Luke 12:13-21
Lectionary 18 in Ordinary Time; 11th Sunday after Pentecost
What do you have more of in your home than perhaps you should? Perchance you have reading glasses lying around in various places because they tend to walk off in the dark of night. I tend to stock up on some things, including paper products. They don’t walk off, but I don’t want to run out at an inopportune time. Costco and Sam’s Club can be dangerous places for people like me.
At the heart of my problem is fear. I have a fear of running out of particular things. It may stem from the time in my life when I was a single mother with two children. We had no child support, no medical insurance and no retirement plan. In the United States, approximately 80% of single parents are mothers, and the number of single fathers has been rising. Some of these people are divorced, some widowed, and some have never been married. Half of the children in a single parent household are living in poverty, and these children are likely to remain there.[1] Statistics for all families show that 22% of children in the United States live in poverty.[2] 22%!
One day during my single years, my three-year old son told me he was hungry and asked for a snack. I opened the refrigerator and found only milk, condiments, an open package of hot dogs and some cheese slices. [3] I unwrapped the cheese, put it on a plate, and using mustard, drew a happy face on it. Michael still remembers that.
Fear of not having enough is a reality for many people, not just single parents. Fear can make us do crazy things.[4] Fear can keep us from caring for our neighbor and from nourishing a community. Fear can keep us focused on ourselves. Maybe that’s why the angels in the Bible frequently are heard to say, “Do not fear!”
The rich land owner in our gospel today was afraid. He didn’t hoard things because he was afraid he would not have enough. He was afraid of losing the extra that he had. This rich man’s land produced more crops than he needed and more crops than he had room to keep. But, this rich man had a solution! He would tear down his existing storage spaces, and build bigger storage spaces.[5] Delighting in his resolution, he said, “I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample good laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink be merry.”
The rich landowner makes no mention of giving back to God because he does not recognize that all he has is a gift from God. At no time does this person think about sharing his food with those who do not have enough, or selling abundant crops and giving the money to those in need. As the rich man’s need for control grips his heart, his fists grip his assets tighter.
Jesus continues his story. “God said to him, you fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be? So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves, but are not rich toward God.”
How does one get past fear and become rich toward God? Scripture tells us the answer lies in our gratitude. “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it,” the Psalmist writes.[6] The Jewish teachings in the Talmud ask the question “Who is rich?” They answer, “The one who rejoices in what he has.”[7] As one author has said, “gratitude goes beyond our own ‘feeling good.’…It elicits feelings of generosity, and generosity allow us to connect with others.”[8] A lack of thankfulness to God for what he had kept the rich man focused only on himself.[9]
Gratitude is a spiritual discipline. You may have heard me recommend keeping a “gratitude journal.” At the end of every day, write down three things for which you are grateful. Let’s practice that now. You will find a blank sheet of paper in your bulletin. When I say go, you will have 20 seconds to write down as many things for which you are grateful as you can. If you want to challenge yourself, think about someone or something in your life that is difficult for you, and find something in the person or the situation for which you can give thanks. There is a Yiddish saying. If you break your leg, give thanks for God you didn’t break both legs. If you break both legs, give thanks to God that you didn’t break your neck.[10] So, are you ready? One, two, GO! [20 second pause].
Can gratitude change how we see each other and how we view the world? \\\In her book Becoming Wise, Krista Tippett tells the 14th century story behind the Jewish teaching to “repair the world.” In Hebrew, this task is called tikkun olam.
In the course of history, at a moment in time, this world, the world of a thousand things, emerged from the heart of the holy darkness as a great ray of light. And then, perhaps because this is a Jewish story, there was an accident, and the vessels containing the light of the world, the wholeness of the world, broke. The wholeness of the world, the light of the world, was scattered into a thousand thousand fragments of light. And they fell into all events and all people, where they remain deeply hidden until this very day…. We are here because we are born with the capacity to find the hidden light in all events and all people, to lift it up and make it visible once again. [11]
If you want to be rich, find the light. Count your blessings. If you want to be rich toward God, give God thanks for them!
~Pastor Cheryl Ann Griffin
[1] http://www.ibtimes.com/national-single-parent-day-2016-facts-quotes-about-14-million-moms-dads-without-2338631accessed July 27, 2016.
[2] http://www.nccp.org/topics/childpoverty.html accessed July 27, 2016.
[3] I now consider feeding children hot dogs close to child abuse. They are full of chemicals, salt, saturated fat, and mysterious things. Once I bit into one and found a whole pig’s tooth. Sadly, nutritious and wholesome food is more expensive.
[4] This may explain our current political situation.
[5] Notice there is more than one storage space.
[6] Psalm 118:24. See also Psalm 107:1 and 136:1.
[7] Pies, Ronald. “The Gift of Gratitude.” Tufts Magazine. Summer 2015.
[8] Ibid.
[9] It is interesting to note that generosity celebrates present realities, while fear is based on future possibilities.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Tippett, Krista. Becoming Wise. New York: Penguin Press, 2016. 24-25.