“Eat, Drink, and Be Wary”
Luke 12:13-21
Not long after I arrived here in 2017, you may remember my mother died about a year later. After her death, my sister and I talked about her remaining possessions, trying to decide who wanted what. My wants were pretty few- a couple of wooden statues- one of Jesus, which now sits on the communion table in the sanctuary, and one of the apostle Paul, which I now have in my office; and a couple of Celtic crosses, one of which I have around my neck this morning. I was okay with my sis taking anything else she wanted, which included some antique Victorian-era furniture. I don’t have any room for that kind of furniture in my home anyway. Truthfully, it really didn’t matter that much, even if I didn’t get the things I was interested in. Whether I have anything that belonged to mom or not, it doesn’t change the fact that she is gone. The will my mom had was spelled out pretty clearly. I received some funds, and after working with an attorney who was knowledgeable about property issues, we ensured that my sister got the home she was living in. I provided some financial support to relatives - no haggling over inheritance, no need for Jesus to step in, thanks be to God.
That apparently is not the case in today’s passage, where we hear of a bitter-sounding dispute over an inheritance between two warring family members. From the man in the crowd’s perspective, here was a knowledgeable rabbi who knew about God’s law and, therefore, could help him with his dispute. So he asked Jesus to fairly divide the property left after his father’s death between himself and his brother. Jesus responds, “Man, who gave me the right to judge or to divide the property between you two?” One theologian who interpreted this section in the original Greek suggests Jesus really says, “Hey, Man…!” For those of you who’ve ever been through battles over inheritances, you can understand Jesus’ reluctance to step in. Yet Jesus understood the deeper issue here: it wasn’t about fairness in the division of property and finances. The one brother’s motivation, apparently, was greed or covetousness. To covet means to desire that which belongs to another. We don’t know what the other brother coveted. Perhaps there was some will that spelled things out, and he didn’t get what he wanted…we don’t really know. What we do know is that Jesus warns him-“Listen- Beware of all covetousness and greed- for your life, that is, what life is really all about, does not consist of how many possessions you own, or how much money you have.”
Then Jesus shares a parable that highlights the fact that saving for a comfortable retirement doesn’t guarantee happiness or even survival in the golden years. This parable is often referred to as “The Parable of the Rich Fool.”
If there is a universal human belief, it is that having more things makes life better. The stock market is built upon such assumptions, as is our national and global economy. We may not say out loud that we believe a person’s life consists of what they possess, but we certainly support the system that enables us to live in a consumer, possession-driven society. If we aren’t careful, Jesus warns, we will get caught up in striving to grab all we can as if the actual goal of life is to accumulate wealth and possessions. Jesus cuts across the grain of that way of thinking and claims that the sum of possessions does not make one’s life any better.
The rich man was a model of a successful self-made small businessman. Let’s take a closer look at him and his life. It should be noted that this story does not imply that the man’s gain is in any way dishonest. The man’s fields produce a bumper crop, and his plan to save the excess is in line with Joseph’s example in Genesis 41:36, where he encourages Pharaoh to store grain to help feed Egypt during a time of extended famine. Also consider that he is not said to be depriving anyone; he wants to store up an overly abundant crop for the future, which means he doesn’t have to worry as much about planting the next crop. Therefore, he sees an opportunity to kick back, eat, drink, and be merry. Time for a well-deserved vacation - usually considered a good thing. The issue in this story is not so much that the man is wealthy or that he isn’t planning, but that he is foolish. He believes his possessions, his abundant crops, and wealth provide him security. God says to him, "You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you."
Why does God call him a fool? The rich man’s folly is compounded by the way he misuses scripture to justify his clueless self-satisfaction. He quotes Qoheleth, also known as "the Teacher," the writer of Ecclesiastes, who "commends enjoyment" of this life and urges readers to "eat, drink, and enjoy themselves." However, Qoheleth’s advice is prefaced by the sober reminder that earthly life is "vanity" and is followed by the equally sober reminder that life is all too brief (Eccl. 8:14-15). The man’s foolishness in part consists in his mistaken assumption that true happiness and security consist in nothing more than amassing property and indulging his senses. It is his utter self-absorption and his lack of concern for anyone but himself that earn God’s condemnation.
It is interesting to note that while the man and God are mentioned, no other person besides the rich man himself is mentioned. We can surmise, therefore, that he lived in his own world for himself, with himself, and by himself.
He focused upon himself and apparently had no notion of God. Unfortunately for him, he focused solely on the material reality of life, a foolish idea, and paid no attention to the spiritual reality, which, in the long run, proved to be a much wiser investment for his future. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said the rich man was a fool "because he failed to realize his dependence on others." King points out that "his soliloquy contains approximately sixty words, yet 'I' and 'my' occur twelve times. The man has forgotten about 'we' and 'ours." Covetousness and greed narrow one’s focus to oneself and close one's eyes to the reality of others who are in need.
Dr. King also said the rich man was a fool "because he failed to realize his dependence on God." He has come to believe that he was entirely responsible for the bounty of the earth. Biblical stewardship teaches us that everything we have, everything we are, comes from and belongs to God. Crops, finances, food, and home —all are to be used as best we can for God’s glory, not for our own personal gain. Psalm 24:1 reminds us that all we have and all we are comes from God, and we are therefore dependent upon God’s efforts rather than our own. For all of these reasons, the wealthy farmer was foolish in his plans to store up grain and indulge. Jesus completes this section by reminding us that we are to be rich in faith with God, rather than being rich in material goods.
I share this teaching with you, realizing it also applies to my own life, and at times, I struggle with being rich towards God, rather than rich towards DAN. For example, some of you may be aware that I enjoy playing and collecting old video games. I am a big fan of the Colecovision system, which came out in 1982, and lasted only 3.5 years due to the video game crash of 1986. It was one of the first things I bought for myself when I started working at Sears in December 1980, and I really enjoyed playing the games on it. Over the years, I sold my old Colecovision and all the games I had, moving on to other game systems. But I loved the memories I had of playing that system back in the day, with my parents occasionally joining in or watching.
About 12 years ago, not long after my father passed away, my wife discovered that she could purchase an old ColecoVision game system on eBay. She made all my “Father’s Day” dreams come true that year, and I was quickly taken back to my teenage years. Over time, I learned that I could actually find old games online and began buying them, starting with a few at a time. But eventually, I got a bit carried away. I now have close to 100 different games for this old system. Finally, Paula needed to have a bit of an intervention with me, as I just kept collecting more and more ColecoVision cartridges. She helped me see that my heart was in the wrong place. Truly, what good does it do for me to store up Colecovision games, to sit down and play video games, and be merry? I’m much better now, but I have still occasionally added to my collection, including a couple of stand-up arcade machines and a Raspberry Pi computer with thousands of downloaded games. Now, about once a year, I get a couple of new games for my Colecovision system, and refrain from shopping on eBay. For a while, however, I was the fool in this parable, as I stored old games in my video game den. My heart and treasure seemed to be all about an old video game system that brought back a nostalgic time in my life, which, over time, will wear down and no longer work.
I would encourage us all to heed Jesus’ financial advice. Are we focused on being rich towards God, or towards ourselves? In looking specifically at this passage, theologian Nadia Bolz-Weber writes, “What does it mean to be rich towards God? Because Scripture says the earth and everything in it belong to God. So God isn’t in like, financial trouble and needs a bailout or payday loan. Maybe being rich towards God starts with noticing how rich God has been toward us. How scarcity is not in God’s lexicon. Scarcity is just something we create for others and fear for ourselves. God didn’t create the cosmos by being stingy or holding back..I mean, eleven thousand species of birds, over thirteen billion light-years of stars, more kinds of flowers, landscapes and humans than we know what to do with? God’s abundance is written into the DNA of our universe.”
How might we be rich towards God as the holidays approach? Consider buying Christmas presents from Heifer International for others, using the Presbyterian Gift catalogue, or giving a gift to someone by supporting World Central Food Kitchen, which has been feeding Israelis, Palestinians, Ukrainians in war zones, and, more recently, Jamaicans and Filipinos after natural disasters. Support worthy local organizations, such as the Maslow Project, the Ashland Community Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity Rogue Valley, Options for Helping Residents of Ashland, or another local organization. Giving someone a gift that helps others in need helps us shift our focus away from earthly possessions, empties our silos a bit, makes the world a better place, and keeps our attention on the needs of others. Giving these kinds of gifts helps us become rich towards God by spreading God’s justice.
Being rich towards God also includes pledging to the ministry of the church here for 2026. By supporting our annual budget, you help cover the costs of our staff. We wouldn’t have a Sunday service without the talents of Andrew, Laurie Anne, and Susan!
We have the heavenly treasure of this facility, which is used for God’s glory in many ways, allowing us to worship a loving God, study, and fellowship together. We will be examining more closely how to renew, renovate, and restore this campus so that it may continue to serve more than 2,700 people each month and spread God’s light and justice to our surrounding neighbors, community, and the world. Where does that number come from?
- We have regular worship in our chapel and sanctuary, offering hope to others in spreading Jesus’ teachings.
- Thanks to a great AV squad, we have an excellent broadcast that goes out to our kindred in Christ at Central Point Presbyterian church, as well as to others seeking spiritual support as they worship online through our YouTube channel.
- We have our thriving Little Free Pantry ministry, supported by congregants and neighbors, helping those who are food insecure.
- We have a Community Prayer Box, supporting those in need of prayers.
- We continue to offer space to those who live in their vehicles through our Safe Parking Team ministry.
- AA meets here every day of the week, except on Sundays. Al-Anon has meetings here as well. Not long ago, one of the AA folks stopped me and just wanted to thank us for letting AA be there so long so that he could heal and regain his spiritual path.
- We offer prayers for peace twice a week to our congregation and neighbors, helping them seek peace and pursue it in their daily lives.
- We offer community events such as the Oktoberfest and Advent Fair.
- Through our Mental Health Grant, we continue to offer mental health presentations to our community, providing instruction and hope to those in need of support.
- Thanks to Bea Berry and her desire to make the surrounding community healthy, we continue to offer COVID-19/Flu shot clinics regularly.
- In just a couple of weeks, our church will host the 10th annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner through Southern Oregon Jobs with Justice.
- We offer free office space to Jackson County Fuel as they meet with folks in need of help keeping their utilities going.
- We have a meditation group that meets once a week to center themselves.
- The Rotary club I am in meets weekly in Calvin Hall, helping kids in so many ways in our Rogue Valley, as well as beyond, with international projects helping others.
- OLLI has various classes meeting regularly on campus, including a watercolor art group, an OLLI musical production, and a knitting group.
- The Siskiyou violins meet regularly in the sanctuary to teach music to children and youth.
- The American Association of University Women meets here regularly, seeking equity for girls and women in our society.
- The Soroptimists meet here regularly to help educate, empower, and enable women.
- The Women with Wings chorus will be coming back to use our facility and have their community concert next Spring.
This place is a community hub! The surrounding community has a place to gather, find hope, help others, and be strengthened. All of these treasures are supported by our budget and cannot be done without your financial support. So, may we aim our lives at being rich towards God, supporting the work of Jesus Christ here at the 1st Presbyterian Church of Ashland and beyond.
Alleluia! Amen.
