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 things
stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’ But God said to him, ‘You
fool, this night your life will be 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 12: 16-21
This
Gospel reading from today was a somber reminder.
Of
a couple of things.
In
this parable,
God
reminds the rich man that he is mortal.
He
will die.
And
in this case,
very
soon.
We
all know that we are mortal beings.
But
sometimes life sweeps us up
and
we forget that death is inevitable.
We
like to think we are invincible.
The
idea of death is a scary one,
so
we put it on the back burner
and
we go go go on with our lives.
And
unfortunately,
all
too often,
the
way in which we go go go,
is
much like the way of the rich man.
We
live in a world where most of us have to work.
We
need food.
We
need clothes.
And
we need money for those things.
And
as a result,
we
work our lives away.
Money
and materials become our livelihood.
We
are oh so rich in the world.
In
things of this world.
And
we are oh so poor in what is rich to Christ.
“You’re
going to die tonight
and
all that you’ve worked for won’t matter anymore.”
How
blunt!
What
a wakeup call.
What
a reminder that working our lives away on the worldly things
is
basically in vain.
We
need to work on our souls.
We
need to work on our hearts.
We
need to work on our relationship with Christ.
Strengthen
our weak points.
Seek
healing for our souls.
Learn
to love.
Seek
Christ.
Put
our stock in things not of this world.
It
is there that our work will never be in vain.
Being
rich in what matters to the Lord is a journey.
A
lifelong one.
One
that we may fail at.
Even
multiple times a day.
But
a worthwhile journey.
One
that will bring us closer to the heart of Christ.
Let
us strive to be rich in what matters to God.
And
to intentionally not be rich in what matters to the world.
To
be rich in the Lord means to not have to worry about the things of this life.
Because
they are in His hands.
In
His control.
If
we are rich in Him,
it
does not matter who the world says we are.
Because
our identity is found in Him.
If
we are rich in Him,
we
will trust that He will provide for our needs, whatever they may be.
If
we are rich in Him,
we
will live for Him
and
we will die for Him.
Lord, help us to be rich in You.
