Every time Brandy and I get some extra money, we think “everything is gonna be okay. We can finally take care of this or that.” We fantasize about all the different ways we are going to make our lives better. In the end we’re lucky if we’re able to address one or two items on that list. The terrible truth is if you do have any extra money, the universe alerts everyone to its existence. Suddenly expenses pop up from everywhere you could imagine and mysteriously the money disappears into thin air. At least that’s how it feels. The truth is the presence of money can give a false sense of hope. It can improve your situation, but it never goes as far as you would think. It cannot make you happy. It cannot give you peace. It is a means to an end, a construct that we have developed to get the things that we need and many of the things that we want. The problem is we are only happy with what we have for a short while, until we can be convinced that we need more. And it’s not like we need our arms twisted. We simply have to turn on the t.v. or our other electronic devices and we are bombarded by ads aimed at convincing us that we need their product.
In today’s gospel reading, someone in the crowd wants Jesus to settle a family dispute over an inheritance. This person wants Jesus to tell his brother to split the family inheritance. Jesus doesn’t help the man, but rather uses the opportunity to warn about the power of greed. He tells them a parable of a rich man whose crops have produced more than his barns can hold. Rather than thank God for his fortune and share his produce with others, the man plans to tear down his existing structures and build new ones. This not only serves the practical purpose of making new space for his grains but also the security of his future. He realizes that he has struck it rich and that he can live comfortably for his remaining years on what he has produced. He can finally enjoy life without all the stress of having to worry about making ends meet. But God shows up and snaps him back to reality. God tells the man that he has been foolish and his possessions will not save him.
This seems pretty harsh. I mean, the man hasn’t done anything but make some sound business decisions. This is the kind of guy that you would want running your business. Someone that sees a problem and enacts solutions to save the day as well as many years to come. This man is planning for the future and doing so successfully. The man is not wrong for accumulating wealth. His problem is that he relied on his prosperity to save his life. His life was going to be better now that he had all this stuff. But his thoughts were never towards God or his neighbors. He had an abundance, so he made plans to store the abundance away for his future. Therefore, the only person to whom he was rich toward was himself. In the end, all of the man’s wealth could not save him. All the stuff that he stored away would not delay the inevitable. Also, he couldn’t take his stuff with him, and because of focus on himself, there was no one to leave it to.
Greed isn’t something that takes hold after just one occasion. It is a process by which stuff becomes more important than anything or anyone else. It isn’t necessarily bad to have stuff, as long as our stuff doesn’t define who we are. As greed takes hold, we come to rely more on ourselves than we do on God. God is the provider of life. If we seek him, we will find it. If we seek it in money or stuff, we may be filled for a while but not for long. God wishes for all his children to have what they need. The problem with greed is that we enter into a cycle where the boundaries between needs and wants become blurred. If we can avoid the effects of greed, we can focus on the needs of those around us. There may be a finite amount of money on the Earth, but there is no limit to God’s love. There is more than enough to go around and plenty in need. If we can deny ourselves the reliance on material goods, we can all share in the richness of God. Amen.
