Pentecost 10 Lectionary 18                                          Christ Church , York

It’s a cross between a question and a whining complaint, not to mention the unspoken statement about its unfairness.  A man comes to ask Jesus for assistance but he has also come to stamp his feet in a petulant sort of way because of the injustice he feels has been done to him. On the surface it is a simple question about his inheritance since this unnamed man seems to believe that he has been ill treated by his brother. But that same unknown man should have known that Jesus has an uncanny knack and a rare skill of getting to the question that lies behind the question. On the surface that question seems simple enough – the man requests that Jesus do whatever He can to encourage the brother to make a proper estate settlement with him. What is left unspoken is that this issue appears to be a burning concern in this man’s life, perhaps indeed a situation which has become the most important thing in his life.

In response to the question Jesus states flatly that it is not His work to sit as judge and jury in order to settle this particular family dispute. Instead He uses the question from the man to have His hearers look at the larger picture and in order to do that He uses that familiar technique called a parable. This particular parable deals with a man whose harvest was so plentiful that, rather than share it, decided he would simply build bigger barns and store it for the future. As it turns out of course he was merely chasing the wind because he died long before he could possibly make use of all that he had stored away. We know this parable; but as often as we have heard the story, as familiar as it is I suspect that it still prompts many of us to engage in some level of self examination, especially as we hear the words of that final verse, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?”

It is a sobering thought for any of us to think that all the things we have amassed over the years – our houses, our retirement accounts, our cars, our clothes, indeed every single thing that we own – could all disappear in the twinkling of an eye. And if you think that they can’t, if you believe that they will last, if you think that they will continue as long as we will, then I invite you to go back and check that retirement account you have and see what it contains now as opposed to a few years ago; or that home in which you live, what is its value compared to what it was a few years ago. As the writer of Ecclesiastes put it so clearly in our first lesson “Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” Putting our hope, our trust, our faith in those things that are material, those things that are transitory, those things that fade into the dust will prove to be nothing but vanity and leaves us open also to those who will be called fool!

For just as Jesus was not concerned about the settling of family property issues for that unknown man, so Jesus is not concerned here about the reality of goods or property or the things of this world. What concerns Jesus is the greed which lies in the heart of man. What concerns Jesus is not that this man amassed wealth or even built his bigger barn but rather the greed and the covetousness which the man exhibits. It is the sinful heart of man which troubles Jesus the most and it is this preoccupation with the things of this world which disturbs Him more because He, above all others, knows that life does not consist of possessions, of houses, cars or portfolios but rather about something far greater, far more important, far more substantial.

This then is not a parable about money but rather a story about our values and what is most important in our lives. The man was not called a fool because he had full barns. After all somebody has to have big barns filled to the brim if we are going to feed the hungry of the world or care for those in need. Rather this man was a fool because, while his barns were full, his heart was empty. His greed had blinded him to the reality that all of this which he had gathered, all that he had amassed, all that he thought was his, was in fact not his own and that his hoarding would not, in the long term, produce any benefits. He was rich in his own eyes and perhaps in ours since we also measure success in our world by the size of one’s house, car and portfolio. But in God’s eyes this man was poor since he was a hoarder and a gatherer but not a sharer.

Greed, as Jesus wants to point out, greed lies at the heart of the story this morning. Indeed greed lies at the very heart of our sinful human nature for it is, as Paul writes to the Colossians this morning, nothing less than idolatry. And idolatry, as blessed Martin Luther reminds us regularly, is the primary sin in our lives. Not for nothing is the first commandment about adoring and loving God above all things – all things. And as Luther goes on to explain, all other sin from that of Adam and Eve down to the sins of our day, all at their root are about idolatry, seeking that which is good for me regardless of what are the needs or wants of others.

And what, after all, is it that we think is ours. The great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy once related a story about a man who was told that he could have all the land he was able to walk across in a day, providing that he return to his starting place before the sun set. Filled with greed the man set off at a run but soon found that he had gone so far that he feared he would not be able to make it back by nightfall. With his greed driving him on, he summoned every ounce of remaining strength, crossing the line just as the sun was setting. But then he found that he had in fact pushed himself beyond the limit and so keeled over and died. In the end then this man with his greed got the land he wanted – and it measured six foot by three foot! O foolish man or as Jesus would have said, “You fool!”

Jesus is warning us today that we had better not put our trust in the promise of materialism; if we do we will be sadly disappointed. The only resource that can begin to address our deepest longings, needs and even wants is God. It is God and only God who will be our security not some mutual fund or portfolio. It is God and only God who can offer us the peace of mind and sense of security we seek, something which can never be found in some volatile retirement fund. That man in the parable is called a fool because he hoarded but did not share. As the people of God then let us store our money in the stomachs of the hungry, the minds of the uneducated, the bodies of the sick, the spirits of the oppressed, the life of the unborn and the spread of the Gospel.

This man’s idolatry was so evident, so strong and his overestimation of his own value so great that he says “I will store my grain;” or “I will build a bigger barn” In just four verses the man uses the words “I” or “my” ten times! He does not see God, let alone others, as being the source of his wealth; he sees only himself. His error is not that he was wealthy; rather his foolishness lay in his egotism and superficiality. In many ways it is good that Pennsylvania is called a “commonwealth” and not a state since that name implies that all wealth is really social in nature and that none can maintain themselves in a social vacuum.

This man was a fool because he forgot what his real business was about. He came to believe that his real business was commodities and markets while Jesus sees life in far deeper terms. Indeed Jesus wants the man to understand that the business of life goes far beyond balance sheets, investments, tax forms or inheritances and instead understand that our real business is loving God above all things and then loving our neighbor as ourselves.

And finally this man was a fool because he forgot about time. His whole attitude about his life and his fortune was that it was unlimited. But as we all know it is not. Or, as I like to say, the last time I checked the mortality rate was still 100%. This time of ours is but a fleeting moment or, as the Psalmist reminds us “70 is the sum of our years or 80 if we are strong. They soon wither and fade away.” As people of faith we are called not to see time as the world sees it, as something right now! For us, time is something moving forward. For God there is no time and since our time here is but so very brief, we are called to look for that time when there will be no time but only eternity. It may be good, even sound judgment to save some money for a rainy day. But it is perilous to try and save our lives for a rainy day because time will almost certainly run out on us before we are ready. The clock of this life is relentless. It is always ticking. Regardless of what we do or fail to do, regardless of how well we try to care for mind or body and protect it with wealth and prosperity, the sands of life run steadily down and death awaits each and every one of us at some point. It is a fool then who says that heaven can wait. It is a fool who builds barns but postpones life itself. What the world sees as smart, God sees as foolish. Step back then and examine your life, your priorities, your true goals, your hopes and dreams. For the size of your bank account does not indicate the size of your heart. God said to the rich man, “You fool” for that’s exactly what he was – a fool! Against the measuring stick of eternity, this man fell short! How do we measure up! Amen.