Eighth Sunday after Pentecost (GA)

Luke 12:13-21

¹³ Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” ¹⁴ But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵ And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” ¹⁶ And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, ¹⁷ and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ ²¹ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

There is a famous song from the musical rent which talks about how you measure a life. The answer is in seasons of love. But it is still an important question that Jesus poses, in what does one's life consist? So we know the wrong answer is possessions, is the right answer love? Maybe if the love we are talking about relates to love and God, but it may be better to say a life of repentance and forgiveness.

Similarly, this text makes me think of another musical: Hello Dolly! In that musical the main character Dolly Levi repeats a phrase about money. Money is like manure, it is best when it is spread around. She uses this phrase to encourage a rich business man to spend his money rather than horde it. He has been a shrewd business man and gain a lot of "nice" possessions. But he has never really shared his life with someone.

The lesson from this is that we can lay up treasures in our neighbors and relationships. This may not be the point the text is really pushing us toward. But if we treasure our neighbors as ourselves, maybe we will see our love toward God growing also. As we stay connect to his word, a little love and manure may just help us grow.

Nevertheless, we have a great treasure in heaven. We have Jesus Christ who is the perfect sacrifice for our sins. He has paved the way for us to find eternal life in the new heavens and new earth.