Being Prepared
How prepared were you for this pandemic?
Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’ But he said to him, ‘Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’ And he 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.’ Then he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” Then he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.’ - Luke 12:13-21
No matter how much savings one has, something can come along and wipe it out in an instant.
That is the message here, and it really hits home these days, with the global pandemic halting the economy, wiping out jobs, putting people's homes and lives at risk.
I don't think the parable says we shouldn't save to be prepared for bad times. It simply says we should be rich towards God first.
Jesus made it clear that the rich would have the hardest time getting into the Kingdom, because they are most likely to be distracted by the fear of losing what they have and being at risk of poverty or worse.
It is kind of like the stories of Scrooge from A Christmas Carol or Mr. Potter form It's A Wonderful Life. Their sin was not in being rich, although how they gained their riches could have been devious. The sin was in how they chose to live their lives, caring little, if at all, for their neighbors in need.
At the end of the story, Scrooge realizes he has missed out on life and he is redeemed. He could still be rich, but the riches that mattered more were revealed to him, and he was transformed.
So, I don't think this reading is intended to make all who are rich out to be evil. Instead, it is a reminder for all of us that there is more to life than spending in fear of losing what we have.
Those of us who have not lost everything should look on those who have, not with pity, but with love. And we should lend a hand.
More to come...