It is interesting that when we speak about Christian ethics or morals, we often identify those terms with norms or behavior concerning sexuality or marriage or having a certain set of disciplines or beliefs. But the truth is, Jesus very rarely speaks about those issues. Besides the two passages about marriage and divorce found in Matthew 19:1-12 and Mark 10:1-9, Jesus says almost nothing about that dimension of life. But Jesus spends a great deal of time talking about money. He seems to know that money and possessions can be obstacles for people to find what really matters in life.
Jesus seems to know that money and possessions can hold us in fear, keeping us from being fully who we were created to be. Money and the accumulation of things can be roadblocks between people, setting those who have against those who have less, opening large cracks in God’s plan for us to love and serve each other. And Jesus seems to know that it is easy to fall into the bottomless trap of believing that all we need to be happy is to have more stuff.
Obviously money and the love of money was an issue in Jesus’ day as it is in ours. Jesus had been telling them to not be afraid and reminding them of their infinite value in God’s eyes, when this man interrupted him. He was so concerned with his desire to get what he deserved from his inheritance that he had paid no attention to Jesus’ teaching. Jesus uses this opportunity to tell this man and us what is most important. And it is here that Jesus tells the story of the Rich Fool.
It is important to note that the rich fool was just a fool. There is no indication that he had obtained his wealth dishonestly. He had not cheated anyone or failed to pay those who worked for him or claimed an unjustified reward. It was a simple success story. He was an industrious man and the weather had been good. He had lucked out with his crops and then he was willing to work even harder to build more barns so he could put aside what he had gained and enter into an early retirement. He it had all planned out. He could relax.
And there is nothing here to indicate that Jesus called this man a fool because he was rich. Jesus never made a sweeping indictment about being rich. It’s true that one day a rich young ruler came to him raising questions about eternal life and Jesus told him to “Sell all you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” (Luke 18:22) But that was a case of Jesus prescribing individual surgery—not laying out a universal diagnosis. And when the rich man was punished by being sent to the underworld for ignoring the suffering of the poor man Lazarus who lay just outside his gate, he bargained with Abraham who was in heaven. (Luke 16:19-31) And if you remember the story about Abraham found in the Old Testament we know that Abraham was a very rich man. So Jesus does not call this man a fool because of his wealth.
So why is this man considered by Jesus to be a fool? First, the farmer’s good fortune had distorted his vision so that all he could see was himself. Listen to the conversation he has with himself: “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’”
There is no space in this conversation for a recognition of gratitude.
The rich man’s land had produced abundantly and yet there is no acknowledgement that there were others involved in this bounty, that there was good soil, nourishing rain, ample sun, and favorable climate. There was no gratitude for the workers who helped him plant, tend, and harvest a bumper crop. Nothing but ‘I’ and ‘I’ and ‘I.’
And without gratitude there is a blindness to the awe and mystery of these many blessings. There is no humility without the recognition that everything we have is pure gift. Thanks be to God we do not get what we deserve. Instead we simply receive from a generous and loving God. So everything we receive deserves thanksgiving so that we may be open, aware, and alive to the goodness that comes into our lives as the actions of God who loves us without measure. And then respond by being ready to share all we are and all we have back into the world.
Secondly, this man was a fool because he failed to realize his dependence on others. He was so caught up in “I” and “my” that he completely overlooked the importance of “we” and “our”. He failed to recognize that he couldn’t do anything all by himself. He talked as if he had prepared the soil by himself, that he had planted the seeds by himself. He talked as if he had harvested the abundant crops by himself. And now he was acting as if he could build the larger barns alone. He seems to have forgotten that in the words of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, “wealth is always a result of commonwealth.”[1] There is no such thing as someone who does not need others.
I am who I am because I had loving parents and grandparents, caring teachers, and engaged youth ministers. Every morning when I wake up I eat a breakfast thanks to the work of farmers and bakers and truck drivers and store owners. I travel to work on roads built by many hands and paid for by each one of us in this town and state. At night I am able to read by electric lights installed by the electricians who connect me to power grids supplied and managed by many people. Every one of us is dependent on each other. As Archbishop Desmund Tutu says, “if you stand out in a crowd, it is because you are standing on the shoulders of others”—others who have cared for you, provided for you, and supported you. No matter where we are today, somebody helped us get there—a parent, a teacher, a coach, a friend, a mentor. It may have been an ordinary person, doing an ordinary job in an extraordinary way. Not one of us are who we are because of ourselves alone. No amount of prosperity makes this less true.
And in turn we each are responsible for each other. No one is an island. When one of us suffers, we all suffer. And when one of us rejoices, we are all filled with joy. Jesus makes it clear throughout the Gospel that the path to a good life is only navigated through relationships with God and each other. This is why Jesus tells us parables about the Good Samaritan that teaches us about the importance of being a good neighbor, and the Prodigal Son that tells us that whether we are dancing in golden halls or sleeping in the pig pen, we need each other. He reminds us to care for the poor, love each other, even our enemies, and always attend to those who suffer.
This rich farmer had so much grain that he did not know what to do with it all. There were probably then as now many hungry stomachs that could have been filled; many empty pockets that needed access to the money. But he does not seem to recognize this possibility. These others are beyond the margins of his consciousness. Rather than sharing his abundance with others, he plans to store the surplus in bigger barns.
And this man was a fool because he failed to realize his total dependence on God. Centuries ago, St. Augustine said it this way, “Thou has formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.” The ancient truth is that the only way to be free from all the things that fail to satisfy us is through the steadfast love of God. God’s love surrounds us in the very air we breathe, in the sunshine that brings light and life to all creation, the rich earth that supports the food we need. God’s love can be found in every aspect of our lives—in the beauty of a summer day, in the sweet music of birds, in the touch of a friend, in the joyous laughter of a child. Our true treasure, the only one able to satisfy our deep hunger for love and validation and refuge is to rest in the unconditional and all-embracing love of God. In God we find life that is truly fulfilling. In God we are enfolded in bands of love and continuously renewed and recharged in the promise of new life. And unlike the misleading promise of wealth and material possessions, this treasure does not trap us in anxiety and insecurity, but liberates us, giving us the courage to love and serve others in return.
Paying attention to the present moment as God lavishes riches upon us. Taking note of where God shows up all over the place—in the face of a loved one, in the face of a neighbor, in the face of the other. Jesus calls this “being rich toward God” (12:21) When we find our lives in this way, then we see the foolishness of thinking that anything else could possibly satisfy us.
Now when Jesus talks about money or having stuff, he does not speak in a way that labels money and possessions as bad. He knows that money can do many good things—it can provide good food for the table, a safe place to live, a secure future for us and those we love. It can create jobs and promote the welfare of the community. It can be used to relieve the suffering of those without jobs or food or housing. And it makes life more comfortable. It just cannot produce the kind of full and abundant life that each of us seeks and that Jesus promises.
We live in a time of anxiety, insecurity, and separation around money and the things that money can buy. The parable Jesus tells his followers about the Rich Fool has an important message for us today. The only treasure that will truly give us life, the only treasure truly worth seeking is the one that makes us “rich toward God.” It is a life that is truly fulfilling. A life where we give thanks for the great spirit of grace already breathing in us, already rising in hope and love. It is a life where we pay attention to the present moment and celebrate life. It is a life where we recognize our interconnection and our interdependence with each other, and are willing to share ourselves and our treasure. It is about placing all our hope, our concerns, our struggles, and our joys in God, who knows our needs and whose desire is to shower us in love, mercy, and grace—whose good pleasure is to give each one of us more goodness than any barn could ever hold.
May I be rich toward you today, God:
I give you every thought and deed;
I give you every moment;
I set every hope and desire in your hands.
I will not be merely generous to you,
I will be extravagant.
I give you myself
wholly, abundantly, freely,
with all the glory in which you have created me.
I am your gift to me.
I receive my life with gratitude.
I am my gift to you.
Receive me with love,
bless me with grace,
and use me according to your delight.[2]
[1] Sermon preached by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Delivered at Mount Pisgah Missionary Baptist Church, Chicago, Illinois, on August 27, 1967.
[2] Steve Garnaas-Holmes. Unfolding Light. www.unfoldinglight.net