16th Sunday in Ordinary Time cycle C

LUKE 12:13-21
THE GREAT RUSSIAN AUTHOR LEO TOLSTOY WROTE A SHORT STORY CALLED, “HOW MUCH LAND DOES A MAN NEED.” ONCE THERE WAS A PEASANT WHO WAS OFFERED ALL THE LAND HE COULD WALK AROUND IN A DAY. HE SET OUT FIRST THING IN THE MORNING AT A BRISK PACE. WHEN NOON CAME, HE STEPPED IT UP A LITTLE. ABOUT MID AFTERNOON, HE REALIZED HE WAS A LONG WAY FROM THE STARTING POINT, SO HE BEGAN TO JOG. AS EVENING CAME ON HE BROKE INTO A RUN, AND FINALLY, JUST AS NIGHT FELL, HE SPRINTED BACK TO HIS STARTING POINT AND PROMPTLY COLLAPSED AND DIED. HIS FAMILY BURIED HIM IN A GRAVE THAT WAS ABOUT SIX FEET BY THREE FEET.
THE RICH MAN IN JESUS STORY IS FABULOUSLY WEALTHY BY THE STANDARDS OF HIS TIME. HE OWNS LAND, AND HE HAS WEALTH STORED UP. AND WHILE HE PROBABLY CAME BY HIS WEALTH HONESTLY, IT MUST HAVE INVOLVED HIRING DAY WORKERS TO TILL THE SOIL AND HARVEST THE GRAIN. AND AT FIRST GLANCE, HE SEEMS TO BE ACTING PRUDENTLY IN CREATING MORE ROOM FOR HIS WEALTH. BUT GOD CALLS HIM A FOOL.
THERE IS ANOTHER PASSAGE IN SCRIPTURE ABOUT A FOOL. IT IS A PROVERB, THAT I'M SURE YOU'VE HEARD BEFORE: “THE FOOL SAYS IN HIS HEART THAT THERE IS NO GOD.”
I THINK WHEN I FIRST HEARD THAT SAYING, SOMEONE TOLD ME THAT IT REFERRED TO ATHEISTS. BUT HAVING KNOWN MANY ATHEISTS, I WOULD BE HARD PRESSED TO CALL MANY OF THEM FOOLS. SOME OF THEM HAVE BRILLIANT MINDS, AND YOU JUST HAVE TO CONCLUDE THAT THEY HAVEN'T BEEN GIVEN THE GIFT OF FAITH. BUT THE FOOL IN THE SAYING IS NOT REALLY AN ATHEIST. HE IS ACTING AS THOUGH THERE IS NO GOD; HE IS SAYING THAT IN HIS HEART, EVEN THOUGH HE MAY BELIEVE IN GOD INTELLECTUALLY. SINCE THERE IS A GOD, TO ACT AS THOUGH THERE IS NO GOD IS FOOLISH.
AND THAT IS THE POINT IN THE STORY JESUS TELLS. HERE IS A MAN WHO IS A REAL LOSER, NOT BECAUSE HE IS WEALTHY, NOT BECAUSE HE IS PRUDENT, BUT BECAUSE HE IS ACTING AS THOUGH THERE IS NO GOD.
THE FIRST WAY HE ACTS AS THOUGH THERE IS NO GOD IS IN HIS PRESUMPTION THAT WHAT HE HAS GOTTEN FROM THE LAND CREATED BY GOD, FROM THE RAIN AND THE SUN GIVEN BY GOD, FROM THE LABOR OF HIS SERVANTS, HE CONSIDERS TO BE HIS. A FOOL IS SOMEONE WHO THINKS HE IS AN OWNER, RATHER THAN A CARETAKER OR A STEWARD.
THE SECOND WAY IS THAT HE MISUSES WHAT HE POSSESSES. HE ALREADY HAD MORE THAN ENOUGH, BUT IN ORDER TO PROVIDE FOR HIMSELF FAR INTO THE FUTURE, HE WANTS TO SPEND MONEY CREATING MORE STORAGE SPACE SO THAT HE CAN POSSESS EVEN MORE, WHILE THERE ARE NEEDY PEOPLE ALL AROUND HIM. IF YOU AND I EVER NEED STORAGE SPACE FOR OUR GOODS, THERE ARE ALWAYS POOR PEOPLE AROUND TO BE THAT STORAGE SPACE. AND CONTRAST THIS ATTITUDE WITH HOW JESUS KEEPS TELLING US TO WORRY ABOUT TODAY, AND LET TOMORROW TAKE CARE OF ITSELF, SINCE TOMORROW IS ALWAYS GOING TO BE IN GOD'S HANDS.
THE THIRD WAY HE ACTS AS THOUGH THERE IS NO GOD IS IN HIS PRESUMPTION THAT HE WILL LIVE LONG ENOUGH AND REMAIN HEALTHY ENOUGH TO ENJOY HIS WEALTH. HE ACTS AS THOUGH HE IS IN CONTROL, BUT HE OF COURSE, AND YOU AND I OF COURSE, ARE NOT IN CONTROL. OUR LIVES COULD BE SNUFFED OUT TOMORROW; WE COULD BE HOMELESS, WE COULD BE PUSHING A STOLEN SHOPPING BASKET AROUND COLLECTING DISCARDED CANS AND BOTTLES.
SO THE MAN IS A FOOL, AND JESUS PULLS NO PUNCHES. BUT NOTICE THE WORDS JESUS USES: THIS NIGHT YOUR LIFE WILL BE REQUIRED OF YOU. FOR THIS IS THE WAY IT WORKS FOR A MAN WHO GROWS RICH FOR HIMSELF INSTEAD OF GROWING RICH IN THE SIGHT OF GOD. JESUS IS NOT SAYING THAT GOD IS GOING TO PUNISH THIS MAN FOR WHAT HE HAS DONE. GOD DOESN'T NEED TO PUNISH HIM. IT IS AS NATURAL AS WATER RUNNING DOWNHILL. IF YOU CHOOSE TO LIVE THAT WAY, YOU WILL END UP LOSING YOUR LIFE, YOUR SOUL – MAYBE A LONG TIME BEFORE YOU ACTUALLY DIE. THIS PRINCIPLE, BY THE WAY, SEEMS TO LIE BEHIND ALL THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN – WE VIOLATE GOD'S TEACHINGS, AND THE BAD THINGS THAT HAPPEN FLOW FROM OUR ACTION, NOT BECAUSE GOD WANTS US TO SUFFER. ITS KIND OF LIKE THE STORY OF THE FAMILY WHO SET UP A BIRD FEEDER WITH FOUR STATIONS AND KEPT IT FULL OF BIRDSEED. FOR A WHILE THE BIRDS PRACTICALLY LIVED IN THE BACK YARD, BUT A FEW WEEKS WENT BY AND THEY SELDOM SAW A BIRD. IN THE BEGINNING THEY HAD TO FILL THE FEEDER UP PRACTICALLY EVERY DAY, NOW IT WAS LESS THAN ONCE A WEEK. EVENTUALLY THEY FOUND THE PROBLEM. ONE OF THE BIRDS HAD DECIDED HE OWNED THE FEEDER, AND HE WOULD ATTACK ANY OTHER BIRD THAT TRIED TO EAT FROM IT. BUT NOW THAT ALL HIS ENERGY AND ATTENTION WERE DIRECTED TOWARDS KEEPING OTHER BIRDS AWAY, HE HAD GIVEN UP HIS FREEDOM AND SPENT ALL HIS TIME WORRYING ABOUT WHEN A BIGGER BIRD MIGHT COME ALONG, OR WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN IF HE FELL ASLEEP. HE HAD LOST HIS LIFE, HE HAD LOST HIS SOUL.
JESUS IS NOT GIVING US SOME OLD PLATITUDE – YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU. HE'S RESPONDING TO THE MAN WHO ASKED HIM TO JUDGE BETWEEN HIS BROTHER AND HIMSELF. THE MAN IS IN DANGER OF LOSING HIMSELF, LOSING HIS SOUL, BECAUSE THE IDEA OF HIS HAVING A FORTUNE NOW POSSESSES HIM.
SO HOW ARE YOU AND I FOOLS? THOSE OF US WHO LIVE IN LONGMEADOW TEND TO BE WEALTHIER THAN MOST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD, EVEN MOST PEOPLE IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. WE ARE BETTER EDUCATED; WE ARE HEALTHIER, WE HAVE MORE LEISURE. AND MANY OF US ARE POSSESSED BY OUR STUFF, BY OUR COMMITMENTS, BY SO MUCH BUSYNESS THAT WE HAVE LOST OUR SELF SOMEWHERE IN THE TIME THAT'S GONE BY.
SO LET US TAKE SOME TIME TODAY TO EXAMINE OUR LIVES AND ASK, WHAT POSSESSES US, WHAT IS THERE THAT THREATENS OUR SELF, WHAT IS THERE THAT WAITS TO ENSLAVE US.
AND LET US LISTEN TO THOSE WORDS OF JESUS, “THAT IS THE WAY IT WORKS FOR THE MAN WHO GROWS RICH FOR HIMSELF INSTEAD OF RICH IN THE SIGHT OF GOD.”