2^nd August 2010

Rev Dr Max Champion at St John's UCA Mt Waverley

Lessons -- Ecclesiastes 5:13-20; 1 Timothy 6:7-10, 17-19; Luke 12:13-21

Jesus said to them, 'Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.' (Luke 12:15)

The Parable of the Rich Fool is usually interpreted as an attack on 'the wealthy'. Today, in churches everywhere, congregations will be made to feel guilty for having riches. They will be warned against the evils of free market capitalism. Justifiable criticism of financiers whose greed caused untold distress to millions of people in the Global Financial Crisis will be used to support many a preacher's socialist economic theories and political biases.

So much for what is predictable in the handling of this text. As always, however, we must listen for something we don't expect to hear in Jesus' teaching. When we hear about a brother who insists on his rights (13,14) and a farmer who spends his life accumulating wealth (16-20) we are confronted with the poverty of our humanity.

Jesus does challenge us as citizens of such an affluent nation. On that score most preachers will agree! What he says is 'out of sync' in a society that is preoccupied with 'the economy' and 'an individual's right to material satisfaction', where rich and poor, though sharply divided by income, are nevertheless united in the pursuit of affluence as the ultimate goal.

Jesus, not the rich man, seems 'foolish' in a world where advertisers and promoters appeal to our desire to have what others have by fostering self- satisfaction in those who have plenty and envy in those who do not.

Jesus wisely exposes the poverty of both groups.

* First, he replies to a demand by a man who thinks that he has been treated unfairly by his brother. He hasn't received his fair share. Jesus doesn't get involved in the rights and wrongs of the case, but goes to the heart of the matter: by insisting on his right to a fair share, he will destroy his relationship with his brother.

There is a place for legal arbitration in matters of dispute over wealth. But appealing to the law can destroy close relationships. You may have the law onside, but be consumed by envy. It isn't worth destroying close bonds by insisting on one's right to wealth.

* The same is true of those who have more than their fair share! The pursuit of wealth mustn't get in the way of our deepest relationships. The rich man is not poor in relation to God simply because he has wealth.

There is no virtue in being poor. Wealth creation is a sign of blessing. Jesus isn't promoting social justice for the poor and condemning capitalism. The man isn't told to sell everything and give to the poor.

The farmer isn't a 'fool' because he is an enterprising, productive capitalist who enjoys his wealth. He isn't criticised for being corrupt or a workaholic. It is not necessarily wrong (even for a Methodist!) to 'eat, drink and be merry' (v19). Indeed, the future Kingdom of God is often likened to a banquet. Jesus ate and drank with the religious and the irreligious. He turned water into wine at a wedding feast. Disciples eat bread and drink wine together at the Lord's Supper.

The man plans sensibly for his retirement and the enjoyment it can bring. He is not a criminal. He has many admirable qualities. Indeed, he is a fine example of a person who does what John Wesley advocated on the right use of money. He 'earns' all he can and he 'saves' all he can!

Why, then, does Jesus call him a 'fool'? In becoming a successful self- made man, he has cut himself off from God and from other people. He hasn't followed Wesley's third rule about 'giving all he can'! He is preoccupied with himself. We are told that, instead of giving thanks to God for his bounty and sharing his largesse with others, he only 'thought about himself' (v17). He is utterly self-absorbed: the words 'I' and 'my' occur twelve times in only three verses!

Everything 'revolves around himself, as though he had control of his own destiny' (E Schweizer, The Good News according to Luke, p208). He is locked up within himself, turned in on himself, trying to secure his own future. He simply doesn't take account of anybody else. He doesn't acknowledge his life as a gift from God. There is no mention of other people. He is a 'fool' because he doesn't see that he is ultimately responsible to God, not to himself. His use of time is a sacred trust, not his to do with as he pleases.

The crucial question put to us by Jesus is how we use our time. Are we so preoccupied with the pursuit of affluence as the means to true happiness and security that (like the farmer) we neglect others or (like the litigious brother) cut ourselves off from others instead of freely living in relationship to God and others?

In both stories the central character is foolish because he is completely self-absorbed. The complaining brother is more concerned to assert his rights to a fair share of wealth, out of envy for what his brother has, than to spend time maintaining his relationship with his brother. The affluent farmer uses his time wholly for himself. Jesus isn't saying that wealth creation is inherently evil or that there is no need for courts to adjudicate disputes. If people are treated unfairly or are neglected then action is needed. Corrupt and exploitative capitalists must be held accountable!

But, no matter what are our political leanings, he warns us about becoming so preoccupied with our own wealth, or lack of it, that we miss the 'one thing necessary for life'. That one thing, as the whole of his ministry, death and resurrection shows, is the mercy of God who reconciles us to himself and to each other. The experience of grace strips us of self- importance and takes us out of ourselves so that our wealth may be used for others, our concern for justice may be directed to the plight of the neglected and our gratitude to God may be freely and gladly expressed.

Jesus reveals the destructive power in what we regard as normal -- the pursuit of wealth and fairness for ourselves. Greed and envy cause untold suffering in every sphere of life.

The parable doesn't justify us neglecting the law or economics. There is still need in a self-indulgent and unjust world to uphold human rights and develop humane economic policies. But we are directed by Jesus to the deepest, most important issue in life: the proper use of our time. He exposes our self- absorbed behaviour and summons us to listen to the Word of God's grace so that we may be open to God and the needs of others.

This is what it means to be 'rich toward God' (v21): to be transformed from being pre-occupied with our economic rights and our possessions to a life of self-forgetful love of God and others.

We need to hear this word in a society which encourages greed and envy. Property and finance schemes play on our jealousy at what others have. Politicians, as current events show, want us to vote for policies which put more money in our pockets. We all want a fairer share of what is owed to us!

How can we resist the pressure to conform to this strong urge? It's not easy but we can be encouraged by listening to the words of two fine hymns which focus on the 'one thing necessary' to enjoy life's blessings in the time given to us.

In AHB 455, v4 we sing:

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
thou mine inheritance, now and always:
thou and thou only, first in my heart,
high King of heaven, my treasure thou art.

In our post-communion hymn (AHB 425), where true riches are experienced by each person at the Lord's Supper, we sing (v2):

Break forth, my soul, for joy and say,
'What wealth is come to me today:
my Saviour dwells within me now;
how blest am I, how good thou art!'

'True wealth' is found in Jesus Christ. He alone can call us to such a life. He died on the Cross as the One 'who did not count equality with God a thing to be envied' (paraphrase Philippians 2:5f) but 'lived richly in obedience to his Father' out of love for 'all his flawed brothers and sisters'. In being raised from the dead, his way of 'being in and for the world' was ultimately vindicated as an example of how we should live today and as a sign of the riches which God has in store for the entire human family.

Although we cannot and should not try to find in our text a blueprint for our pet economic theories and political commitments -- whether capitalist or socialist -- we do find the Word which frees us from pre-occupation with accumulating wealth. Then we are free to seek the welfare of all citizens, to be generous with our time and money and, in all things, to give praise to God who, in Jesus Christ, has richly blessed us.

Let us pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit that a miracle may take place in our own lives: that we may be saved from envy, resentment and self- satisfaction and become 'rich toward God' through Christ our Lord.

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Rev Dr Max Champion is minister in the St John's Uniting Church, Mt Waverley, Victoria, Australia. Dr Champion is Chair of the Assembly of Confessing Congregations within the UCA.