2008.04.27 Failed Expectations

Scripture: Luke 7: 18-23

Luke 7:18 John's disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, 19 he sent them to the Lord to ask, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"

20 When the men came to Jesus, they said, "John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, `Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?' "

21 At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. 22 So he replied to the messengers, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy n are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 23 Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."

In the Gospel of Luke, we were first introduced to John the Baptist by way of his parents—Zechariah and Elizabeth. They had no children and were “both well along in years.” John was a miracle baby with a special calling. It was prophesied that “[He would be] called a prophet of the Most High; for [he would] go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation” (Luke 1:76-77).

John did just that. He “went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance” (Luke 3:3). People wondered if perhaps he might possibly be the Christ, the Savior. In Luke 3:16, “John answered them all, ‘I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit…”

Many of John’s characteristics are well known: he was a prophet who baptized (thus “John the Baptist”)—this included baptizing Jesus, lived in the desert, wore camel hair clothes and ate locusts and wild honey. (Locusts were eaten by the poorer people of the desert in ancient times until today.) However, he also had a fiery spirit. When one group of people came to him to be baptized, John saw their insincerity and called them a “brood of vipers.” He was a bold prophet of God—so bold, in fact, that he even rebuked Herod the tetrarch—ruler of the region of Galilee and son of King Herod. John rebuked the junior Herod for marrying his brother’s wife. For this, John was put in prison.

It is from John’s confinement in prison that our scripture today begins. While he is locked up, John’s disciples tell him about the things that Jesus is doing. Upon hearing their tales, John sends them to Jesus with a question: Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?

From what John has heard, this man does not meet expectations. When John was preaching, he declared that the one who will come “will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” He would come with “his winnowing fork.. in his hand to clear his threshing floor.. [and] burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” John, the one who was to prepare the way for the Christ, himself demonstrated this fiery spirit, even landing in prison for his truth-telling.

And here he is, locked up for God’s cause, and John is hearing stories about one who is going to parties, enjoying people, drinking wine. He was teaching that we should love our enemies and turn the other cheek. He wasn’t confronting the Roman leaders—the government that was oppressing their people. Instead, he was healing folks and challenging the “internal” Jewish leaders on Scripture. What kind of Savior was this? Maybe John had baptized the wrong guy! And here he was, stuck in jail, sentenced for death.

The disconnect that John experienced is that Jesus turns out to be someone other than who he thought he was or hoped that he would be. What do you do in a situation like that? Again, what do you do when Jesus turns out to be someone other than who you thought he was or hoped that he would be? In his book, The Jesus I Never Knew, Phillip Yancey writes the following about his realization that Jesus was not who thought he was:

Jesus, I found, bore little resemblance to the Mister Rogers figure I had met in Sunday school, and was remarkably unlike the person I had studied in Bible college. For one thing, he was far less tame. In my prior image, I realized, Jesus’ personality matched that of a Star Trek Vulcan: he remained calm, cool and collected as he strode like a robot among excitable human beings on spaceship earth. That is not what I found portrayed in the Gospels… Other people affected Jesus deeply: obstinacy frustrated him, self-righteousness infuriated him, simple faith thrilled him. Indeed, he seemed more emotional and spontaneous than the average person, not less. More passionate, not less.
The Jesus I Never Knew by P.Yancey, p.23

Yancy’s discoveries were what led him to write the book from which I quoted: The Jesus I Never Knew. What do you do when Jesus is not who you thought he was? Perhaps you have experienced this a moment of crisis. Or when you are confronted by interesting but inaccurate information (like the DaVinci Code), ..or you could just be reading your Bible one day and think—Jesus did what?!?

In his doubt, what John did was to ask Jesus: Are you the one.., or should we expect someone (or something) else?

Interestingly, Jesus does not give a direct answer. Instead, he says

22 .."Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.

Just one chapter prior, in Luke 6, Jesus had observed:

43 "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit…45 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart…”
Luke 6:43-45

And John the Baptist, prior to his imprisonment, understood and agreed with that same observation, for he preached to the people (in his own fiery style):

8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance…9 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."
Luke 3:9

So Jesus tells John’s disciples: Look at the fruit. The blind can see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. “Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.” What kind of fruit do you see? And he ends with this statement:

23 Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of me."
Luke 7:23

Another translation of this verse (NRSV) is “Blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.” Yet another version (The Message) says “Is this what you were expecting? Then count yourselves fortunate!”

Jesus is saying—hey, this is who I am. This is what the Christ, the Savior does! (The blind can see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.) Blessed are you if your idea of me, your expectations of me can align with who I really am—with what God is doing in the world.

We will have moments in our faith journey where, like John the Baptist, like Phillip Yancey, we ask the question: Jesus, are you the one? I’m not sure if you are who I thought you were.. or perhaps who I hoped that you would be. You are failing to meet my expectations. What do you do when you come to one of those moments of doubt and confusion?

You could blame it on Jesus—the Christian faith is just bogus and doesn’t work—and move on.

You could blame it on yourself—I am too lazy/too undisciplined/too busy—I just need to restart my quiet times.. again.

Neither route addresses the central issue: doubt.

Jesus’ response to John was to look at the fruit. What fruit is being brought to bear?

In your relationship with Jesus—what kind of fruits do you see in your life? Do they reflect a genuine and good faith? Is it the relationship what you hope it would be? And if not, why? What Yancey discovered was that when he took a closer look at who Jesus really was and is, his relationship with Jesus changed—in a way that was far more fruitful. Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of me.

Jesus, of course, is the most important relationship that we can grow. However, I also would like to observe that the practice of examining fruit can translate to our other relationships as well. In your relationship with a significant other—what fruits come from that relationship? Are they healthy and whole? In your relationships at work—what fruits come from there?

One specific relationship that I want to end with today is your relationship with the church—specifically, this church. In your time here—whether it has been 10 years, 10 months or 10 weeks, what fruits have come to bear?

At a macro level, the fruit that has been grown through this ministry includes dozens of faithful Christian laypersons who are serving at churches in this state as well as in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Georgia, Virginia and Massachusetts. There are eight children in this world who have the hope that is brought by sponsorship through Compassion International. There are many good marriages and a lot of happy, God-loving kids.

What requires more effort, though, is examination at the micro level. What fruits have come to bear in your life and through your life because of your time at New Hope? Do you see fruit that is healthy and whole? In Galatians chapter 5, it is written:

22 ..the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23

Ultimately, of course, the question of fruits at church is related to the fruits in your relationship with Jesus Christ. Your relationship with Jesus Christ should be fruitful, and the church should be a place that encourages not only your own personal fruit-bearing but does collective fruit-bearing as well.. which will cycle back to encourage you and so forth.

In a very short while, the Steering Committee is going to present to this body 3 options for the future of this ministry. A decision will not be sought today, but instead, the options will be presented and time will be given to allow you reflect on them. As you reflect over the coming days and weeks, I want to challenge you to think about your expectations.

Does Jesus meet your expectations? Or, like John the Baptist, is Jesus failing to meet your expectations? And if the answer to that 2nd question is yes, Jesus is failing, then look at the fruit. Look at the fruit in your own life and look at the fruit of this church. As a church body, we are called to walk alongside one another, to be in this journey of faith together, seeking God’s will, inviting others to experience the joy of knowing Jesus Christ.

Does this ministry, through the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, encourage good fruit to grow? Healthy fruit. Whole fruit. The answer to that question –does good fruit grow from here?—will help us in determining which next step to take. And as Jesus said, “Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of me." To paraphrase Jesus’ words to our situation, Blessed are we if our idea of what this church should be, our expectations of what this church should be can align with what it really should be—with what God is doing and wants to do with New Hope and through New Hope.

(Pastor SKA)

2008.04.13 Who will receive the benefit of what God has given to you?

Scripture: Luke 10:29-37

Last week, we looked at a parable of Jesus that is often called “The Parable of the Rich Fool.” That story revealed ways in which we can behave selfishly. For example, like the wealthy man in the parable, we can

• Think more often and more intently about our own needs before others’
• Hoard for ourselves more than we can ever use or need
• Adopt the dreams of our society—to be rich, comfortable and spend our days playing golf every morning and lounging by the pool in the afternoons.
  

When the rich man died, God asked him: “Who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” And the question for us is, “Who will get what we are preparing?” The work we do, the time we use, the attention we give, the money we spend—who is receiving or will receive their benefit?

And a second question.. who should receive the benefit?

The answer to the 2nd question is, according to Jesus, God and our neighbor:

36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
37 Jesus replied: " `Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' n 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: `Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."Matthew 22:36-40

Who should receive the benefit? God and our neighbor.

Note in verse 39 that Jesus says this: “And the second is like it.” The 2nd greatest commandment, to love your neighbor, is like the 1st. Why?

Because once you fall in love God, the next thing that happens—the next thing that you do to express that love—is to love your neighbor. Every life is a gift from God; Every male and female is made in the image of God. So when we honor another, care for another, serve another, we are, in fact, loving God.

So let’s consider the idea that it is our neighbor who should receive the benefit of what we have been given by God. In Luke, Chapter 10, we find the question:

29 .."And who is my neighbor?" Luke 10:29b

Jesus’ answer is commonly known as The Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Now before your brain slides into autopilot mode, let me tell you a quick story.

Back during my 1st year in medical school, I had a friend who would pick me up every morning for our 8:00 am lectures. The ride was not very long, and we were often suffering from sleep deprivation, so we usually didn’t have profound philosophical discussions or anything like that.

However, one day my friend (who was a non-Christian) had a question: “What’s the deal with the Bible? After a person reads it once, maybe twice, isn’t that enough? Why do Christians keep reading it?” Now, his perspective was that the Bible must be like our Neurobiology textbook. You read once, you get the concepts, and after that, it just becomes a reference book.
Why do Christians keep reading the Bible?

We keep reading the Bible because it is not a textbook; it is a holy text. As such, we regard it as God’s truth, and we believe that the Holy Spirit works with us so that the text is relevant time and time again. The oldest parts of this text are 3500 years old. Let’s stop and ponder that for a moment. Over 3500 years old. For 3½ millennia, this text has remained relevant. This text has continued to teach us truth. The Bible can do this because although society changes, the core truths of life do not.

So today we’re going to take another look at the Parable of the Good Samaritan. I preached to you on this same passage 14 months ago. At that time, we were examining what it looks like to Walk with God. Today we are looking at this passage to see who should benefit from what we have been given by God. It is our neighbor, and this parable is a great way for us to remember who are neighbor is.

30-32Jesus answered by telling a story. "There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man.
33-35"A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man's condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I'll pay you on my way back.'
36"What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?"
37"The one who treated him kindly," the religion scholar responded.
Jesus said, "Go and do the same." -The Message, Luke 10: 30-37

There is a man who is injured and in need. The two most likely people to help him walk right by him. The third man, the one who stopped, is a Samaritan—a racial minority, one that is hated by those who were listening to Jesus’ story.

In this country, there was racial minority that was hated by some of Jesus’ followers as well. One of the most famous of that minority was also a pastor, and when he read this same passage in Luke, he thought this:

"The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: 'If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?' But ... the good Samaritan reversed the question: 'If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?'"
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hopefully this quote reminds you of our sermon from last week with the rich man. His first question—and his only question—was what will happen to me? How can I take care of “me”? The parable of the Good Samaritan reverses that question of rich man’s selfishness by turning the question outward: What will happen to him?

If I don’t stop and do something, what will happen to him? It is a much harder question to wrestle with (what will happen to me versus what will happen to him) yet at the end of the story, Jesus says, “Go and do the same.” He’s talking to you and to me.

Now, let me say a word about family. When I was in college, my little brother would refer to me as the black sheep of the family. There are only two of us, so basically, he was saying that he was the better child. He said this because during every vacation, my brother would dutifully fly home to see my parents. On the other hand, I went home twice a year—for Christmas and in the summer. My college was closer to my parents’ home than my brother’s was, so distance was not the excuse. The reason I did not go home that often was because I loved my church. I was there all of the time.

What I neglected to understand in my service to the church is that Scripture clearly asks us to take care of our families. One example can be found in the 1st Letter to Timothy, Chapter 5, it is written:

3 Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. 4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family.. for this is pleasing to God… 8 If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
-1 Timothy 5:3-4, 8

Why do I mention this? Because when Jesus asks us to love our neighbor, to “go do likewise,” he is not asking us to let go of all that we are doing right now. Several of us have children whom we are trying to raise as faithfully as possible. Many of us are in the process of figuring out how to care for our aging parents. Consider that your son, your dad, your mom, your daughter—each of them is your neighbor. When they are in need, you are the first one who is responsible to care for them.

With Jesus’ challenge to “go and do likewise,” our first thoughts are often of the stranger. This is totally correct b/c Jesus used a story about an unknown man being helped by a stranger from a despised race. Yet before a crushing weight of guilt descends upon us, I want to acknowledge that Scripture clearly asks us to take care of our families. Even church leaders were not able to be chosen as leaders unless they were taking good care of their families—in 1st Timothy, Chapter 3, it says ”If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?”

So through the care that you provide to your family, you are loving your neighbor. However, we can do more. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, there two folks who pass the injured man: a priest and a Levite.

In the book of Leviticus (from the Old Testament), this is what God said about priests:

1 The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: `A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean for any of his people who die, 2 except for a close relative… 4 He must not make himself unclean.., and so defile himself. Leviticus 21:1-2a, 4

The priest was not allowed to touch the man if he was dead. The thing is, he didn’t know if the man was dead—he crossed over to the other side of the road to avoid the guy. And we know, from the rest of the story, that the man was, in fact, not dead. In the execution of his duties—in doing what he thought was the right thing, the priest missed a chance to help a neighbor, a fellow brother, another human being, who was in need.

In taking care of our families, we are doing the right thing. However, in the execution of our duties—in doing the right thing, do we miss chances to help other neighbors, other people who are in need?

Since my oldest child started school last year, I have met a LOT of families. Some of them have the most insane schedules for their children. One child in Kindergarten (which means he is 5 years old) had an enrichment activity every day of the week—all 7 days: language school, athletics, academic tutoring and music lessons—every day. We can be appalled at this family’s choices, but each one of those activities is done to address a perceived “need” in the child. So let’s step back and consider—whether you are a household of 5 or a household of 1—how much of your time is spent meeting needs—whether your own needs or someone else’s needs? And then ask, how far does the circle extend? Meaning, to what extent do you go to meet the needs around you? Is it this far (only yourself)? Is it juts far enough to include your immediate household? Or can it go farther?

When Jesus said “Go and do likewise,” I believe that he is challenging us to extend our boundaries when it comes to meeting others’ needs. The priest was doing what was he was supposed to do—but no more—and he is not the one that Jesus identified as a neighbor.

On the other hand, the Samaritan—what was he doing on that road? We may think: It would be easier to help others if I had more free time. I would gladly help someone if my budget were just a bit larger.

The road between Jerusalem and Jericho was nicknamed the “Bloody Pass.” It was no stroll through the park. It was more like walking through Hunter’s Point or lower Tenderloin at night. You only go that way if you absolutely have to. And the Samaritan did need to go that way, for after caring for the man, he asked the innkeeper for help, promising to cover any extra expenses when he returned. He obviously had somewhere to go—things to do. And if he were a wealthy man, I’m willing to guess that he wouldn’t have been travelling alone on that road.

So then, Jesus’ challenge to go and do likewise is not only for the wealthy or for those who have a lot of free time.

37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." Luke 10:37

Jesus’ challenge is to US: Go and do likewise.

Today is Compassion Sunday. I want to close this message with a story of a real-life Samaritan named Everett Swanson. This story was found on the Compassion website.

It was 1952, the Korean War was raging and Everett Swanson, an American evangelist, was on a preaching tour of Japan and Korea. Everett shared the gospel with thousands of troops, and by the end of the tour, the young evangelist had led many people to Christ. Certainly, he could have gone home satisfied that his mission for God’s kingdom had been accomplished — and accomplished well.

But one thing hounded Everett Swanson — troubled him all the way back to the United States. While in the city of Seoul, Korea, he had noticed scores of children who were living on the streets, orphaned by the war. They huddled together to keep warm and begged for coins. The plight of these little children touched Everett’s heart. But one morning before departing for home, he had an experience that did more than touch his heart — it changed his life.

On an early walk in the city, Everett glanced up when a flatbed truck stopped a few blocks ahead of him. Sanitation workers emerged from the cab to gather up trash from doorways and alleys and gutters along the street. They threw what appeared to be piles of rags on to the truck bed.

As he came closer, Everett noticed that the workers were kicking the rag piles before picking them up. That made sense; rats were common. One rag pile lay in a doorway not far from Everett. He reached it about the same time as one of the workers. That’s when he noticed that the pile was not just a tangle of rags. A small arm extended from the pile, and Everett began to make out the shape of a child sleeping underneath it. Opening his mouth to warn the worker not to kick the pile, the words stuck in his throat as he caught sight of the cargo on the flatbed truck.

The horror of what he was witnessing suddenly dawned on him. The workers were not there to gather trash. They were gathering the bodies of children who had died on the streets overnight. Those who had survived another night of that bitter Korean winter would be awakened by the kick of a sanitation worker, checking for signs of life, only to face another day of hunger, cold and despair.

Everett couldn’t get this horrific image of Korea’s abandoned children out of his mind. Like the priest and Levite in Jesus’ parable, he could have simply left the country and washed his hands of the whole matter — not my children, not my country, not my problem. But he didn’t. Not sure how to help these poor children, but determined to do whatever he could for those left to die on the streets of Seoul, he returned to the United States and started asking people to commit to contributing a small amount of money each month. He planned to use this money to provide for the needs of destitute Korean orphans.

Everett Swanson’s efforts steadily grew as more people caught the vision to follow Christ’s command to “go and do likewise.” Now, 54 years later, what Everett started is a thriving organization called Compassion International. Through the years, Compassion has enabled hundreds of thousands of people to reach out to impoverished children around the world who have been left by life’s roadside.

Who will receive the benefit of what God has given to you? Jesus challenge is for us to give to our neighbor. There are thousands and millions of people in need around the world. Just this past week, we heard about 400+ children in Texas who were regularly abused and now face life in the child welfare system, trying to negotiate a world they have not known until this week. In the words of Dr. King, “If I will not stop to help them, what will happen to them?”

Like Everett Swanson, like the Good Samaritan, we have to choose. Let God lead you to one person—one person that you can help. That one act of compassion will lead to others, so that ultimately, God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven.

(Pastor SKA)

2008.04.06 Whose Dream Wins?

Scripture: Luke 12:13-21

One of the current issues that occupies a lot of my time is public school funding. This year our governor is proposing some pretty large cuts, and districts across the state are forced to eliminate programs and teachers for things that our generation took for granted. Everyone with whom I talk about this topic is sympathetic, however, they are not always willing to help. The resistance is usually tied to self-interest:
· My children are in private school, so it doesn’t matter how good or bad the public school is.
· My child is only in Kindergarten; the cuts seem to affect the older grades.
· I don’t have kids, so it doesn’t really matter.
Of course, I take issue with all of these responses because I believe that poor public schools can only mean trouble for our future—all of our futures.

Still, the responses are not that surprising. We have all been confronted by decisions where are our response is—Why should I give? Why should I go? Why should I do that?—Essentially, what is in it for me? This is normal human behavior—we are all selfish to one degree or another.

Selfishness, or more specifically, the exercise of self-interest, is what was highlighted in the speech that Senator Barack Obama gave in Philadelphia 2½ weeks ago. In that speech, he spoke of how our country arrived at the racial inequalities that we have today—they are due largely to people who chose to take care only of themselves and not serve the larger community of God.

As people of God, what we are to do? We are surrounded by many who choose themselves before others. In fact, we’re guilty of doing the same thing. However, the public school system in California, the racial inequalities in our country, the improvement of our society in general WILL NOT HAPPEN by the efforts of those who are involved only due to self-interest. Somebody—actually, a lot of “somebodies”—need to choose to care for more than just him or herself.

Jesus told us that the greatest commandment is to Love God, and the 2nd is to Love our neighbor. Who is going to care for more than just myself? Well, I think that the first people in line should be us—Christians. God created this world, and we affirm that every life in this world is precious. Honoring God’s creation is honoring God. It is loving God, and it is loving our neighbor.

So today, we are going to look at a story in scripture that addresses our tendency to exercise self-interest. Next week, we will look at the same issue in a positive angle—what it looks like when we exercise love outwardly.

Our scripture comes from Luke, chapter 12, starting with verse 13:

13 Someone in the crowd said to [Jesus], "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."

So Jesus is with a crowd of people and someone makes a request: “Tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” This is something that you could hear in my house. Of course, the vocabulary is different, but the request is the same:
-Mommy! C is not sharing any of the Legos with me!
-Mommy! J’s hogging all of the couch pillows!
-Mommy! They ate all of the strawberries!
This happens every day in my house. So some guy comes up and says, “Jesus! My brother won’t share the inheritance with me!”

When my kids lodge their protests, they address me because I am seen as a powerful ruler. In my house, I have the authority to make one child share with the other—which I sometimes do. At other times, I will tell the protestor to go and try to work it out first, and if that effort fails, then come and appeal to me.

When Jesus is called upon, he gives neither response. Instead, Jesus replied:

14 Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?"

In the past, Moses, who is a major figure in Jesus’ society (and in our faith history)—Moses handled a similar request, but his response was to function as a judge and render a decision. In this case, however, Jesus does not. Why? He certainly had the authority—perhaps not officially, but socially—to make decision. Why else would the person have made the request and in so public an arena? But Jesus chooses not to render a decision. Instead, he follows his question with a statement:

15 Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

Here we see the reason for Jesus’ initial reaction. The man did not come to Jesus to ask for justice. The man came to ask for partiality—make my brother give me something. Jesus will not participate in satisfying someone’s greed.

16 And [Jesus] told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, `What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'

18 "Then he said, `This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '

20 "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?'

21 "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

It is a story about a wealthy man—not a poor man who struck it rich, not a middle-class man who was working hard, but a wealthy man. He already has more than he needs. Then he has a bumper year for his crops. Note the wording of that sentence, though: “The ground .. produced a good crop.”

Although it always helpful to care for plants, ultimately, plants depend on things that are beyond our control—the weather and the land upon which the seeds are planted. And the crop was good.

The rich man’s reaction is to figure out how to keep it all—how to store up all of the surplus so that he can receive the full benefits of possessing it. In essence, he is taking full credit for this bumper crop, so he’s the one who is going to enjoy it.

He comes up with a solution: to build bigger barns’ and he dreams about his future: a future where he can retire early and enjoy the good life.

The problem is, he has no future—at least, not on this planet—and those dreams vanish into oblivion. The moral at end is that "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

This seems like a nice, neat story, but there is a crucial question left unanswered—something for us to ponder—what exactly was the rich man’s mistake?

I offer that he made many mistakes, all of them related to the fact that his allowed his self-interest to outweigh any concerns he could have had that extended beyond himself.

1. He gave himself first priority
Notice that there is no mention of anyone else in the story. It is all about the rich man and his goods: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, `What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' 18 "Then he said, `This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.” His life is all about him—he is the only person for whom he needs to provide, and obviously he can do that very well. He doesn’t need anyone else. There is no wife, no family, no church, no community to mourn when he dies.

The same thing happens when we chose to put ourselves first. Like with the school example, we don’t care if the little kid down the street isn’t going to get the extra help he needs with reading as long as our little ones are reading at grade level and above. We draw our boundaries close so that we only give attention and time and effort to the things that will benefit us and ensure that we will be safe and prosperous.

The result is isolation. When we put ourselves first, what kind of friendships are we able to develop? What kind of families do we grow? What kind of world are we helping to shape?

I am a borderline introvert/extrovert, leaning more toward the introvert side. However my calling—both as a pastor and as a parent—requires me to interact with other people heavily. Sometimes I get overloaded, and I will find myself at a group function just wanting to be quiet; to just turn my brain off and enjoy the food.

I would like to think that, when I have those moments, I can become sort of invisible, so to speak—that my presence doesn’t really matter either way, and I just can be “with myself.” But that’s not how the world works. I know that I have offended people with my silence before. I know that some have judged me negatively for not being engaging enough or attentive enough at certain points. It is something that I need to work on. Because truthfully, when you and I are in the same room together, your presence matters. We don’t have to have an in-depth, intellectual discussion for us to impact one another. Sometimes that is what happens—but sometimes, a smile, a friendly greeting, passing a napkin and plate in line for lunch—our interactions with one another can be little things, but they have a cumulative effect in how we build our relationship.

Human beings are naturally interactive. When a person chooses to put him/herself as 1st priority, it is like looking in a mirror—all that exists is one. The interactions with others are shallow ..and eventually, all that is left is one.

So the rich man made the mistake of putting himself first, which left him alone. He also surrounded himself with more than he could possibly need.

2. He surrounded himself with more than he could possibly need.
As noted before, he was a wealthy person before the bumper crop came. And then when it came, he decided to build bigger barns to store all of it. To Jesus’ listeners, it would have obvious that the right thing to do was to give the grain to the poor. In the Old Testament, there is provision for the poor on fields like that of this rich man:

9 " `When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 19:9-10)

19 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. (Deuteronomy 24: 19)

We see this principle in action in the Book of Ruth, for that is how Ruth is able to get food for herself and her mother-in-law Naomi. The Bible contains 560—560!—verses about the poor; God’s expectation was that concern for the poor be part of the rich man’s (and our) daily routine. Yet in this parable, the thought or idea of giving any of the surplus away never crosses the rich man’s mind. He doesn’t even have enough space to store everything, and his solution is simply to build bigger barns.

If he lived our society today, perhaps he would have rented some self-storage units. Did you know, that today there are over 51,000 self-storage facilities in our country? The total square footage provided by these places could provide 6.86 sq feet of space—over 6 square feet of space, a roof over your head—for every single man, woman and child in America today. (I got this data from the Official Trade Organization for the Self-Storage Industry.*) Keep in mind that this industry did not even exist when most of us were born. In 33 years, our society has accumulated so much stuff that 1 out of every 10 households rents one of these units. We need extra space for all the stuff we’ve got while people in this country sleep in gutters and over BART exhaust grilles every night.

3. His goal in life was to be comfortable.
The rich man put himself first; he surrounded himself with more than he could ever need; and lastly, his goal in doing these things was to be comfortable. The purpose of building the big barns was so that the rich man could, essentially, retire early: 19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." The man is already wealthy. Now he has more wealth. But he now he needs to tear down the old barns and build new ones so that he can be guaranteed even more wealth. His dream for his future is to be comfortable.

Now of course, after a lifetime of putting himself first and surrounding himself with more than he needed, what other dream could he dream, would he dream, other than to enjoy himself? At the very least, this guy is consistent.

It is obvious to anyone who looks at this man that his life is shallow and that his dreams are equally as shallow. But I ask you: What are your dreams for the future? As unappealing as it may be to consider, even for a long moment, that we have anything in common with this rich man, the truth is we do. We complain about our jobs. We buy lottery tickets. We carefully manage our investments and our retirement plans. Because one of our goals is to be able to say, like the rich man: "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."

So I ask again: What are your dreams for the future? Do your dreams reflect the principles that you believe? And in the present, is your life—your time, your focus, your energy—is your life reflective of the principles that you believe?

The rich man believed that he was the most important person in the world. That he was the most deserving person in the world. Therefore, his first priority was himself. He surrounded himself with more than he needed, and his dreams were all about how to enjoy himself.

We live in a society where this type of behavior is perfectly acceptable. And we all exercise this type of behavior to varying degrees each day. Now some of you may be protesting inwardly, asking “What about boundaries? What about self care?” I am not talking about the extreme of losing your self identity for the sake of others. Instead, this parable from Jesus shows the results of the other extreme—the extreme that many of us lean toward more often than we should.
-It is the tendency to think more often and more intently about my own needs before others.
-It is the tendency to hoard for myself more than I could ever use or need.
-It is the tendency to adopt the dreams of our society and live them out for ourselves—to be rich, to be comfortable, to spend our days playing golf every morning and sipping drinks by the pool by afternoon.

And as we live and dream and work in that world of self-centered needs and wants and desires, we lose sight of our God. Because, just like in the parable, when our eyes are focused on ourselves, we can’t recognize God’s presence. Remember: “The ground .. produced a good crop.” It was by God’s gracious provision that the rich man received his bumper crop. Yet all that he could see was his dream was to be financially comfortable.

There was no real space for God in the rich man’s life, at least, not until that life ended. Our God is NOT one who exists in order to give us benefit at the expense of another. In the Philadelphia speech, Senator Obama said: “The path to a more perfect union.. requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams.”

Yet the rich man needed more, and that is when his dream came at the expense of another’s dream. The extra grain could have been left out to feed the poor; it could have been sold to benefit a struggling neighbor; it could have be offered at the Temple as a huge thanksgiving offering. All of those things would have fulfilled both the rich man’s dream and possibly dozens of others’ dreams.

God calls us to love God and to love our neighbor. How can it be that we live in a country where there are enough storage spaces—places where we keep our extra stuff –how can it be that we could put a roof over literally every single man, woman and child’s head in this country but that instead we give our attention and money to the next sale, to the latest style, to the newest gadget?

When the rich man died, God asked, “Who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” The question for us is, “Who will get what you have prepared”—the work you have been doing, the time you have been spending, the attention you have been giving, the money you have been spending—who will receive their benefit?

Consider: to whom do you want the benefits of your life to go, and next week we will examine what happens when we choose to be rich toward God first, instead of ourselves.

(Pastor SKA)