In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Well, just in time,
each November, depending on when Pascha was,
we hear this particular Gospel reading. this
peril. Just as the fast begins, the 40 -day fast
before Christmas, just as Thanksgiving is around
the corner, we hear something to take very serious
consideration about how we fast, how we give
thanks. Of course, we give thanks, and the word
Thanksgiving has two words in it, thanks and
giving. We're giving thanks to God. but we're
also giving out of our abundance to someone else
that does not have. So we hear this parable about
a man, Jesus gives this parable, who is in a
very different tax status and bracket than the
people he's speaking to. He's in a different
social strata than the people he's speaking to.
The people he's speaking to would consider this
man is Blessed. He's blessed. He has it all.
God has blessed this man. And that's true. But
don't think that this parable is just about money
and possessions. Not merely about money and possessions.
It's about desire. The Lord puts his finger on
the exact illness we have. That desire is the
condition of the heart of how we identify ourselves.
And in the modern world, whatever we desire,
we think we can have. Even if human nature doesn't
allow it, we think we can technologically change
things. It's the desire of the heart. This parable
is about having a great heart. Having a great
spirit. Magnanimity, right? Great spirit. Mahatma.
This man is rich, but he does not have a big
heart. This man is rich, but not in the kingdom
of heaven. So just before this parable is given,
the Lord is teaching. He's teaching profound
words. He's saying this. Are not five sparrows
sold for two copper coins, and not one of them
is forgotten before God? The very hairs of your
head are numbered. Do not fear, therefore. You
are of more value than sparrows. Also I say to
you, whoever confesses me before men, him the
Son of God will confess before the angels. But
whoever denies me before men will be denied before
the angels of God. And he goes on in this profound
way. He says, anyone who speaks a word against
the Son of Man will be forgiven him. When they
bring you to the synagogues and the magistrates
and the judges and the authorities when you're
arrested, don't worry. About what you're going
to say. How you should answer. For the Holy Spirit
will teach you in that very hour. What you ought
to say. And as Jesus is saying these profound
words. A man is working his way through the crowd.
He's kind of nudging through the crowd as I see
it. And he raises his hand. And he says. Oh master.
You think he's going to ask a question about
these profound things Jesus is saying. But what
does he say? Master, will you tell my brother,
my older brother, to divide the inheritance with
me? This is the response Jesus has to what he's
been saying. Priests get this sometimes too.
The ugliest thing is the inheritance fight in
a family. for sure. But does Jesus answer the
man? He says, man, who made me a judge or an
arbiter over you? Well, the father did, obviously,
but not for that. And then he says, beware. Beware
of greed and covetousness. And then he tells
the story. The voice of God Almighty tells this
man, who has incredible blessings from God, Fool!
Fool! This night your soul is required of you.
He's a fool. Why is he a fool? Well, let's point
out a few reasons. To the fool, says the book
of Proverbs, no one is more trustworthy, wise,
or reliable than himself. He who trusts in his
own heart, in his own soul, in his own understanding,
is a fool, according to Proverbs. He did everything
in relation to himself. He thought he had ultimate
control over his life. Well, do we? Do we have
ultimate control over our life? He thought that
he could shape it. He could mold it. He desired
something and he was going to extend himself
into it and add wealth to it without thanksgiving
to God. He was going to curate his image for
the world to see. We do that on social media,
don't we? Forget about it. It's pointless. He
planned ahead. Good to do. Just not far enough.
He was also wrong about his expiration date.
You see, we don't know when the Lord will call
us. We have a date. It's there. For sure. 100
% guaranteed. The church, the spiritual fathers
of our church teach us we should meditate on
our death. Daily. Not in some morbid psychological
way. Oh, they'll be sorry when I'm gone. Like
that. No. Not like that. But in a way in which
we consider leaving this life and all the things
that we have and all the people in the relationships,
good or bad, and what we will say at the judgment
seat. And are we prepared to depart? I could
say for most of us, the answer would be probably
no. That's why the church says, meditate on your
death daily. One saint says, a day in which you
haven't meditated on your own repose is a wasted
day. Because once you do begin to think about
your end, then every moment becomes precious.
Every relationship between each other becomes
precious. charged with importance. It means something.
It has value that you maybe didn't see without
that. And this man did not do that. He just thought
about his goods. Also, he thought not only he
had total control, but we hear the words, I,
me, mine, and my. some 13 times in this parable
of only six verses. He had no words of gratitude
to God for the abundance he received. So the
listeners thinking this man is tremendously rich
and blessed, Jesus Christ turns the table on
that understanding. This man simply collected
more. St. John Chrysostom advises, he says, More
than you need. Give it to the storehouses and
the barns of the poor. For there is heavenly
and divine storehouses. For he, he says, who
feeds the poor, he says, feeds God. Being rich
is not a sin. Being ungrateful to the Most High
God for his blessings, being selfish with those
blessings, and forgetting that you are mortal,
Those are sins. Jesus, our Savior, in the verse
before the parable and the reason for the parable,
again, I will tell you, beware, he says, watch,
beware of greed, of covetousness. What is covetousness?
You can all look it up. It's insatiable desire
for material gain or social value or status or
power. I was going to say something about the
election, but I won't. That's always on display,
and it tempts us too. That's why this parable
is not just for the rich people. Jesus didn't
speak it to rich people. St. Paul says covetousness
is idolatry. Idolatry is the worship of something
or someone besides the true and living God. It's
trust in something or someone. that is not God.
So we know that this parable is not a story for
rich people, since Jesus was not preaching to
the rich. And at the end of the parable, Jesus
says, basically, my friends, you heard the parable.
Therefore, and that's in the text, he says, therefore,
Have faith in God, not things I tell you, therefore.
Do not be anxious about your life. He doesn't
mean don't plan. Don't take care of your family.
Don't work hard. Anxiety is a sickness of the
soul. Don't be anxious about your life, what
you will eat, nor about your body, what you will
put on. For life is more than food, and the body
more than clothing. Consider the lilies, how
they grow. They neither toil nor spin. And I
tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not
arrayed like one of these. O ye of little faith,
do not seek what you are to eat and what you
are to drink, nor be worried and anxious. Let
not that be the center of your goal of your life,
he was saying. For unbelievers seek after these
things, and your Father knows that you need them.
Instead, seek his kingdom. These things will
be added to you. And the epistle sums it all
up for us. It's not I who live, but Christ who
lives indeed. And the life I live is because
of the sacrifice, the crucifixion, and the resurrection
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Don't we repeat in
our litanies? Let us commend ourselves in each
other and all our life unto Christ our God. You
say amen to that. And I do too. Which means we
give our assent, our approval, our agreement
that we are to commend ourselves and our entire
life. Everything. Everything. All the blessings
God has given us. All the people we know. And
we think maybe what he means in the litany is
this. Well, let's look to him for safety. Let's
put our lives in God's care. Let's abandon ourselves
to him, counting on him to save us from some
kind of adversity and troubles. But that's not
what it means. It means that generously, courageously,
wholeheartedly, by an act of will that transcends
our very will, that goes beyond our will, to
do good in our disposition to sin, we say to
Christ, Lord, I don't want to live my life. I
want to live your life. I don't want to live
according to my standards. I want to live according
to yours. May our Lord grant that. To him be
glory, now and ever, to ages of ages.