“PLANNING AHEAD”
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 13)
July 31, 2016
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
“God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and
the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who
lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
Luke 12:20, 21 (ESV)
A number of years ago, back when I was in Baltimore, I knew a retired
pastor who had a reputation among his peers for his sense of humor and
his wise sayings. This pastor was well along in years and was
beginning to experience a few health concerns and a general slowing
down of the pace of his life, but he still attended our circuit
pastors’ meetings on a regular basis. On days when he wasn’t feeling
quite as well as he would have liked, he would say to us with a smile:
“If I knew that I was going to live this long, I would have taken
better care of myself.” While he intended this comment to be
humorous, there is a point to it. If we were able to see the entire
span of our life, that may very well affect the priorities that we set
and the things that we choose to do and not do. I think about that
every time that I hear on the news or see in the paper a story about
an unexpected and tragic death. Our problem is not simply a matter of
not knowing how long we’re going to live; it’s not even being aware of
the fact that we don’t know.
This was the problem of the rich fool in Jesus’ parable. He thought
that he had his future all figured out, and so he made his plans
accordingly. He didn’t allow room in his plans for anyone or anything
other than himself and his own desires. But before we judge him too
harshly, is he really any different than the rest of us? No matter
how selfless we may try to be, most of us still make our plans as if
we’re going to be around forever and as if we are the only person or
thing in the world that matters. That’s because we are at the center
of our own world. That’s not necessarily a moral judgment; it’s
simply a fact of life. We see everything from our own perspective
because that’s the only perspective that we know. There are two
realities that the Holy Spirit brings to our attention in Jesus’
parable from this morning’s Gospel--two realities that the rich fool
forgot about and that we also tend to forget. These two realities
are: (1) We are not in charge and (2) in Christ God gives us
something better than anything that we might desire for ourselves.
What the rich fool didn’t understand (and what we sometimes forget as
well) is really a very basic stewardship principle: We don’t actually
own anything. Yes, I know that, as good capitalists, we have all been
taught to acknowledge and respect the right to private property, and
that is indeed what we should do. Even one of the Ten Commandments
recognizes that. But that’s not what I’m talking about. What I mean
is that ultimately God is the Owner of everything that exists. We are
actually only the managers of the things that we “own.” God has
entrusted these things to us to use for a time, and we are to use them
to His glory in the service of others. That doesn’t mean that there
is anything wrong with enjoying the things that we have; it just means
that we have to realize that we don’t live in a vacuum. What we do
with the things that we have affects other people as well as us, and
we should bear that in mind as we decide how we are going to make use
of our possessions.
Even more profound, we don’t really own our own life. The greatest
moral controversies of our day involve issues of life and
death--particularly to what extent man should have control over them.
We can argue and debate such things as cloning, genetic engineering,
abortion, physician-assisted suicide, and gender identity all that we
want but, in the midst of it all, the cold hard truth is that, when it
comes to life-and-death issues, man can only destroy life; he cannot
create it. He can alter it. He can rearrange it, perhaps. But only
God can call life into being. It follows, then, that even our own
life is not totally in our control. Throughout history people have
and will continue to act against God’s will to shorten or alter their
lives, but no one is able to extend his or her life or make it whole.
These matters are totally in God’s hands.
The other lesson to be learned from Jesus’ parable is very Good News
in view of the sobering realities that we have just examined. This
Good News consists in the fact that, in His Son Jesus Christ, God has
given us something infinitely better than anything that we could
possibly desire. This applies, first and foremost, to life itself.
What we desire is long life and good health, but what God gives us in
His Son Jesus Christ is not just long life; it’s everlasting life, and
what God gives us in Christ is not just good health; it’s perfection
and glory. His promise to you and to me, made good in Jesus’ death on
the cross and confirmed in His resurrection from the dead, is that we
who have been baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection have died
to sin and will live forever with Christ, and that even our bodies,
which will surely die and decay, will be raised and glorified--made
perfect. This sure and certain promise makes our desires regarding
life seem trivial.
But there’s even more--even more than everlasting life. In addition
to this great blessing, we also receive, beginning as soon as His
Spirit brings us to faith, all of the riches of God’s grace in Christ.
Granted, the world doesn’t see these riches as being valuable or even
worthwhile, but they are blessings that cannot be bought, nor can they
even be found in earthbound thinking. I’m talking about things like
the means of grace, through which the Holy Spirit gives us strength
that we can’t even understand. I’m talking about things like
forgiveness--not just sweeping offenses under the rug and pretending
that they didn’t happen or don’t matter. I mean really and honestly
being able to confess your offenses to the one whom you’ve offended
and all the while having confidence that that person will genuinely
forgive you in the name of Christ. I’m talking about things like
genuine love--not the kind of love that the world offers, which is
really nothing more than a cheap attempt at manipulation, but the
comfort of knowing that your Lord and your brothers and sisters in
faith actually love you just for who you are, and that they will
continue to love you even when you fail to live up to their desires
and expectations. Nothing that we typically seek in life can possibly
compare with these riches of the grace of God.
The opportunities before us these days seem to be without limit. You
can accomplish just about anything that you want in life. The
challenge before us is not whether or not we will get what we want,
but rather whether or not we want the right things. The rich fool
made it his business to have it all, and he accomplished it. He
really did acquire everything that he wanted. His problem was that
none of it mattered. What is it that we want? Are the things that we
want so badly and pursue so relentlessly the things that will always
matter? The things that matter the most are already ours--the free
gift of God’s grace, revealed in Jesus Christ. May His Holy Spirit
move us to desire His gifts above everything else, so that we may grow
in His grace and knowledge every day of our lives, knowing that when
our days on this earth draw to a close, even greater joys and riches
await us in heaven.
Amen.
May the Lord bless your hearing of His Word, using it to accomplish in
you those things for which He gave it. May you be enriched and
strengthened in faith that you may leave here today to go out into our
world armed with the whole armor of God, prepared to be able
ambassadors of your Savior Jesus Christ. He who calls you is
faithful, and He will do it. Amen.