Today's Sermon in a Nutshell:

Today's Sermon in a Nutshell:

The parable of the Rich Fool addresses what one’s attitude should be regarding money, wealth, and possessions. To those who have an abundance of such things, it begs the question: are we in control of our wealth, or does our wealth control us? 

Our Lord emphasizes this by the word choices He uses, for no other parable in scripture is so full of personal pronouns: I, me, my, mine. 

Cash and contentment are not always congruent. Therefore, instead of finding happiness in sharing and giving to others, the fool hoarded his harvest – never once giving thought to the situations of those around him or his own future. He lived his life as if he would never be answerable to God. Thus, this man is the epitome of the ancient proverb which states that wealth is like sea water; the more one drinks of it, the thirstier they become. Wealth, like an addictive drug, ends up possessing the possessor. 

Jesus, however, teaches that life and living as far more than temporal gain because wealth and possessions have the capability of luring a person into a false sense of security. This stands in direct contact to the fact that God is an omnipotent Sovereign; in charge and the owner of all things, while we are merely caretakers or “stewards” of these gifts and blessings. 

Note also that our Lord does not use the term “fool” to describe this man as being dimwitted, senseless, or a dullard, but rather in the biblical sense of one who disregards God and/or refuses to adhere to His Word.

Fools, therefore, selfishly invest their time and energy in chasing “mammon” while ignoring the worth that death cannot take away. This is because greed can hypnotize and take over one’s soul. As my priest growing up used to say, you can see clearly through a plane of glass; yet when you put a backing of silver (silver nitrate) on it, and it becomes a mirror in which you can only see yourself.

Fr. John