Luke 12.13-21 is a very convicting passage of scripture. Jesus, to warn us against greed, tells us a little story about a fortunate man who just happens to make a fortune. Notice this man is blessed (vs. 16). He earned his fortune by sun, soil, and luck. He then does what is quite natural—he saves and retires early (vs. 17-18). Not bad.
To our listening ears his actions sound innocent enough. In fact, we idolize a man like this . . . Ever watch “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous"? And I’m afraid we think like him . . . We’re all tempted to spend our money in this fashion—selfishly, accumulating more and more luxuries (buying things we don’t need to impress people we don’t even like), saving more and more money, without giving any consideration to God or to others.
But there’s a problem. Though we idolize a man like this and though we think like him, the man is called a fool. Yes, God calls him a fool. Why? Because he squanders his fortune on himself. He did everything his way, and at the end of his life, he has nothing to show for it.
Where did this man go wrong? Did he fail because he just happened to be rich and because he just happened to own a fertile piece of property? Did he fail because he built bigger barns? Did he fail because he retired early? To all of those questions, most of us would say, no. So where did he fail? Where did he go terribly wrong? The answer is found in the story itself. Pay careful attention to the number of times he uses the personal pronoun. He makes his own decisions; he talks to himself, he reasons with himself, and he blesses himself—all this to justify his own actions. This proclivity toward soliloquy reveals the true nature of a person whose god is self (not a bad definition of greed). He is his own moral agent.
To avoid this same trap, we must learn to ask, always, “God what do you want me to do with the time and money you have placed into my care?” Or perhaps a better way to say it, we need to own up to our baptism. In our baptism, we have been saved by God’s favor into a new relationship with God through Christ. This means we have transferred our allegiance to Christ and his cause. No longer are we to be governed by our selfish desires or by our former (hopefully former) service to money. Instead, we are to live our lives in worship to the one who gave us the breath of life in love, and in love redeemed us so that we might serve Him and neighbor. In short, we are to be rich toward God.
What does this look like? For starters, we need to recognize that everything we have has merely been entrusted to our care (cf. Matthew 25.14). It’s not really ours in the first place. God has called us to be trustees; one day he will demand an account (Matthew 25.14-30). This concept implies that we need to use all we have for his glory. But what does that look like? I don’t know for sure. It will vary from person to person. But we need to keep talking about it. Right now, I’m inspired by Christians who work hard to live off less, so they can give more away. I admire the pastor who tithes 30% of his income—10% to the church, 20% to the poor. I’m challenged by those who match whatever they put into their pension account, setting it aside to help those can't even dream about retirement. I’m not suggesting that’s what you should do. It’s just worth noting that many in our family are working hard to make sure they are rich toward God. They should inspire us.
I’m challenged. I need help. I’ve wasted my fair share of God’s resources. I want to do better. What about you? Peace.
2 comments:
Hi Pastor David,
I too am challeneged by Jesus' story in Luke 12. But most of the time I think I that, in spite of my western consumeristic ways, try to be generous and grateful to God for what He has given to me. My question is, "how can the church help us who have a 'proclivity toward soliloquy'"? If we are a community in Christ what resources does the church offer to us who need help living the way of Christ? Should we withdraw and establish a commune where we can live out the radical call of Jesus on our lives? I would like to be a christian, not just a nice consumer.
I don't know, Paul. But as a good beginning, we need to start talking about it, together. The "we" in that sentence is key--I can't make it on my own. I need others to travel with me and hold me accountable. I also need others who will be willing to explore new ways of living. In short, we have to uncover the centrality of community in the midst of our liberal and individualistic society. One can't be holy by without community. The Triune-God has put a claim on our life as has the people God has called to give witness to his glory. From there, we can start to explore new ways of living together and sharing resources so that we can be better citizens in God's kingdom.
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