{"id":4653,"date":"2015-08-03T09:27:24","date_gmt":"2015-08-03T14:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/?p=4653"},"modified":"2015-08-03T09:27:24","modified_gmt":"2015-08-03T14:27:24","slug":"living-with-abundance-8215","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/2015\/08\/living-with-abundance-8215\/","title":{"rendered":"Living With Abundance 8\/2\/15"},"content":{"rendered":"

Living With Abundance<\/span><\/p>\n

Ecclesiastes 8: 8-16<\/span><\/p>\n

Luke 12:13-21<\/span><\/p>\n

Vicky Hanjian<\/span><\/p>\n

August 2, 2015<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, this is a doozy of a parable \u2013 one that causes us to question \u201cWhat did he mean by that?\u201d This is Jesus \u2013 speaking to his disciples apart from the crowd of thousands who are literally trampling on one another in their efforts to get close to Jesus.<\/span><\/p>\n

And then – – an interruption – -seemingly out of the blue. A man emerges as an individual out of the crowd and asks Jesus to settle an inheritance dispute. We struggle with Jesus\u2019 response. It almost seems out of character \u2013 lacking in understanding and compassion. He asks the man \u201cWho makes me a judge or arbitrator over you?\u201d We would rather that Jesus listened to the man\u2019s complaint against his brother – – and give him advice for how to resolve it – – but Jesus does not answer him directly. He abruptly gives a terse teaching, presumably turning back to his disciples\u2026and facing the crowd: \u201cAnd he said to them \u2018Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one\u2019s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In a way, these words kind of set us up to understand the parable that follows as story warning us about the dangers of greed. But our Bible study last week took us in another direction \u2013 toward the question of how do we live with abundance?<\/span><\/p>\n

The opening line of the parable reads \u201cThe land of a rich man produced abundantly\u201d – – Apparently he was a reasonably good steward of his good land. He farmed it well and it produced a bumper crop that year. One almost wonders if he was surprised at the bounty as he talks to himself. \u201cWhat am I going to do with this? I have no place to store this much food.\u201d One might also wonder if he might also have had a bumper crop of zucchini or tomatoes or kale \u2013 we tend to ask the same questions as the height of the summer harvest comes on. What are we going to do with the abundance?<\/span><\/p>\n

The farmer\u2019s answer is to tear down his existing barn and build a bigger one. All week long I kept hearing the classic line from \u201cJAWS\u201d in the deep background: \u201cWe\u2019re gonna need a bigger boat!\u201d The farmer needed a bigger barn. So far, so good. He\u2019s doing the prudent thing \u2013 taking care of the bounty – – making adequate storage so it doesn\u2019t spoil or get wasted. Greed does not seem to be the issue. When the barn is built and all of the grain is safely under cover, he takes a few moments to sit back and relax \u2013 maybe he has the great feeling of satisfaction that comes when the last of the pickling cukes have been sealed in their jars and the tomatoes have all been turned into sauce for the winter, and the last of the beans have been blanched and placed in the freezer. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Farmer kicks back in his rocking chair on the porch. Maybe a glass of wine and some good cheese (grape juice if he is a Methodist!). He rejoices – – talks to himself: \u201cSoul – – – time to relax – – you have enough to last for many years – – Eat! Drink \u2013 Be merry!\u201d Oooops! God appears in the story and puts another spin on the farmer\u2019s deep satisfaction: \u201cYou fool! You won\u2019t live through the night! When you are gone, who will own all that you have stashed away?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But maybe the story isn\u2019t about a greedy man – – maybe it\u2019s about a person who just doesn\u2019t know what to do with abundance. The version of the gospel that we read pictures God saying: \u201cFool! This very night your life is being demanded of you.\u201d There are other translations that read \u201cFool! On this very night <\/span>they<\/b><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/u>(all your possessions) are demanding your life from you.\u201d Is it possible that the abundance the Farmer was celebrating was also the thing that put his soul in danger? Parables pose disturbing questions. What do we do with abundance?<\/span><\/p>\n

There is a clue about a possible meaning hidden in plain sight in the parable. The farmer says to his Soul: \u201ceat, drink and be merry\u201d. – The way we most commonly hear it is \u201ceat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we may die.\u201d So familiar \u2013 where does it come from? We heard it in the reading from Ecclesiastes. The opening words of the book of Ecclesiastes are most often read as \u201cvanity upon vanity, all is vanity\u201d or \u201cUtter futility! All is futile!\u201d But the Hebrew word <\/span>hevel<\/b><\/i><\/span> that gets translated as vanity or futility also means \u201cinsubstantial\u201d \u201cimpermanent\u201d, even \u201cvaporous\u201d. The message of the book of Ecclesiastes is not that life is vain or futile, but rather that life is transient and impermanent. Ecclesiastes is a guidebook to living without permanence and security while still finding joy in living.<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/sup> So when Jesus includes the phrase \u201cEat, drink and be merry\u201d in his parable, he drops a clue that says \u201cdig here for treasure.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

There is nothing wrong with abundance. There isn\u2019t anything inherently wrong with being wealthy. The farmer got into deep water when he thought he could hold on to his bounty and it would insure that his life would unfold in pleasant ways. He put his trust in his wealth for his well being. But, as Ecclesiastes reminds us, Death is the great leveler: rich and poor, powerful and powerless, wise and foolish, we all fear the advent of death because it destroys our illusions of permanence.<\/span>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/sup><\/p>\n

So, perhaps Jesus wanted his friends to know that nothing is permanent \u2013 wanted them not to get too attached to things the way they are. Even his life among them was not permanent. Maybe he wanted them to know that it was the abundant grace of God that would keep their lives full and rich. But the grace of God cannot be stored up against the future either. It flows out to us beyond all measure, filling us with a sense of well-being, guiding us when we need it, healing us when we need it – -but it is continually moving – – never the same from moment to moment \u2013 never the same from person to person. We cannot save it up for the future. If we try to keep it for ourselves, it sort of shrivels and dies. The power of God\u2019s love is often referred to as \u201cLiving Water\u201d – – living water is water that moves \u2013 a downpour of rain – the oceans \u2013 the rivers \u2013Jesus referred to himself as Living Water and reminded the woman at the well that whoever drank from him would never be thirsty again. We are the recipients of all that flowing, moving, thirst – quenching grace. Through the life and teaching of Jesus, God pours forth abundant spiritual wealth. We cannot contain it. We cannot limit it. We cannot store it up for the future. Indeed, we have to continually empty our barns. We pay it forward. For God\u2019s love to work in the world, it has to reach us. We have to receive it. We need to let it flow through us. We extend generosity and hospitality to others out of our abundance. We offer compassion in place of judgment. We seek justice in place of power. When we obstruct the flow of grace – – perhaps like a farmer storing up his abundance in his barns instead of sharing it with others, we die. Not physically, perhaps – – but our spirits shrivel and dry up. We become smaller \u2013 dehydrated, if you will \u2013 than we are meant to be. <\/span><\/p>\n

With the writer of Ecclesiastes, at the communion table, we come and share together in the symbols of the abundant, Life-giving, Life-saving generosity of God through Jesus. We eat \u2013 and we drink \u2013 and we are surely called to be joyful and merry, even in the face of all that is imperfect in the world. Our story ends differently from that of the rich farmer. When we share the abundance, we do indeed have life. Jesus said \u201cI have come that you may have life and that your life may be abundant.\u201d In communion, the barn doors are open wide \u2013 and all who want to come are welcome to join the party. May it always be so.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

1<\/a> Ecclesiastes Annotated and Explained<\/u> by Rabbi Rami Shapiro , Skylight Paths Publishing Woodstock, Vermont, 2010 p.2<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

2<\/a> Shapiro, p. 74<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Living With Abundance Ecclesiastes 8: 8-16 Luke 12:13-21 Vicky Hanjian August 2, 2015 Well, this is a doozy of a parable \u2013 one that causes us to question \u201cWhat did he mean by that?\u201d This is Jesus \u2013 speaking to his disciples apart from the crowd of thousands who are literally trampling on one another […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-worship-and-teaching"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4653"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4654,"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4653\/revisions\/4654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}