For Sunday, August 4th

Hello Friends,

Welcome back to Prepared Hearts, the Wacousta Community UMC online Bible study. The Revised Common Lectionary texts for this week include: Hosea 11:1-11, Psalm 107:1-9, 43 or Psalm 49:1-12, Colossians 3:1-11, and Luke 12:13-21. What is the Revised Common Lectionary? Find out here.

This week I’ll be preaching from Luke. The NRSV translation is below, followed by some starter thoughts.

Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

STARTER THOUGHTS

The text begins with a dispute over family inheritance, something that continues to divide families today. The man comes to Jesus for arbitration, but Jesus instead gives a lesson about how to treat material wealth. How do you think the brother with the inheritance dispute responded to Jesus’ words?

My first reflections on this text are very personal. I ask myself: what place do material possessions hold in my heart and mind? What full barns do I have that I’m holding on to, reluctant to share? In what ways am I similar to the rich man from this story? And then, perhaps most importantly: what do I need to change about my attitude or actions?

I am continually amazed at how the teachings of Jesus from two thousand years ago remain so relevant to our daily lives today. Not only the stories he used, but the admonitions he gave, such as “be on guard against all kinds of greed,” are words we need to hear as much as his first disciples. How do you define “greed?” Where do you see manifestations of it in the world? In our community? In your own life?

This scripture inevitably triggers thoughts and discussion about saving and stewardship. Saving some of the harvest for the next year’s planting was essential, just as savings accounts and pension plans are acts of good stewardship. However, the question becomes: how much saving is just greedy? This parable makes it seem very simple. When the rich man’s barns were full and his response was to build bigger barns, he clearly crossed a line. Yet, sometimes that line in our own lives isn’t as easy to see. How are we to judge where the line is between good stewardship and greed when it comes to our personal finances? How does this apply to how we approach our church’s finances?

This text invites us to remember our call to both social and personal holiness. What social policies or laws allow for the building of bigger and bigger barns by individuals and/or corporations? How do you think God would have us respond to the gross inequality between in the rich and poor in our country and around the globe?

Finally, what word of encouragement or challenge does this teaching offer to persons living in or near poverty? Many individuals and families are living paycheck to paycheck and have no barns at all. Does this scripture apply beyond material possessions? How so?

As always, I look forward to hearing your thoughts and reflections.

Feel free to email me directly or post a comment here.

Peace,

Pastor Amee