Luke 12:13-21

Dear Theophilus,

There was so much in your last letter—I felt as though I were introduced to ten different facets of Jesus at once!  Yet, in the midst of it all, the discussion about God’s love stands out.  I am a man who feels that love has to be earned, and yet here we are discussing God’s deep love of sparrows, a creature to which I have never given a second thought, which seems incapable of earning love.  Jesus says that God loves sparrows, and then loves people even more.  You and I both know the human race well enough to be able to say that while we have extraordinary moments, we also are capable of incredible atrocities that I have always imagined would cause a just God to strike us down.  Yet, Jesus is telling us that we cannot earn God’s love, that it is freely given.  I think we still have to hold on to the idea of God’s justice, but to pair that with an unfathomably deep and unearned love paints a new and different picture of God.  We shall have to talk more about this, and the implications it has on an understanding of God based on the idea that evil deeds distance us from God’s love and lead to destruction.

Now that your letter has brought this extreme love of God into the forefront, I am looking back and seeing how that colors all of Jesus’ teaching.  He’s consistently trying to encourage others to dwell in this love, even the Pharisees, who he would, at first glance, seem to be harassing.  When viewed through this lens, it is a love for the Pharisees that tries to get them to depend on God’s love, rather than their own strength.  In fact, Jesus tells a parable to illustrate this very point.

Out of this crowd of thousands that you mentioned, one individual speaks up and asks Jesus to mediate a family dispute—they want Jesus to order their brother to share the family inheritance.  If that family is anything like my family, that dispute could linger for years!  I certainly understand how family can irritate us in a way that nothing else can. 

Jesus, however, dodges the question, asking how he would be in a position to mediate such a dispute, for he is not a judge.  He instead takes the opportunity to warn the crowd against greed, for our lives are not defined by our money or possessions.  Theophilus, this teaching probably didn’t go down easily for many in that crowd.  Money and possessions have always been the hallmark of success in society, and so trying to have them define themselves by some other mark will always be a struggle, I predict. 

Jesus then goes on to tell a story of a rich man whose land was fabulously successful.  He had abundance spilling over from every field, and he pondered what to do with this abundance, for his storehouses were already full and the barns were stuffed to capacity.  It sounds like a nice problem to have, doesn’t it, friend?! 

This rich man decides that the best thing to do is to tear down the barns he has and build even larger ones for the grain and the goods that are pouring in.  He takes comfort in this, knowing that he will have security for many years and has the freedom to eat, drink and be merry, rather than wrestling with anxiety about how he will provide for his future.  To the ear of most listeners, this sounds like a dream come true!

However, in Jesus’ teachings, all does not end well.  God calls the man a fool, telling him that his very life will be asked of him that night, and then asking what good all these earthly treasures will be then.  God asks the man who they will belong to, since they will be left behind.

Jesus concludes with a terse warning, telling the crowd that this is how life ends for those whose treasures are saved for themselves and who do not seek to be rich toward God.

I love the idea of being rich toward God.  I don’t know exactly what it means, and I hope you can enlighten me some on this particular question, but it certainly sounds like a different kind of wealth than the man in our story had.  I find it curious that Jesus did not question the rich man’s wealth in the beginning of the story—it was only when he sought to use his abundance to purchase security for an uncertain future that he seems to have entered the category of a ‘fool’.  I wonder if this doesn’t drift back into our earlier discussion about finding security in God alone.  This man tried to purchase his security with bigger barns, and found himself unable to obtain the type of security for many years that he had imagined.

I imagine that the crowd of thousands turned to one another at the conclusion of this story and asked the same question I did—what does it mean to be rich toward God?

Your wisdom in the matter would be greatly appreciated!

Sincerely,

Luke