Wise or Foolish?

Pentecost 8 – August 3, 2025

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14,2:18-23
Psalm 49:1-12
Colossians3:1-11
Luke 12:13-21

All of our readings today are pretty stark. That is because they deal with the age-old question of what is life. The answer for our psalmist and the writer of Ecclesiastes is that life is toil and trouble. And after that trouble and toil is the grave. And once we are there all that we have struggled for will only end up in the hands of another who just may squander it. Ecclesiastes tells us that to worry about this is vanity. Vanity because when we worry about the fruit of our toil we forget the source of our life and all that we have. Our psalmist agrees. He tells us that it does not matter, all will end up in the grave, the rich and poor, the wise and the foolish, and those of high degree and low. What is the meaning of life then? How do we live a life not filled with vanity and frustration? How do we live our life with only the grave to look forward to?

And in the middle of our lamenting of this fact Jesus tells us a parable. There once was a rich man whose harvest was so great that he decided to store up all the excess for himself. (I paraphrase). And God calls him a fool and demands his life that very night. One should remember that this is a parable and not a description of life. It would have taken much time to tear down and build new barns. It also does not tell us that God chooses when our life is done. The parable is a reminder that all we have is not ours but a gift from God. For those who hear this parable and our other Bible stories the lesson is that what we have, our selves, our time, and our possessions are not ours but gifts from God. Therefore it is not for us to worry about what will happen to it when we die. Instead we are called to use all that we have to proclaim God’s love to all the world.

Instead of vain chasing after the material world listen to Paul’s call to set your mind on things above. For that is what is important. Now you all know that God does not require this because Jesus has already done what is needed for you to live a life set aside from worldly things. There is no requirement, only a response. That response is thanksgiving for what God has done for you. Thanksgiving for life and God’s love. What better way to show this thanks than by sharing all that God has given you. For all there is, is Christ for all.

That is all easy to hear and say. It is difficult to do. That is because we are caught up in the things that we have and are taught by our culture that all we have is ours and ours alone. But when tragedy strikes we find how vane we were since what we have cannot help us and can be gone in an instant. That is why we are called to store our true possessions where moths and rust cannot destroy. Since our true treasure is with God we can freely share all that we have. Without the worries of thieves and the grave we can live the life God calls us to. That is a life of following Jesus. That life is the sharing of God’s gifts. We begin to do that by thanking God for what God has given us and then asking God to guide us in our life of love for neighbor. Begin that life today praying that you will always be able to share your gifts with others as Jesus shared his life for you.