Then someone called from the crowd, " Sir, please tell my brother to divide my father's estate with me."
But Jesus replied, " man, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that? Beware!
don't always be wishing for what you don't have. For real life and real living are not related to how rich you are."
Then He gave an illustration: " A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. In fact, his barns were full to overflowing-he couldn't get everything in. He thought about this problem, and finally exclaimed, ' I know- I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones! Then I'll have room enough, and I"ll sit back and say to myself, " Friend, you have enough stored away for years to come.
Now take it easy! Wine, women, and song for you!" " But God said to him, 'Fool! Tonight you die. then who will get it all?"
"Yes, every man is a fool who gets rich on earth, but not in heaven."
Then turning to the disciples he said, " don't worry about whether you have enough food to eat or clothes to wear. for life consists of far more then food and clothes, Look at the Ravens- they don't plant or harvest or have barns to store away their food, and yet they get along alright-for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable then birds.
This gospel text of St. Luke, tells how God brought good news to the poor, and how He sought to save those who are rich. Here he warns against identifying the worth of one's life with the value of ones possession. The text says: and one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.
And Jesus said unto him, "Man who made me a judge or a divider over you?
And Jesus said unto them, take heed, an beware of covetous; for a man's life. consists not in the abundance of things he possesses.
While Jesus was addressing the multitude, there came an interruption. A man in the crowd asked him to speak to his brother about dividing the inheritance with him, the brother had found a way to avoid the law, "the life of the first born." (Deut.21:17.)
Verse 16 tells the story of the farmer, who had a abundant of crops that year; and he thought within himself saying, what shall I do because I have no room where to store my fruit? then he said to himself; this I will do: I will pull down my barns and build greater; there I will store my fruits and goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou has much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat drink and be merry. But God said to him, thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.
Thee foolishness of covetousness and of trusting in riches could not be brought out more emphatically than in this parable.
This story of the successful farmer who was called a failure by Jesus, is a subversive story. It threatens everything we we hold dear in our western culture. " Success" as opposed to " Failure"
has long been accepted goal in life. Our educational system rewards something called "success"
and punishes something called "failure" from start to finish. Any book with the words " How to succeed in.... its title is assured of being widely read.
This man was a success. He had mastered the techniques of his business. This striving for success is part of the hidden agenda of a full life. " Failures" are seldom happy people. the irony of success is that it can limit as well expand ones horizon. This man was locked in by his success. What he had mastered now mastered him. He learned to withhold his crops and wait for a better price. But that was a limit of his imagination. There was really only one question for him: How can I store my grain?" There was only one answer: "I must built a bigger barn. Even though he was locked in to his success oriented world so he was locked out from the rest of the world. He was not rich toward's God.
The Bible is the story of God's apparent insult to the status quo. Don't picture Jesus seeking out these people with a pious look an " I have come to help you tone of voice." In short when God chose to come to us as a person and not as a god, as one of us and not separate from us, he was trying to save us from being lost in the same way Adam and Eve were lost, namely, by trying to play God and not willing to be "Human beings." He saved us by the forgiveness of sin. So the fate of this man's choice closed in on him. The rich man grew wealthier and wealthier, and as he did he became more self-centered.
The story was: the Judgment was that his life was terminated because it was being wasted. He was not going to let a itinerant, untrained ex-carpenter going to disturb his way of life. He continues to disturbed the human race for these two- thousand years. He shows us today how haunting that the word "Christian" still remains the most beautiful adjective you can use in describing a person or an action.
The tragedy is that the man met God, and fully realized the life he lost.
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