We are following Jesus’ teachings from the Gospel of Luke for the next several weeks and today’s teaching is actually a parable that Jesus told about planning for our future retirement.
You’ve probably seen those “now’s the time to prepare for retirement” commercials. I know there’s wisdom in saving and investing, but they can also add to our stress unintentionally. They can add stress to our lives where we already had enough stress.
Bible scholar, Pete Enns describes these retirement commercials in a way in which many of us probably can relate.
He writes how these investment commercials tend to use shame in getting us to join their investment company. Usually these commercials begin with a financial advisor and a client who appears to have “oodles of time to just hang out over coffee and review his or her investment portfolio from every imaginable angle.”
The client is worried he or she won’t have enough money for retirement and the advisor shows how all the money that has been invested over the years has now tripled and by making a few changes here and there, they will be able to retire even earlier than expected.
In referring to these commercials, Pete Enns says his one meeting with a financial advisor took on a much different tone, a more realistic tone for most of us. He says that his meeting went something like this:
The financial advisor says, “Pete, Pete! Get up off the floor. It’s not all bad news. I project that if you get a second job, keep working until you’re ninety-seven, max out every year on every conceivable retirement plan known to humanity, and sell a kidney and one eye on the black market, you should be fine – assuming of course, that Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid and food stamps are still up and running. But just in case, swing by the office and let’s talk lottery strategies.”
Of course, Pete was exaggerating in making this comparison but I think we get his point. Talking about money can be stressful on us, whether we have a lot of money or just enough to get by.
Jesus told this parable because of an inheritance dispute. Yes, they happened in Jesus’ day, like they do today. Maybe that’s why the Bible speaks a lot about how our approach to money can get in the way of our relationship with God.
Jesus knew that even thinking about money can cause anxiety. Most of the people who Jesus taught and healed were people who were barely making ends meet. Jesus knew that when your expenses are outpacing your income, that’s going to lead to a lot of stress in your life.
But Jesus also knew that even if you have a lot of money, that can also lead to a different kind of stress, the stress of wanting to make even more money and where you always live thinking that you never have enough.
This is why our vanity license plate message based on Jesus’ teaching on money today are the letters “E-N-U-F.” It’s part of our humanness to worry that we won’t have enough whether we are rich or poor or somewhere in between. We never feel like we have enough.
Now I don’t know exactly why someone in the crowd asked Jesus for his legal advice about a family dispute over an inheritance, but my guess is that they saw something in Jesus that they were missing – a sense of peace and contentment. And that’s ironic if you think about it because isn’t that what we think money should do for us? Give us peace and contentment?
Maybe for a little while, but before too long, we are afraid we’re not going to have enough.
Instead of putting on his legal hat to answer someone’s question about how their family inheritance should divided up, Jesus takes a different approach. He gets at the root of the question by telling this parable about a man who had more crops than he knew where to store. His solution was to tear down his barns and build larger ones to store all the crops.
If the parable would stop there, that would make all kinds of sense, wouldn’t it. That just sounds like being a good farmer, not wanting the extra harvest to go to waste.
But the parable doesn’t end there. This farmer decides to retire and spend the money on himself. The problem was that he died that night and his abundance went to waste so nobody was able to enjoy his record harvest.
It’s like Jesus is reminding us that money is meant to be a means to an end and not the end itself. The purpose of our portfolios, our savings and checking accounts, our harvests, and all that we have is so that we can multiply those gifts with the people around us. This is why Jesus’ teaching from our Gospel reading today concluded with Jesus saying, “So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
Jesus’ kingdom is an alternative kingdom to what the world offers. Jesus’ kingdom is one where we share with others. It’s where we see our common humanity. It’s where all have plenty to eat. It’s where there is more than enough for all.
Stephen King is the master author of scary stories and he has chillingly scared movie audiences and readers. Some years ago he was the commencement speaker for Vassar College. On that day he tried not to scare the young graduates but challenge them to see that they had a window in their lives when they had the power to do good.
Two years prior to this speech, King had been severely injured in an accident where he was hit by a car as he walked on roadside. He refers to this accident in his speech:
“A couple of years ago I found out what “you can't take it with you” means. I found out while I was lying in a ditch at the side of a country road...on that particular day and in the months that followed, I got a painful but extremely valuable look at life's simple backstage truths. We come in naked and broke. We may be dressed when we go out, but we're just as broke. Warren Buffet? Going to go out broke. Bill Gates? Going out broke... All the money you earn, all the stocks you buy.. all of that is mostly smoke and mirrors...So I want you to consider making your life one long gift to others. And why not? All you have is on loan, anyway. All that lasts is what you pass on... A life of giving-not just money, but time and spirit- repays. It helps us remember that we may be going out broke, but right now we're doing o.k. Right now we have the power to do great good for others and for ourselves. So I ask you to begin giving. Only yours to give for a short while.”
Stephen King's words were to Ivy League graduates who will probably earn lots of money. His plea is applicable for all of us as we consider our possessions and their purposes.
Gary Moore is a financial consultant that helps Christians manage their finances. He is asked often, “How much should I give? What should be the percentage/ perimeters?”
He likes to smile and answer: “Well, that depends. How happy do you want to be?”
I’ll tell you what makes me happy. It’s when as a pastor, I get to celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion with you here in worship. My favorite thing as a pastor is when I watch you come forward to receive the bread and the cup.
I can’t put into words the happiness I feel as we share in communion together. Rich/poor, employed/unemployed, old/young, long-time church member/new to the faith…we all come with open arms to celebrate NOT the treasures of the world, but the treasures of God’s overflowing grace so freely given to us by a loving God through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And I realize in that moment, that I have more than enough.
Yeah, that’s what makes me happy.
License Plate Sightings: ENUF
Sermon Discussion Questions
Luke 12:13-21
August 4, 2019
Jesus’ teaching in our scripture reading from the Gospel of Luke invites us to reflect on the question, “How can we know when we have “enough” stuff to help us live and enjoy our lives?” This is why this week’s vanity license plate is “ENUF.”
What helps you to know if you have “ENUF?”
Jesus tells a parable about a man who has everything he needs in life and yet it still wasn’t enough. Jesus called this man a “fool” for thinking that all of his possessions were meant only for him.
Why do you think that we somtetimes forget that our possessions and resources are meant to be shared with others and not kept to ourselves?
The sermon talked about the famous writer, Stephen King who gave a commencement address to the graduating class at Vassar College, known to be an elite school. In his address, King encouraged the graduates to think of their life as one long gift to others since we can’t take anything with us when we die.
In what ways can our lives be “one long gift to bless others?”
Gary Moore is a financial consultant who is often asked by Christians, “How much should I give to my church?” He responds by asking them, “Well that depends on how happy you want to be?”
Why do you think that being generous by sharing our possessions with others leads to happiness?
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