Welcome, after yesterdays heat today is great. We are still in Luke but skipped a few verses for this Sunday. The Pharisees have been hounding Jesus for his teachings.
V13 A man came to Jesus with the request for Jesus to divide the family inheritance with him. At this time Rabbis were asked to judge on issues so this isn’t unusual except for the fact that inheritance laws were very clear in the Jewish families. The oldest son would inherit a double portion of the father’s estate. This man really had no reason to appeal to Jesus for his share but he wanted more than what he was allowed so he asked Jesus for a decision on the division of the estate. Where there is a will, dividing property, there is a war in the family.
V14 Jesus replied to the man that he wasn’t a judge for him. Jesus had come to unit people in his new community, not divide families over inheritance.
V15 Jesus then issues a warning to the crowd to be aware of their greed for life isn’t about gathering more and more stuff. People don’t need to argue in families about dividing stuff.
V16 To illustrate the point he is making Jesus tells a parable. “The land of a rich man produced abundantly.” Did the man produce? No, the land produced. Who owns the Land? God does as he created it.
V17 The man talks to himself saying “What should I do for I have no place to store my crops?” Note the man is talking to himself. In the Middle East decisions are not made alone. Communities and families make decisions. This man is alienated from everyone and has only himself to talk to. In the sentence he says “I” twice and “my” once. His understanding of life is that he has done everything needed to produce a crop except the crop hasn’t yet produced; he is planning for a future that isn’t a reality yet.
V18 He then decides to replace his current barns with new larger ones. In this sentence he says “I” three times and “my” three times. He will build new barns to store his grain and his goods. In verse 16 it is stated that he is a rich man and now he is planning on how to keep even more wealth for himself.
V19 He now continues talking to himself congratulating himself on his wise decisions to make bigger barns to store more grain so he can live the good life by eating, drinking and making merry. It’s all about him and his use of what god has provided him. There is no mention of sharing it and we know he doesn’t need it for he is rich. God made the grain seed, God owns the land and God brings the rain. God produced for the rich man, he didn’t produce for himself. So what could he have done? He could have used it to feed the hungry and help the poor.
V20 That night God is angry with him and “demands” the man’s life back. Now who will have the things he was planning on hoarding for himself? That question is left open ended and we are to think and grapple with that statement, apply it to ourselves. When we are gone who will own our stuff, the things we thought were so important to pursue and acquire. Even his life was on loan from God, he didn’t own even that.
V21 Jesus concludes with the statement that this is the outcome of hoarding wealth for themselves and ignoring God. In the constant acquisition of stuff you can lose your life.
So, a man has come with a family dispute over wanting more inheritance which means there is already a division between brothers and Jesus tells him to forget the dispute. How much does one need to be happy? Look at this man who was rich. He had no one to be with or talk with. He had no need of more but he thought he did and finally God demanded even his life from him that night. The man has a family, he needs to be reconciled to them and not fight over ownership of things.
Life isn’t about acquiring more stuff but glorifying God with what we have. We own nothing as the parable illustrates, not even our lives. When we pay for something we are paying the middle man not the originator of the item, think about where a loaf of bread originated. We didn’t create the wheat seeds, we just planted them. We didn’t make it rain and we didn’t provide the best climate for growth. We just harvested the results of what God provided. We are not here to enrich ourselves but to follow Jesus. If God has given you more than you need, share it with others who are in need. During stewardship drives in the church people get anxious because they think the church wants their money. The parable explains that it isn’t their money but rather it is stored servanthood to be shared with those less fortunate. Once we get past the hurdle that everything is mine and realize it is God’s and were are here to manage God’s gifts, letting go of it becomes a joy.
Next week I will be on vacation and will not be writing the commentary on the gospel lesson.
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