“The Consistency of Life”

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

Sunday August 1, 2010

Hosea 11: 1-11

Psalm 107:  1-9, 43

Colossians 3: 1-11

I would like to begin, this morning, with a question -- how do we measure what our lives consist of?

There are, of course, the biological answers to such a question – that life consists of a series of biochemical reactions in response to certain stimuli which cause otherwise inanimate matter to take on the semblance of meaning and purpose.  But we all know that life consists of more than that.

A more common response to the question is provided to us by our culture, in which we tend to judge the value of our own lives, and the value of others, by economic criteria – by the level of material wealth and possessions that a person has accumulated and acquired, by the size of one’s bank account and investment portfolio; by the amount of our annual income. 

And we all fall prey to this tendency.  On the grocery store checkout lines, we read about the antics of the fabulously wealthy, as we voyeuristically read about the most boring details of their lives; we buy books which offer the promise of ever greater degrees of financial wealth; we respond to advertising campaigns for banks and investment companies which link their financial products with promises of a deeply spiritual nature -- promises of freedom, liberty, security, contentment, and the fulfilment of one’s hopes and dreams. 

We even speak about measuring a person’s ‘net worth’ – as if the life of the richest billionaire is worth any more -- or any less – that the worth of the most destitute beggar.  Whether we like to admit it or not, we continue to live in a world in which we act as if the measure of life consists in the abundance of wealth and possessions.

The singer Tracy Chapman once wrote a song called “Mountains of Things”, in which she sang about the dream of having mountains of things—a dream of big expensive cars, furs, maids, a sweet lazy life with champagne and caviar.

She ends the song with a chilling reflection on the consequences of such a life:

I won’t die lonely

I’ll have it all prearranged

A grave that deep and wide enough

For me and all my mountains of things.

Mostly I feel lonely…

Good people are only

My stepping stones

It’s gonna take all my mountains of things

to surround me

Keep all my enemies away

Keep my sadness and loneliness at bay.

It is important for all of us to remember, regardless of our income level or financial worth, that materialism is not only a problem for the rich. Materialism and greed are attitudes which are not exclusive to any economic class in society.  In both the poorest of the poor, and the richest of the rich, there is a deep-seated tendency to measure what life consists of by the amount of wealth and possessions that a person has accumulated.   We all can, as the old saying goes, become possessed by our possessions – or, at the very least, by the desire to possess things.

I found myself pondering this over the past few weeks while our family has been on holiday.  During the month of July, I had the opportunity to serve as the minister of a little summer church out on the Gaspe Peninsula.  Our family had a lovely time there, and the kids have both wonderful memories and a bunch of seashells that they have now transported back to Ontario.

During our time there, we took a few day trips to different parts of the peninsula which, as anyone who has ever been there will know, is quite lovely.  Rugged coastlines, high hills and mountains, picturesque lighthouses, rolling farm fields, beautiful lakes and rivers – it is a really beautiful part of our country.

There were moments, as we were driving along, when I would see some lovely old house with some beautiful view of the hills or of the St. Lawrence, and I would find myself wondering what it would be like to own the house.  These were idle speculations, at best, as we do not have the money to buy such a place, but I found myself wondering nonetheless.  And then I found myself chuckling at the fact that, rather than enjoying and revelling in the beautiful scenery that surrounded us, I was busily trying to figure out what it would feel like to own it, to acquire it, to possess it.  And, in the midst of those ponderings of possessing, I was missing the beauty that was surrounding me at that very moment!

I found myself wondering how often we do precisely that – become so preoccupied with our dreams and our desires to possess and acquire things that we miss the beauty that surrounds us, at every moment. 

We who so easily fall into the trap of materialism find a real challenge in the words of Jesus that we read today. 

The passage begins with a question about the division of an inheritance between brothers.  We read, “Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’“   Jesus, while not choosing sides in the debate, probably realized that there were greedy motives underlying the question – and anyone who has seen a bitter family feud about inheritance money can appreciate the wisdom of Jesus’ caution. 

Instead of entering into the debate, however, Jesus used the question as the basis for a rather cautionary tale about the lure of possessions.  “Take care!” he said, “be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”

He then told a story about a rich man’s attitude toward his wealth.  Jesus began the story, “The land of a rich man produced abundantly.”  The man’s land had been fruitful, but rather than realizing God’s providence, he looked on the success of his farm—and the resulting wealth—as his own good fortune and hard work. 

It is interesting that Jesus gave no indication in the story that the rich man had done anything unethical in the acquisition of his wealth.  There is no indication that exploited the workers, cheated his customers or conducted his business affairs fraudulently.  He may very well have been an ethical, hardworking person. 

However, the issue was not how he got the wealth that he had.  The issue was what he was going to do with it – which is a fact that should cause most of us to take notice. 

After all, we are quick to point a condemning finger at those who have amassed wealth through unethical means, but act as if hoarding the wealth that has been acquired through our own ‘hard work’ is somehow more acceptable. 

But that is not the point of Jesus’ parable.  Even money that has been made through ethical, hard work needs to be subjected to the call of Christian discipleship. 

“I will do this,” said the man, “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.’“ 

It is interesting to note that the Greek word that is used for soul, in this passage, is the word psyche, which has the sense of one’s inner life, one’s essential being.  Sou, you have ample goods laid up for many years.  The man thought that his soul, his essential being, could find lasting security in the goods that he was hoarding.

It is also interesting to note that Jesus never suggested that there was something essentially evil with money itself.

Money, in and of itself, is neither good nor bad.  It is simply a means to other ends, a tool for the activities and priorities that we are seeking in life.  The issue is linked with the question of how we, as people and as Christians, view and use whatever money that we have.

It is when we begin to place our sense of security, our trust, our confidence about the future in wealth that we find ourselves on a dangerous path that lures us away from our focus on the One who is worth of our trust and our confidence.

Which reminds us that our perspectives on money, on possessions and on wealth are essentially questions of faith.  After all, the temptation to link our security and our trust with the amount of money that we have lures us away from a sense of reliance upon, and trust in the One who has the power to provide for all of our needs – but if one loses any sense of trust that they are accepted and loved by God, it becomes quite understandable that they might begin to cling, quite desperately, to their possessions, hoping that those goods will be able to provide them with the fulfilment that they need to find in life. 

But the heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that we are loved by God, regardless of how many things we have.

When we begin to understand and believe that good news, we begin to realize that life is not about the acquisition of material goods that will either wear out or will be left behind when this life has come to an end.

Instead, the true measure of our lives, and the only truly lasting security that we can have, is discovered in and through our relationships with the One who has given us the gift of life itself, and who invites us to enter into a new life of love for God and for one another, a life of compassionate servanthood, a life liberated from the lure of that constant and ultimately quest to possess and acquire.

And we find the motivation to live such a life, to live in that freedom, in the knowledge that we are loved by God for who we are, not for what we have.

Yes, we all have financial responsibilities which necessitate hard work, diligence, wise planning, stewardly decisions, and a conscientious desire to avoid becoming overly dependent and parasitical when we are sufficiently strong and able to work to support ourselves and to make contributions to others.  But even as we seek to make those decisions, we must do so in the knowledge that a life lived simply for the constant desire for acquisition and accumulation is a life wasted.

In the end of Jesus’ parable, the rich man’s life comes to an end, as it will for all of us.   Whether we are rich or poor, the reality is that we won’t be able to take our mountain of things with us – regardless of how large or how small that mountain of things ends up being.

It is profoundly difficult to free ourselves from the grip of the self-centered materialism that pervades our society.  It is a constant struggle, and demands that we be honest with ourselves and with God about our motivations, our priorities and our ambitions. 

But if we keep our eyes on Christ, and allow ourselves to be gripped and shaped by the good news that our true worth is found in the love that God has for us, we can become liberated from the illusion of security in wealth and possessions, finding our security instead in the One who loves us and cares for us beyond measure.  And, in response, we can live with compassion for one another, and particularly for those in need.

The text ends with a seemingly strange idea – that while we are here, we have an opportunity to be rich towards God.  As we read in today’s passage, “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.”

It seems like a rather odd idea – to be rich towards God.  How do we do this?  How can we be rich towards God?

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus told a story about the judgement of the sheep and the goats.  The faithful sheep were commended for their acts of charity and generosity.  They were told that whenever they had done something charitable towards someone in difficult circumstances—whether the person was hungry, thirsty, sick, lonely, or in prison—it was as if they had done that charitable act to Jesus Christ himself. 

To be rich towards God, therefore, is demonstrated in acts of charity, generosity and love to those in need.  And such acts of compassion and generosity are not done out of some sense of guilt, but rather out of the sheer joy of grace and of generosity – in response to the One who gave everything for us.

The good news of Jesus Christ, after all, is rooted in a story about the God who was, on the cross of Christ, willing to sacrifice everything for us and for our salvation.  It was a tremendous sacrifice, it was a terrible price to pay, it was a gift of inestimable cost.

But, in the eyes of God, it was all worth it – when we respond to that great love with love for God and with love for one another.