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Eat, Drink and Be Merry
Alan Brehm
The Parable of the Rich Fool
15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’
18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’
20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:13-21 English Standard Version (ESV)
Greed is one of those words that by definition simply has no positive meaning.
Only the most callous Wall Street capitalist could say with a straight face that “greed is healthy.”
Most of us will agree with that on the surface of things, but once we walk out the doors of this church, our lives betray a different creed.
I am afraid we are all more products of a culture of “consumptive consumerism” than we would like to admit.
One definition of this way of living is “The preoccupation of society with the acquisition of consumer goods.”
I’d say that pretty much sums up the way we live these days--preoccupied with the acquisition of stuff.
So when Jesus says, “one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15).
I doubt that too many people in our world really believe that.
We might nod our heads in assent. And none of us would go so far as to say “greed is healthy.”
But, as a people, we continue to occupy ourselves with acquiring more and more.
It would seem that we really do believe that our lives consist in the abundance of our possessions.
It would seem that we believe that’s what it takes to be able to “eat, drink, and be merry.”
All of that is fairly obvious to anyone who has the eyes to see it. I do not think belaboring it helps anybody.
I think the real issue is where this obsession comes from, and how we free ourselves from it.
It seems to me that the source of our greed is a lack of satisfaction with life.
We just do not seem to have it in us to look at where we are today, what we have, what we are doing, and say to ourselves that it is just fine the way it is.
There is always something we want to change. Always another “golden calf” out there that we imagine will make our lives complete.
But no matter how much stuff we manage to acquire, it is never enough. There is still an empty place inside us that would not be filled with newer, nicer, better things.
Others among us think that we can fill the void with activities.
If we work hard enough and long enough, we can distract ourselves from the real question that haunts us - the question of what it will take for us to be truly happy with our lives.
It is a painful question, and one that is not easily resolved. So we really rather not have to face it at all.
Instead, we run from one activity to another, immersing ourselves in busyness so that we would not have to think about that emptiness that gnaws at us when we’re too still and quiet.
But the solution to the compulsion to fill our lives with something, with anything, so that we do not have to feel that emptiness, can only be found elsewhere.
Centuries ago, Saint Augustine said it this way, “Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.”
The ancient truth is that the only way to be free from the obsessions that fail to satisfy us is through the steadfast love of God. It is a love that surrounds us constantly.
It is a love that is in the very air we breathe, in the sunshine that drives the trees to produce the air we breathe, and in the chemical process in the leaves of the trees that gives off oxygen.
If God’s love can be found in something so basic to our very existence, surely it can be found in the other aspects of our lives as well, if we have the eyes to see it.
The Psalmist reminds us that it is the steadfast love of God that provides us with the very food we eat (Psalm 107:9).
And so he calls us to “give heed to these things” (Psalm 107:43).
I think that means we are supposed to catch a clue, get the hint, learn the lesson.
If God goes to such lengths to establish the very cycle of nature that supports our lives in ways we take for granted, we can surely trust God with the other aspects of our lives that we think we have to manage.
St. Paul took that one step further. He reminded us that God also gave us what was most precious. God gave his only Son for us all so that we might have new life.
And Paul draws the natural conclusion: “He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?” (Romans 8:32).
The real solution to seeking our lives in how much stuff we have, or in how much we can do to distract ourselves, or how well we can “eat, drink, and be merry,” is to find our lives in the new life that God offers us all.
It is a life that is truly fulfilling, a life of learning that becoming content with God’s love turns whatever we have into everything we could ever need.
It is a life of loving God in return and therefore serving those around us in love - especially by sharing what we have with them. Jesus calls this “being rich toward God” (Luke 12:21).
When we find our lives in this way, then we can see the folly of thinking that anything else could possibly satisfy us.
Then we can see the truth that “one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”
Would you want God to change your life?
God has made it possible for you to know Him and experience an amazing change in your own life through a relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ, and have eternal life.
Say the following prayer:
“Father God, I confess I am a sinner and my sins have separated me from You.
I am truly sorry. I now want to turn away from my past sinful life and live a new life pleasing to You.
Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again.
I believe that Your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer.
I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Thank You that according to Your Word, I am now born again.
Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. I promise to study Your Word – the Bible.
Use me for Your glory.
In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.”
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