Deacon Tom Anthony

Gospel Lk 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,
“Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.”
He replied to him,
“Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?”
Then he said to the crowd,
“Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

Then he told them a parable.
“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.
He asked himself, ‘What shall I do,
for I do not have space to store my harvest?’
And he said, ‘This is what I shall do:
I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones.
There I shall store all my grain and other goods
and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you,
you have so many good things stored up for many years,
rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’
But God said to him,
‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;
and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’
Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves
but are not rich in what matters to God.”

My Brothers and Sisters,

In the world today, it is so easy to focus on the material aspect of our lives and ignore everything else. We can get caught up in living day by day, concentrating on our physical wants and desires while ignoring what is most important which is our spirituality. We get so convinced that to be really happy and joyful we must consume and experience that which is in front of us: an excess of food, clothing, shelter, and an abundance of entertainment used to stimulate our senses. Even though some of these can be seen as a necessity for living, there is a point that the acquiring of these goes beyond that basic threshold and enters an area of gluttony.

We are very fortunate in this country to have so many resources and opportunities that are not available in much of the rest of the world. Unfortunately, to obtain what is offered, requires hard work and a dedication. What follows is a consuming effect where the majority of one’s time is dedicated to the pursuit of acquiring what is offered while other areas of one’s life is ignored. It can be argued that, early on in our lives, we set a series of goals of what we want to be and what we want to have. We then pursue these goals. More often than not, these goals are structured around the material. When we are not pursuing, we are consuming. When we are not consuming, we are planning how to get more. When we are not planning, we are distracting ourselves through entertainment and stimulation of the senses, convincing ourselves that this is rest and relaxation. Our mental and physical aspects of our lives are intertwined together while our spirituality is diminished.

In the Gospel Reading today, Jesus brings this focus on materialism to the forefront of our thoughts. He warns us that these things that can easily preoccupy the majority of our time are not eternal. Any material gains will eventually be lost while God is forever. The enjoyment that we can experience from what society has to offer is fleeting and meaningless in comparison to the joy we can experience through a spiritual life that brings us closer to God. We are part of God’s creation and we are His children. If we dedicate as much time to our spirituality as we do to the pursuit of material gain, we will be all the more joyful because of it. Gathered together in a community, we can celebrate our faith while providing for each other. We can experience our lives together in a state of just being, lifting up our spirituality and forcing out all of that material wantonness that clouds everything from our judgment to our actions. Our life is eternal where our spirituality should be first and foremost.

A common mistake for those who read the Book of Ecclesiastes is that it is observed as a very dark and depressing book, offering a really negative outlook on life and the human condition. In actuality, it is not. It serves as a reminder that everything we have and everything that we are during this time on this earth is vanity in comparison with what we are to become transformed through our relationship with God. Our time here is limited. Our time with God is eternal. If we ignore God now and immerse ourselves in the allures of society, we will enter an empty state of existence where we will never be satisfied and we will be constantly disappointed with what is offered here. We will find ourselves pursuing  unobtainable goals centered around stimulation and self-gratifying actions which will leave us empty. We will become a slave to our passions and ultimately Satan. God is above all of this and offers us a chance to escape this cycle of self-destruction.  A beautiful line is read from the book which says, “even at night his mind is not at rest.” That is where we find ourselves without a relationship with God. All these things we pursue will not make us happy.

Paul tells us that if we were indeed raised with Christ that we must seek what is above. That is the key to a joyful state. We must constantly seek Jesus Christ, not what our earthy desires tell us what to do.

“Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly:
immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire,
and the greed that is idolatry.
Stop lying to one another,
since you have taken off the old self with its practices
and have put on the new self,
which is being renewed, for knowledge,
in the image of its creator.”

As we force away these disordered desires, the true path to both happiness and joy will be obvious: Jesus Christ.

Deacon Tom