Luke 12:13-21
One thing is certain: Farming is hard work…and you never seem to get ahead.
- Even the most successful farmers are only land rich and equipment rich.
- Cash flow is always a problem.
- There is always work to do year-round…
- But during planting and harvest time you miss out on your kids’ games over at the boys and girls club.
- You become a stranger to your family during that time of the year.
And so many things are out of your control…the weather…crop diseases… prices.
- When you have a great harvest…the price you are paid may drop.
- The years your crops are worth more it’s because the yields are down.
- Maybe way down.
- And if the harvester chews up a raccoon after you’ve broken your personal rule against working on the Sabbath…
- Because you were already so far behind…recovery may require weeks of repairs and cleanup.
- The Lord be with you…
Consider all that as background for today’s parable.
- A farmer finally gets an abundant crop…and Jesus calls him a fool.
- What’s more…the parable does not seem to fit with something the apostle Paul said:
- The one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly…and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Despite all the risks…hurdles…and hard work…what a great problem it is that this farmer faces!
- What should I do…for I have no place to store my crops? He wonders.
- And then he decides: 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.
- The farmer is finally ahead of the game: And I will say to my soul…soul…you have ample goods laid up for many years…relax…eat…drink…be merry.
Now…isn’t this exactly what scripture says we should do?
- The author of Ecclesiastes states: So I commend enjoyment…for there is nothing better for people under the sun than to eat and drink and enjoy themselves…for this will go with them in their toil through the days of life that God gives them under the sun.
- And we know the fable…The ant works hard all summer long…
- While the grasshopper plays on his fiddle.
- And then winter comes…and the ant enjoys the fruit of his hard labor while the grasshopper starves.
- Instead of praising the farmer…God says: You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you.
- What are we missing here?
OK then…to truly understand this parable…we must look at the incident that frames it.
- After Jesus warns the people about hypocrisy…the coming persecution and the need to put our trust in God…this guy walks up and says:
- Teacher…tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.
Bob Dylan once said: Money doesn’t talk. It swears.
- Somebody had just died…probably the father.
- Is inheritance all the death means to this man who approached Jesus…a payday?
- What Jesus says in response to this request is: Life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.
- And the real lesson might be rephrased as: It’s not always about me!
- So…let’s look at this parable again.
The rich man in this parable is not the superstar of the story.
- We have all heard rags to riches stories…people whose hard work is rewarded by safety and security.
- And should not someone reap the rewards of their hard work?
The rich in Jesus’ day…however…were part of a monied class that was often built on the backbreaking work of others…including slaves and day laborers.
- The supposed superstar of this parable was not a farmer as we first envisioned him.
- He would have been living on the work of others.
- So…when there was a magnificent harvest…
- He did not reward his slaves or the day laborers who were brought in during planting and harvest.
- He did not share with them justly earned rewards.
- He stored it up for himself.
And then there is this: After picturing himself building larger barns he says:
- And I will say to my soul…Soul…you have ample goods laid up for many years.
- The word translated soul is psyche…
- The Greek word for who you truly are at the core of your being.
- It is who you truly are…your character.
- The Hebrew word Jesus may have been thinking of is nefesh…
- Literally breath…but also thought of as
- How we define ourselves.
This rich man did not see himself as part of an economic family.
- He was not thinking about the well-being of everyone who has participated in his livelihood.
- It sounds like he was thinking only of himself…
- Just like the guy in the parable was thinking not of the well-being of his family…
- Or of the grief they share on the death of a loved one…
- But…Where is my share? Now!
So…how does this parable hit home for us?
- It’s like the guy who demanded Jesus help him collect his share of the inheritance.
- We ignore all that Jesus said about caring about the welfare of others.
- We ignore the Sermon on the Mount.
- We ignore how the parables may be sending us a warning.
- We ignore everything that Jesus says that makes us uncomfortable.
The Cross and the Resurrection are okay…because they are my guarantee that I will gain eternal life.
- And on other occasions when it seems to benefit me…
- I will recite a verse or two that benefits me or puts others down.
- But then when we hear a parable like this one today…
- We are reminded that we are all in this together…
- For the spiritual and physical benefit of all.
I hope the words of Jesus hit home…
- And that the guy went back to his family and shared in their grief…
- And that the family began to bless each other as they walked through their sorrow together.
- I hope getting a share of the inheritance mattered less and less…
- And that a stronger future was built for the children and grandchildren.
This is a good time to think of what we ought to have done…
- And still might do…to benefit our shared well-being…in this life…
- Not only for our immediate circle…
- But throughout our nation…and throughout our world.