Sermon preached at St. Alban's, Spirit Lake, on August 4 & 5, 2007
(Proper 13, Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year C, BCP Lectionary)
by the Rev. Carl D. Mann

Texts:   Ecclesiastes 1:12-14;2:(1-7,11)18-23
Psalm 49 or 49:1-11
Colossians 3:(5-11)12-17
Luke 12:13-21

As I read the lessons for today, two distinct things came to mind. The first was that last week I was late getting back on time for Bible Study and when I arrived, I was informed that they were already done and had come to the conclusion that the lessons instructed them to get rid of everything they had and bring it to the Church rummage sale.

The other thing is that in the prayer book there is a rubric that directs me “to instruct the people, from time to time, about the duty of Christian parents to make prudent provision for the well-being of their families, and of all persons to make wills, while they are in health, arranging for the disposal of their temporal goods, not neglecting, if they are able, to leave bequests for religious and charitable uses.”

Although your contributions are welcomed for the annual rummage sale it is not necessary to get rid of everything you own right this minute. However, the rubric is good advice for everyone. Even if you have already done this in the past it doesn’t hurt to make sure that it accurately reflects where you currently are in life.

Well now that the business part of this meeting is over, let’s get to the Gospel. In light of what we have been discussing through the summer, the first thing that struck me in today’s Gospel is how the man in the crowd approached Jesus. He correctly calls Jesus Teacher and then is not willing to be taught. He tells Jesus what he wants him to do! That’s like calling a plumber to fix the leak in the bathroom and telling him how to do it when he gets there. Which would explain the sign on the plumber’s truck that I once saw that displayed his rates. It said, “$20.00/ hr for all general repairs; $50.00/ hr if you help!”

Now, let’s be honest. Don’t we all from time to time pray to God in the same way? I know that I have. “O God, I know that you are the Creator of the universe, all knowing, all seeing, and all powerful. Well, I’ve gotten myself into another jamb and I really need your help in getting me out of it. And I’ve given it a terrific amount of thought with the brain that you have given me and here’s how I want you do it!” And then we proceed to tell God how to answer our prayer correctly so that everything turns out best for us.

Well, it’s no surprise that Jesus backs away from this one. He says, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you,” which is ironic because he is the judge of our very souls. Each week we say in the creed, “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.” But in this case he is not going to become involved in someone’s petty argument especially with someone who obviously doesn’t recognize him for who he truly is. However, he does transform the situation into a teaching moment.

And he tells the crowd the parable of the wealthy farmer who has just harvested a bumper crop making him even wealthier than he was before. But with this newfound wealth comes a problem. Where is he going to store all of his extra grain? His barns are already full and there are no local co-ops in town for storage or ethanol plants to immediately use the grain. So without consulting anyone other than himself, he decides to consolidate his assets by tearing down his old barns, which must have been in need of capital improvements, and to build a few larger barns to hold everything that he owns. When this is accomplished the farmer perceives that he will be able to live the good life for many years by just drawing what he needs as he needs it from his abundance. He sees his retirement and it looks good! “Eat, drink and be merry” is how he remembers the proverb.

Unfortunately he was a better farmer than a scholar because he forgot the ending of the proverb, which says “Eat, drink, and be merry; for tomorrow we shall die.” And before he can realize his plan for enjoying his prosperity, he dies that very night.

So what happened? What did he do wrong? Is this a passage of scripture that tells us that it is wrong for us to be wealthy? No! Let’s look closely at the passage. The farmer is already wealthy and he has just become wealthier because everything has fallen into place, even that over which he has no control. He has tilled the land, and planted the seed, and spread the manure, and cultivated the weeds. (This he has apparently accomplished on his own.) But in addition to all of that there has been sun and water in just the proper amounts at the proper times. The conditions have been just right for proper pollination and there has been no plague of insects or deer to destroy the crops. There has been no hail or tornadoes or straight line winds to knock them down. No erosion on the hillsides or flooding in the bottom lands. God’s creation has been the most cooperative partner for the first time since he could remember.

And he asks, “What should I do?” “I have no place to store my crops.” “I will do this.” “I will pull down my barns.” “I will build larger barns.” “I will store my grain.” “And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods.” I, I, I; me, me, me; my, my, my! And God says to the farmer, “You fool! Who set you up to be God?”

This is not a parable against farmers. It’s not against wealthy farmers. It’s not against wealth. It is a parable about priorities. It’s about putting God first. It’s about stewardship. Stewardship is nothing more than mutual communication with that which you are in relationship. The farmer was in a relationship with God and failed to recognize it. He failed to see that without God’s providence through nature that he would not have received a bumper crop. The farmer was in a relationship with his farmhands and failed to acknowledge their contribution in helping him become wealthy or to share his abundance with them. The farmer was in a relationship with his community, and failed to see if any of them were in need, or if any of them could benefit from his good fortune. In this parable the farmer loves only himself. He has not loved God first. And he has not loved his neighbor at all.

This parable is not just about material goods. It asks each of us, “With what are we in relationship?” And when we have identified the relationships, which ones are getting in the way of my relationship with God? What are the things we are putting first in our lives instead of God? What are our priorities? Only we can answer these questions.

The fact is that life is short. In the end we all die. Ecclesiastes makes no bones about it. It can happen at any time; you can be getting off your motorcycle in Spirit Lake and accidentally shot in the back like the gentleman last week or you can be 97 years old with congestive heart failure like the gentleman that I sat with last night.

It is important to put our temporal affairs in order as the prayer book suggests, but it is vitally important to put our spiritual affairs in order as Jesus has been instructing us. Remember last week’s collect where we asked God to be our ruler and guide so that we may pass through things temporal in a way so as not to lose the things eternal. By putting God first in our lives we can be assured that He will be with us through all of this life, assisting us in ways that are best for us according to His will. But by putting God first in our lives we can also be assured that He will be with us through all eternity.

Gloria Patri