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+ + + In Nomine Jesu + + +
Please join me in prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
How comfortable are you and I with our current or eventual retirement? Have we ever said or can we even envision ever saying what the rich man of the parable in today’s Gospel Reading said to his soul, “You have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat drink, be merry”? Executive Director of the National Public Pension Coalition Bailey Childers has said that “For all but the wealthiest in the United States, the dream of retiring with dignity after a lifetime of working hard and playing by the rules is almost gone” (Childers). How do our dreams and plans, hopes and fears, for our social security relate to our plans for our spiritual security? This morning we reflect on today’s Gospel Reading under the theme “Social and Spiritual Security”.
Today’s Gospel Reading is unique to the Divinely‑inspired evangelist St. Luke, who reportedly records more about the rich than either St. Matthew or St. Mark (Hauck/Kasch, TDNT 6:328). Today’s Reading comes after St. Luke has told of a crowd of many thousands coming together and of Jesus’s first warning His disciples about hypocrisy, of His telling them to fear the One Who has the authority to kill the body and cast into Hell, and of His telling them to acknowledge, or confess, Him before men (Luke 12:1-12). Then, as we heard, someone in the crowd told Jesus to tell the man’s brother to divide his inheritance with the man, and Jesus replied as we heard Him do: asking Who made Him a judge or arbitrator over him, and, among other things, telling them to be on guard against all covetousness, saying one’s life does not consist in the abundance of one’s possessions.
I think most of us have probably seen, or at least heard about, the bumper‑sticker that says, “He who dies with the most toys wins”. We live in a consumer culture that tries to make one’s greedily wanting more and more and more things a virtue (TLSB, ad loc Lk 12:13-21, 1740). As we number them, two of the Ten Commandments speak for our being content with what we have and so speak against our coveting, our having a sinful desire for anything or anyone that belongs to our neighbor. So, we should not be surprised that not only Jesus in today’s Gospel Reading speaks against covetousness but also St. Paul in today’s Epistle Reading speaks against covetousness, saying covetousness is idolatry and should be put to death in believers (Colossians 3:1-11). The self‑centered man in Jesus’s parable thinks to himself about what he should do with his grain and goods; he takes no thought of his neighbor much less of God, Who had made him, blessed him with an abundance of grain and goods in order to love and serve his neighbor, and Who ultimately would call him into account for his use of what was entrusted to him. To be sure, a wrong relationship with God can exist among the poor, as well as the wealthy, and riches themselves are not inherently evil. But, riches present the wealthy with a challenge that the poor do not have. We heard Jesus in the Gospel Reading describe that challenge, and we find similar passages elsewhere in the New Testament, such as St. Paul writing to Timothy to charge the rich to set their hopes not on the uncertainty of riches but to set their hopes on God, Who richly provides us with everything to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17). The wisdom of Solomon through whom God inspired the verses of today’s Old Testament Reading from Ecclesiastes (1:2, 12-14; 2:18-26) stands in sharp contrast to the foolishness of the rich man in the parable. The psalmist says a man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts who perish (Psalm 49:20, NIV). And, the Bible is replete with examples similar to the rich man in the parable, such as foolish Nabal, who was caught relaxing, eating, drinking, and being merry—seemingly unaware of or ignoring the judgment that was about to befall him (1 Samuel 24:36-38; Amnon in 2 Samuel 13:28-29; Elah in 1 Kings 16:9-10; the servant who thinks his master is overdue in Matthew 24:48-51; see also Isaiah 22:13 and 1 Corinthians 15:32).
You and I can hardly be unaware of or ignore the spiritual judgment that we face. (We are probably far more unaware of the judges and arbitrators to whom we submit ourselves, when we willingly click our agreement to terms of service for websites and applications without first reading those terms!) The man in the crowd of today’s Gospel Reading wanted Jesus to be such a judge or arbitrator over earthly things, when, in fact, God the Father had made Jesus a judge or arbitrator over far more important heavenly things. Jesus and His Word enter into our self‑centered thoughts, judging us, and calling and enabling us to repent of our covetousness and of all of our other sins, even of our sinful natures themselves. When we so turn in sorrow from our sin and trust God to forgive our sin, then God does just that—He forgives our covetousness and all of our other sins, and even our sinful natures themselves—all for Jesus’s sake.
As Jesus says in today’s Gospel Reading, our life does not consist in the abundance of our possessions, but, as St. Paul writes in today’s Epistle Reading, Christ is our life. The man in the crowd of today’s Gospel Reading appeared to be interested only in his own earthly wealth, not the pardon, peace, and joy that Jesus offered by grace at His expense, through faith in Him (Arndt, ad loc Lk 12:13-15, 314). No amount of wealth or riches is ever enough to redeem our lives from the hell we all deserve by nature apart from faith in Jesus Christ (Psalm 49:5-9), and so Jesus redeemed us not with gold or silver, but on the cross He redeemed us with His holy precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death (Small Catechism II:4). We who repent and believe in Jesus are rich toward God, our wealth is found in Him (Lenski, ad loc Lk 12:21, 692). In Him we have an undivided heavenly inheritance, namely the forgiveness of sins, which we receive from Him through His Word and Sacraments.
Today’s Epistle Reading continues the teaching of last week’s Epistle Reading (Colossians 2:6-15), in which St. Paul writes about how Holy Baptism buries and raises us with Christ. So raised with Christ, we set our minds on and seek not the things that are on earth but the things that are above. So Baptized and also individually Absolved, we relax, eat, drink, and are merry here, in the Sacrament of the Altar, where bread that is Christ’s Body and wine that is Christ’s Blood give us the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Feasting here, we are not foolishly caught unaware by judgment but wisely delivered from it! Through God’s Word and Sacraments the Holy Spirit gathers us into the Church that is always large enough for more. In the Church,, as today’s Psalm (100) said, we come into the Lord’s presence with singing and serve the Lord with gladness.
Part of our serving the Lord is using rightly that with which the Lord has blessed us. And, our congregation truly is blessed so far this year with offerings that exceed both the offerings projected for the deficit budget and our accrued expenses. We also help our neighbors in need, whether through Kilgore’s Helping Hands or through other such agencies or efforts. And, of course, we plan and save for retirement or to leave our goods to our children or others, possibly including the congregation, District, or Synod, recognizing that Lord may have other plans (James 4:15) and trusting Him to provide. Even our right use of our material resources does not merit anything before God, however, but is our grateful response for what He has done for us in Christ Jesus. And, as we live each day in repentance and faith, God’s forgiveness for Christ’s sake extends also to our failures to use our material resources as He would have us use them.
So far the two major candidates for president reportedly have said very little about retirement security, although their parties’ platforms include such ideas as changing pension laws and expanding and reforming Social Security. We who repent and believe know that and that our ultimate “Social and Spiritual Security” comes not from the government or from ourselves but from God. (With next week’s Gospel Reading we will hear more of Jesus’s teaching about not being anxious about what we will eat or wear and about our treasure in heaven [Luke 12:22-34].) In the end, we know and trust that, after God requires our souls of us, whether at our deaths or our Lord’s return, whichever comes first, we will relax, eat, drink, and be merry with Him in heaven.
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +