August 1, 2010

In my mother’s dining room there is an early 18th century one-drawer blanket chest in its original paint, a piece that would be considered primitive. I remember the antique shop that my grandmother and mother and I went into to purchase it when I was a small boy. My mother tells me she paid something like $20 for it then. It was an experience I will never forget, going into that store, watching the negotiations and then the return home telling my father he had to figure out how to get it back to the house and into the dining room. I have always had my eye on it. I wonder if my brother has, too. I hope I don’t have to find out for a long time.

“Teacher tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” Few things can generate more energy, few things have cause more division in families. Dividing up the family “stuff” can bring out some of the worst behavior. But the reality is that although we might value these things, often the real issues lie much deeper.

It is obviously not a new phenomenon - thinking somehow that possessions can provide lasting satisfaction for an inner hunger. Jesus put it plainly enough when he said, “this life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” But I think Jesus was trying to do more than simply tell those gathered their folly. He wanted them to see what could bring them lasting fulfillment.

Jesus goes on to tell a parable, the one commonly referred to as the Parable of the Rich Fool. The man’s land produced abundantly, so much so that his barns could not hold the harvest. So the man decided to build a bigger barn. At this point in the story, he appears to be simply a good businessman. He has worked hard, and this seems to be his reward.

But this is when he gets in his own way. He thinks out loud. “And then I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years. Relax, eat, drink, and be merry.” Jesus’ response in the parable to such an attitude is to call the man a fool.

I am not sure that the man who began the conversation with Jesus was glad that he had - or maybe he was. Jesus often spoke of money and possessions, and often not in glowing terms. But his point was not merely to stay away from the evils and temptations that they bring. His desire was that we work toward growing closer to God, that we become “rich toward God.”

What would it look like to be “rich toward God?” And does that require that we somehow have to live life “outside of the world as we know it?” Are we doomed if we have means? Must we give away everything as the scriptures suggest?
It seems that the man in the parable had missed the mark in a whole host of ways. In the story we hear nothing about the man’s gratitude. No considerations of the earth that supplied his need, the worker who filled the barns, the God who had provided him with life. He had been fortunate and now he would sit back and relax and reap the rewards. There is no apparent indication of a desire to be in relationship with the God who made it possible.

He recognized that his soul needed to be fed, but thought that this could occur merely by eating good food and drinking good wine and having full barns. Certainly, those things can satisfy, but hunger returns.

No mention is made of another, no apparent relationships worthy of note, no outreach to benefit another. A good life he certainly had, but nothing apparent that seemed to make a difference. By the tone of it, the parable of Jesus would hope for something more.

What does it look like for us to be “rich toward God?” How do we begin to get in touch and then develop our spiritual side - that place where our soul really lies? The Psalmist writes: “O give thanks to the Lord, for God is good. Make a joyful noise.”

How easy it is for us to get tied up in the business of life. How often we go through our daily tasks over and over again in our minds. How often do we successfully complete our lists, or find some measure of satisfaction or approval - and not pause to enter that place within where we feel gratitude?

Isn’t it somewhat ironic that often our times of greatest thanksgiving are when something hard or challenging stops us in our tracks. It is in these times that we find an entrance into our souls, and feel gratitude. We begin to build a barn with room for the harvest that gratitude offers. How are we rich toward those in our lives? It is when we demonstrate our appreciation, when we pause to say thank you. If we are made in God’s image, doesn’t it make sense that our gratitude to God does the same?

What are the blessings that mean the most to us? Accessing that fountain is one of the keys to developing our spiritual centers. And in order to develop our spiritual lives, it is necessary to explore our relationship to money, whether we have more than enough of it or whether we are just squeaking by.

Jesus talked about money many times - not because he really wanted us to live outside of society so that we could avoid using money at all, but because our relationship to money is important. Of course we need to work in order to feed and clothe our children, in order to pay for college or to save for retirement. 401 K’s, planned giving programs, saving money for college - these are all important. And if we are to follow our call and give to those in need, we are to give away some of our time, talent and treasure. So money is a tool - nothing more. It is a tool whereby we can become richer toward God.

But there are some of us who can’t save a dime, who spend beyond our means, or who fall behind due to illness, unemployment, or for other reasons. And there are some of us who skimp and save, working long hours and sacrificing for a rainy day or the dream that never comes. Some of us gamble, or squander our treasure, or even give too much away - to the point where we cannot take care of ourselves and our family in a healthy way.

Money has no feeling for us, but we certainly have feelings toward it. Jesus knew that often money can stand in the way of our relationship to God. It can become a stumbling block, or an idol, or even an excuse.

Whatever the relationship we have with money, it is good for us to each look at it. When we look at this part of our reality, we enrich our spiritual lives.

Certainly the vision of this man sitting by himself, with a fork and a glass of wine in hand, taking advantage of his good fortune, presents an important image for us. We are faced with a couple of good questions: How can we share our bounty? And when are we fed spiritually?

Many of us would say that we are most fed when we are giving something away. We feel least lonely when we know we can offer help to another. And spiritual depth within is often reached when we are giving to somebody outside of ourselves.

I’ve admired the old chest in my mother’s dining room partly for sentimental reasons, and because I feel some connection to it. But also, it speaks of simpler things, and simpler times. We share an innate need for simplicity, for seeking depth and finding things that matter. We want and need to go deeper - to feel uncluttered, refreshed and renewed.

It is good for us to prepare, good for us to save, and good to be smart with our fortune as we look into the future. But today is the day we have right now. And to be fully present today, we need to enjoy and share, and even feel gratitude. Jesus asks, “And these things you have prepared, whose will they be, if you are to die today?” And again from the Psalms, “This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Jesus’ words may have sounded angry, but they were meant to free us so that our lives might be fuller, our souls richer. Jesus was about the task of helping people develop their spiritual lives; of giving them food for their souls. Around the table, he fed them with real bread and wine. But more so, he fed their souls with his love, his generosity, his vulnerability and his faith - so that they might grow richer toward God.

May we do likewise.