10 Pentecost, Year C

"FOCUS"
Proper 13: Ecclesiastes 1: 12 – 14; 2: 18 – 23; Psalm 49; Colossians 3: 5 – 17; Luke 12: 13 – 21
Given at St. Mark’s Church, West Frankfort, IL; and at St James’ Memorial Church, Marion, IL

“I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’”[1]

Many Bibles apply the title of “The Parable of the Rich Fool” to today’s Gospel reading. Essentially, the parable before us today is a story of self-centeredness and greed. It is the story of a man who is fully dedicated to the principle of “me, myself, and I!” It is the story of a man who is so self-centered that he can’t even remember that his hired hands probably helped him gather the great harvest that was now his.[2] It is a story of a man who is wise in the ways of the world, but foolish toward the things of God.

It is also the story of a sharp and swift reversal of roles….the rich man, surrounded by the rich harvest of his fields and his goods, loses them all as God’s voice rings out, saying, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?”

As we’ve been doing with many of our readings from Luke’s gospel (which we are making our way through during this third year – Year C – of our cycle of readings), let’s approach today’s text by looking first at some of the features of our reading that are common to Luke, and then let’s attempt to draw some conclusions for the church to whom Luke was writing. Finally, the lessons that are applicable to the church of the first century are also applicable to us in many ways, so we will do well to consider those, as well.

We should begin by looking at some of the features of today’s story that are common to Luke’s writing style….

The first thing we notice is something we’ve already mentioned in passing, and that would be the reversal of roles for the rich – but foolish – farmer. Even as he is thinking to himself, “take it easy….eat, drink and be merry”, God’s voice breaks in to tell the man that that very night his soul will be demanded of him, with the result that he will lose everything he currently has. Luke spends a good bit of his writing time describing such role reversals…Consider the passage from the Song of Mary (the Magnificat)[3] which says, “He has brought down the rulers from their thrones, but has lifted up the humble, He has filled the hungry with good things, but the rich He has sent away empty.”[4]

The other feature of Jesus’ teaching before us today is the presence of eating and drinking….There’s lots of “eating and drinking” in Luke….Luke often uses the image in two ways: 1. Table fellowship, which signifies acceptance and which is able to form community,[5] and 2. excessive, self-centered consumption.[6]

What might Jesus’ parable have meant to the first century church that Luke was addressing as he wrote his gospel account?

If, as one of my seminary professors maintained, Luke was writing to a church that was grappling with the realization that Jesus might not come back again as soon as had been expected, a church that perhaps was becoming a little too comfortable in the late-first-century Roman world, Jesus’ teaching would come as a wake-up call….

“Don’t get too comfortable!” He seems to be saying.

“Consider the bigger picture, change your focus” seems to be the message….

Unlike the Rich Fool, who forgot that the abundance of the creation that God provided made possible the huge harvest he had gathered, you first-century Christians need to remember that it is God who sustains you, Luke might be reminding them. “Just who makes possible everything that you have?” Jesus’ teaching seems to be asking.

“Remember that the abundance of God’s creation is meant as an occasion for sharing with others, not to indulge yourself” might be Our Lord’s call to Luke’s church.

Above all, remember that God’s call to us is immediate….”This very night” shows the immediacy and the urgency of God’s call to “wake up”.

And what about us, 21st century believers? What implications are there in Jesus’ teaching for us?

Not surprisingly, the message to us is remarkably similar to the message Luke meant to convey to his readers:

“Don’t get too comfortable.”

“Consider the bigger picture, change your focus.”

“Remember that God is the provider of everything we have.”

“This very night” rings out to us, as well, its call to remember the urgency of God’s call day-by-day.

But, as similar as our situation might be to those early, first-century Christians, we would do well to remember that we are living in a culture that encourages self-centeredness. We live in a society that celebrates “conspicuous consumption” of all sorts. We are surrounded by a world that wants to forget that God is the origin of all things that are necessary for sustaining life.

We can easily forget that “there are no U Hauls in heaven”, and that all those good things we now enjoy, we enjoy because of God’s goodness and providence.

But, in the final analysis, our relationship with God is the only thing we will take away from this world.

AMEN.



[1] Luke 12: 19 (NIV)
[2] Jesus does not explicitly provide this detail in his parable, but it seems possible to assume, given that Jesus does tell us that the man was rich, and that he had a great harvest. Presumably, the man could not have done all the work necessary to gain such a harvest by himself.
[3] Luke 1: 46 - 55
[4] Verses 52 & 53
[5] Luke 7: 33 & 34 provides an example of table fellowship, where dining together denotes acceptance of the other diners. In this passage, Jesus is accused of being a drunkard and a glutton, following incidents where he has eaten with tax collectors and sinners.
[6] The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus is an example of self-centered consumption (Luke 16: 19 – 31).