“Take care to guard against all greed . . .”

Over the years, I’ve heard some people wonder how the weekly Gospels apply to our daily lives. Well, this one hits the bullseye, and provides much food for thought and self-reflection

According to Luke’s Gospel this weekend (12:13-21), someone asks Jesus to tell the man’s brother to share his inheritance with him. Jesus answers that he is not the arbitrator in the matter, but uses the request as an opportunity to teach an important life lesson.

“Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

That’s a hard one to embrace because we love our possessions, don’t we? 

In fact, very many today define themselves by how much “stuff” they have accumulated.

Jesus offers the parable of the rich man who has an abundant harvest, so much so that it would overflow his current barns. What to do? His solution? He will tear down those barns and build even bigger ones to store his stuff. Problem solved! Then he will be able to eat, drink and be merry. In other words, his possessions will make him happy.

He will be deemed successful. If it’s true happiness he seeks, he is doomed to failure. So often we hear people mutter that they have “outgrown my house.” What does that really mean? They physically still fit into the house. What doesn’t fit is the continuing pile of possessions, and if they are to gather more, they need a bigger house.

Who really “needs” a 10,000 square foot house? That isn’t a home, it’s a monument to one’s own vanity.

Jesus tells us that God says to the rich man, “You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?”

We leave this world with exactly what we had when we entered it – absolutely nothing. Each and every one of us, regardless of our imagined rank in society. 

So, what can we consider and meditate upon this week?

How do you determine your own worth? Is it based on how much money you have sitting in the bank, or the size of your house? The cost of your car? Your success in business? How much power you hold over others? Is this how you judge the worth of others around you?

Your own answers might be hard to admit, so then consider this. What would Jesus say matters to God?

 If we’re looking for an answer that will address the reality of our daily lives, it’s right there in the Gospel.

By Debbie Bosak