The 8th Sunday after Pentecost: Proper 13
References: Luke 12:13–21
May the meditations from my heart and the words of my mouth always please my Lord, my strength and redeemer.
This morning’s lessons and gospel story directs us to turn away from concupiscence and turn towards the Kingdom of Heaven. If you think about the entirety of Luke’s Gospel its message addresses the importance of faith, sacrifice and preparedness.
In the beginning of Luke 12:13 SOMEONE IN THE CROWD said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” And Jesus replied “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” The importance of inheritance is and always has been a colossal concern of humans.
I grew up in Seattle with a blended family. I had to share the love from my father with his second wife and offspring of which there were five altogether. That was not easy for me to do at times. But it kept me from feeling lonely in that household when I was there some of the time. I learned to love them unconditionally. None of them seemed out right prodigal but at times I felt like I was losing my status as the oldest biological sibling in that family. I was like that, someone in the crowd who was afraid that I would be marginalized when the time came to share my father’s family inheritance.
The response that Jesus gave was Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed: for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”
How important is inheritance in our life of faith? Which is more meaningful: a life characterized by abundance, or one defined by service and sacrifice? It is a paradox of the human condition in modern life. We are bombarded with the need to consume and accumulate goods whether we use them or not. Regardless of what it is that we stockpile. This subliminal message to accumulate seemingly lurks about randomly.
Why do we decide to stockpile? How does stockpiling affect the rest of society? Perhaps it causes shortages where they are most needed. Perhaps it depletes the environment of entities needed to create medicines for seemingly incurable diseases. Perhaps the stockpile of goods turns into waste products that cannot be consumed or used and that creates congestion that cannot be relieved or alleviated. Perhaps it creates a burden for future generations. Perhaps it creates a land of waste for future generations.
In the Gospel of Luke in its entirety there are warnings about the perils of greed. Jesus says, Take Care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist of the abundance of possessions.”
And Jesus tells the parable in beginning in verse 16 of a man who was perplexed because his land produced so abundantly that he decided it was best to tear down the old barn and build more barns to harbor his stash of goods. As Paul Tillich put it concupiscence is the desire to “cram the world into one’s mouth.” The expectation is that the whole world must revolve around oneself.
In our world of today some of the most powerful leaders expect the world to revolve around them. Their exhibitions seem self-centered, arrogant, destructive, and anti-social.
We hear in Acts 4:32 that true believers share their possessions with others –no one claimed private ownership. Wealth was distributed so that there was not a needy person among them. Jean Piaget and Maria Montessori agreed on the principle that play is children’s work. And children need other children to learn how to do this.
In Luke 12:19 the rich man brags about his accomplishments and decides the only thing left to do is to eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, “You fool! This night your very life will be demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?
In this parable from Jesus there is no evidence that faith was an important part of the rich man’s life. In 12:22 Jesus said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food and the body is more than clothing.”
From Ecclesiasticus, or The Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach 14:8 – 9 tells us that, the miser is an evil person; he turns away and disregards people. The eye of the greedy person is not satisfied with his share; greedy injustice withers his soul.
The Lord’s gifts remain with the devout, and his favor brings lasting fulfillment. One becomes rich through diligence and self-denial, and the reward allotted to him is this: when he says I have found rest, and now I shall feast on my goods”! the rich man will not know how long it will be until he leaves them to others and dies….
Sometimes wealthy businessmen visit Geneva Switzerland to conduct purchases. Why there? Geneva has a free port close to the airport where business transactions happen. Wealthy people keep their valuables in a vault at this free port which is in the vicinity of the airport. This is a place where billions of valuable works of art are stored. Its proximity to the airport qualifies the artwork as duty free.
Another example of the futility of storing up possessions to hoard to oneself is from the documentary called, “The Lost Da Vinci”. There was an ongoing debate about whether a painting attributed to Leonardo Da Vinci was an original work by him. This painting was offered at an auction in New Orleans. It was thought to be a copy of Jesus Christ. It was called El Salvator Mundi. Robert Simons and Alex Parish bought El Salvator Mundi in 2005 from a small auction in New Orleans for $1,175.00. A sleeper hunter looked for mistakes in the painting to challenge it originality. Everyone that saw it wanted it to be a Leonardo Da Vinci work of art. It was as if they were more concerned with who painted it than who the painted depicted.
It was determined that it had a lot of restoration on Christ’s face. It was an unrestored work from the 1500 hundreds. The desire of the buyer wanted to exhibit the painting in the National Gallery of London. That happened. But red flags doubted its authenticity. Da Vinci painted on wood and there was evidence of worm holes.
The main purpose of the painting was that it be acquired by a museum. It was auctioned at Christie’s in New York where it became the most expensive work of art ever sold on November 15, 2017, for $450,000,000.00 and despite its flaws, El Salvator Mundi was purchased by a proxy for the Saudi Crown Prince and has not been seen publicly, ever since.
What really is the significance of El Salvator Mundi? It depicts Christ as the Savoir of the world. He is shown in Renaissance clothing, with two fingers extended as he gives a benediction. In his left hand he holds a crystal orb, which represents the crystalline sphere of the heavens alluding to his role as master.
Why do human beings feel the need to store riches or things that they are not using? But in the case of El Salvator Mundi Da Vinci gives a message to the world through his painting that from the Gospel of Luke 12, that Christ is the savior of the world. This is a message to be shared and not hidden or stowed away.
This is a message to be shared wherever you go in preparation for the Kingdom of Heaven; in which your heart is the vault of your treasures. This story invites us to hold up a mirror and look at our own inner lives and listen the voice that calls us to dwell with God on his holy hill.
Clarissa Pinkola Estes, from her book,” Women Who Run with the Wolves,” tells a story passed down from an old African American from the mid-South. The rumor was that this man was crazy because he spoke to anyone and no one. He would raise one finger as if to check the direction of the wind. Ceuntistas say that this kind of person has been touched by the Gods or Christians might say he was an unknown prophet. Ceuntistas call them El Bulto, the bundle who carry a certain kind of ware and will show it to anyone who will listen and look.
This kindly El Bulto told the story of “One Stick Two Stick.” This story was the way of old African Kings. A dying king calls all his family members to his bedside. He gives to each a short sturdy stick. He tells each member to break the sticks. Their sticks snap in half. Then he says, “This is how it is when a soul is alone without anyone. They can be easily broken.”
The old man next gives each of his kin another stick, and says, “This is how I would like you to live after I pass. Put your sticks together in bundles of twos and threes. Now break these bundles in half.
No one can break the sticks when there are two or more in a bundle. And the old man smiled as he replied, “We are strong when we stand with another soul. When we are with one another, we cannot be broken.”
In this story of ancestral transmission one of the morals may be interpreted simply as no one is an island unto oneself.
The Lord is our strength and redeemer. When we seek wisdom from the Almighty we replenish our vaults with grace, caring, and peace in preparation for everlasting life in the kingdom of heaven.
In the Kingdom of heaven, the grass is greener than any we have seen on the earth.
In the Kingdom of heaven, the sky is bluer than any blue sky on a warm summer day.
In the Kingdom of heaven there is only fresh air.
In the Kingdom of heaven, the rains refresh and cleanse.
In the Kingdom there is a balm that soothes all souls…