The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke. (12:16-21)
As we know, Our Lord Jesus Christ speaks to us often in parables because through the use of such parables certain truths and realities are brought into full view. The story is so expertly crafted as to open for us a new glimpse into reality in a way that was otherwise quite obscured. In today’s reading Our Lord tells the parable of the rich landowner who was really successful, really blessed by God with great material abundance. This man was living the “American dream” if you will. So many of us aspire to this success in our own lives. But there was a problem. The great equalizer of humanity was about to enter into the equation. This is the one whom everyone denies and avoids thinking about and is completely surprise when it finally makes its appearance (which it inevitably will). Death would enter the equation on that very night when the man was contemplating pulling down his barns to build even bigger barns for all of his wealth and abundance. Yet his plan and his way of thinking can be boiled down to one word from God… “Fool.”
When God calls you a fool that is really bad news. If your friend or your boss calls you a fool, that isn’t very kind and it may be a bit harsh, and maybe you can say to yourself that they really don’t know what they are talking about. But when God calls you a fool, then you are indeed a fool. You can’t escape the word of God, the word of truth.
What is a fool? According to the Oxford dictionary a fool is “a person who acts unwisely or imprudently; a silly person.” So Our Lord is teaching us that we need to be careful with our actions in life, and this applies also to our use of our treasures and wealth, our abundance and good things. He says that we are foolish if we are “not rich towards God.” What does it mean? It means one whose hand is open to the needs of the church and as St. Cyril of Alexandria writes, “to the needs of the poor.”
As you know we don’t typically speak about finances much here at the church. It is not because finances are not important, but rather because we trust in God and we believe firmly that giving and generosity are a natural result of our overflowing love for God and His Church. We don’t focus on money because that would be a great sin and this sin would infect every aspect of the life of the church. We try to cultivate this place like a garden, to keep our focus directly on Christ and the things of God. Yet, it is good to remember that all of the work that the Church can do and provide for our lives is only possible by His grace and by our joyful participation in supporting the work and the ministries of the Church. This requires each of us to make sacrifices in faith out of our gratitude to God.
These actions are the exact opposite of the foolish land owner. They are the activities of the wise. Perhaps not wise in the worldly ways, because the world tells us to accumulate as much wealth as humanly possible, but wise in the ways of the kingdom. Wise in discerning what is well-pleasing to the Lord. God also desires us to accumulate as much as possible! We begin to accumulate grace filled treasures, and we accumulate virtue as we participate and cooperate in the work that God desire of us. The good work that God asks of us is work that is according to His heart. Work that allows our hearts to be molded and shaped and become Christ-like through our participation in His love.
Our giving and our generosity are not only signs of having godly wisdom, they are signs of our real faith and love for Christ. This is true when giving to the church and it is also true when sharing with the poor and needy. St. John Chrysostom would tell his people that God allowed them to be wealthy in order that they would share with others. He said, “Almsgiving above all else requires money, but even this shines with a brighter luster when the alms are given from our poverty. The widow who paid in the two mites was poorer than any human, but she outdid them all.” It means that God is not impressed by our wealth. God is impressed by the heart that has deep and true faith and gratitude and pours this out to others sacrificially, even with a bit of pain. God is impressed when His children act like their Father. When we die this is what will matter, that we have found favor in God’s eyes. St. Ambrose of Milan writes, “only virtue is the companion of the dead.”
Now we are in the middle of the Christmas fast. It is a time for us to increase our spiritual efforts with prayer and fasting and almsgiving as we do during every fasting season. When we fast we die to ourselves and our desires a bit, in order to come alive for Christ. The Church gives us these seasons to help us grow. We give freely and joyfully to those in need, as a sign that we don’t belong to the world, but are just visitors here for a short while. We give freely and joyfully out of love and faith because God has given us so much more than we could ever deserve through His Son Jesus Christ.
We are enabled to do all of this by God who is transforming each of us into a new creation. This is a beautiful path for our lives, based not on the standards and expectations of the world. But based on sacrificial love that leads to new life, and resurrection. We are called to participate with Christ in giving of ourselves and loving our brothers and sisters. We are called to give of our lives for one another and for the Church because this is the purpose of our lives, to be found in Christ. If we do all of this we will be numbered among the wise and we will rise again, not to our shame, but in glory and joy with the Lord and with His beloved saints. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! AMEN.
Source: Sermons