"Pursuit of the Good Life"
Sermon Presented August 5, 2007
Luke 12:13-21
I've been thinking about my Grandma Hawkins a lot lately! You see, over Labor Day weekend, I'm planning to attend a family reunion in Tennessee of the Boy family - my grandmother's family. (My dad used to joke that his mother was a Boy before she got married.) My brother, sister and I will attend this reunion as a way to connect with our roots. Let me tell you about Grandma.
She was a strong woman who lived with the bare necessities. On the farm, there was no electricity, no plumbing, no store-bought clothes, and no machinery. Granddad's team of horses pulled a wooden plow and wagon. They raised their food and made their clothes. There were chickens, pigs, horses, sheep and a cow on the farm. They had a cistern, well, kerosene lamps, and wood burning stoves for cooking and heating. Grandma gathered eggs, made lard, churned butter, planted and cared for a garden, picked and canned fruits and vegetables, killed, plucked, cut up and fried chicken, made biscuits and yeast bread, pies, cakes and English pudding, constructed clothing from feed sacks, and raised four children. She protected her chickens from chicken hawks and her eggs from black snakes.
She taught me to gather eggs, feed a lamb from a bottle, fluff up the feather bed mattress on the floor, prime the pump to get water, bathe by the wood stove in a galvanized tub, use the stinky outhouse, light the lamps, and cut her toe nails with a razor blade when she was dying of cancer. She wore a long print dress, bonnet and full apron with pockets that held scissors, knife or salt shaker - depending on the needs of the day. My greatest remembrance was going to the garden, breaking open a ripe watermelon, and eating the heart of it on the spot. Grandma died when I was twelve, and the only thing I have that was hers is a small vase that might command ten cents at a garage sale. However, wonderful memories of simple pleasures connect us.
And yet, as much as I appreciate her legacy of simplicity, I find myself to be more like the "bad guy" in Jesus' parable this morning. See where you find yourself. Luke 12:13-21 (Read text.)
Jesus must have established a reputation for himself of strength and justice or that request would never have been asked of him. The questioner expects Jesus to take his side in a dispute with his brother because he believes justice is on his side and that Jesus should care about the issue. In reply, Jesus, addressing him as "Friend", takes himself out of the role of judge and tells a story.
I hate this story! It lands too close to home! Isn't it good to assess our needs and plan for the future? Why does Jesus answer what seems a legitimate question about justice with a story about greed and judgment?
Jesus says that judgment in the story comes because of the man's desire to store treasures for himself and not to be rich toward God. This wealthy man doesn't place large bags of gold - or grain in the offering plate on the Sabbath to care for God's people, he stores it for himself. He's concerned about himself and wants to accumulate more and more possessions. He doesn't even want to use his old barns, but desires to tear them down and build new larger barns.
So how does this story relate to the man who questions Jesus? While it looks like he is only concerned for justice, his focus is on material things - his share of the inheritance - and Jesus is a spiritual leader. The questioner doesn't seek spiritual answers, but wants Jesus to convince his brother to share the inheritance. Treasures on earth are his consuming focus - leaving no room for God.
And I can relate! It amazes me how much of my physical, mental and spiritual energy is consumed with financial matters and things. Even legitimate concerns like education for children or grandchildren, retirement, long-term care expenses, house or car payments can consume our energy and possess our souls. This story goes beyond grain and barns.
The fool had no thought of generosity. He felt no obligation to help others - only an obligation to care for himself. By the way, people in the ancient world believed that any one who was wealthy was taking what belonged to the poor. A godly person gave his or her excess to the poor to help redistribute the wealth. This parable warns of the failure to use wealth for the common good.
Goals versus greed! Wisdom versus folly! How do we know when we cross the line? None of us wants to be considered foolish or greedy! How do we do what God wants us to do? How do we stop rationalizing and begin to look at how the parable speaks to us?
Let's look at what God says through other Scriptures. I John 3:17 says: "How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses to help?" Our willingness or unwillingness to help those in need is a prime indicator of the extent of our sellout to greed.
I Timothy 6:10 says: "The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil and in their eagerness to become rich, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains." Riches aren't evil per se but are dangerous. Having wealth can lead to pride and more covetousness.
In Eugene Peterson's translation of the 21st verse of our text in The Message, we read: "That's what happens when you fill your barn with Self and not with God." Things don't make us rich toward God, and what makes us rich toward God can't be grasped in our hands! The things we can grasp won't fully satisfy us. (Have you ever purchased something and later wondered why you bought it? I have!) What does satisfy can be reached but never fully grasped.
We live in a self-centered, materialistic world. Greed and covetousness are expressions of our distorted world-view. "Let's eat, drink and be merry." The life Jesus calls us to live centers on God and others - not self!
Let's remember the reason Jesus told this story. Luke says that the reason was to let everyone know that life doesn't consist of the abundance of possessions.
Now you might think that you're off the hook because you don't have lots of money or property. Greed can't be a sin for ME! However, we all have the capacity to desire more and more material things, power, money or fame - and most of us do. We may not be into grain and barns, but we can relate to desires for stocks, bonds, bank accounts, CDs, retirement accounts -things that help us live what we consider to be the good life!
When greed overtakes us, it will eventually destroy our spiritual lives. Greed causes people to betray the trust of others, neglect their families, do immoral and unethical acts, acquire more things than they need, or fail to help those in need. There are no happy misers. When we focus on acquiring more and more things, we are diverted from reliance on God.
Since coming to Milwaukee, I have discovered estate sales. I purchase things I don't need because I think I'm getting a bargain when I bid and get something for a dollar over half price. And besides, I usually buy these things for my children or grandchildren. (Can you hear my self-justification?) However, another thought hits me at these sales. The things that were the treasures of a person's life are now worth only a fraction of what they cost. Much that has been accumulated over the years is now of little value and will be sold cheap, discarded or given to the Salvation Army or Good Will when it doesn't sell. Jesus said to "be on guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions."
My hair designer Katie, (I used to call them "beauticians") is a young woman who has a big heart and is rich toward God. Last year she decided to participate in the Big Sister program, and now has a little sister who lives with her grandmother. Katie spends time with her weekly - doing her hair and nails, taking her places she has never been, bringing her to her home to bake cookies, watch a movie or create something special - just being an active part of her life. Katie doesn't stash things away for herself but gives of herself and her finances to help a child who needs someone to care about her.
As usual, we assume Jesus is speaking to someone else. However, he's speaking to us - the widow with her mite, the wealthy and all of us in between. You see, we've over learned Joseph's advice to the Pharaoh to lay up stores in the good years to be ready for the lean years. We've stashed our money in retirement accounts, stocks, bonds, real estate, and CDs while our neighbor needs help today. And some day, when we leave this world, what will happen to our treasures - the things we don't think we can live without?
As I was preparing this sermon, my thoughts ran to a song written in the 1700s by Ann Lee, titled "Simple Gifts". Listen as Wilanna sings it.
Chorus:
'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
Verse:
When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we will not be ashamed.
To turn, to turn will be our delight,
And by turning, turning we come 'round right.
After Les's recent surgery, he was forced to slow down - as happens to all of us in the aftermath of the surgeon's knife. However, in that time, he enjoyed the pleasure of watching a Cooper Hawk in his yard and rereading a novel that he had loved in his youth. Those simple things become fodder for great memories. We can enjoy these simple gifts that cost nothing when we slow down.
How are we known? Is it for the wonderful home we live in, the clothing or jewelry we wear, the furnishings or art we possess, or the purported size of our bank accounts? Or is it for the time spent in the garden sharing a watermelon, a trip to the zoo with a child, reading or singing to a child or adult, baking cookies or making Christmas candy, or creating a simple gift to give to a loved one? When we learn to put God and others first, we will find true simplicity, and by turning, turning, we will come out right!
