Possessed

Luke 12: 13-21

In spite of our own great fantasies, money is surprisingly bad at making us happy.  Most of us when asked would agree, but you wouldn’t know it if we examined our spending habits, looked into our giving patterns and surveyed our closets.  We buy stuff to fill a void.  We spend money to feel important.  We live as if money is the golden ticket, even if we know that it is a losing battle.

As Americans have gotten richer, our happiness as a nation has gone down.  And yet, “one of the central assumptions of modern society is that more money equals more pleasure.  And this myth is why we work hard, fret about the stock market and save up for that expensive dinner/watch/phone/car/condo. We’ve been led to believe that dollars are delight in a fungible form.”

A new study released by psychologists at the University of Liege sought to explore the statistical disconnect between money and happiness.  The results of the study suggest that because money allows those who have it, to enjoy the finer things in life- things like the chance to stay in expensive hotels, eat at exquisite restaurants and savor the most fabulous fineries, the ability to enjoy the mundane things in life decreases. 

In other words, once you have it, some of the luster dims and the longing goes on because there is no end in sight.  But, most of us don’t hope to be rich; we just hope to have what define as enough.  We yearn for the security promised in long-term investments; we long for the foundation offered in home equity; we seek the protection that we are told is almost a guarantee if we work hard, save a lot and serve as good stewards of our resources.  If we are honest, most of us want the abundance that will finally help us to rest, we want the security and the safety and the peace found in what we tell ourselves will be enough.  I have even heard some of you say, “I don’t need a lot; I just need enough.”  But it wears on the human heart when enough never quite seems to arrive; enough is always just a bit out reach and the yearning for enough goes on and on and on.  We tell ourselves that when we get that raise, it will be enough.  When we pay off the mortgage, it will be enough.  When we build up that savings account, it will be enough.

And that is just when Jesus looks at us, right in the eyes, like he is peering into our souls and he says to us, “Enough!”  Most of us when asked, what it is that Jesus’ life and ministry were really about, would quickly speak of his compassion for the poor.  We might quickly speak of his love of God or his attention to anyone and everyone who religious and political leaders of his time cast aside.  But how many of us, would share what Jesus said about money?  We don’t talk about it, because what he said about it, is probably some of the most radical parts of the Gospel.  Jesus talked about money more than anything else, except the Kingdom of God, but in spite of what he said, we have done our best to ignore it.  Even if we know that money is surprisingly bad at making us happy, we turn to it again and again.  We turn to it when we are sad, when we are lonely, when we are tired of feeling as if everyone else has more.

And Jesus knew that we would.  He knew that the love of money can take over a human heart, that it can possess a hungry soul, he knew that if left to ourselves we would easily be lured by the longing for enough, just a little more.  And likely because he could see it happening, he tells this story in the Gospel of Luke to a crowd waiting to hear him speak.

Someone out of the crowd said, "Teacher, order my brother to give me a fair share of the family inheritance.

He replied, "Mister, what makes you think it's any of my business to be a judge or mediator for you?"

 And then he goes on, "Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot."

Then Jesus tells the story of wealthy farmer who produced a terrific crop.   The farmer talked to himself: 'What can I do? My barn isn't big enough for this harvest.' Then he said, 'Here's what I'll do: I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I'll gather in all my grain and goods, and I'll say to myself, Self, you've done well! You've got it made and can now retire. Take it easy and have the time of your life!'

Just then God showed up and said, 'Fool! What if I told you that you will die soon, what good is your barn full of rotting crops?  Who will use it now?

That's what happens when you fill your barn with Self and not with God.

Both of these stories could be summed up as fables about greed, but I think they are both about where our security really is, about what has a hold on us, about what, at the end of the day, our lives are really invested in.  The man who wants Jesus’ help in securing some of his family’s inheritance is grieving and so he becomes obsessed with getting money.  We assume that there is an older brother who is going to get all of it and the younger brother is hoping that Jesus will help him get a piece.  His father is dead and his security is gone, so like many of us he seeks refuge in the security promised by money.  His heart is broken, his world is shattered and so he looks for wholeness in the inheritance.

And the wealthy farmer does what most of us would do when our crops are on a roll and producing more than we need, we would build a bigger barn.  And while we are doing it, we would tell ourselves that this is for the future, for our security; it is a good investment.  But then Jesus tells us that our attempts to secure our future are misguided, the very thing that we hope to avoid by storing it all up, happens anyway.  In spite of his hard work, death finds the rich farmer and he cannot enjoy what he has stashed away.

When life is insecure, we seek security.  When we feel like we don’t have enough, we are driven by our desire for more.  “Sometimes our desire for security is so strong that it leads us to relentlessly search for the one thing that will make life secure again.  We may find ourselves storing up possessions, barricading ourselves with ‘stuff’.  We may place our hopes for security or happiness upon one person or thing that we keep at the center of our lives.”

But in spite of what we tell ourselves, money is surprisingly bad at making us happy.  Most of us when asked would agree, but you wouldn’t know it if we examined our spending habits, looked into our giving patterns and surveyed our closets.  The spirit of enough possesses many of us, but Jesus tells us that this has no end.  There will never be enough, the pull is too strong, we will always be waiting for enough to arrive and then it will be too late.

The reason that Jesus talked so much about money is that what we do with it is the best way to tell how much we love of our God.  There really is no way around this, it is that simple, which is probably why we avoid talking about money in church.  What we do with our money is something like a mirror, held up for us to see where our heart really is.  Our bank statements are the best way to tell what we really believe, to see what it is that we really care about.  Do we really trust God to provide for us or is this just something we say?  Do we really believe that this church is worth investing in or do we really invest in filling up our barn? 

In my five years of serving God here in New England, I have learned that money is more than a taboo topic, but the truth is that if we are to call ourselves disciples of Jesus Christ, we can no longer deny that money is one of the best ways to get real with ourselves about where we stand with God.  Is your barn full of stuff or is your heart full of faith?  Money is surprisingly bad at making us happy and Jesus tells us this again and again.  Enough will never come, it is only investing in God that can ever offer us peace.  May we grow closer to God because of Jesus’ words.  Amen.

Why Money Makes You Unhappy By Jonah Lehrer July 21, 2010  www.wired.com

Reflections Luke 12:13-21 – Super-Sized! By Lee Koontz Published: July 28, 2010