Luke 12:13-21

Thanksgiving Day/Harvest Observance

November 23, 3017

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

You’ve probably all heard the saying that you’ll never see a hearse pulling a uhaul trailer. While I’m sure someone somewhere has hooked up a hitch to a hearse out of humor, the saying holds a truth that cannot be denied no matter who you are or what you believe: when you die, you can’t take any earthly possessions with you.  But that doesn’t stop us from trying to pile up worldly things. The most common idol on earth is that of possessions. The Preacher in Ecclesiastes comments on how he had gained all that his heart desired, “Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun (Ecclesiastes 2:11).

Now, to be sure, the problem does not lie as much with possessions as it does with the human heart.  We readily acknowledge that God gives us clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, spouse and children, land, animals and all we have. And even more, He richly and daily provides us with all that we need to support this body and life. We pray for as much in the Lord’s Prayer when we say, “Give us this day our daily bread.” And we pray that God would lead us to recognize that every good gift from above comes from the gracious hand of God. But why does the contentment with what we’ve been given seem to run out so quickly? 

Though our lives may be filled with all these possessions, there remains an emptiness that all too many people suffer. We desire what we do not have, and when we have it, the satisfaction quickly fades.  The novelty and newness wears off.  And so a common solution is to attempt to buy their way out of depression and anxiety, of fear and apprehension, of the effects of age and illness.  This is a plague in our current culture, a plague of worldliness and greed and covetousness. Yet, when faced with death Jesus’ words ring all too true, “One’s life does not consist of the abundance of his possessions.”

The truth is, the emptiness we try to fill with the acquisition of stuff can only be filled with Christ, who puts meaning into life, a meaning that transcends the few years we have here on this earth.  St. Augustine, the 4th century church father, was absolutely right when he wrote, "Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You."

This is the point of Jesus’ parable today and His answer to man consumed with wordily things. He approaches Jesus and asks His help in obtaining what he felt he was entitled to: half of an inheritance. Jesus’ response almost seems ironic, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” Jesus is called elsewhere the “one mediator between God and man” (1 Timothy 2:5).  The problem though is that this man approaches Jesus asking His help for half an inheritance on earth, while Jesus is offering him a whole inheritance in heaven.

Jesus speaks this parable of the rich fool to illustrate His point. The man is foolish not because he is rich, but because of the way that he handles the riches he has received as a gift. To what he has, more abundance has been added as a gift.  A gift, by nature, is not earned or deserved. It is not dependent upon the receiver, but upon the giver. The abundance of this man’s possessions, just as his life, comes as a gift bestowed apart from his own efforts.  The question that is posed to him now is what is going to do with his gifts, both his possessions and his life. When blessed with more than what he expected, and faced with the decision on what to do with it all, the fool answers selfishly and greedily, storing it all up for himself, neither sharing his possessions nor his life with others. 

This rich fool did not recognize that the gift of surplus goods was from God. He should not have been surprised that his very life is also a gift from God and that this gift may be “demanded back” by God at any time. He was so concerning with gaining the whole world that he loses his very soul. This is why the man is a fool: the possessions that possessed him during his life are now meaningless when that life is demanded back by God.  There will be a time of accountability when God will ask whether His free gift was received through faith or if it was abused by the arrogant assumption that God’s gifts were personal possessions earned by one’s works or entitlement.

The things that matter most in this life aren't the things you can buy, they are things money can't buy.  God has purchased and won you for eternity not with gold or sliver, but with the precious blood of His dear Son.  This Son of God who was rich, for your sakes, "became poor, that you, through His poverty might be made rich."  Jesus left His heavenly throne, His glory at the side of His Father, to take on your restlessness, your discontent, your searching, your longing, your emptiness.  He bore your covetousness, your sin upon the cross.  He took away all the reasons you could find to hide it from Him, to find satisfaction in the things of this world.  And now, He sets before you the wholeness of things with eternal significance. 

With God there is meaning, there is worth, there is salvation, but the treasure of heaven is not like the treasure of this earth.  Although He is the creator and owner of all things, He lived among us as a poor person.  Although He has all authority in heaven and earth, He lived under the authority of the law.  Although He has all power, He made Himself helpless and submitted to the punishment we deserved as He suffered and died on the cross.  Although forgiveness, life, and salvation are worth more than we could ever pay, Jesus offers them to us as a free gift.  Although Jesus deserves our unending service, it is His desire to serve us.  It is Jesus who makes us rich toward God.

To be rich toward God is to believe that God is the giver of all things, it is to receive Him who has given up His very life so that you might share in His eternal inheritance. And for all this, it is our joyful response and to give Him thanks and praise.  Thanksgiving is the only secular holiday that the Church really observes.  And it is good that we do, for on Thanksgiving, we don’t just give thanks for what we have, we give thanks to the Giver of all good gifts. As we have freely received, so we freely give and share with others the gifts given by God. This is the constant teaching of Jesus in His various words about possessions.  Behind it all is the Gospel of grace: forgiveness is bestowed as God’s free gift in Jesus Christ, received through faith in. Amen.