Pastor Rebecca Stredney

Our youngest daughter was a natural collector. I think her first collection was feathers, feathers of all kinds. Sometimes we were not even outdoors when she would find a feather. One of her favorite places to shop was our local hardware store because whoever did the cleaning in that store must have used a feather duster. After a while, the number of her collections started to grow. Beanie babies, Barbie dolls, tea sets, hats, Legos, troll dolls, gymnastic magazines and the list goes on and on.

I like collecting things, too. Maybe she learned this from me? Do you remember the television show, Hoarders, that gave amazing accounts of people collecting all kinds of things? What is it about collections and stuff; and what does scripture say about it?

When I initially looked at this Gospel text, Jesus’ words did not seem like good news. When I read about the rich farmer, I wanted to come in defense of him. He is wealthy because he has worked hard and saved for the future. He is planning to pull down his barns to build bigger ones to store all his grain. It seems to me he is all set up to enjoy those retirement years. However, Jesus says that there is something wrong here. Surely, it is not about our stuff, our collections or our barns?

The text begins,“Someone in the crowd said to him,“Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” Jesus quickly uses this opportunity to teach with a parable. The land of a rich man produced abundantly. So much that he needed larger barns to store them all his crops. He decided then and there what to do. He would build bigger barns so he would not have to worry about this anymore, and then he’d be able to retire. What is wrong with this? Jesus says, everything. “You fool ...,” God calls the man in this parable.

Let’s look at this parable paying close attention to two words, I and MY. “What shall I do, for I have no place to store MY crops?” Then he said, “I will do this: I will pull down MY barns and build larger ones and there I will store all MY grains and MY goods. Then the man concludes by saying, “And I will say to MY soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years: relax, eat, drink, be merry.” Do you see how this man lives his life? This man lives completely for himself.

In this short conversation he uses the word “I” five times and the word “MY” six times. Everything is “I’ and “MY”. Jesus shared these words before he began this parable of the Rich Fool,“Be on guard against all kinds of greed.” Jesus finishes this parable with this, “But 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 treasurers for themselves but are not rich toward God.” The problem here is not wealth or possessions but selfishness and greed.

Think about this, what if this parable is not just about our possessions or money? But it is also is about building bigger barns to hold our resentments, those things we are sure people owe us, the apology that never happened, the forgiveness that was never offered or the kind words we expected that were never said. And, we store all of this away and become resentful, turning inward to ourselves.

Or, maybe those bigger barns hold our power, those things that we carry inside of us or ideas about ourselves that we are sure make us stronger, smarter or better than others. Maybe this is what fills our bigger barn?

Consider this, being rich toward God is being thankful to God for our blessings and living our lives for God. How are we using whatever we have gathered in our barns, our houses, our hearts? Are we sharing God’s love and helping to build God’s kingdom in the life of this world and in our community? The richness that God has given us is measured in what we offer to others; not what we have gathered in possessions, or power or authority. The love we have been given by God is never, never to stop with us.