Parable of the bigger barns Fr Daniel York

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

of the Holy Spirit. The text that we have before

us this morning comes to us in the Church's wisdom

on the second Lord's Day in the Nativity Fast.

We're given a story, another parable that the

Lord tells, not all too dissimilar from the one

we heard last week. In this one, We're given

a parable that could almost sum up the American

life. This guy has great wealth. His land flourishes.

His crops grow. He has everything. In fact, he

has so much that he has no room for it. And he

asks, what shall I do? Well, I should tear down

all of my barns and raise up more storage units.

for myself, and put all of my things in it. Not

unlike so many in the American life. We have

wealth. We have ease. We have things. Things

that we accumulate. Things that we fill our lives

with. And this guy puts everything in it. And

he says to his soul, Which is interesting. Soul,

now you have everything. Now you can relax. Now

you can be at ease. Eat, drink, and be merry.

And on that very night, the Lord comes to him

and he says, your soul is required of you, you

fool. Which means that the guy is dying. What

are you then going to do with all of these things?

For you who had so many things and yet you were

not rich toward God. We think about this language

of talking to our soul. It strikes, when I was

reading it, when I was reflecting over the gospel,

it strikes us as kind of odd. Do we talk to our

soul? Then I stepped back and I thought about

it. I thought, well, we actually do every single

Lord's Day when we come in. We hear the Psalms.

Bless the Lord, O my soul. Bless the Lord, all

that is within me. Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits. Forget not everything

that he has done to you, for you. Praise the

Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord as long

as I have being, as long as I live. Put not your

trust in princes nor sons of men in whom there

is no salvation. On the day that they die, they

return to the dust and their plans perish with

them. Don't put your trust, soul, in earthly

powers, in princes, in rulers, in kings, in politicians.

Not because they're bad, but because they're

earthly, they're human. In them there is no salvation

and the evidence of it. is when they die, the

very plans come to a screeching halt and everything

perishes. Instead, O soul, look to the things

that the Lord has made. Heaven, earth, everything

that he has created. Look to the people that

he has filled the earth with. Look at and notice

so many of the people who go hungry. Who are

sojourners, which in the consciousness of ancient

Israel is a technical term. A stranger, a person

who passes through the land of Israel. How will

we treat that person when they come into our

house? Look to the one who doesn't have a father.

Look to the widow. Look to the poor soul. Because

this is who the Lord looks at. Not because he

somehow likes these people more. more than us,

for we should see ourselves in those people,

but that he doesn't want those people to be that.

He doesn't want the person to go hungry. He doesn't

want the widow to be by herself. He doesn't want

the child to be fatherless. He wants to take

care of them. He sees, we should see Christ,

in them, in our fellow human being, in the poor,

in the weak, in the needy, in the suffering.

This is how we build up our house. When we think

about the text, the epistle text, what Paul tells

us, he has taken two parties, Jews and Gentiles,

who have immense animosity towards one another

in these times. He has broken down the dividing

wall, and he has taken both of them, and he has

used all of them for his stones in his building

project, this spiritual temple that he is building,

this holy dwelling place that he is building.

In all of us, With all of us in mind, as different

as we all are, the weak, the poor, the strong,

the rich, whatever. He takes all of us and he

builds us on the foundation of the apostles and

the prophets with Christ as our cornerstone,

this temple that he's raising up. And it's interesting

that we are thinking about all these things,

these texts come to us, while we are still thinking

and celebrating. the entry of the Theotokos into

the temple. For what is the Theotokos? She goes

into the temple, is consecrated as a three -year

-old, because she herself figures the temple.

Or maybe better yet, better put, the temple figures

her. Everything that she is, she is consecrated.

She is brought into the temple so that she might

learn more and more how to be the temple. Of

the Lord. The tabernacle. The tent. The woman.

Who is created. The first woman. Who is created

all the way back in Genesis. And taken out of

man. I was looking at the Hebrew the other day.

And it actually says. That she is built. She

is not necessarily created. But she is built.

As if she is a temple. The Hebrew word for Eve.

It actually means. A tent woman. A woman associated

with tents. That she will be filled with life.

And that she will become the mother of all the

living. This is the Theotokos. The one who in

her earthly body. She bears God. She becomes

the tabernacle. She prepares us for the Lord's

coming in this nativity fast. Because the Lord

is coming. And he is coming in her. The word

become flesh of his mother. Christ born of his

mother. In time and space. And yet in this nativity

fast. When we think about the Lord coming. How

will he be born in us? How will he come in us?

Because that's also what it's about. We are looking

at everything that we have. And are we thinking

about, let's just tear everything down and rebuild

new fortresses for ourselves where we can sort

of hoard the goodness that the Lord has given

us and not really think about anyone else in

our life? No, brothers and sisters, that's not

the way the Lord asks us to live. We are his

temple. We are his building project. We are patterned.

After the mother of God. That Christ would be

formed in us. The hope of glory. That Christ

coming in us. That Christ would dwell richly

in our hearts. That Christ would be manifest

in us. That when others looked at us. And that

when we looked at others. They would see Christ.

And we would see Christ in them. And another

human being. And so we think about. This time.

This idea about emptying ourselves. We fast.

We prepare. We give. Some of us might not have

earthly means, but what else can we give? Can

we give our energy? Can we give our talents?

Can we give our love? Can we give our prayer?

Can we notice the people who are struggling in

our midst? Can we give them a smile at least?

We prepare. We think about that other gospel

text that the Lord gives us. Come to me all who

labor and are heavy laden and I will give thee

rest. I think that's the part of that entire

text that we kind of capitalize on, which is

great. We should find rest in the Lord. I hope

that we find rest in him. that we find refreshment,

that we find life, that we find confidence, that

we find richness and goodness, that we find someone

who loves us so deeply and intimately and knows

us. Come to him and find that. But sometimes

we miss what he says next. Take my yoke upon

you, for I am gentle, I am lowly. But in that

context, To take the yoke upon you means something.

For any Jew that would have, the Gospel of Matthew

is written first and foremost to Jewish Christians.

To any Jew who would have heard that, they would

have heard what they do in prayer every single

morning when they take the yoke of the kingdom

of heaven upon them. Hear, O Israel, the Lord

our God, the Lord is one, the Shema. pray and

take that yoke upon them. And they try to internalize

it. That's their prayer. Love the Lord your God

with everything that you have and love your neighbor

as yourself. Christ says, I am that yoke. I am

that yoke. And I am easy, I am light. And yet,

he is still a yoke. And he does. We are free

to follow him or not, but he does impose a yoke

upon us. This yoke that in this particular season,

it manifests as a form of emptiness. Rather than

building things and accumulating things, hoarding

and withholding things and storing up treasures

in this earthly life, we give those things to

him, which means we give them, To others. Because

we see Christ in them. And we empty ourselves

because we are trying to internalize him in our

hearts. So that he might be in us. So that he

might be upon us. Again and again and again.

We are looking for his coming. We are awaiting

his coming. Eagerly, brothers and sisters. O

come, O come, Emmanuel. Entering into the goodness

of that. We can use this opportunity that we

have, that the church gives us, to grow deeply

in him. To let go of the things that we hold

so closely, that are earthly and worldly, and

will likely just tear us apart and consume us

if we give in too much to them. And letting our

hands grow a little looser. So that we can open

ourselves to God. So that we can be rich to God.

So that he can come into us. So on that Christmas

morning, when we say Christ is born, we can know.

We can trust. We can have faith. We can believe.

We can enter into it. Participate into Christ's

birth in us. dwelling richly in our hearts, transforming

us, making us more and more like him. Brothers

and sisters, that's why we're gathered here today.

We're about to experience that in the Eucharist

when we offer ourselves up to him, to the Father,

and the Father gives us Christ, who we take into

ourselves, that we are strengthened to face another

day. That we are encouraged, that we are filled,

that we are humbled at his mercy and love towards

us. Those who are poor, those who are weak, those

who are orphans in this world apart from him.

Those who are fatherless apart from the Father

who gives us hope. Those who have no love, really,

apart from the Spirit bursting into their hearts

and God pouring out his love into them. Amen?

Amen. May God help us.