St. Ansgar's Lutheran Church

Sermon for Sunday, August 1, 2004

The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost



Rich Toward God

……..God said to him, "You fool! This very night you will have to give up your life; then who will get all these things you have kept for yourself?' " And Jesus concluded, "This is how it is with those who pile up riches for themselves but are not rich in God's sight…….."

Some time ago I saw a man walking two greyhound dogs – one leash in each hand just around the corner of Sherbrooke and Grand Boulevard. I thought to myself "Of all the animals there are in this world, greyhounds are animals that are to be pitied the most."

I'm not referring to their funny shape, the lean look of the greyhounds always gives the impression that they need a good feed. When I say that of all the animals in the world the greyhound is to be pitied the most, this is because of the races they are involved in. They chase something they can never catch.

Unlike most other dogs, when they chase a cat or a rabbit, they have a good chance of catching it, but the greyhound never has the chance of catching what he chases. I don't know what the "rabbit" is made of, but it’s not real. It doesn’t have legs like a real rabbit but scoots around the track on a rail. If by some chance the greyhound did catch up with that rabbit, he would be sadly disappointed – it’s only a fake.

And you know what? Those greyhounds don't learn. The next time they see that thing fly passed them, what do they do? They chase after it. You would think that they would learn from experience. That rabbit always travels around the same track, don’t they know that if they took a shortcut they could catch it.

But since they are so dead keen on chasing it they must know that their chances of catching it are pretty slim going by their past record. When the greyhounds see that fake rabbit fly past them all common sense goes out the window. Maybe they will catch it this time….. they think!!

Those greyhounds chasing after their false rabbits are a commentary on life. We spend a lot of time chasing after things that we think are valuable at the time but when seen in the bigger picture, they are just "fake rabbits".

This leads us to the story, Jesus tells of a man who had done very well for himself. Indeed, he had been truly blessed by God. He had become very rich and owned some of the best land in the community. And he used that land wisely. He employed very successful farming practices and it paid off with a bumper crop.

The question now arises, "How should I manage this unusually large harvest? What should I do? I have no place to store my crops. I know what I will do? He said confidently to himself I will pull down my old storage and build bigger ones. This underlines the size of the harvest.

He hasn't just done well; he has done very, very well indeed. We are impressed. But then something goes wrong. Our fine impressions of this successful farmer vanish when we discover that he has no intention of sharing this miraculous gift. He has stored his harvest all for himself. His own words condemn him: Lucky man! You have all the good things you need for many years. Take life easy, eat drink, and enjoy yourself!

Notice what's happening here. He's not unlike most of us in his passions and motives. The message of the parable is not about God disliking people who work hard and are successful.

This isn’t a story about wicked man. We don’t hear of him mistreating his workers, or dishonest or unjust. He is just an ordinary man who is careful, conservative and has been blessed by good rains, and good soil. But he gets everything out of focus.

He lost sight of the fact that his farm was an asset given by God and that his good crops were gifts from God. His richness had become the sole focus and centre of his life. This story is an example how we including me, like the farmer, think we have got everything right when in actual fact, we have got it all wrong. It doesn’t matter if we are successful and rich, struggling and poor, it is one of the facts of life that we can so easily forget what are the most important things in life.

No sooner had the farmer finished congratulating himself, we hear the voice of God. "You fool! This very night you will have to give up your life; then who will get all these things you have kept for yourself?" The rich man thought he had done everything right and could now sit back and enjoy his wealth but he had forgotten the most important thing of all – he had forgotten God.

Jesus concluded his story saying, "Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God" (Luke 12:21). The farmer had got it all wrong. Of what good was all his wealth after his death?

Like the greyhounds – they too have got it all wrong. They think that the fake rabbit is worth chasing, but in spite of all their effort it gets them nowhere. We too are in danger of putting so much effort into the wrong things. Jesus says in Luke, "And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose or forfeit your own soul in the process" (verse 9:25).

This conversation took place between a young man and an older man who had knew life.

"What will you do with your life?" asked the older man.

"I will learn a trade." said the young man.
"And then?" said the older man.
"I will set up business."
"And then?"
"I will make my fortune."
"And then?"
"I suppose that I shall grow old and retire and live on my money."
"And then?"
"Well, I suppose that some day I will die."
"And then?" came the stabbing question.

There we have it the parable of Jesus. This story of Jesus is a very modern one. Just substitute the crops and storage with the things we strive for, and we stand right in the middle of this parable.

We constantly face the threat of our material goods, and our striving for them taking over our lives.

We can be so easily consumed by all this striving to improve our lot in life. In 2,000 years things haven’t changed that much. The tension in the story of Jesus is the tension in our lives. We can ignore the tension this parable creates within us and gloss over it, explain it away, or philosophize, or intellectualize the text by saying, "Things aren’t that bad?"

Jesus confronts us and forces us to look within ourselves at the values and beliefs with which we operate. He wants us to recognize that we too are prone in chasing "fake rabbits". In the end Jesus said, get our priorities right. The rich fool died and his riches didn't help him one bit.

We need to be "rich in God's sight" (v 21). What did Jesus mean when he said that we are to be rich in God’s sight? Our greatest need by far is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord, I believe.

Notice! I said personal relationship. Let me explain my point: I can tell you about Jean Charest, he was born on June 24, 1958 in Sherbrooke, QC. He is married to Michele Dionne, and has three lovely children: Amelie, Antoine, and Alexandra. He left federal politics in 1998 to run Quebec Liberal Party in 1998 and became the Premier 2003. He is good looking with curly hair, speaks both national languages. I would recognize him if I saw him down the street. That is just about it!!!!

But in no way can I say that I have a personal relationship with Jean Charest in the same way that I have a personal relationship with Susan or my children. There are many who know about Jesus, something about his life, what happened to him, but they don't have a personal relationship with him - to trust him, love him, rely on him, believe him, turn to him, talk to him, listen to him, have faith in him, worship him here at church, regard him as someone close and personal.

Having a Saviour who loves us, forgives us, walks with us through the ups and downs of life's journey, has brought us into his family and promised to all who trust him that they have a place in heaven - that is to be truly rich, to have assets that will not taking away.

When we consider all the things that make up our life, we quickly see that we have riches beyond measure every day of our life. We can have the finest car, the best house on the block, the best retirement plan, the best health, but the greatest asset that we can have is knowing, Jesus Christ and the gift of salvation he offers to all people.

It is Jesus who even forgives us when we get all of priorities mixed up. He keeps on loving us any way even when we look for number one, and too busy to read his Word, to pray to him, give thanks, to worship him.

He even forgives us when we are so busy making a living that we forget that he is the source of all that we have. All the other things will fade away and will be of no use to us beyond the grave, but the love and salvation of Jesus will endure into eternity.

The best inheritance you can leave your children is faith in Jesus, I believe this with all my heart. The best asset you can have for this life and beyond is faith and trust in Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. Every thing else is a fake rabbit.

Thank God today for the riches that have come
to us through Jesus your Saviour.
Amen

Love the LORD thy God. Amen.

Rev. Samuel King-Kabu

August 1, 2004


Prepared by Roger Kenner
St. Ansgar's Lutheran Church - Montreal
August, 2004