August 20, 2008 + No carry-on luggage allowed + Hayward Fong

Luke 12: 13-21

The story told by Jesus is as old as time and as new as today. It’s about a man whose life was one long success story. He made his plans to enjoy himself in his own way and, suddenly, when everything seem to be all set, the grim reaper came on the scene with other plans. It is the kind of a story that occurs in all literature.

From the Arabian Nights, there is this startling parallel story. “A king had gathered together a vast store of gold and other treasures and had built for himself a great palace reaching the sky. One day he ordered a feast to be prepared for his court, and sitting on his throne he communed with himself saying, ‘O soul, thou hast heaped up for thyself all the good things of the world; now give thyself up to them and enjoy these treasures in a long and happy life.’ Scarce had he finished when the angel of death came to him.” When Jesus told this story, he told of something which happens in every age and generation.

This is one of the parables which spring directly from their context. It was the usual thing that people came to respected Rabbis with their problems. The fact that the man in the crowd came to Jesus with his problem is an indication that Jesus was regarded as a Rabbi and held in respect.

But the fact is, this man had no real problem. His request was that Jesus should speak to his brother about the division of the estate, presumably of his father. Jewish law was quite definite. The law was that the eldest son got two-thirds and the remaining one-third was given to the younger or divided among the younger sons. Therefore there was no question about the division of the estate. This man knew the law well enough but he was not satisfied with his share. He was a covetous individual who sought to inveigle Jesus into being an ally of his covetousness. That is why Jesus begins with his warning about covetousness and then goes on to tell his vivid story.

This parable is usually referred as The Parable of the Rich Fool. Here was this man who had enjoyed a run of unbroken prosperity, so prosperous that his barns could not hold his crops. He tore down barn after barn and built larger ones in their place. Now he was ready to sit back and enjoy himself for years to come. But God had other plans. God told him that his soul would be required of him that night. His plans of enjoyment were shattered forever.

The rich fool is held up as a warning to all of us. Where did this man go awry. What were the things of life this man remembered and what did he forget?

First, he remembered the wrong things. He remembered only himself. Note that this story is full of the first person singular. He asks himself, “What shall I do because I have no room to bestow my fruits? He goes on to say to himself, “This will I do; I will pull down my barns and build greater ones and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.” From that he goes on to plan a life which apparently has not even the remotest thought for anything else except his own ease and enjoyment. To himself, he was by far the most important person in all the world.

It has been said that Jesus came to banish the words “I” and “mine” from life and to substitute “we” and “ours.” It is certainly significant that in the Lord’s Prayer the first person singular never appears; it is always the first person plural. Self is banished and man is taught to think of himself as one of a community of brothers and sisters.

The ancient monks of the middle east may have made many mistakes in their outlook on life, but they had one custom worthy of emulation. It was laid down that no monk might ever speak of “my” book, “my” pen, “my” cell, and to use the word was regarded as a fault demanding rebuke and discipline.

This parable is the final condemnation of the man to whom the most important word is “I.”

The second thing this man remembered was this world. He never had a thought for anything except the world in which he was living. He was so enthralled with it that as far as he was concerned no other world existed. There is such a thing as an other-worldly Christianity which despises the world. For that nothing is to be said. But it is possible to swing around 180-degrees to the other direction and to worship the world. There is the story told of a person who after having been shown through a beautiful estate and castle, remarked, “These are things which make it difficult to die.”

The idea of such a person is to amass things which, he believes, can insure happiness and security. That is a hopeless task. The Jews have a saying, “He who so craves wealth is like a man who drinks sea water. The more he drinks the more he increases his thirst and he ceases not to drink until he perishes.” There is this unwritten saying attributed to Jesus, “The world is a bridge. The wise man will pass over it but will not build his house upon it.” He meant that the world is of first rate importance but that it is a stage to another world, and that he who forgets that has really forgotten the main object of life.

Now that we have looked at what the rich fool remembered, let us look at what he forgot.

He forgot his neighbors. If his barns were too small, there must have been many who would have been glad to share in some of his surplus. Had he looked around he wouldn’t have had much trouble finding others in need. All he thought about was his enjoyment. His notion of happiness was to take his ease, to eat, to drink. His one thought was to have a good time. One of the greatest tests of a person is – Where does that person find his enjoyment? or Does he connect enjoyment with making other people happy? If he seeks solely selfish enjoyment he will not get it. There is a saying, “Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from their own.”

Second, he forgot time. The whole attitude of this man was that he had unlimited time. One of the features of all great men is that they have been impressed, sometimes even obsessed, with the shortness of time. They hear “time’s” winged chariot hurrying near.

John Keats (1795-1821), one of England’s greatest poets said, “fears that I may cease to be before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain.”

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote these haunting words,
“The morning drum-call on my eager ear
Thrills unforgotten yet; the morning dew
Lies yet undried along the field of noon.

“But now I pause at whiles in what I do,
And count the bell, and tremble lest I hear
(My work untrimmed) the sunset gun too soon.”

C.E. Montague (1867-1928), noted British journalist, author, told how many years ago he first realized the urgency of time. He heard a sermon by the great Anglican preacher Dr. Benjamin Jowett (1817-1893), the Master of Balliol. In it, Dr. Jowett said, “I find it set down in tables that the average duration of human life at the end of 21 years is 36 years. We may hope for a little more; we may fear a little less, but speaking generally 36 years or about 13,000 days is the term in which our task must be accomplished.” It was the reduction of the matter to days which struck Montague; and there came to him the utter certainty that not one of these days could be wasted by an honorable man.

Rev. Dr. Thomas Chalmers, (1780-1847), a Scottish clergyman and Professor of Mathematics and Moral Philosophy at the University of St. Andrews, after admitting that a statement he had made in the early days of his ministry was in error and made in ignorance, said, “What is the object of mathematical science? magnitude and proportion of magnitudes. (Back) then, sir, I had forgotten two magnitudes. I thought not of the littleness of time; I recklessly thought not of the greatness of eternity.” Here we have a man who when he discovered the real essence of Christianity, discovered also the shortness of time.

It may well be said that the most dangerous word is the word, “tomorrow.” It may be a grim thought but a necessary one. We have no bond on time. No one knows if tomorrow will ever come. There is an old story of three apprentice devils that were coming from hell to earth to serve their time. They were telling Satan before they left what they proposed to do. The first said, “I will tell men that there is no God.” “That,” Satan said, “will not do because in their hearts they know there is.” The second said, “I will tell them that there is no hell.” That,” Satan said, “is still more hopeless for even in life they have experienced the remorse of hell.” The third said, I will tell them that there is no hurry.” “Go,” said Satan, “tell them that and you will ruin them by the million.”

The rich fool forgot time. It is said that Alexander the Great kept a little model of a skeleton on the table before him to remind him that, even at the happiest, time was short and death must come. It is a thing that all of us must remember, not simply as a grim and frightening thing, but as a challenge to prepare ourselves for taking a step to a greater work and a higher world and a life in the presence of God.

This man forgot God. As the proverb states, “Man proposes; but God disposes.” James writes, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get gain’; whereas you do not know about tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or that’” (James 4:13-15). The man who makes plans and leaves out God has left out the most important factor of all.

Finally, he forgot that a man is what he is and not what he has. He concentrated on a pursuit of the things he was bound to leave behind and forgot the things he could take with him. As the Spanish proverb puts it, “There are no pockets in a shroud.” Or as a Scottish saying goes, “Sow a deed, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.” In the last analysis the one thing a man can take with him when he leaves this world is himself. Alexander the Great gave instructions that when he died his body should be placed in the coffin in such a way that it could be seen that his hands were empty. The conqueror of the world was well aware that he could take none of his conquests with him. The supreme aim of life should not be the acquisition of temporary things but the formation of a character which some day we may take without shame to God.

Amen.