Word to the Wise
Monday, October 21, 2019 - Monday in the 29th Week in Ordinary Time
[Rom 4:20-25 and Luke 12:13-21]"Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of possessions." Then he told them a parable. "There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, 'What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?' And he said, 'This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, "Now as for you, you have so many good thighs stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!" But God said to him, 'You fool, this night your life will demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?' Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God." [Luke]
The parable of the "Rich Fool" ranks alongside "The Good Samaritan" and "the Rich Man and Lazarus" as three of the greatest in the gospels. I have heard it summed up in the old expression: "There are no pockets in a shroud!" or "You can't take it with you." Like the rich man who seems to have no consciousness of Lazarus on his doorstep, the Rich Fool seems only to care for himself. In the eyes of much of our Western economic narrative, he is just finding a way to warehouse his surplus goods. In the eyes of the gospel, he is hoarding what he should be sharing. There are examples of great philanthropy by very wealthy individuals in our country and I wouldn't want to disparage that at all. But what IS the point of being that wealthy and storing up "security" on a massive scale?
In the society of Jesus' time, great wealth was considered a blessing from God, but it brought with it an obligation to share it. That latter aspect was all too often forgotten. Jesus' disciples were astonished at Jesus' attitude about wealth even though they may have been poor fisherman or subsistence farmers. Jesus taught that great wealth was very dangerous because it insulated its holders from their neighbors. Indeed, when we look at a garage full of "stuff," sometimes we ruefully ask, "Do I own my stuff, or does my stuff own me?" Tolstoy's wonderful story, "How much land does a man need?" shows that even the desire for greater wealth can be dangerous to your health!
"Eat, drink and be merry!" may be good for a celebration, but it makes for dangerous theology! AMEN