Are you rich in God's eyes?

18th Sunday of Ordinary Time C July 31, 2022 Luke 12, 13-21 It is pretty clear the point of today’s parable of the Rich Fool: You can’t take it with you. You don’t have to be a follower of Jesus to know that bit of wisdom. I know the ancient Egyptians buried all kinds of stuff with their pharaohs but 1000’s a year later the stuff is still there or is museums somewhere. No, you can’t take it with you. But there is something that is less clear to me from today’s gospel. Jesus talks about those who store up treasures for themselves. The rich of this world. I get that point, I know what it is like to be rich, the Elon Musks, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Carlos Slim. They are all rich. What about the Lotto? Did anyone here win the 1.28 billion last night? Whoever won 1.2 billion is now rich in the eyes of the world. Yes, it is clear what it means to be rich in the world. You can google it and get a list. But what does it mean to be rich in the eyes of God? What does it mean to be rich in what matters to God? If you were going to put up a list of the top rich people in the eyes of God? Who would be on the list? What would help them to make the list? I can think of a few people that I would put on the list: Dorothy Day; Mother Teresa, Oscar Romero. All of them I believe were rich in the eyes of God, but they also are all dead. Who would make the list of those who are alive right now? For a better understanding let’s take a closer look at the parable. The land of a rich man produced abundantly. Notice that the subject of the sentence is the land. It doesn’t say that the man worked hard, it doesn’t say that he knew how to invest his money, or that he was creative and industrious. It says the land produced abundantly. The hard work is important, but it is the land, the earth, that is the source of food. Thus an abundant crop, like the land itself, is a gift of God. If someone is rich, it isn’t just because they worked hard. Wealth is a gift from God. And he thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops? Here we begin to get to the source of the problem. “He said to himself” this man is so full of himself that he doesn’t talk to his wife, he doesn’t have any friends. He talks to himself. He not only sees everything as belonging to him, but he is alone in his world. “My crops” he has no appreciation of the place of God in his life. He has no appreciation of his workers, and I’d be willing to be he didn’t work at all out in the sun weeding the fields, harvesting the crops. There’s no bonus for his employees. It is all about himself. Then 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!”’This man is so funny its sad. There is no mention of the larger community, no mention of anyone else. He just has himself, so he is even talking to himself. “I will say to myself, ‘self’.” 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? The big surprise, this man who thought he was all alone, who was only worried about himself is alone after all. God is there, and God calls him to an accounting. This poor man has allowed greed to destroy everything, the earth, his family, his community, his employees, God and his very self. So, what does it mean to be rich in the eyes of God? It means to be the opposite of the rich man. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you are economically poor, but it does mean that you are in relationship with others. The one rich in God’s eyes is not an isolated individual worried about himself, but he is a member of community, and he cares about others: the earth. We all know how important our environment and how precarious it all is. Global warming is not only real, but it is here among us. Someone who is rich in the eyes of God is someone who takes care of the environment. Some who wisely uses the earth’s resources. Someone who is rich in the eyes of God is a member of a community, they care about others. Having children is the way most of you have showed your care for others, but so many others have created community in other ways, the Catholic Daughters, the Eucharistic Ministers, the food bank volunteers. I have always said that it is wonderful the food our volunteers serve to the needy but almost as important is the community they have created in serving the poor. They are all examples of community. Finally, someone rich in the eyes of God is someone who has a relationship with God. People who are blessed don’t begin talking to themselves, saying, “I won the lottery. How will I spend this 1.2 billion?” I got a good job; how will I spend my paycheck.” No, the person who is rich in the eyes of God is someone who thanks God for whatever it is that they have, and they know that what they have is for others. It is good to have come to know you the people of St. Mary’s. I know that most of us are not economically poor, but I also know that there is no one here who would be considered rich in the eyes of the world. That is because we know our priorities. But I don’t think that means that we shouldn’t see this gospel as a challenge to live our lives more in harmony with God. I think that they are two key things we can practice from this gospel. One to always be grateful to God for whatever it is that we have. To make a point of simply saying, “thank you God.” The second thing is to make sure that you live your life for someone else. Is there someone in your life that you want to share things with. The test of that is when you when win the next 1.2 billion, who will you call to share the news. If your thought is, “I would call myself and say, ‘self, you just won a lot of money and you have no place to put it all.” You know you are in trouble. But if you know that you would call someone else to share the Good News. You are probably on the right path. By the way, if you don’t have anyone to call, my number is in the bulletin.