Sermon, So Long Self (Luke 12:13-21)
Herb Palmer
Faith Lutheran Church, Bellaire
August 5, 2007
Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23; Colossians 3:1-11; Luke 12:13-21
“So Long Self”
Today is our day to take a critical look at just what role money has in our life; what does it mean for us to have it; how is it used; and what does our money have to do with God?
Money has always been of interest to people. After his teaching about the Kingdom of God, money is the subject Jesus talks about more than anything else; likely because money has such an important place in our life.
With money we can super size our lives; we can accumulate things for comfort, ambition, travel, education. With money, or the credit to “buy now and maybe pay later”, we can provide the lifestyle we desire. Without money we can’t do most of those things… With money we can plan how to make money work for us; without money we spend our time finding ways to make ends meet. Families are divided over inheritances; marriages that end in divorce can be pretty ugly when it comes to money; the settlement of an insurance claim can go to court over money.
There eventually comes those moments for everyone of us when we expose just how important money is for us and what we are willing to risk in order to have it or at least to have what we call “our fair share”.
Jesus addresses this head on and teaches us a different way of living with money or possessions. The parable Jesus teaches… illustrates an extreme in order to make a point of where life can end up when we live as though life consists of the abundance of possessions.
First of all, let’s take a look at what money is not. Money is not the measure for your value.
The things we have are very often equated with the value of one’s life. When a person’s net worth is calculated it is said, for example: “she is worth $10 million.” Actually the value of all the things that she has is worth $10 million… but the way it is said… is that this is what she is worth. A person’s worth is not measured in money or possessions.
Jesus taught this in very simple math by taking the value of what someone might own and illustrating their value. There was a market, at that time, for birds. They were sold for sacrifices and for food. Jesus, looking at this market economy said: “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?” So, if all you had were 5 sparrows, is your worth two pennies? Jesus teaches: “No, you are of more value than the price of 5 sparrows. You are of more value than many sparrows.” In fact, you are of more value than anything in the marketplace.
We have often heard the teaching of Jesus from John that we are invaluable. There is no way to put a price on a human life: “For God so loved the world that God gave the only Son.” God has valued the world with a love that God was not willing hold back anything of value in order that we would know God’s investment for us.
What might happen if we began to measure the value of life, not by the sum of a person’s possessions, but according to the value God has placed upon them? How might that change your life if you began thinking that your value is not in the things of your life but that your value is given to you by God? And, God is not willing to put a price on what you are worth to God?
If we began to see the value of a person by the value God has for them, how might that influence what we think of people who are different from ourselves; what we think of people who are poor or people who live in other places around the world? That would not only help us to have a proper understanding of what to make of all the things in life; but will help us to place value where God places value.
First of all, then, money is not the measure of one’s life. God determines the value of life. Secondly, God desires to be consulted about the use of our resources.
The parable Jesus shares seems to be one of overwhelming success until we get to the end of it and we are confronted with the reality that this man never bothered for even one second to consider what God would want him to do with his resources.
Jesus makes it clear to us: God will not be ignored. We can gain a lot, Jesus says, and loose our soul. That is exactly what happened to this man. He lost his connection with God and the good that he could have done never happened; the faithful use of his resources was never considered.
How would you like the end of your story to go? How would God tell the story of the decisions we made about our life’s resources? Would it begin with “you fool”; or begin with something like: “Well done good and faithful servant.”
The Bible teaches us that we come into the world with nothing and that is how we are going to leave it. Between our coming and going is life. A significant part of our life is how we use the resources we have. Jesus teaches us to do what the man in the Parable did not do. He teaches us to consult with God. It completely changes how we think about money and how we make decisions about it.
Money is not the measure of one’s life; God desires to be consulted about the use of our resources; and Thirdly, Our life consists of the people around us.
The man in the parable didn’t consult with God and neither did he consider that he was connected to the people around him. Therefore, he never considered the good he could do in his community. He stores up a harvest that even took him by surprise and he fails to see it as a way to make a difference in the lives of other people.
This community of people Jesus was teaching was almost exclusively people who really did not know if they would have food tomorrow. Their produce from the fields in which they worked was for a small elite group of people who took it away at their own discretion. They were familiar with men like the one in the parable; for whom they worked and received very little in return.
Even for the fishermen, if they caught nothing they had nothing to give to their families; and nearly all of what they gathered in was taken from them. It was a very unjust economic system. For the people who were listening to Jesus teach they were hearing that this economic system was contrary to God.
From very early on Christ-followers used their resources, regardless of how much or little they had, to care for one another and to care for the larger community. The Bible says that they shared everything in common so that no one lacked anything that was needed.
They tried to put into practice the words of Jesus: “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. Strive for the kingdom of God.” The kingdom of God is lived out or ignored in the witness of our generosity, our compassion, our sharing, and our sacrifices. We are connected to the people around us.
So what does this mean for us? The teaching seems to be very clear: Be blatantly, extravagantly, rich toward God. Consult with God about the matters of how to invest your life. Live with gratitude for what you have. Whatever you have is a blessing; and can be shared.Value your part for the wellbeing of the community. We are not only to be about our own business. We have resources to value what God values. God values people. We have endless opportunities to be part of what matters to God. AMEN
Faith Lutheran Church, Bellaire
August 5, 2007
Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23; Colossians 3:1-11; Luke 12:13-21
“So Long Self”
Today is our day to take a critical look at just what role money has in our life; what does it mean for us to have it; how is it used; and what does our money have to do with God?
Money has always been of interest to people. After his teaching about the Kingdom of God, money is the subject Jesus talks about more than anything else; likely because money has such an important place in our life.
With money we can super size our lives; we can accumulate things for comfort, ambition, travel, education. With money, or the credit to “buy now and maybe pay later”, we can provide the lifestyle we desire. Without money we can’t do most of those things… With money we can plan how to make money work for us; without money we spend our time finding ways to make ends meet. Families are divided over inheritances; marriages that end in divorce can be pretty ugly when it comes to money; the settlement of an insurance claim can go to court over money.
There eventually comes those moments for everyone of us when we expose just how important money is for us and what we are willing to risk in order to have it or at least to have what we call “our fair share”.
Jesus addresses this head on and teaches us a different way of living with money or possessions. The parable Jesus teaches… illustrates an extreme in order to make a point of where life can end up when we live as though life consists of the abundance of possessions.
First of all, let’s take a look at what money is not. Money is not the measure for your value.
The things we have are very often equated with the value of one’s life. When a person’s net worth is calculated it is said, for example: “she is worth $10 million.” Actually the value of all the things that she has is worth $10 million… but the way it is said… is that this is what she is worth. A person’s worth is not measured in money or possessions.
Jesus taught this in very simple math by taking the value of what someone might own and illustrating their value. There was a market, at that time, for birds. They were sold for sacrifices and for food. Jesus, looking at this market economy said: “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?” So, if all you had were 5 sparrows, is your worth two pennies? Jesus teaches: “No, you are of more value than the price of 5 sparrows. You are of more value than many sparrows.” In fact, you are of more value than anything in the marketplace.
We have often heard the teaching of Jesus from John that we are invaluable. There is no way to put a price on a human life: “For God so loved the world that God gave the only Son.” God has valued the world with a love that God was not willing hold back anything of value in order that we would know God’s investment for us.
What might happen if we began to measure the value of life, not by the sum of a person’s possessions, but according to the value God has placed upon them? How might that change your life if you began thinking that your value is not in the things of your life but that your value is given to you by God? And, God is not willing to put a price on what you are worth to God?
If we began to see the value of a person by the value God has for them, how might that influence what we think of people who are different from ourselves; what we think of people who are poor or people who live in other places around the world? That would not only help us to have a proper understanding of what to make of all the things in life; but will help us to place value where God places value.
First of all, then, money is not the measure of one’s life. God determines the value of life. Secondly, God desires to be consulted about the use of our resources.
The parable Jesus shares seems to be one of overwhelming success until we get to the end of it and we are confronted with the reality that this man never bothered for even one second to consider what God would want him to do with his resources.
Jesus makes it clear to us: God will not be ignored. We can gain a lot, Jesus says, and loose our soul. That is exactly what happened to this man. He lost his connection with God and the good that he could have done never happened; the faithful use of his resources was never considered.
How would you like the end of your story to go? How would God tell the story of the decisions we made about our life’s resources? Would it begin with “you fool”; or begin with something like: “Well done good and faithful servant.”
The Bible teaches us that we come into the world with nothing and that is how we are going to leave it. Between our coming and going is life. A significant part of our life is how we use the resources we have. Jesus teaches us to do what the man in the Parable did not do. He teaches us to consult with God. It completely changes how we think about money and how we make decisions about it.
Money is not the measure of one’s life; God desires to be consulted about the use of our resources; and Thirdly, Our life consists of the people around us.
The man in the parable didn’t consult with God and neither did he consider that he was connected to the people around him. Therefore, he never considered the good he could do in his community. He stores up a harvest that even took him by surprise and he fails to see it as a way to make a difference in the lives of other people.
This community of people Jesus was teaching was almost exclusively people who really did not know if they would have food tomorrow. Their produce from the fields in which they worked was for a small elite group of people who took it away at their own discretion. They were familiar with men like the one in the parable; for whom they worked and received very little in return.
Even for the fishermen, if they caught nothing they had nothing to give to their families; and nearly all of what they gathered in was taken from them. It was a very unjust economic system. For the people who were listening to Jesus teach they were hearing that this economic system was contrary to God.
From very early on Christ-followers used their resources, regardless of how much or little they had, to care for one another and to care for the larger community. The Bible says that they shared everything in common so that no one lacked anything that was needed.
They tried to put into practice the words of Jesus: “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. Strive for the kingdom of God.” The kingdom of God is lived out or ignored in the witness of our generosity, our compassion, our sharing, and our sacrifices. We are connected to the people around us.
So what does this mean for us? The teaching seems to be very clear: Be blatantly, extravagantly, rich toward God. Consult with God about the matters of how to invest your life. Live with gratitude for what you have. Whatever you have is a blessing; and can be shared.Value your part for the wellbeing of the community. We are not only to be about our own business. We have resources to value what God values. God values people. We have endless opportunities to be part of what matters to God. AMEN
posted by Faith Lutheran Church at
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