Picture this scene: Jesus is out in the community with his disciples, surrounded by an ever-growing crowd who are both fascinated and threatened by him. Many long to learn from him, to be healed and taught by him. Many others are unsettled by him, seeing how he is challenging the way holy people and holy institutions are living their lives – and that includes us. Case in point: A man shouts out to Jesus, “Tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” Now the Jewish law, the Torah, gives instructions on how to divide up estates among surviving children, and it was not uncommon for family members to go to a rabbi for help in doing this properly. It is similar to our going to a lawyer to implement a will. But here we see an early version of the game show “Family Feud.” The shouting man isn’t looking for impartial justice; he’s looking for a lawyer to take his side in a family dispute: Tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. To which Jesus replies, in effect, “Why are you putting me in this position?” Then he turns to the crowd and says bluntly, Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed.
Money is always more than just money. If the subject is money, know that you are dealing with something more than just dollars and cents. When issues come up about money, it usually points to deeper issues around anxiety or control. Some of the ugliest moments I’ve seen as a pastor have happened when families argue over money and inheritances as a proxy for their unresolved issues around sibling rivalry, grudges, and dysfunctional families.
Not only does Jesus not take sides in this family feud, he tells everyone to be on guard against the destructive power of greed. In college, I took a fencing class; and as a general rule, music majors shouldnot take fencing. When you start a match, you begin by saying “En garde” and the two fencers touch the tips of their foils together. To be on guard is to have a laser-focus, a pin-point concentration; which in this case Jesus tells us to have against the sin of greed. The Colossians passage read earlier puts it even more bluntly: Put to death whatever in you is earthly: impurity, evil desire, greed (which is idolatry).Idolatry – turning that which is not God into a god; worshiping something of earth as if it were of heaven. Jesus tells us clearly to be “on guard” against the idolatry of greed and then he tells a story to illustrate what he means.
The parable of the foolish rich man is self-explanatory. A man has a bumper crop one year and is forced to decide what to do with the bountiful harvest. He decides to tear down perfectly good barns and build bigger ones. This decision lacks the three “G’s”: it lacks generosity; it lacks gratitude; it lacks grace. The parable is not about bashing the wealthy. It says nothing derogatory about the good planning and good fortune that resulted in a bountiful crop. But it says everything about the spirit with which the crop owner treated his gain.
Hear again his interior monologue: What should I do? I have no place to store my crops! I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones to store all my grain and all my goods. That abundance could have been shared with others. The Jewish law instructs people of faith to do just that, especially with the poorer workers who planted, weeded and harvested the crop – or with the widows and orphans pushed off the land or kept from owning land so this man could control as much as he has. A spirit of generosity is totally lacking from his thought processes – as is a spirit of gratitude; for he begins his speech fretting over his problem rather than rejoicing over the Lord’s bounty. He’s like Imelda Marcos complaining about not enough shoe trees in her closets.
Who knows what else this man did with his money? Maybe he did give to the poor. Maybe he did donate to the synagogue. Maybe he did sponsor the harvest festival parade and underwrote the Galilean Public Theatre. But in this moment, his spirit lacked a sense of gratitude to God – and that points to a lack of grace, the humility that knows deep down that each day of life is a gift to be lived faithfully in relation to God and our neighbor. Whatever he did with his life, in this moment, in this situation, he was a bad steward of what ultimately were the Lord’s resources. And for that, he was called a fool.
The philosopher Plato once said, “Poverty consists, not in the decrease of one’s possessions, but in the increase of one’s greed.” The foolish rich man was “on guard” more about matters of wealth and earthly comfort than about matters of the spirit. Ironically, when he decided what to do with his extra crops, he chose the right verbs but the wrong subjects. He knew he needed to pull down and build up – but he chose to focus that work on his barns. Instead, he needed to step back and reflect on his own life, pulling down whatever idols and false priorities he had erected that blocked his connection with God and build up a new spirit of generosity, gratitude and grace. He needed to pull down his old self-centered habits and build up new practices of faith.
The scandal of modern American churches is that they invite people to worship each week without any expectation that their lives will be fundamentally different because of their faith. Whereas the scandal of Christianity has always been that it expects people to lose their old lives that they might gain new life in Christ. Christ calls us to tear down a lot of our personal stuff so that something different, simpler, truer may be built up by his grace.
What does this tearing down look like? It’s different for each of us, and yet it involves many of the same things in life. Pulling down false versions of ourselves in which our worth is tied to our wealth. Repenting of wrong priorities, wrong deeds, wrong behaviors. Letting go of anger, grudges, prejudice, and fear. Making amends. Paying our debts – both financial and emotional. Forgiving others. Taking the high road. Saying “no” to abuse, manipulation, lies and deception. Pulling down old barns that hold a lot of stuff but bring us no joy.
In Christ, once we do this work, even in small amounts, we are able to build up something new – something that we’re not afraid to show others or share with others. Something we’d be proud to have our kids learn from us. Something we’d be happy about if it was included in our funeral eulogy just in case this very night our life should draw to a close.
In perhaps a less dramatic way, our church is facing one of these pulling down/ building up moments. In a few months, the new East End Cooperative Ministries’ Community House will open, and the Men’s Shelter, Soup Kitchen, Food Pantry, and Tutoring Program will leave our church for a new home. The Session had an officer’s retreat in April, and both the Deacons and Elders have been asked to contemplate what mission ministries we should host in the spaces soon to be available to us. At one Session meeting, over 15 different ideas were considered. Architects in our congregation have been meeting weekly to examine both the possibilities and challenges of what lies ahead. But fundamentally it is a question of how to show the radical hospitality of Christ through mission aimed at our neighborhood. Right now, about 25-30 people live out this vision through hands-on volunteering at the EECM programs; but we want to improve on that level of involvement. We need to be willing to pull down old patterns, build on what is generous and grace-filled, and build up something that with Christ transforms lives and brings hope to East Liberty.
That’s where you come into the equation. The words of Christ challenge us not to store up treasures for ourselves but be rich toward God. What does that look like for our congregation? A strong commitment exists to maintain ties with groups we currently serve – such as the ten 12-Step groups and five choirs to whom we offer space, and to our own Hope Academy for Music and the Arts that serves over 300 kids and families, of which almost 50% come from underserved populations. But in addition to this, the groups actively seeking to help answer the larger question are our Property and Mission Committees; and they would welcome your input. Talk to Bruce Pollock, Patrick Dowd, Jason Kairns on Property about how we might make this church a “green,” LEED-certified building. Talk to Tom Kerr and the Poverty Committee about possible job-mentoring programs. Talk to Emily Rosenthal and the Neighbors Committee about our ties to Open Hands Ministries, or to Jon Walker and the Peace Committee about Latino Outreach and Border Ministries. Talk to Patrice, or Carol Chonoska or the Justice Committee about how we might provide office space for advocacy groups related to LGBT issues, or helping single-mothers, or fostering community development. The parable asks us: What will we do with the abundant harvest of resources God has blessed us? How will we respond gratefully, generously, grace-fully as good stewards of this place?
To be rich toward God involves pulling down and building up. Prayerfully consider that truth in your own lives – and trust that Christ is near to help with both halves of that equation. For as he offered himself once long ago on the cross, he continues to offer himself through the meal we share, the scriptural words we study, and the Spirit that leads us onward by faith. So be on guard for that which is pleasing to the Lord, that each day will be one rich toward God.
AMEN