TRUE WEALTH

And I’ll say to myself,
“You have plenty of grain laid up for many years.
Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”
But God said to him,
“You fool!
This very night your life
will be demanded from you.
Then who will get
what you have prepared for yourself?”
This is how it will be with whoever
stores up things for themselves
but is not rich toward God.

Luke 12:19-21 (read 12:13-21) - NIV

Our feeling of insecurity and finiteness leads us to cling to something outside of ourselves as protection against the uncertainties of the future. Lack of resources, sickness and violence seem to be the most threatening. These are legitimate concerns, but they represent only a part of our existence. We are more than physical beings. Comfort and safety are not sufficient to lead us to the true wealth which is happiness.

Western culture is materialistic and we are constantly bombarded by advertisements that lead us to believe that happiness consists in having an abundance of the right kinds of goods. This was the thinking of the rich man in this parable. It continues to be the dream of many. The queues outside lottery houses for Jackpots attest to the dream of achieving happiness through luck! Mobs of people, trampling each other on Black Friday sales, show the illusion of joy in the possession of consumer goods. The pages of magazines and newspapers, giant billboards and pictures on the TV screen portray slender, young people smiling, wearing designer clothes, opening bank accounts, enjoying the sound of sophisticated devices, driving the car of the year and buying on credit. Our culture connects happiness to "having".

Jesus said that life is much more than "divided inheritances" and "accumulated assets". Happiness that is grounded in owning things is precarious. It can feed the illusion of prosperity and be withdrawn at any time. The essence of life is "to be", not "to have". The search does not satisfy us, but it leads us to want even more. It feeds greed that produces injustice and harms the welfare of others. Life becomes competitive and making a living at the expense of others. The end result is misery and suffering for many.

According to the teachings of Jesus true wealth is happiness that comes from "being", being supportive of others and not just to get "our piece of the pie." It is in sharing, not in building up for ourselves. True and lasting happiness is to open up to the world and to others, not to be closed within ourselves. Life springs from the interaction, not isolation.

The spirituality that seeks prosperity as a sign of God's grace is in danger of repeating the mistakes of the rich man in the parable. Individualism even in the name of God is selfish. Even the search for salvation without regard to the welfare of others is an attempt to accumulate wealth only for ourselves. We can be greedy in spiritual things. Religion can be as selfish as materialism. True wealth consists of what we pass on to others, rather than on what we can gain for ourselves.

LUKE 12:13-21 – NEW ENGLISH VERSION (NIV)

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”