Sermon for Sunday, August 1, 2004 (Rich Fool) LUKE 12: 13 - 21 The Rev. Diane Livingston, Interim Chaplain and Deacon Church of the Resurrection, Starkville, Mississippi "So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God." The parables of Jesus invariably touch us where we live or hurt or experience some need. Jesus did not seem to be saying not to own any property or goods but what he did say quite clearly was that the material order can do certain things for us, and that it cannot do other things. It does not possess all of the resources that we need to be fulfilled as human beings. If we place any material object on the altar of ultimate importance, hoping to extract from it everything that feeds the hungers of our heart, we are going to be sorely disappointed. The rich fool in today's Gospel is missing the genuine delight that comes from an experience of profound gratitude, from realizing how much he had received that was utterly beyond his deserving. One of the highest of all joys lies in recognizing the primal grace behind all things. Additionally, the man did not know generosity, the most basic of virtues. John Claypool makes a wonderful comparison of generosity with Creation. The story of creation tells us that God thought the wonder of aliveness was too good to keep to God's self. God wanted others to get in on this ecstasy and to experience this wonder so God shared the bounty of what God was and what God had. Sadly the rich fool did not even let the option of giving away or sharing his abundance get onto the table to be considered. His question was not: what should I do? But rather what should I do, for I have no place to store my extra crops? We define our lives by the choices we make and by the options we don't even allow on the table. Do we sometimes rule out options that entail sacrifice, that require interaction and consensus, that expose us to risk or to hard work or to silence or to loneliness? Think about it: if we are made in the image of Generosity and if we are going to be generous ultimately one day when we are gone from this earth and everything we have will pass on to others, why not get in on the joy of participating intentionally in what is the very essence of our being? I invite you this week to ponder the ideas of material possessions, of greed, of generosity, of being creations of God, of all the types of gifts God has bestowed on us with no thought of what we deserve and what God may hope for our use and sharing of all our gifts, both material and intangible. Think of when generosity was first shown to you by your family or others. Pondering the Gospel for today has been interesting for me. I was struck with a memory when I was a young girl, probably upper elementary school-aged, and my very close friend and I were walking along on the wide sidewalks of Washington Street in Vicksburg. Our ponytails were swinging - hers a blond one and mine brown. We had been to the Magnolia Dairy on a very hot summer day. When this memory came to mind, I could not think why we would have been so far from our homes walking on a summer adventure but for some reason I remember vividly the popsicles that we purchased from Mrs. Buck at the ice cream store that day. Now popsicles back then were so different from today - much thicker and juicier and so much better than today's versions. All that I can conclude as I pondered this memory was that our eyes and money must have been bigger than our ability to eat all of these special treats on that very hot summer day. Here we were walking along with several delicious popsicles quite a long way from home. We realized that the popsicles would be melted by the time we reached home and the ones that we were eating would be all we could handle. I can still see in my memory the place on the sidewalk where we were when suddenly approaching us was a very elderly man pushing a lawnmower of the old style - a push mower. I recall looking at the blades of grass still caught in the spiral cutters and thinking he must have just finished cutting someone's yard because he was dripping wet with perspiration. As we all passed one another, my friend turned and then caught up with the man who had not looked at us. She said, "Sir, would you like some popsicles?" He said nothing but extended his hand and took the sack. She turned and off we went. Obviously the idea had come to her spontaneously and she had responded in a very natural way. We were both content with what happened and I don't think we even discussed it. Think now more broadly than your family or your friends. Think of the communities that you are a part of. Possibly through the church, your neighborhood, or a civic club you were a part of being generous, of sharing. I was fortunate to have been a part of a group of Christians from several churches in a community where I once lived who decided to look at the problem of hunger in our town. Guided by the Episcopal Church through a diocesan charge, we began to come together and talk and ask questions and we decided that we would each commit to pray within the meeting time about opening ourselves up to this task and that we would pray individually too about listening to needs and about what gifts we could share. This whole process was about groups and individuals having more than enough and being willing to share to help others who did not. What began as persons from four churches is now, almost 20 years later, over 25 churches who offer what they can to what the needs of the community are. The pantry is still in operation. Also there is a 4 apartment house that has been remodeled to offer short term housing while persons or families in an emergency situation who do not have the funds to pay for rent can stay while they seek work or start a job and begin to get their feet on the ground. There is a prescription closet to help those who cannot buy their medicines. These types of services are not unusual for a community to offer but I name it as an example that I can share about personally because I was a part of it and I know that going through that process and forming relationships with others has impacted me forever. What was part of the miracle of this project is that somehow it began to be a vehicle for many of all ages in the community - even beyond the members who directed the project - to give, to be generous. It truly seemed as if maybe all along the people in the community wanted to give, wanted to help others but there needed to be some way of doing so. Go a step broader now with me - think of our country and the world. As we pray that our eyes be opened and that we truly live with the same generosity that God displayed when God created us, it will not be surprising that we will begin to see countless ways that we hoard and that we protect what is ours without regard of sharing. The United States is a powerful country, probably the most in the world. Hopefully our country will not model after the Rich Fool. Wherever we look however, we will see numerous examples of greed, for greed will ruin more lives than any other flaw in the human condition. At the Episcopal Relief and Development meeting in Houston earlier this summer, I heard some amazing figures that tie in beautifully with the Gospel lesson today. Consider that of the 6 billion people in the world, 1 in 5 lives in extreme material poverty (which is equated to living on less than a $1 a day). In the United States women and men spend $8 billion on cosmetics; $6 billion would provide basic education worldwide. Europeans spend $11 billion each year on ice cream; $9 billion would provide everyone on the planet with clean water and sanitation. I don't think that the message here is don't eat ice cream or use cosmetics but rather we must consider what we spend on these items or other material things AND spend the same amount on sharing and helping those who are without or adjust the first column to allow for us to give in the second column. In a small but important way, when we bring food for the hungry on the Second Sunday Sharing we are beginning to demonstrate this. Our Sunday School children this year will work on giving to help others and we will have a chance to participate in this too. More information on that later. There is an old story of a man who dreamed one night that he had died and was given a chance to visit both the underworld and the realm of heaven. In this dream, though, the one thing that death did to people was to stiffen their elbows; no one in either realm could bend their arms. In hell, the dreamer saw terrible conflict and agitation. Everyone had bread in both hands and was very hungry but, given the rigidity of their elbows, they could not get it to their mouths. Each one was concerned only for himself or herself, and the misery was unspeakable. The dreamer was then taken to heaven, where all the human beings had the same physical disability, only these folk had discovered a solution: although they could not feed themselves with the stiffened elbows, they could feed each other! Gracious God, help us to share and to be generous with one another in our families, in our church family and with all of your creation. Help us to remember each day that the treasures that matter can't be stored or earned, only received in gratitude.