Furniture piles
This week is on Luke 12:13-21:
I live in a remote location where there are a lot of foreign workers. From time to time, I pass by giant piles of furniture and household possessions. People's time here ends, and they return to their home countries, where they can't take their stuff with them. So it ends up in a big pile by the trash. New furniture, small appliances, miscellaneous things, all end up on the curb. It's like the corpse of someone's apartment.
It occurred to me that our lives on earth are a bit like that. Once we've departed, we leave an empty shell, a pile of matter that we would have fought fiercely to protect while we were here, but which is left to be picked over when we're gone. When the inhabitant of the apartment has left, nothing in it has any meaning any longer. It's garbage.
While we're here, though, it's all the subject of a lot of concern and worry. Which bed frame do I get? How many chairs? Do the colors match? Do I have enough food to last the week? Can I afford a better sound system? It's almost part of us. People kill for a pair of sneakers and die to protect $100 and a worn out wallet. They burn to death trying to save photographs. We don't naturally have that detachment from our things like God urges us.
In these verses, Jesus rebukes people who get all caught up by their stuff. He is asked to rule in favor of social justice by a guy who doesn't think it's right that his brother has more than him. But instead of taking the man's side against his brother, Jesus rules against them both. Jesus didn't come to make things fair by rule of law. He came to save us from ourselves, including our possession obsession.
Jesus tells the tale of a guy who was obsessed with his stuff. This man was already rich. He could buy food if his harvest failed. On top of that, he already had a big barn to store his grain. But this year he had an even bigger harvest than usual! And that harvest showed his character and the folly of being focused on stuff.
The man had a sudden surplus, and his first thought was how to keep it. There were doubtless plenty of needy people around, but he didn't think of them. The fruit of his labor mattered too much to him. He couldn't part with it. He was like a billionaire who uses his extra money to buy his way out of paying taxes, or who negotiates unfair deals with the poor because of his buying power. The answer to "so much I can't fit it all in the barn" becomes "get a bigger barn," not "barn's full, maybe there's someone else who might use the rest."
God interrupts the man's life suddenly. He is, as some Christians say, "called home." His life's work no longer matters in the way he intended it to matter. It won't buy him any more easy days. He won't ever learn to love others with it. We don't find out who ends up with it, but chances are he has no say in the matter.
And how sad! He could have changed lives and rescued people from starvation and malnutrition. He could have used his wealth to protect the weak and pursue justice. He could have pared so much away that he'd have been able to see God's hand protecting and providing for him and not just his own clutter. But none of that will happen. He wasted his life and God's investment in him came to nothing. The most successful man in the village is an utter failure.
We're so much like that rich man though. I would love to be able to stop working and just coast for awhile, but unless I'm coasting with a purpose, I'm like that guy. Nothing in the parable said it was wrong for the man to be rich, or to have a big barn full of grain. It was his attitude towards his wealth and possessions that was wrong, and it's the same attitude we learn today.
We're told to buy more. We're told to open a savings account, invest in retirement funds, hold onto what we have at all costs. We're told to get credit cards, take out loans, put ourselves in bondage to others just to store up more things for ourselves. But at the same time, our minds aren't on God, or on the other people in our area of influence. There's no love in hoarding. Our lives are as dead as a pile of used furniture if they only consist of our possessions.
We can all probably think of things we'd shout to the rich guy. "Don't build that barn, man!" If we could encounter him the night before God came to him, or the week before, or the month or year before, we'd probably have plenty of good things we could tell him to use his money and power for. But what if the rich guy were us? What would we tell ourselves, if we had a day, or a month, or a couple years left to make the most of things? How can we be rich towards God in the time we have left?
We're always asking God to make us rich in possessions and wealth. If there was a kind of worldwide prayer leaderboard with the top ten things people ask for, material possessions would probably be close to the top, if not the number one. But what does wealth towards God consist of? What can we take with us? Jesus talks about it at length in Matthew 6:19-34. He says to focus on seeking God's kingdom and righteousness.
To seek God's kingdom and righteousness, we're not worrying about our daily lives as our primary focus. We're living the way we would live if we were infused with God's love and power. Just as I would adopt certain values and emphasize certain aspects of my life if I were trying to live as an American, I would emphasize certain things and act in a certain way if I were trying to live as part of God's kingdom. Are we doing that?
Would we even recognize God's kingdom, for that matter? God is our abundant provider, but he's also about love and self-sacrifice. Are we going to share those values and live them, or is God just our "bigger barn?" Do we look at eternity like "Hey I'm dead; Finally I can relax and do nothing!" If so, we're still like that rich guy, even if we're acting like good Christians! The only love in that view is self-love. God is not our retirement plan, and our good deeds aren't payments on that plan. God is our king and our savior. How might that understanding change how we structure our time and finances?
The good news is that we still have time to find out. Jesus didn't tell that parable to put us down. He shared it to inspire us to positive change. We don't have to be the guy caught at the end of his life with nothing to show for it but his possessions.
Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
I live in a remote location where there are a lot of foreign workers. From time to time, I pass by giant piles of furniture and household possessions. People's time here ends, and they return to their home countries, where they can't take their stuff with them. So it ends up in a big pile by the trash. New furniture, small appliances, miscellaneous things, all end up on the curb. It's like the corpse of someone's apartment.
It occurred to me that our lives on earth are a bit like that. Once we've departed, we leave an empty shell, a pile of matter that we would have fought fiercely to protect while we were here, but which is left to be picked over when we're gone. When the inhabitant of the apartment has left, nothing in it has any meaning any longer. It's garbage.
While we're here, though, it's all the subject of a lot of concern and worry. Which bed frame do I get? How many chairs? Do the colors match? Do I have enough food to last the week? Can I afford a better sound system? It's almost part of us. People kill for a pair of sneakers and die to protect $100 and a worn out wallet. They burn to death trying to save photographs. We don't naturally have that detachment from our things like God urges us.
In these verses, Jesus rebukes people who get all caught up by their stuff. He is asked to rule in favor of social justice by a guy who doesn't think it's right that his brother has more than him. But instead of taking the man's side against his brother, Jesus rules against them both. Jesus didn't come to make things fair by rule of law. He came to save us from ourselves, including our possession obsession.
Jesus tells the tale of a guy who was obsessed with his stuff. This man was already rich. He could buy food if his harvest failed. On top of that, he already had a big barn to store his grain. But this year he had an even bigger harvest than usual! And that harvest showed his character and the folly of being focused on stuff.
The man had a sudden surplus, and his first thought was how to keep it. There were doubtless plenty of needy people around, but he didn't think of them. The fruit of his labor mattered too much to him. He couldn't part with it. He was like a billionaire who uses his extra money to buy his way out of paying taxes, or who negotiates unfair deals with the poor because of his buying power. The answer to "so much I can't fit it all in the barn" becomes "get a bigger barn," not "barn's full, maybe there's someone else who might use the rest."
God interrupts the man's life suddenly. He is, as some Christians say, "called home." His life's work no longer matters in the way he intended it to matter. It won't buy him any more easy days. He won't ever learn to love others with it. We don't find out who ends up with it, but chances are he has no say in the matter.
And how sad! He could have changed lives and rescued people from starvation and malnutrition. He could have used his wealth to protect the weak and pursue justice. He could have pared so much away that he'd have been able to see God's hand protecting and providing for him and not just his own clutter. But none of that will happen. He wasted his life and God's investment in him came to nothing. The most successful man in the village is an utter failure.
We're so much like that rich man though. I would love to be able to stop working and just coast for awhile, but unless I'm coasting with a purpose, I'm like that guy. Nothing in the parable said it was wrong for the man to be rich, or to have a big barn full of grain. It was his attitude towards his wealth and possessions that was wrong, and it's the same attitude we learn today.
We're told to buy more. We're told to open a savings account, invest in retirement funds, hold onto what we have at all costs. We're told to get credit cards, take out loans, put ourselves in bondage to others just to store up more things for ourselves. But at the same time, our minds aren't on God, or on the other people in our area of influence. There's no love in hoarding. Our lives are as dead as a pile of used furniture if they only consist of our possessions.
We can all probably think of things we'd shout to the rich guy. "Don't build that barn, man!" If we could encounter him the night before God came to him, or the week before, or the month or year before, we'd probably have plenty of good things we could tell him to use his money and power for. But what if the rich guy were us? What would we tell ourselves, if we had a day, or a month, or a couple years left to make the most of things? How can we be rich towards God in the time we have left?
We're always asking God to make us rich in possessions and wealth. If there was a kind of worldwide prayer leaderboard with the top ten things people ask for, material possessions would probably be close to the top, if not the number one. But what does wealth towards God consist of? What can we take with us? Jesus talks about it at length in Matthew 6:19-34. He says to focus on seeking God's kingdom and righteousness.
To seek God's kingdom and righteousness, we're not worrying about our daily lives as our primary focus. We're living the way we would live if we were infused with God's love and power. Just as I would adopt certain values and emphasize certain aspects of my life if I were trying to live as an American, I would emphasize certain things and act in a certain way if I were trying to live as part of God's kingdom. Are we doing that?
Would we even recognize God's kingdom, for that matter? God is our abundant provider, but he's also about love and self-sacrifice. Are we going to share those values and live them, or is God just our "bigger barn?" Do we look at eternity like "Hey I'm dead; Finally I can relax and do nothing!" If so, we're still like that rich guy, even if we're acting like good Christians! The only love in that view is self-love. God is not our retirement plan, and our good deeds aren't payments on that plan. God is our king and our savior. How might that understanding change how we structure our time and finances?
The good news is that we still have time to find out. Jesus didn't tell that parable to put us down. He shared it to inspire us to positive change. We don't have to be the guy caught at the end of his life with nothing to show for it but his possessions.
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