Rich fool, Luke 12

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

of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Well, just in time,

each November, depending on when Pascha was,

we hear this particular Gospel reading. this

peril. Just as the fast begins, the 40 -day fast

before Christmas, just as Thanksgiving is around

the corner, we hear something to take very serious

consideration about how we fast, how we give

thanks. Of course, we give thanks, and the word

Thanksgiving has two words in it, thanks and

giving. We're giving thanks to God. but we're

also giving out of our abundance to someone else

that does not have. So we hear this parable about

a man, Jesus gives this parable, who is in a

very different tax status and bracket than the

people he's speaking to. He's in a different

social strata than the people he's speaking to.

The people he's speaking to would consider this

man is Blessed. He's blessed. He has it all.

God has blessed this man. And that's true. But

don't think that this parable is just about money

and possessions. Not merely about money and possessions.

It's about desire. The Lord puts his finger on

the exact illness we have. That desire is the

condition of the heart of how we identify ourselves.

And in the modern world, whatever we desire,

we think we can have. Even if human nature doesn't

allow it, we think we can technologically change

things. It's the desire of the heart. This parable

is about having a great heart. Having a great

spirit. Magnanimity, right? Great spirit. Mahatma.

This man is rich, but he does not have a big

heart. This man is rich, but not in the kingdom

of heaven. So just before this parable is given,

the Lord is teaching. He's teaching profound

words. He's saying this. Are not five sparrows

sold for two copper coins, and not one of them

is forgotten before God? The very hairs of your

head are numbered. Do not fear, therefore. You

are of more value than sparrows. Also I say to

you, whoever confesses me before men, him the

Son of God will confess before the angels. But

whoever denies me before men will be denied before

the angels of God. And he goes on in this profound

way. He says, anyone who speaks a word against

the Son of Man will be forgiven him. When they

bring you to the synagogues and the magistrates

and the judges and the authorities when you're

arrested, don't worry. About what you're going

to say. How you should answer. For the Holy Spirit

will teach you in that very hour. What you ought

to say. And as Jesus is saying these profound

words. A man is working his way through the crowd.

He's kind of nudging through the crowd as I see

it. And he raises his hand. And he says. Oh master.

You think he's going to ask a question about

these profound things Jesus is saying. But what

does he say? Master, will you tell my brother,

my older brother, to divide the inheritance with

me? This is the response Jesus has to what he's

been saying. Priests get this sometimes too.

The ugliest thing is the inheritance fight in

a family. for sure. But does Jesus answer the

man? He says, man, who made me a judge or an

arbiter over you? Well, the father did, obviously,

but not for that. And then he says, beware. Beware

of greed and covetousness. And then he tells

the story. The voice of God Almighty tells this

man, who has incredible blessings from God, Fool!

Fool! This night your soul is required of you.

He's a fool. Why is he a fool? Well, let's point

out a few reasons. To the fool, says the book

of Proverbs, no one is more trustworthy, wise,

or reliable than himself. He who trusts in his

own heart, in his own soul, in his own understanding,

is a fool, according to Proverbs. He did everything

in relation to himself. He thought he had ultimate

control over his life. Well, do we? Do we have

ultimate control over our life? He thought that

he could shape it. He could mold it. He desired

something and he was going to extend himself

into it and add wealth to it without thanksgiving

to God. He was going to curate his image for

the world to see. We do that on social media,

don't we? Forget about it. It's pointless. He

planned ahead. Good to do. Just not far enough.

He was also wrong about his expiration date.

You see, we don't know when the Lord will call

us. We have a date. It's there. For sure. 100

% guaranteed. The church, the spiritual fathers

of our church teach us we should meditate on

our death. Daily. Not in some morbid psychological

way. Oh, they'll be sorry when I'm gone. Like

that. No. Not like that. But in a way in which

we consider leaving this life and all the things

that we have and all the people in the relationships,

good or bad, and what we will say at the judgment

seat. And are we prepared to depart? I could

say for most of us, the answer would be probably

no. That's why the church says, meditate on your

death daily. One saint says, a day in which you

haven't meditated on your own repose is a wasted

day. Because once you do begin to think about

your end, then every moment becomes precious.

Every relationship between each other becomes

precious. charged with importance. It means something.

It has value that you maybe didn't see without

that. And this man did not do that. He just thought

about his goods. Also, he thought not only he

had total control, but we hear the words, I,

me, mine, and my. some 13 times in this parable

of only six verses. He had no words of gratitude

to God for the abundance he received. So the

listeners thinking this man is tremendously rich

and blessed, Jesus Christ turns the table on

that understanding. This man simply collected

more. St. John Chrysostom advises, he says, More

than you need. Give it to the storehouses and

the barns of the poor. For there is heavenly

and divine storehouses. For he, he says, who

feeds the poor, he says, feeds God. Being rich

is not a sin. Being ungrateful to the Most High

God for his blessings, being selfish with those

blessings, and forgetting that you are mortal,

Those are sins. Jesus, our Savior, in the verse

before the parable and the reason for the parable,

again, I will tell you, beware, he says, watch,

beware of greed, of covetousness. What is covetousness?

You can all look it up. It's insatiable desire

for material gain or social value or status or

power. I was going to say something about the

election, but I won't. That's always on display,

and it tempts us too. That's why this parable

is not just for the rich people. Jesus didn't

speak it to rich people. St. Paul says covetousness

is idolatry. Idolatry is the worship of something

or someone besides the true and living God. It's

trust in something or someone. that is not God.

So we know that this parable is not a story for

rich people, since Jesus was not preaching to

the rich. And at the end of the parable, Jesus

says, basically, my friends, you heard the parable.

Therefore, and that's in the text, he says, therefore,

Have faith in God, not things I tell you, therefore.

Do not be anxious about your life. He doesn't

mean don't plan. Don't take care of your family.

Don't work hard. Anxiety is a sickness of the

soul. Don't be anxious about your life, what

you will eat, nor about your body, what you will

put on. For life is more than food, and the body

more than clothing. Consider the lilies, how

they grow. They neither toil nor spin. And I

tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not

arrayed like one of these. O ye of little faith,

do not seek what you are to eat and what you

are to drink, nor be worried and anxious. Let

not that be the center of your goal of your life,

he was saying. For unbelievers seek after these

things, and your Father knows that you need them.

Instead, seek his kingdom. These things will

be added to you. And the epistle sums it all

up for us. It's not I who live, but Christ who

lives indeed. And the life I live is because

of the sacrifice, the crucifixion, and the resurrection

of our Lord Jesus Christ. Don't we repeat in

our litanies? Let us commend ourselves in each

other and all our life unto Christ our God. You

say amen to that. And I do too. Which means we

give our assent, our approval, our agreement

that we are to commend ourselves and our entire

life. Everything. Everything. All the blessings

God has given us. All the people we know. And

we think maybe what he means in the litany is

this. Well, let's look to him for safety. Let's

put our lives in God's care. Let's abandon ourselves

to him, counting on him to save us from some

kind of adversity and troubles. But that's not

what it means. It means that generously, courageously,

wholeheartedly, by an act of will that transcends

our very will, that goes beyond our will, to

do good in our disposition to sin, we say to

Christ, Lord, I don't want to live my life. I

want to live your life. I don't want to live

according to my standards. I want to live according

to yours. May our Lord grant that. To him be

glory, now and ever, to ages of ages.