15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
S(cripture) - “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
O(bservation) - This is a scary story but one worth pondering. On Sunday, we explored that God is not anti-wealth - but anti-hoarding and pro-generosity. Here is a man who God has blessed who forgot that God was the reason for his wealth. He decided to hoard his abundance and in so doing, God took his life. The concluding words are a warning for his listeners and for us all - this is what hoarders should expect - those who are not rich toward God.
That phrase "rich toward God" has captured my attention and just like yesterday it raises questions. How can one be "rich toward God?" I mean I know it means give to God, but the connection here is to material things - what the rich farmer failed to give. Since these belong to God already, how can they be given to Him? More basic, if we can't "physically" give God our material stuff, then who do we give to on this planet that stands in for God or receives on his behalf?
Intuitively most of us have already made the jump as soon as we read the text - we've read other passages where Jesus strongly encourages his followers to give to the poor. There are other texts where Jesus acknowledges the necessity of supporting the temple (in our case, the church) - the story of the poor widow who gave two coins into the Temple treasury.
Luke - the writer of this text - especially was engaged with the plight of the poor and their place in the Kingdom. He's the author who captured Jesus' story about the rich man and Lazarus - a similar story of judgment that does not turn out well for the rich man who ignored the homeless beggar, Lazarus, camped on his door step.
I'm making a jump here, without doing the full research (see yesterday), but I think being rich toward God carries a call to support the priests/pastors/leaders of the faith community (the purview of tithing) AND sharing with the poor (the purview of alms). In either case, the call is to SHARE and out our blessings.
A(pplication) - So the question is - am I sharing? Is my giving in line, with God's expectations? Am I "rich toward God?" (and by extension, storing up "treasures in heaven.") What am I doing with my abundance? my excess? It's time for examination. How about you?
P(rayer) - Abba, I am blessed. Show me ways today and throughout my life that I can be generous toward You. Amen.
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