“Living in the Present” a sermon based on Luke 12:12-23 Humber United Church August 4, 2013

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” Jesus said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” He said to the crowd, “Take care! Be alert to all kinds of greed; one’s life is not abundant possessions.” Then he told them a parable: “A rich man’s land produced abundantly. He thought to himself, ‘What should I do? I have nowhere to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and store all my grain and my goods. I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. The things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store treasure for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
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This past week, I was invited to a friend’s house for an afternoon by the pool. It’s a beautiful setting, garden and trees all around, sheltered so the neighbours can’t really see; the trees go right down the back to the bay. There’s a couple of chipmunks living under one of the trees, and they zip up and down, and don’t seem too afraid. The pool is a warm 85 degrees - and it’s a slice of heaven to sit out there with a nice glass of something in hand, soak up sunshine and just be. 

On first read, it feels a bit like today’s Gospel addresses life and leisure. Yet a closer look seems to be sifting what’s important and what’s extraneous. Time is short. Jesus isn’t exactly specific, but still clear-headed enough about what will happen in Jerusalem. So with his own death before him, Jesus preaches his often-heard "No Fear" sermon one last time.

"Stand up to authorities, don’t cower!" he says, "they can kill your body-but that’s all they can do; you're much more than a body. Remember, it’s God who holds your entire life - body, soul, and spirit. How much are a couple of parakeets? Pocket change, right? God doesn't overlook a single one. God pays even greater attention to you, down to the last hair on your head. Stand strong for me among people you meet, and when they drag you into police interrogations, I'll give you the right words to say. "No Fear!"

As he begins to move into his second point, a listener breaks up the meeting with an off the wall remark: "Hey, Jesus, would you please tell my brother to give me a fair share of the family inheritance." So much for the sermon, we might think. The interruption is embarrassing. The guy’s one concern has even shut out Jesus' words. Jesus snaps back: "Mister, who do you think I am? Some judge that God has personally assigned to you? Take care, my friend, about greed; there's more to life than getting things. "

Jesus, being Jesus, tells a story about a landowner who has a bumper crop. If there is a problem its a good one, right? Jesus says that this man demolishes his existing buildings to make room for the surplus So now he needs an adequate facility to expand the business. So far, we're exactly in line with this fellow, right? We rebuild our churches, or add air conditioning or something, 've torn our barns down in order to build bigger ones.  Jesus allows us to hear this guy as he talks to himself; a sort of brain to wallet to soul meeting.

Wait a minute - just live off the interest? Kick back and do whatever we want whenever we want? “Fool” says God. "Tonight your very soul will be required of you, and then who'll get your stuff, because you certainly won't."

Is this a story about greed? Or is it a story about priorities, about figuring out what we really need and what we don’t. Remember the Lord’s Prayer says “Give us the bread we need for today.” Yet here’s a wealthy man who builds even bigger to store up amassed goods. Could he maybe not do something else with the extra food ?

Talking about amassing goods. Through part of July I’ve been packing up for Toronto. A lot of what came here was amassed goods - stuff which we picked up over the years, stuff we had when the kids lived at home - and as I looked at it - a lot of it was stuff we don’t need back there. Lots went out to the Salvation Army and other places - and yet, there’s still a lot. I looked at things I bought here, and decided they don’t all need to go. What do we really need? Who knows what will happen tomorrow, or next week, or next year? And what will happen to all the stuff?

When I returned to Japan in February, together Norio and I spent a good four days just cleaning up things. There were things that had not been used in many years, but were still there anyway. Nine bags of very old used clothes went out; there are still six bags of good used clothes which will go to Fukushima, for families who lost everything in the tsunami. I wondered, though - what was mother thinking, holding on to all that? And I know the answer - life through the war was a struggle, and they barely had enough to eat, let alone enough to wear. Both Norio’s mother and father went to work in post-war Japan in order to survive. So the amassing of things was also a symbol of having lived through hard times. We don’t have that kind of reason - not really.

Christians believe we go on to another life after death; the early Jews believed in reincarnation, which gradually was suppressed and became resurrection; Buddhists and other faiths believe in reincarnation - the soul has a choice to come back here and work to enlighten other beings, or, to go on to the next life. Yet all we have in this fragile human form is the present.

I read a statement years ago which went “I believe in life after death, but I believe I should live my life as if there isn’t one.” The philosopher who wrote this was making a point - it’s the belief in life after death which allows us to behave badly, confident that God forgives everything in the end so it really doesn’t matter what we do here. We can be greedy, amass piles of possessions, treat people poorly - and get away with it if we confess our sins and ask forgiveness. That, he said, was the reason he preferred to live his life as if there were NO life after death. To him it meant that this life, here and now, is our only shot at making something good of our life and the world we live in.

And in this Gospel Jesus reminds us that life is not given meaning by the things we have or where we live or what car we drive, but in our relationship with God and with each other. The psalm reminds us that only God can give us what we truly need, that God's love is certain.

I don’t know about you, but I really like the new Pope Francis in Rome. I want to read some of the news release from Reuters press, when the Pope was a “no show” at a concert.

“A last-minute no-show by Pope Francis at a concert where he was to have been the guest of honour has sent another clear signal that he is going to do things his way and does not like the Vatican high life.

Minutes before the concert was due to start, an archbishop told the crowd of cardinals and Italian dignitaries that an "urgent commitment that cannot be postponed" would prevent Francis from attending. The prelates, assured that health was not the reason for the no-show, looked disoriented, realising that the message he wanted to send was that, with the Church in crisis, he - and perhaps they - had too much pastoral work to do to attend social events.

The picture of the empty chair was used in many Italian papers, calling his decision "a show of force" to illustrate the simple style he wants Church officials to embrace.

Since his election on March 13, Francis, the former cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina, has not spent a single night in the opulent and spacious papal apartments. He has preferred to live in a small suite in a busy Vatican guest house, where he takes most meals in a communal dining room and says Mass every morning in the house chapel rather than the private papal chapel in the Apostolic Palace. The day before the concert, Francis said bishops should be "close to the people" and not have "the mentality of a prince".”

Pope Francis follows in the footsteps of Archbishop Oscar Romero, both of them steeped in theology of the people and liberation theology.  I think he’s making strong points with his lifestyle. Maybe he is saying that if we live our life here as if this is all there is, we have to get it right on the first try, there is a larger onus on us than if we can get away with relaxing because in the end God forgives us and we have a new life when we leave here.

Jesus isn’t saying don’t have any fun, don’t take moments to eat, and drink and enjoy the company of good friends! That's what summers and families are about. Jesus had fun, laughing and dancing, attending parties - he wasn’t dead serious all the time. But he *is* saying life is about a whole lot more than just that.  Jesus is saying we *don’t* know when the end will come, so rather than behaving as if we can relax and store up for the future, we really do need to live into the now in a way that will make us better people, and make the world a better place for everyone to live. May it be so.

Sources:
1. How Much Is Enough? a homily based on Luke 12:13-21 by Rev. Thomas N. Hall
2. Reuters June 24, 2013 Vatican City