Colossians 3:1-4, 11
Two weeks ago, while reading Colossians, we talked about Me+We and being intra-connected through Christ. Paul then continues arguing we have died with Christ in baptism and are raised with Christ through faith (2:12-13). ___ just read what this transformation of faith, this rising with Christ, looks like. We are to set aside the old life and put on the new and to seek things that are above, where Christ is. For Paul our change comes from our relationship with Christ, who is all and in all. Now we hear Jesus’ words, unique to Luke, about the folly of greed encouraging us to be rich toward God instead. READ Luke 12:13-21
I have just completed, NO BUY JUNE AND JULY. That means I did not buy things on a whim, I could not look at the clothes at Costco, and no Amazon shopping for whatever. Of course, I still purchased food and necessities. I allowed myself to dine out on occasion. But no impulse buying for two months. A friend is doing this NO BUY for one year and got me thinking. Parker had noticed I would bring home something new that I really didn’t need. So, these two months have broken the habit, and I am not chomping at the bit for a shopping spree. I must confess that during this time, I was remodeling my bathroom, so I still was spending money, but it was on tile and vanities that I hope will serve me many years.
You might have your own thing you like to spend money on. Or you might be obsessed with how the stock market is doing. Or pinch every penny because money is tight. No matter how much money we have or don’t have I think economic insecurity is alive and well in all of us. Will my savings be enough? What can I leave for my children? When can I retire? This economic insecurity, this fear, pushes us to want more all in an attempt to secure our future. “Many of us have 401(k)s or other retirement accounts (or want to have them), and Western society has taught us to dream of retirement years when we can eat, drink, and be merry. And so it doesn’t seem wrong that this man would seek to establish a plan for a future when he could relax” (Working Preacher, Jennifer S Wyant). He wants to store his grain to be a nest egg for tomorrow. So it’s jarring to hear Jesus call this man “a fool” who is doing just that.
Yet before the parable Jesus speaks of “greed and abundance of possessions.” Do you remember the movie Wall Street in the 1980s? Gordon Gekko, played by Michael Douglas, gives a rousing speech about the virtues of greed: “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works…and captures the essence of evolutionary spirit. Greed in all of its forms. Greed for life. Greed for money. Greed for love has marked the upward surge of mankind….Greed will save that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA.” It wasn’t true in the 1980s and it is not true today. Even though some are living these words.
Jesus warns and urges us, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed.” Paul labels greed idolatry (3:5). So rather than be greedy we are to be rich towards God. One commentator reworks Gordon Gekko’s words, “Greed is, for lack of a better word, idolatry. Greed is wrong. Greed does not work. Greed confuses, covers up, and corrupts the Spirit of Christ. Greed, no matter its form. Greed for your best life, for spiritual wisdom, marks only human traditions and empty deceits” (Colossians 2:8) (Working Preacher, Karl Jacobson).
So why does Jesus call this man a fool? There are two reasons. First, did you notice how many times we heard I and my. “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” 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. And I will say to my soul….” He was rather self-focused. “There is no thought to using the abundance to help others, no expression of gratitude for his good fortune, no recognition of God at all. The farmer had fallen prey to worshiping the most popular of gods: the Unholy Trinity of ‘me, myself, and I.’” (Working Preacher, David Lose). This in direct contrast to Me+We we are called to be in Christ. If everything you do is about you, it is very hard to love God and neighbor. If you are the maker of your own universe, like Gordon Gekko, then you put your trust in your own possessions and not in God. The man’s mistake isn’t how much money he made. “It’s what he believed it could do for him. He put his trust in his possessions and not in God. That’s what made him foolish” (Working Preacher, Jennifer S Wyant). That is what can make us foolish as well.
Secondly, the man “is not foolish because he makes provision for the future; he is foolish because he believes that by his wealth he can secure his future: ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry’” (Working Preacher, David Lose). “The rich farmer is a fool not because he is wealthy or because he saves for the future, but because he appears to live only for himself, and because he believes that he can secure his life with his abundant possessions” (Working Preacher, Elisabeth Johnson). We are back to our insecurities and fears. If we believe and trust our wealth will secure our future, then we do not trust God to be and provide for our future. The very next story in Luke is Jesus talking about the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. Don’t worry about your life, Jesus said, God will provide (12:22-31). For Luke, wealth is a barrier and a distraction to following God because it makes us focus on the wrong things. Jesus says: “Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation” (6:24). Later, Jesus will meet a rich ruler who wants to inherit eternal life but cannot separate from his possessions and so goes away sad. To which Jesus said, “it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of heaven” (Luke 18:25). Each of these, along with the rich man and the brother fighting over inheritance, are worried about what they possess and so have failed to focus on being “rich toward God.” Their hearts are with their earthly treasures, not with God. (Working Preacher, Jennifer S Wyant).
Yet the rich man dies that very night. A seasoned pastor once said, “I have heard many different regrets expressed by people nearing the end of life, but there is one regret I have never heard expressed. I have never heard anyone say, ‘I wish I hadn’t given so much away. I wish I had kept more for myself.’” Death has a way of clarifying what really matters” (Working Preacher, Elisabeth Johnson).
We are to be rich toward God, we are to seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. But how do we do that? We lean into our baptism; we set our minds on the things that are above. Then we trust in God, rather than our possessions, to keep us secure. We heed Christ’s teaching- sharing our wealth with others and loving our neighbors as ourselves. Even if that is new to you, you can put on a new nature that you have in Christ. Letting go of doubt, impurity and anger while taking on the spirit of love and generosity. Lauren Daigle, a Christian singer has a song entitled Look Up Child. She asks God, “Where are you now when the world is crumbling? Where are you now when I can’t figure it out.” Then God answers. She sings, “I hear you say, look up child. Look up child.” To doubt, darkness, and war, she sings to God “I know you’re in control.” You see when we trust God, deep in our soul, we know God provides our security, not our possessions or wealth. When we seek the things above, we too can sing, “I know you are in control” God. Because we do not have to ask God, where are you now? Instead, we can all sing together God’s response, Look Up Child. Look Up Child. Amen.
