TRUE OWNERSHIP

Luke 12:13-21

Sunday, September 17, 2006

It might well be that because I am rapidly approaching the half-century mark in age that my memory runs back to younger days. That probably explains why I’ve used lyrics from songs that were popular when I was in high school—so you’ve had to endure Pink Floyd, the Eagles and Simon and Garfunkel lately.

Those songs are still popular today. Do you know what song has remained among the most-played songs on rock/contemporary radio stations across the country since the 1970’s? If I tell you that Led Zeppelin wrote it, does that help? I know, you’re already singing the words to “Stairway to Heaven” in your mind. How many sermons in the Missouri Synod today do you think are incorporation the words from “Stairway to Heaven?”

Anyway, Led Zeppelin only got things half right. Does that surprise you? The part they got right is that you can’t—anymore than the lady in the song—buy a stairway to Heaven. Heaven is not for sale. Jesus Christ has paid for our entry already. Granted, Led Zeppelin didn’t include that truth as the reason for the part they got right.

They got that part wrong. Instead of directing people to Christ—which of course we might not expect a secular musical group to do, they direct the listener to the May Queen and Nature for salvation. Using Celtic imagery and pictures from Nature, they suggest that we can find that peace we’re hungering for by connecting back to Creation.

There is this search for a “spiritual” remedy that is common to folks today. That’s probably why the song remains so popular—aside from the fact that it is a good “slow” dance song. This search for an answer to something that deeply troubled him is probably what brought the one who shouts out his question to Jesus in our text today. He wants things to be “fair.” His understanding of fairness is shaped by his having been consumed by his stuff—or at least, by what he wanted to be his stuff—the inheritance left him and his brother. He couldn’t listen to Jesus until he could get this answered.

It wasn’t unusual for people back then to ask rabbis questions like this one. If you or I were sitting there, we would wonder how Jesus would apply the Law to the man’s question. We would be shocked by Jesus’ answer. Jesus doesn’t apply the Law to the man’s question at all. He knows the man’s heart and how consumed the man is by his possessions, so Jesus tells a parable about greed. He wants the interrupter, you, and me to know that our value is not defined by our stuff. It isn’t about what we own, but about what—or Who—owns us. Jesus wants us live by grace, not by greed. Jesus talks about true ownership.

If you are a parent with young children still in your home, you might have a collection of Disney movies on VHS or DVD. One of those movies might be Finding Nemo. If you’ve seen it, what character or animal would you think best represents human nature? I think it would be the seagulls. Their one word dialog is a constant, “MINE!” When people at work talk about vacation schedules, what is their goal? MINE! When your children argue or your neighbors disagree, what’s at the center of the controversy? MINE!

Greed defines us.

The Rich Fool in Jesus’ parable defines himself in terms of what he has. Jesus makes a point to tell you who the True Owner is—the fields yielded the harvest—but the man defines everything in terms of himself. Count how many personal pronouns he uses—MINE! He even defines his soul in terms of his possessions. We identify and give ourselves importance by our possessions, too. We see ourselves as “Chevy” people or only buy certain brands or we’re not happy.

The interrupter in the story has defined his relationship with his brother in terms of the inheritance. You and I do the same thing when we categorize people by the brands of clothing they wear or by the neighborhood—and kind of home—where they live.

Sadly, greed finally even defines our relationship with God. The troubled interrupter can’t listen to Jesus’ teaching until his issue is resolved. His inheritance runs his relationship with Jesus. Maybe there’s something on your heart—your job, your financial situation, an inheritance—that is keeping you from listening to Jesus.

Obsessing on our stuff misleads us into thinking our possessions have greater value than they do. So the “lady who’s sure” in the song is sure that she can get what she came for. She wants peace and believes having more stuff will buy it for her. We replace God the Creator with a false god that leads us to think that we define value and peace, that by joining with the material—whether our stuff or Creation—we can find this peace and meaning.

Jesus has a marvelous way of calling us back. He calls us to the One who created us, the One who has purchased us—the One who owns and defines us. He does all this with two simple words, “but God….” He interrupts our logic and greed with these words and calls us back to Himself.

He calls to the interrupter. He tells him that He has not come to be his referee, but His Savior. He buys us with His blood, paying for our redemption from sin, greed, and their power to mislead and kill us. He assures us that our value lies not in how much we have—remember, it’s not bad to have stuff; it’s bad when your stuff has you—but in Who loves us. God loves us so much that Jesus is willing to give His life in exchange for yours.

He reminds the interrupter that He has not come to divide things between brothers, but to unite us together—brothers and sisters—in His Body. He redefines us and our relationships in terms of His grace. Greed wants to pull everything to itself; grace fills us and sends everything out in service to others.

Jesus’ words about the Rich Fool underscore this. The Rich Fool has gathered everything for himself. He is consumed by greed and lives for his stuff. Jesus raises an important question: so you spend your life run by your stuff, owned by your stuff. What happens when you die? What happens to your stuff? It goes to your heirs or the government, the one place you can be sure it doesn’t go is with you. Death ends a life shaped and lived in greed.

Grace reverses things. Grace points out the emptiness of living just for our stuff. How we are empty handed and dressed in rags before God. How we need something to fill the emptiness and how amazing Jesus’ words, “but God…” are as He takes our rags for Himself and gives us His righteousness and the covering of forgiveness. The death that greed leaves the Rich Fool with—and that we have only to look forward to—Jesus dies in our place. He takes our death and gives us His life.

That this is the life pleases God, our God shows us as He raises Jesus from the dead to life on Easter. Greed is not God’s choice, grace is. Death is not God’s choice for us, life is. Jesus’ reason for telling the parable is to teach us to live this gift of life carefully. There are traps. Traps that look so pious—as the man’s concern for fairness is dividing the inheritance—but would suck us back into the vortex of greed.

As we begin our stewardship emphasis today, walking together through the “33 Days of Stewardship,” some of the reading will also warn of these traps. Traps like success. Success can lead us to forget from Whom the fruits of our labor come and lead us to value ourselves in terms of success and material gain.

Traps like self-assurance. Counting on ourselves, we might forget that it’s about our Lord and think it’s somehow still about us. Think about how you talk about what you have. How many personal pronouns do you use? My house, my job, my family—even my church—can lead us back into the trap in which the Rich Fool fell. Grace—and the Holy Spirit—lead us to speak in terms of God: God has been good to me; the Lord has provided me with a home, etc. Remember God is the Owner and you and I are merely stewards.

Traps like self-security. We might think that peace can be found—bought—in our possessions. If having stuff brings peace—fills that empty yearning with us—how come home security companies make so much money and how come we are never satisfied? Live in grace, not greed. Peace is a gift from Christ.

Living in grace, we can also be aware of the opportunities. When you and I are defined by God’s grace, everything is different. We are valuable to Him because He loves, not because we have something. So our stuff can become an opportunity to serve Him. We give our stuff—and ourselves—to Him for His purposes. In the days ahead, you’ll see how Mount Olive plans to serve God and His mission with your stuff and how you can help with your self.

We also look for the Spirit to lead us into opportunities to serve our brother—as these relationships are redefined by grace. There’s a mission trip to New Orleans next month. There are many ways—many opportunities right here, too, in which you can use what you have to serve your brother or sister. Look for grace to open your eyes and your heart and your hands.

You and I don’t to buy Heaven. It’s His gift. We know the Creator—the Owner. More importantly, He knows and loves us. This changes everything. We live in grace.