Greed kills

XVIII A

Luke 12, 18-31

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,

“Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” 

He replied to him,

“Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” 

Then he said to the crowd,

“Take care to guard against all greed,

for though one may be rich,

one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

Then he told them a parable. 

“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. 

He asked himself, ‘What shall I do,

for I do not have space to store my harvest?’

And he said, ‘This is what I shall do:

I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. 

There I shall store all my grain and other goods

and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you,

you have so many good things stored up for many years,

rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’

But God said to him,

‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;

and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’

Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves

but are not rich in what matters to God.”

Last week I was preaching in San Francisco at St Paul of the Shipwreck and I made a good decision. Rather than flying from San Francisco to Portland I rented a car and I drove here to McMinneville.  I left Monday morning and drove up the coast as far as Crescent City and then I drove over to Crater Lake, then back to the coast up to Tillamook and then over here to McMinneville. It was a good decision, a beautiful drive, with unforgettable scenery and the opportunity to see a part of the world that I have only heard about. Oregon is an incredibly rich land, I saw fields of corn and soy, I saw fruit trees and grape vines, and of course I stopped in Tillamook to sample the free cheese.

When people of faith, like ourselves see all this wonder and beauty, we see the rich land producing so much our first thoughts are of God. The goodness of God and the wonderful blessings of the land that he has given us. When we such greatness and the bountifulness of the land we thank God for his goodness to us, and we stand in awe of God’s creation. That is our thought, as people of faith. It obviously isn’t the thought of the man in the Gospel today.

The man in the gospel shows how greed destroys our relationship to the land, to God and to one another. Let us take a closer look at today’s gospel.

The land of a rich man produced abundantly. Notice that it isn’t the man,  nor his farming techniques but it is the land that produces abundantly. As believers we know that whatever our contribution may be it is the land that is the source of the food. An abundant crop, like the land itself, is a gift from God. As believers we need to stay in touch with this reality. The man in the Gospel obviously has lost touch of his connection with the land. 

The man has no one to talk to, no family, no workers, he talks to himself.  “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops.” The way that the man talks to himself show that he has forgotten that the land and the crops are a gift from God. But he is not only separated from God, he is also separated from others. He is no thought to other people, people who might be in need, it is all about himself. The great yield is not reason to be grateful or generous. He just thinks of himself.

So he says to himself. “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and goods. And I will say to myself. ‘Self, you have ample good laid up for many years: relax, eat, drink be merry.’” No thought of anyone else, not even his wife and children. Just my grain my goods, my stuff.

“But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your very life will be demanded of you. And these things you have prepared, whose will they be?” Surprise, surprise. The man thinks that he is the only one but he hears from the one that he forgot about, God the Creator. 

Because of the man’s greed it destroyed everything. His relationship with the land, with others and even with God. When I visited the cheese factory in Tillamook they were very proud that they were family farmers. Not individual farmers, but members of families, and they were equally proud that the farm had been in the family for generations. That is what faith does, it pulls us out ourselves. Connects us more deeply with the land, with our family and with God.

The great blessing of being a Catholic Christian is we realize that we are a part of a universal church. Unlike the man in the Gospel we see how we are connected to the earth, to one another and to God. I am here this weekend to help to connect you to the wider church. Today I would like to help connect you to your brothers and sisters in Brazil in the Amazon jungle.

Like the man in the Gospel we will all die. Our life will be required of us one day, that is why we are storing up treasures that will last forever. Our belief in God, our love for our families and community and a deep appreciation for this beautiful land that God is letting us use for a short while.