Pentecost 11 C: From Isolation to Community

Luke 12:13-21

Dear Partner in Preaching,

What if this parable really isn’t about money? Or about wealth? Or about the need to give to the church? I know, I know, if that’s true, it robs this parable of its value as the fodder of a great stewardship sermon. (If it makes you feel any better, no one really was expecting to hear a stewardship sermon the last Sunday in July anyway.)

Yet I think we move too quickly to assume the issue here is about this farmer’s wealth, when rather I think it’s about his isolation. Consider the little conversation he has with himself. Except it’s not just to himself, it’s also about himself…and only himself. There is no evidence that there is anyone else in his life, anyone else he should care about, anyone else who might have contributed to or benefit from this bountiful harvest. Instead, confronted with the blessing of an abundant harvest, all he can think of is what he should do to make sure he gets the most out of it so that he can live comfortably into his old age.

More than this blatant narcissism – or perhaps because of this narcissism – the farmer falls prey to the notion that he can secure his own future. That he needs no one, depends on no one, and can go it alone. Which is why God calls him foolish. Because, in the end, not only is he not immune to death, but he will die alone, and all that he has stored up with not comfort or protect him, nor will it go to others who loved and respected him and can put it to good use, but instead it will all turn to dust in the wind.

In this light, I wonder how we should read the closing line, “So it will be with those who store up treasures for themselves and are not rich toward God.” I know, here’s the stewardship connection, right? Maybe. But how can one be rich toward God without also – and quite frankly, first – being rich toward others? God, to paraphrase Martin Luther, needs neither our good works nor our wealth, but our neighbor does.

So perhaps this parable is really about community, the community in which we find sustenance and comfort and help and hope, and the community in which and through which we experience life with God. Keep in mind, after all, that this whole parable is started by a break in a community, the central and primary community of society, a family. One brother comes seeking Jesus’ intervention in a family squabble about an inheritance. And Jesus will have none of it. Recognizing that what should have been an occasion for celebration, remembrance, and gratitude – the giving and sharing of an inheritance – has instead been turned into a moment of division, Jesus refuses to get involved directly, but instead tells the story of a man so enraptured with his good fortune that he ends up all alone.

Who was Jesus’ addressing, I wonder. The man who brought the complaint? The man’s brother? The disciples? The crowds? All of us today? Yes. Yet of all these options, I’m particularly interested in how we hear Jesus’ words today. Because there is, right now, a profound and increasingly shared message out and about that we should not and cannot trust each other, that the world is increasingly dangerous and we should therefore be increasingly afraid. That kind of fear will not lead us forward. The regular and relentless biblical injunction “do not be afraid” is not offered simply to bolster our individual courage but to make it easier for us to turn to one another with our fears and hopes and dreams and needs in order to form a community. The Bible warns us against fear because it’s really hard to care for your neighbor and create a community when you are afraid.

Don’t get me wrong. Community is not easy. It means putting up with people who disagree with you and annoy you and even have hurt you. Forgiveness, as well as trust, is vital. But this is God’s will, that we “not be alone.” And I think this farmer who was rich in possessions but absolutely dirt poor in relationships never got that message.

You have the responsibility, Dear Partner, to tend and nurture a community that gathers around God’s word of grace and mercy. That is important work, challenging work, and God-blessed work, and I’m grateful for your commitment to it. However you preach this sermon, know that as you do so you are strengthening the Body of Christ. Thank you. Even more, thank God for you.

Yours in Christ,
David