Eighteenth Sunday of the Year July 31, 2022
Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:21-23; Colossians 3:1-5.9-11; Luke
12:13-21
A
preacher notices a woman in the congregation who begins to weep as soon as he
begins to preach. Thinking he has made a big catch he preaches with even
greater fervour. The more he preaches, the more the woman cries. Finally, the
preaching over, it is time to give testimonies. The preacher points to the
woman and says, “Sister, I can see you were mightily moved as we proclaimed the
word of God. Now can you please share with us what it is that convicts your
spirit so much.” The woman hesitates, but the pastor insists so she comes up
and takes the microphone. “You see,” she begins, “Last year I lost my he-goat,
the most precious thing I possessed. I prayed and cried much over it and then I
forgot all about it. But as soon as you came out to preach and I saw your
goatee, it reminded me all over again of the he-goat. I still cry whenever I
remember it.” She did not remember one word of what the preacher said.
In
today’s gospel, Jesus refused to get involved in such problems seemingly
earthly. Instead, he used this occasion to warn his hearers about the seductive
power of greed and the false sense of security. He gave a gentle warning:
"Be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for a person's life is not
made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs." He did
not show any opposition to wealth rather he calls on them to have a prudent use
of wealth.
At
the heart of the parable is an abundant harvest, which might be a good thing,
but we suspect from the start that this is unlikely because we know from Jesus’
introduction of the landowner that he is rich. The best hope Luke offers the
rich in this Gospel comes in the story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10), who seeks
out Jesus and then welcomes him enthusiastically when Jesus invites himself
home with Zacchaeus for dinner. While everyone is grumbling that Jesus is off
with sinners again, Zacchaeus promises to give half his possessions to the poor
and to pay back anyone he has defrauded fourfold.
The
key to being a faithful follower of Christ is to guard against self-indulgence
and pursue self-denial.
Possessions
are necessary for life. But possessions can assume such an importance in one’s
life that they become obsessions. When one is so concerned about the things
that one could have that one does not have, so much so that one can no longer
hear the urgent call of God, then one has indeed got one’s priorities all mixed
us. Such is the man in today’s gospel who asks Jesus to come and make his
brother give him his share of the family inheritance. Jesus is not against him
having more wealth, nor is he against justice being done between him and his
brother. Jesus is rather disappointed that after listening to all his
preaching, the first concern of this man still remains his share of the inheritance.
This man is in the same position as the woman who was brooding over her lost
goat while the words of life were falling on deaf ears. Like the woman, this
man also could probably not remember one word of what the preacher said.
Sir Fred Catherwood is quoted as saying that greed is “the belief that there is no life after death. We grab what we can while we can however we can and then hold on to it hard.” Now you see why the rich man qualifies as an example of greed. Now you see why Jesus was so hard on greed. Greed is the worship of another god. The name of that god is Mammon or Money or Materialism. Today’s gospel invites us to believe in the God of Jesus Christ who alone can give eternal life and not in the god of this world who gives us the false promise of immortality through accumulation of possessions.
Happy Sunday
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