Wealth Is A Distraction

𝐀𝐔𝐆. 𝟑, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐇 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐄𝐜𝐜𝐥 𝟏:𝟐; 𝟐:𝟐𝟏-𝟐𝟑

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟗𝟎:𝟑-𝟔, 𝟏𝟐-𝟏𝟒, 𝟏𝟕 “𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞, 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬.”

𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐂𝐨𝐥 𝟑:𝟏-𝟓, 𝟗-𝟏𝟏

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) 

         It shouldn’t come as a surprise that someone came to Jesus with a problem about his father’s inheritance because in those days problems such as these are normally brought to the attention of Rabbis for them to settle.        

         Note that this Gospel passage was 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.

         While Luke did not describe how Jesus felt when someone called out to him and said: “𝑻𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆.” (𝒗.13) it was probable that Jesus may have been irritated at the interruption, 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 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.

         Not that he did not have the wisdom to settle the dispute as what Rabbis do but Jesus deflected the matter to redirect the attention of the man and the crowd to what was more important as he said: “𝑾𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒖𝒕! 𝑩𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒅; 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏’𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔.” (𝒗.15) With his response, we also see that Jesus remained grounded on his mission which was to preach the Kingdom of Heaven and not to act as an arbitrator for those disputing their inheritance.

         And so instead accommodating 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 that Jesus wanted to make in the parable as well as his warning against greed was that life could not be measured in the abundance of possessions. Jesus must have seen how the man was consumed by his share in their inheritance and Jesus was concerned that the man did not look at his supposed inheritance as a blessing but with a greedy attitude that threatens his spiritual inheritance which was his eternal destiny.

         Take for example the case of the Titanic. Almost all of England’s crème de la crème booked a cabin just for the prestige to be among the first to sail in what at that time was the most ostentatious display of luxury. But in the end, not even the riches of those who were on board could save them from death.

         Even in today’s setting, how many have placed all their trust not only in their possessions but even in their talents. How many still have become so full of themselves and even to the extent of wallowing in lies to prop up their public image and this is happening even in the church.

         In this Gospel, it was not just simple greed that Jesus had in mind in relating this parable to the concern of the man 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, money will always be a prime motivator for greed, and we always see this when the people rush to the Lotto betting stations to bet especially when the jackpot prize reaches the eight-figure or nine-figure mark.

         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. Life is more than material possessions and more important is our relationship with God.

         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 if people in today’s post-modern world lose their focus on God it is because of the kind of world we live in.

        Today, advertisers spend millions to induce people to equate happiness and comfort with possessions. How we respond to such enticements determines our perception of what is important to us.

         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 time 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 to see what the rich man could not see. The man’s covetousness for his share in the inheritance filled his entire being which will be of no use when his life is demanded of him.

         The challenge for us then is to ask ourselves: What is our view of the inheritance coming to us in this world we live in? Or are we like the man in the parable who made a life out of the abundance of his possessions? Every now and then, it would probably do us good to always go back and reflect on 𝐯𝐯.𝟐𝟎-𝟐𝟏 for at the end of the day no amount of wealth can substitute for what God offers. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘈𝘶𝘨. 3, 2025)