This man worked hard to accumulate the contents of his barn. He has assured himself a future of ease and delight. He's earned it! He simply wants to be certain that he has enough, that he will be able to enjoy life to the fullest because of his hard work. That's the way it works, right? Also, what does "rich toward God" mean? I'm pretty sure he was paying his Temple tax, his tithe. Doubtless he was paying his workers something, maybe not too much, but hey, a guy has to take care of himself and his future. After all, what did those workers do except plant, water, and harvest the crops? That all happened on his land, with seeds he bought. He earned those crops and the life they would support, didn't he? Never needing to worry about where the next meal was, having more than enough to take care of his family and some extra to sell if it was necessary; those things were important, weren't they? After all, a person has to take care of themselves first.
Except that Jesus is not talking about "security" here, or even "enough". The truth is that "enough" doesn't exist for many people, because no matter what we have, it is never enough. We want more, and we mask that greed as fear of not having enough. It is an endless pattern of circular thinking that damages us, and damages all those who come in contact with us.
Too many of us believe that we will live forever. We fear death, and so we choose to deny its inevitability. The man in this Jesus story believes that as well. He has amassed great wealth and possessions. He can relax now and enjoy the fruits of his labor. However, God tells the man that his death is imminent and despite his obsession with stocking up he will not be able to "enjoy" the fruits of his hoarding. If not, then who will? The answer to this question illustrates another phenomena in the world today. The benefactors will be the offspring, the kinsfolk of that wealthy man. They will be the ones to "eat, drink, and be merry". As we clearly see today, those offspring will never need to work, to labor, to struggle. Oh, they may choose to continue whatever brought so much wealth to the family, because they want more and, after all, they don't yet have enough. More likely the scenario will be one of continuing to privilege their own offspring eventually at the expense of the family empire.
Because those offspring never learned what it is to work hard, to forego their greed, to invest wisely, to continually improve and innovate the infrastructure and the livelihood of their workers; they instead rely on the reserves and relax into their wealth. Oh, they may dabble in businesses themselves, riding the coattails of the family name; yet the success or failure of those businesses will be blunted by the money they already have.The next generation will do even more to party and refuse to invest with "sound" business practices. That third generation out, unless those prior have been wise instead of indulgent, the business will be destroyed and the workers, not the owners, will suffer.
No one lives forever; no one gets out of this life alive. However, the truth of Jesus' words didn't sit so well with the early Church "Fathers". In order to make the narrative more palatable to hearers, subsequent writings translated and taught something different so that Christianity would be attractive to wealth. The difficult Jesus stories were either glossed over or creatively reinterpreted to mean something very different.
The word that Jesus used, "sozo" was translated as "salvation" or "saved" instead of its true definition of "made whole" or "made well". Jesus was teaching that those who followed what he taught, what God truly had intended, would be healed of the human sickness of selfishness and greed, hatred and deliberate evil. The truth of "eternal life" in Jesus' teachings was not "never die" or even "live forever". The term originally meant "live fully, completely in the presence of God, always". It meant that those who followed Jesus' teachings would live without fear of not enough, or consequences for practicing injustice or other evil behaviors. Yet a case could well be made that by the end of the first century the narrative needed to adjust in order for the Church to attract wealth and status. In so doing, the Church might be able to protect itself from persecution and continue to exist. That same narrative also kept, and still keeps, the "not wealthy" believing that we struggle in this life with nothing so that we may be rewarded in heaven. Or just as damaging, that we are rewarded, that we are blessed, with wealth if we are good people; and receive nothing if we aren't good enough.
The "King James' Version" of the Bible, in 1611, codified those adjustments through translation into English. Today we have the reality of so many people quoting Scripture without ever having read it. We have people stating things that are not found in Scripture, because they believe that those statements are accurate. We have congregations of individuals who believe that Jesus wants us to be kind and that God will bless us with everything if we simply behave ourselves and give some money to the Church, or the congregation where we might worship. We have individuals who attend Church occasionally, because isn't that what we are supposed to do? We have people self-identifying as "Christian" who don't know any Jesus stories, beyond the "Christmas" and "Easter" ones. We have individuals who focus more effort on fear, hatred, and vengeance stories that they don't understand. Too many people are more certain those stories mean than they will be blessed if they recite a formula, or strictly follow some set of "rules".
Media people will tell you that "sex" and "fear" sell. People will vote, purchase and live against their own best interests when motivated by either of those emotions. Despite the presence of egregious wealth and heart-wrenching poverty, people will continue to support individuals and systems that actually perpetrate that dichotomy. As the cost of education rises, so too does the derision surrounding the need for that education. The consequence of that derision is ignorance and increasing confirmation bias. Sadly we are experiencing those consequences right now. The wealthiest among us, like the man in Jesus' story, as well as those in their next generations are invested in supporting and encouraging that ignorance.
The Church of the second century and beyond, began to experience clergy and congregational systems that depend on biblical illiteracy to enrich their own coffers. The legacy of this biblical illiteracy is a systemic evil that widens the financial gap as it destroys the fabric of humanity. Legacy. What will you leave when you leave this world? A quote attributed to actor Denzel Washington says, "At the end of the day, it's not about what you have or even what you've accomplished. It's about what you've done with those accomplishments. It's about who you've lifted up, who you've made better. It's about what you've given back."
That's the message of Jesus in this story. What did you do with your life, with what you have? The stories of Jesus illustrate and emphasize the need for His followers to make a difference, for good, in the life of other human beings and the world. This story begins with Jesus admonishing listeners, including us, "Take care! Be on guard against all kinds of greed for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." Each day, every person who claims the name "Christian" will need to ask themselves these questions. What have you done in your life? What will be your legacy?
When we truly follow Jesus' teachings, our legacy will not be how much we have amassed in our lifetime. In her poem, "The Summer Day", Mary Oliver (1935-2019) ends the poem with this question: "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" Will you work to give others a better life, or will you continue to build bigger barns in order to store your treasures that you may never get an opportunity to use for yourself? Will we decide to stop kneeling the altar of "money and possessions"? Or will we ignore the words of Jesus; will we ignore the desire of God toward all of humanity; or will we silence the words of God's Spirit urging us to share generously so that all may have what is truly "enough" and no one will be found struggling to survive.
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