Look To God, Not The World!

𝐎𝐂𝐓. 𝟐𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈: 𝐑𝐨𝐦 𝟒:𝟐𝟎-𝟐𝟓

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐋𝐤 𝟏:𝟔𝟗-𝟕𝟓 “𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟏𝟐: 𝟏𝟑-𝟐𝟏

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑩𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒅; 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏’𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔.” (𝒗.15) 

        This Gospel is a continuation of Jesus’ teaching before a large crowd in which he branded the Pharisees as hypocrites and warned the people of the unforgiveable sin referring to the time when some of the Pharisees equated his miracles to the work of the devil.

        Though Luke did not describe the atmosphere at the time, it was possible that Jesus was already approaching the climax of his teaching when suddenly someone called out to him and said: “𝑻𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆.” (𝒗.13). 

        Luke also did not describe how Jesus took it, but it was probable that Jesus was irritated when someone interrupted his teaching and we can understand that. We who have been teaching ourselves know how it is when the flow of our thoughts is disrupted by a question or a reaction that has nothing to do with the topic of the teaching.

        Here Jesus was just wrapping up his discourse on the unforgiveable sin when somebody from the crowd shouted. It was bad enough that he had interrupted the teaching but what was worst was that the tone of the man’s voice appeared to be telling Jesus what to do instead of simply asking him to arbitrate his dispute with his brother over their inheritance.

        Jesus refused not because he did not have the skill and the wisdom to settle the dispute as what Rabbis do but Jesus’ refusal was on account of the inappropriateness in the way the man made his request. Besides, Jesus perfectly knew that his mission was to preach the Kingdom of Heaven and not to act as an arbitrator for those disputing their inheritance.

         And so instead of acquiescing to the man’s request for arbitration Jesus told the crowd another parable – the story of a landowner who was expecting a good crop season and not having a space to store his grain. So the landowner decided to tear down his barns and build bigger ones to accommodate his bumper harvest.

         The point Jesus wanted to make in the parable as well as his warning against greed was that life cannot be measured in the abundance of possession. Jesus must have seen how the man was consumed by his share in their inheritance and this was the point that Jesus wanted to make.

         And it was not just simple greed that Jesus had in mind in this parable but all types of greed or excessive desire and for all intents and purposes greed does not refer only to material things but even to other matters such as positions, titles, fame, honor and admiration. And greed happens when man covets or has an excessive desire for these.

         But in general terms, money will always be a prime motivator for greed, and we always see this when even poor Filipino families suffer when one member of the family get addicted to the online betting platforms. And we have heard how families are bankrupted by these online gambling sites and sadly there have been some instances when family members who have racked up huge debts have taken their own life.  

         And we also see this in the ongoing investigation into the P545-Billion flood-control project scandal which has rocked the nation, and which dragged several ranking government officials into the conflict.

         And Jesus was saying: "𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏'𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔" (𝒗.15). This means that those who consider themselves as Christian disciples must replace their desire to accumulate wealth by stacking up on pious investments that will earn for them a place in the Kingdom of Heaven.

         Another point that Jesus raised in this parable was that riches or wealth could not provide us with security for the future as what we often hear from those who have been breaking their backs to save on their future.

         And Jesus emphasizes this point when he said: “𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒍! 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇?” (𝒗.20) which means that no amount of possessions whether these are abundant or not can prevent the wheel of life from turning and we don’t know the hour when the thief would come.

         What Jesus was saying was that instead of desiring to accumulate more wealth, it would be better if we will store up heavenly treasures and focus on our journey of faith conscious of the presence of the Holy Spirit in us.

         Thus, it should be for each one of us that the rich man who came up to Jesus could not see. The man’s covetousness for his share in the inheritance filled his being instead of storing up things that matter to God and, which will be of no use when his life is demanded of him.

         And so, it will be for us because no amount of wealth can substitute for what God offers. It would certainly be a good idea to always check on your faith because you might unknowingly be moving from your worship of the One True God to idol worship which could come in the form of possessions and your insatiable appetite for the accumulation of wealth.

         If we lose sight of where our faith lies, wealth can become the center of our live and take God’s place. The human tendency is that people tend to admire four qualities in others – human wisdom and intellectual superiority, power and influence, riches and to some extent even kindness. Each of these can be a source of pride but we should not forget that God has placed a higher priority on the need for us to know him personally and living a life that reflects his justice and righteousness.

         There was a time when I became a slave to money and possessions. Because the business I was engaged in some years back brought in financial rewards that I’ve never experienced in life, I began to flaunt these wherever I went.

         This change in status also changed my nature but God is so good that I was jolted from my power trip when he found me and brought me to the renewal and God impressed upon me that the person who may have everything on earth can still lack what is most important – eternal life.

         So, the question we need ask is this – what do you want people to admire most about you? (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘖𝘤𝘵. 20, 2025)