory of having shared that money in an act of kindness that improved the quality of another's life lies as an unexplored intangible treasure. "Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry)" (Colossians 3:5).
Is it possible to redirect our passions? If we contain a "greedy gene," is it possible to convert that energy into a life that really is life?
Thus says the Lord God: Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured, you have not brought back the strayed, you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them. -- Ezekiel 34:2b-4
Possessions
There is a difference between a cache of hoarded possessions and the plentitude that is the reward of an observant God:
God answered Solomon, "Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may rule my people over whom I have made you king, wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like." -- 2 Chronicles 1:11-12
Christ shows little understanding toward those who focus on material goods: Jesus said to the man who wanted to earn eternal life, " 'If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.' When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions" (Matthew 19:21-22); "Sell your possessions ..." (Luke 12:33a); "So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions" (Luke 14:33).
While, according to the attitude above, Jesus would have preferred that Zacchaeus give up all his possessions, even a halfway turn about was worthy of rejoicing: "Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, 'Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost' " (Luke19:8-10).
Paul reminds us that the life that is really life is about more than even limiting one's material goods. The Pauline benchmark reads, "If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:3).
4. Parallel Scripture
On Taking Responsibility
Compare "But [Jesus] said to him, 'Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?' " (Luke 12:14) with Jesus' words to the crowd: "And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?" (Luke 12:57). (See Weather Signs, Parable 10, Cycle C.)
On The Life That Is Really Life
Compare "[F]or one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions" (Luke 12:16) with "[D]o good, be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, so [you] may take hold of the life that really is life" (1 Timothy 6:18-19); "If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:3).
The Futility Of Greed
Compare "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?' So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God" (Luke 12:20-21) with the following:
"Now the end is upon you ... I will judge you according to your ways" (Ezekiel 7:3);
"They knew no quiet in their bellies; in their greed they let nothing escape. There was nothing left after they had eaten; therefore their prosperity will not endure. In full sufficiency they will be in distress; all the force of misery will come upon them" (Job 20:20-22);
"Then in distress you will look with greedy eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed upon Israel; and no one in your family shall ever live to old age" (1 Samuel 2:32); and
"Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God" (Ephesians 5:5).
5. Chat Room
Doug: Hey, Sandy, are you logged on? Hey, anyway, is double heart disease one of the rewards of a subtle greed?
Sandy: Double heart disease? I get it about the physical heart disease from the glut of food and the pressure of the quest. What is this "double" about?
Doug: The sickness in my soul that keeps me pushing any way and every way for more while becoming less satisfied and less satisfied and less satisfied, that is
Greedy for inner peace,
Greedy for prestige,
Greedy for retirement,
Greedy for praise,
Greedy for comfort.
Power-hungry,
Space-hungry,
Activity-hungry,
Friend-starved.
Empty-hearted.
Soul-less.
Sandy: I see, not that other greed of
Eat, drink, be merry,
Material things,
Treasures, riches,
Stuff, stuff, and more stuff,
Clout,
Preparing forever,
Worrying without end.
How many vehicles is enough
How many acres
Houses
How much preparation
How much fun
How many invested dollars?
When is enough, enough?
Bryce: Okay, you two poets. Enough is enough. Sounds as if you have a good case of a tipped Protestant work ethic.
Sandy: Tipped Protestant work ethic?
Bryce: You know, the moral value of work, thrift, and our individual responsibility for our actions. I started out okay, myself. From youth, I knew how to work hard. I took my training and began my career. I took responsibility. I thrived.
You remember your first paycheck, don't you? It was mine, all mine. I earned it. I couldn't wait to buy something with it. I was hooked. I became more responsible. I began to save a portion, then saved more and more, but there was so much I wanted to buy. Then it all mushroomed. I had to work more and more to afford what I wanted. I know when enthusiasm turned into passion. I'm still not sure when passion crossed the line to become greed.
It looked good on the outside. On the inside, every other dimension of my life was suffering -- my body, family, relationships, my soul. It was not what I had hoped for. It was advancing me all right -- parading me right toward death.
Doug: So how did you get things back into balance?
Bryce: I had caught on to the work part of the work ethic but missed the thrift aspect. It had seemed unnecessary. What was unnecessary was the way I spent money, time, energy, and, most of all, my gifts and human resources. I began to examine my idols, the little gods in my life that had grown great with false stature. I started to ask questions before I did anything -- Why? Are you sure? For what purpose, really? What is the benefit? I asked these questions about what I ate, how I played, how I related to others, how I spent myself.
Doug: What about hope? Why can't someone intervene in our lives before we become hopeless, before it is too late? We botch things awfully because we are free spirits. Then we pay the consequences of a spiritually corrupt day-to-day living style.
Sandy: That's the point. That's where the responsibility dimension of the work ethic comes in. I'm a free spirit, free to make the right choices, free to make the wrong decisions, free to harvest the result, but I am created free. That's what makes the times of turn-around fascinating. We are little different from Zacchaeus.
You asked what moves us to hope. I find hope is within the surprise, in the supposed incongruity and the paradox. Where is the surprise? Less is more. Simpler is richer. Giving is receiving. Downsizing in every area. Raising a few notches higher the level of a simpler lifestyle. Giving more than hoarding. Taking the sharing alternative to storing.
The dimension of my soul that needed tending found healing by giving myself. I switched some of that run-ragged time to volunteering in a one-to-one project. I discovered that I was still alive in there. I discovered the fun of helping to awaken joy in others and watching them also come to a more meaningful life. My own double heart disease began to heal itself. It has become the best time of my life.
