11th Sunday after Pentecost/Proper 13C ​(Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14, 2:18-23; Psalm 49:1-11; Colossians 3:1-11; Luke 12:13-21)

The person in the parable of Jesus says, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry!” Doesn’t this sound very familiar to you? It sounds like he’s about to enjoy his retirement plan. We all work hard, and very much look forward to enjoy our life after retirement. We even work harder or longer to get more retirement benefits. Imagine the moment that you say, “I’ve worked hard enough! Let me relax, eat, drink, and be merry!”

If we consider this parable of Jesus as how a hard-working American’s retirement plan goes in vain this no longer feels like good news to me. It is very tragic. And I’ve seen something similar in the hospital where I work as a chaplain. I see a person who has worked so hard, and is now retired from his work. He’s ready to move to Florida or South Carolina or even Spain. He doesn’t feel too well one day, and is hospitalized. He’s diagnosed with serious illnesses. We’ve seen this quite often.

Just to be clear, this parable is NOT about that. It’s not about a hard-working American’s retirement plan being ruined. I don’t believe Jesus is interested in how we “retire” from our work, but is much more concerned with how we constantly “rewire” our life to him, to his death and resurrection.

Jesus has a specific point in this parable. The person who is ready for his retirement is considered as the one who is filled with greed. The abundance of possessions is his only concern in life. He needs to have more and more until he has to keep expanding his barns and building larger ones to store up all he has. His greed never ends. Nothing is ever enough for him.

We can easily relate this parable to our lives. Our society is filled with greed. Its economic and political system, which is capitalism. It even encourages us to be greedy. There’s this mantra, “The more we try, the more we can possess.” There’s nothing wrong with it when everyone is given an equal chance. But it’s utterly impossible when our starting point is different. What happens is the richer get richer, the poorer get poorer. We’re tempted, driven, constantly taught to have more. What I have is never enough. I must have what the other has. We might even feel we need to take away what the other has.

Let’s count how many times the person in the parable says, ‘my.’ “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops? I will do this: I will pull down mybarns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul…” Five times. We can see how much this person is focused on himself. Self-centered, and probably selfish… There’s no room in his heart for others to come and sit. His barns are large, but only large enough for himself alone. He doesn’t ask God for “our daily bread.”

God calls him a “fool.” Who is a fool? (Please don’t tell me someone you know…) The dictionary defines a fool as “a person who acts unwisely or imprudently or a silly person.” Well, the person in the parable is actually a clever and prudent person. He’s not silly at all. He knows how to make money. However, a fool in the biblical sense is very different from the dictionary definition. Psalm’s definition is that a fool is someone who says, “There’s no God.” (Ps. 14:1) A fool in the Scriptures is an atheist. Giving the benefit of doubt that the person in the parable claims himself as an theist, he still is a “functional  atheist.” He has no interest in God or others, but himself. He becomes a god of his own.

He may be criticized for wanting to have more and more materials. But greed is not only limited to a materialistic sense. It is much more subtle. It’s deeply hidden in that we try to possess more information and knowledge than others. We might not be necessarily interested in material gains. We may be more concerned with gaining more influence, more honor and fame, more respect, more authority, and more power. This power that be is the one I alone can possess!

The 4th century Desert Fathers thought greed to be the sin that birthed other sins. According to the Desert Fathers, greed comes from our “deep human fear of dependence on God.” (Rusty Reno) We are not only insecure about ourselves and the world in which we live. And we are also afraid to depend on God so we try our best to protect ourselves by possessing or hoarding whatever that seems to protect us. After all, it’s a lack of trust in God. So, it is deadly to our souls. Greed makes us busy and restless. Greed gives us power and comfort, never love and peace.

Then, what is the remedy for us to overcome greed? What helps us not to become greedy? God in the parable of Jesus is pretty clear. God says to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” Basically, God says to him, “you functional atheist who doesn’t trust me! Tonight I will take your life away!”

Death is a wake-up call. God throws at him the reality of death, the reality that we human beings will eventually all die. As a hospital chaplain, I deal with the issue of death and dying. This, of course, is a tough topic. I ask them, “How would you die?” It opens up something that is real and true. And this talk of death and dying can easily lead to our first lesson today. Which says, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!” In this crisis when everything seems meaningless, I talk with patients about what they leave behind, what their legacy might be. For those who are dying, there’s no time to be greedy. And this time of dying we do realize we can never take anything with us. Death wakes us up from all illusions that we can somehow live forever.

For us Christians, death is not just a wake-up call. It is a reminder call. We as the followers of Jesus have already died. Haven't we died with Jesus in our baptism? So for us then, the question is not “How would you die?” It is “How would you live after death?” How would you live your second life as the disciples of Jesus?

Every Sunday we recite or sing the Nicene Creed. It is to remind ourselves our death with Christ. It is to remember God has given us new life in Christ. It is to rewire ourselves to his death and resurrection.

And at the Eucharist we are once again reminded that God gave us everything we need, that God gave us God's very own self. We are remembered as God's children. We are rewired into His Body and Blood. There’s no abundance of possession, but there’s the abundance of God's compassion. Some theologian says it well, “In the Eucharist we discover that the more the Body and Blood of Christ is shared, the more there is to be shared.” (Stanley Hauerwas)

As we recite the Nicene Creed, let us remember that we have already died with Christ and are living with him. And as we receive the Body and Blood of Christ, let’s remember there is no room for greed to consume us because we are given God's very own self. And remember our life is to share, not to possess. This is how we set our minds on things above. This is how we are rich towards God. 

May the Holy Spirit enlarge our hearts to grasp the abundance of God’s compassion revealed in Jesus Christ. Amen.