Proper 13, Yr C (2025) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
Proper 13, Year C (2025) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
Psalm 107:1-9, 43 St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
Luke 12:13-21
In the name of the one, holy, and loving God:
in whom we live, and move, and have our being. Amen.
“One’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions,”
Jesus says in today’s gospel story.
Jesus has been hammering home this truth,
turning the Pharisees and lawyers against him,
because he says they are tithing commodities
while neglecting justice and love.
Today’s gospel story begins with a man yelling out from a crowd of thousands,
“Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”
“Friend,” Jesus replies…
“who set me to be a judge over you?”
“Take care!
Be on your guard against all kinds of greed;
for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”
Jesus just dives right in without mincing words.
I am curious about Jesus’ judgment of this man.
I wonder if this man might have been wearing costly robes,
or if there might have been another way he appeared to be a person of great wealth.
I mean dividing a family inheritance doesn’t seem a bad thing…
maybe this man’s father had died,
and his brother was being greedy.
Or, perhaps it’s the fact that there’s an inheritance at all that rubs Jesus the wrong way.
Whatever the rub,
Jesus proceeds to tell the parable of the rich landowner,
whose land produced abundantly.
The landowner has so great a yield of crops that he decides to tear down his barns
and build bigger ones to store his crops and goods
so that he can eat, drink, and be merry for years to come.
Apparently, this man has plenty and some to spare.
And then, of course, the punch line to the story is that he dies that very night…
unable to enjoy any of his stores.
“Take care,” Jesus says,
“one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”
As I read this story I thought,
what would happen if God told me that I will die this very night?
Have I accumulated a bunch of excess stuff that is useless to me
but that someone else might find useful, or even essential?
What is the state of my life?
How am I spending my time, my resources, my energy?
And then I remembered something that I have recommended to other folks
but have not yet done myself.
And that is to write your own obituary…
To write my own obituary.
Whatever age we are right now:
90… or 73… or 60…or even 40…
what could, or would, we say about our life?
What would we want to be said?
What would we wish we could have said?
Or looking ahead what would we like to say?
I remember a friend once asking me at a crossroads in my life:
What do you want your life to look like?
That’s perhaps a more positive spin.
It is worth thinking about.
What do we want our lives to look like?
What values do we want to reflect through the ways we live our lives?
And, I think that perhaps this is Jesus’ point.
The rich landowner seems most concerned with himself.
He talks about his possessions only in terms of himself:
“What should I do?”
“I have no place to store my crops.”
“I will do this:
“I will pull down my barns and build larger ones…”
“There I will store all my grain and all my goods.”
“I will say to my soul: soul…you have laid up ample goods.”
It’s all about him.
You see, he has already lost his life,
even if death did not take him that night.
The gospel story that immediately follows this one is the story in which Jesus tells his disciples,
“Do not worry about your life,
what you will eat,
or about your body,
what you will wear….
“Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?
...Instead strive for [God’s] kindom,
and these things will be given you as well.”
Today’s psalmist says:
“Give thanks to God, for God is good,
and God’s mercy endures for ever….
“God satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things.
“Whoever is wise will ponder these things,
and consider well the mercies of God.” (Ps 107:1, 9, 43)
God is good.
And God’s mercy endures for ever.
When we consider well God’s mercy,
then perhaps it is easier for us to extend God’s mercy to others.
I recognize my privilege in even being able to ask the question:
“What do I want my life to look like?”
Most people in the world do not have the luxury of asking that question.
That is not right.
What needs to change?
Today’s gospel invites the questions:
Is my life about attempting to maintain my own security at the expense of others?
Is my life about making a difference in the world…
sharing my abundance with others?
Am I willing to risk taking a stand for others…
to risk life or reputation or incarceration for justice…
for love…
for the ability for others to be able to ask the question:
What do I want my life to look like?
Let’s go back to the beginning of the story…
“Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,
‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’”
“But [Jesus] said to him,
‘Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’”
At St. Andrew’s I don’t think we are at risk of building bigger barns!
But I do think it is worth our asking the question of ourselves as individuals
and as a community:
How do we share our inheritance?
We are inheritors of a plenitude of gifts that God has bestowed upon us.
What are our gifts?
How is God calling us to use these gifts
for the furthering of God’s kindom in the town of Canton and beyond?
How do we give ourselves away?
How do we tend to one another’s needs?
How do we invite others in our community
to come share in spending our inheritance at this time and in this place?
These are questions I invite you to ponder.
These are questions your vestry and clergy are asking.
These are questions to discuss amongst ourselves
as we discern God’s calling to us in the coming months and years.
Let us give thanks to God,
for God is good…
and God’s mercy endures forever.
As we consider God’s abundant mercy in our lives,
may we be bold enough to extend that mercy
to all whom we meet on this journey.
Amen.
