Keep God in the Equation!

Luke 12:13-21

13 Someone out of the crowd said, "Teacher, order my brother to give me a fair share of the family inheritance." 14 He replied, "Mister, what makes you think it's any of my business to be a judge or mediator for you?" 15 Speaking to the people, he went on, "Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot." 16 Then he told them this story: "The farm of a certain rich man produced a terrific crop. 17 He talked to himself: 'What can I do? My barn isn't big enough for this harvest.' 18 Then he said, 'Here's what I'll do: I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I'll gather in all my grain and goods, 19 and I'll say to myself, Self, you've done well! You've got it made and can now retire. Take it easy and have the time of your life!' 20 "Just then God showed up and said, 'Fool! Tonight you die. And then your barnful of goods, who gets it?' 21 "That's what happens when you fill your barn with Self and not with God."

Food for thought!

Jesus refused and refuses to be mixed up in our disputes about wealth. However, out of that man's request there came to Jesus an opportunity to lay down what his followers' attitude to material things should be. Jesus did it in the form of a parable. Two things stand out about the man in the parable.

(a) He never saw beyond himself.

There is no parable which is so full of the words, I, me, my and mine. The rich fool was indeed self-centred. This man had never thought of giving any of this abundance away. His whole attitude was the very reverse of Christianity. Instead of denying himself he aggressively affirmed himself; instead of finding his happiness in giving he tried to conserve it by keeping.

The Romans had a proverb which said that money was like sea-water; the more a man drank the thirstier he became. And so long as a man's attitude is that of the rich fool his desire will always be to get more, and that is the reverse of the Christian way. Our life does not consist in the abundance of possessions. Life is not a question of having but of being. Life is not about having much but being much.

(b) He never saw beyond this world.

All his plans were made on the basis of life here. There is a story of a conversation between a young and ambitious boy and an older man who knew life. Said the young man, "I will learn my trade." "And then?" said the older man. "I will set up a business." "And then?" "I will make my fortune." "And then?" "I suppose that I shall grow old and retire and live on my money." "And then?" "Well, I suppose that some day I will die." "And then?" came the last stabbing question.

The man who never remembers that there is another world is destined some day for shock. Yes, we too are fools to store up earthly wealth but neglect to have a rich relationship with God. What we have will be lost one day; what we are is ours for ever. So we do well to invest in being more than in just having more. Remember this proverb, Good people, like the clouds, receive only to give away. Whatever we acquire in life is meant not all for ourselves; part of it is intended to be given to others. So, make all the money you can, but also give away all the money you can. Remember according to the law of harvest, the more you give away, the more you get.

(c) Remember to keep in your equation.

Today's First Reading is from Eccl 1:2-9.

2 “Futile! Futile!” laments the Teacher, “Absolutely futile! Everything is futile!” Futility Illustrated from Nature 3 What benefit do people get from all the effort which they expend on earth? 4 A generation comes and a generation goes, but the earth remains the same through the ages. 5 The sun rises and the sun sets; it hurries away to a place from which it rises again. 6 The wind goes to the south and circles around to the north; round and round the wind goes and on its rounds it returns. 7 All the streams flow into the sea, but the sea is not full, and to the place where the streams flow, there they will flow again. 8 All this monotony is tiresome; no one can bear to describe it: The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever content with hearing. 9 What exists now is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing truly new on earth. 10 Is there anything about which someone can say, “Look at this! It is new!”? It was already done long ago, before our time. 11 No one remembers the former events, nor will anyone remember the events that are yet to happen; they will not be remembered by the future generations.

Like the man in Jesus' parable, the man in this Reading looked at life. And as you know, there are two ways of looking at life: from either below or from above. We can look at life either from man's vantage point or from God's vantage paint. When seen from below life is lifeless, meaningless, futile and vanity. This is what the author of the First Reading of today did. He looked at life from human perspective, and when he did so, all he saw was vanity, Thus he concluded: Everything is useless!

This is what happens when we exclude God from the equation of life. In all their quest the two men (in the parable and in the First Reading) never mentioned God at all! And that is the problem.

Seeing life from above is altogether different. The Bible helps us to see life as God sees it: Everything comes from him; Everything happens through him; Everything ends up in him. (Rom. 9:36). For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible,…everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. (Colossians 1:16)