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Riches
in Heaven
August
4-5, 2007
Fr.
George Smiga
Luke
12:13-21
A
research company was anxious to do an extensive study of wolves
in one of our national parks. Wolves, however, are rather
clever, and have no desire to cooperate with scientific studies.
So, with the backing of a major donor, the company placed
a bounty of $5000 on any wolf that could be safely captured
for research. Two young college students, Tom and Dave, decided
this would be a way to make their fortunes. They were familiar
with the park because they had camped there frequently. For
two weeks they scoured the park without much success. Then
one night, exhausted, they retired to their sleeping bags
under the stars, and fell asleep thinking of their potential
wealth. In the middle of the night, Tom woke up and realized
that he and Dave were surrounded by at least 50 wild wolves
with glaring eyes and bared teeth. He nudged his companion.
“Dave,” he said, “Wake up! We're rich!”
Rich?
Maybe. Doomed? For sure. Today's parable also relates riches
and death. In the parable, a rich man is busy making plans
to store his wealth for the future. He decides to build bigger
barns to hold what he owns. But all of his industrious planning
is cut short by his sudden death. The parable does not deny
the need to plan for the future, but it asks us to look at
wealth from the ultimate perspective. The man in the parable
is called a fool, not because he is stupid, but because he
does not appreciate the true purpose of his wealth. All his
crops, all that he has is a gift from God. That gift, of course,
is meant to be used for his benefit, but not in an unlimited
way. Once his own needs are met, his excess wealth should
not be hoarded away for the future, but used. And according
to the gospel, it is to be used for the benefit of others.
This
truth is not new to you. I think all of us are aware that
God entrusts things to us to be used for the benefit of others.
Yet I think many of us, much like the man in the parable,
go about from day to day without reflecting on what the purpose
is for the gifts we have received. When God places money,
or time, or ability into our hand, we are delighted. We begin
planning how we can use these things for our own benefit.
But how often do we think of the responsibility we have to
use our gifts for the sake of others?
Now
this blindness might result in part from our culture which
is always pushing us to accumulate excess wealth: more money,
more friends, more possessions. Our culture persuades us that
bigger is better, that growth is always desirable. How often
do we ask ourselves, “Do I really need this? Shouldn't some
of this be given to someone else? What part of my excess wealth
or talent or time should I give to someone who needs it?”
Clearly
today's parable might not be intended for everyone. There
could be people here this morning who have no excess wealth,
no excess time, no excess talent. But the people with no excess
of gifts are few. Most of us need to listen to this parable
as it reminds us that the excess gifts that we keep for ourselves
are not an advantage, but a liability. The scriptures even
use the image of a storehouse in heaven, a storehouse in which
we can invest. We can place things in our heavenly storehouse
each time we give away some of our resources here on earth.
And that image of the heavenly storehouse should be taken
seriously, because at any time, just like in the parable,
God could choose to call us home.
When
John D. Rockefeller died at the age of 98 at the beginning
of the twentieth century, he was the wealthiest man in the
world. And a reporter who was assembling his obituary asked
his chief aide, “Just how much did your boss leave behind?”
The aide answered, “All of it.”
The
same is true for us. We will leave behind whatever we do not
invest above. And how sad would it be, at the time of our
death, if our bank account and coffers here on earth were
bulging full and our storehouse in heaven was empty and bare?
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