Introduction
This week’s Gospel is a perfect lesson in why a narrative approach is so critical to me.
If we take the pericope as is, then it just seems like this voice pops out of the crowd out of nowhere. It’s an innocent question. Maybe even a matter of justice. Shouldn’t Jesus take pity on a person who just wants a share of the family inheritance?
But there’s more to this scene than our pericope gives us and it sets up Jesus’ frustration beautifully.
Narrative Context
Jesus and his disciples have been on the road for some time, and they are slowly moving towards Jerusalem. News of his miracles and teachings are beginning to spread wildly. So, much so that the first verse of chapter 12 says, “Meanwhile when they gathered by the thousands, so that they trampled one another…”
People are clambering and trampling over one another like a Target on Black Friday to see this Jesus that everyone is talking about.
While the crowd is pushing in closer, Jesus takes a few moments to talk directly to his disciples about a few things. And then we get to our text today and we get a voice from the crowd. A man’s voice calls out, not with a question, but with a demand:
“Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”
Now, picture this scene, if there are thousands gathering, and this man was able to get to the front (so that he could be heard and so that Jesus might actually be able to respond to him), it’s more than likely that he was one of the ones trampling over others—in order to get to the front of the group so that he could make this demand.
“Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”
And so, I imagine Jesus looking up from his conversation with his closest followers, bewildered and maybe upset by what he’s just seen. And paraphrasing Jesus’ words he says, “Friend, is that what you think I’m here to do? To settle disputes about family money? To ensure that your wealth is protected?”
And so, then Jesus began to speak to the entire crowd that gathered. Shouting so that all of them could hear: “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”
This is the context that puts this text into greater perspective. After all that Jesus has been doing in the communities that he’s visited, after all the miracles he’s performed, the teachings that he’s shared, his focus on inclusion, on lifting up those in need, on bringing the community together, on distribution of wealth and resources to those who are in need…This voice comes out of the crowd: “What’s in it for me? Where is my help?”
So, Jesus responds: “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”
The Parable of the Prosperous Landowner
And so, Jesus then moves into this parable of a prosperous landowner. A person whose abundance is so extravagant that they have to tear down their existing barns and build bigger ones just to store all the crops and abundance that they had.
It would be easy to paint this whole Gospel text as a commentary on money. In fact, I have heard this text used to talk about money as the root of all evil. That money is to blame for the problems of the world. That if we just got rid of our money, then everything would be fine.
But a word about parables. Parables are stories that were meant to be shared out loud. In fact, this parable might be even older than the Gospel of Luke. It may have been one of the stories that the first century church passed around orally, before all of this was written down. And because of this, if we listen to this parable out loud, we may hear something a little different and it is almost comical at what it points to. I’ll try to illustrate in writing.
“The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 18Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’”
In just three and a half verses, this man is thinking about himself to himself, 16 times and never mentions a single other person. Was there no one to help him with all these crops? Did he not have family there with him? Or Workers? Was there not a community right around him? Was he alone, 50 miles from the nearest person?
What is the problem in this text? Is it money? Is it abundance? Or is it self-centeredness?
Might this be a lesson about whether our motivations are solely focused inward, or if we open our eyes to those around us?
A Posture of Inward or Outward Thinking
Of course, some may say this parable and lesson is about greed. They usually go together, but there is a slight difference between greed and self-centeredness. Greed is the attempt to hoard recourses, often in direct opposition to those around you. Self-centeredness is not even seeing anyone else around you but only being concerned about your own situation, perspective, and life.
This man in the parable may be greedy. But more than anything his downfall is his self-centeredness. 16 times he refers to himself and never anyone else. A wealth of abundance. Enough food to feed a whole community. More food than he would ever need personally. But he can’t even see others, he doesn’t even know how to think about distributing resources to them.
If someone is wealthy and has abundance but they look out and see the world with love, then that abundance and those resources can be shared. Wealth and abundance are not bad things in the hands of those who would help and share.
But self-centeredness can be deadly. Not being able to see others in the world around us may lead us to trample over one another to satisfy our own needs and wants first, never considering those who we leave behind. And it is certainly not only an affliction of the wealthy, but it can be present in all of us.
Preaching Possibilities
Being a part of a broken and fallen world, it can be easy to focus inward and be concerned about our own well beings. In a time where the world feels so volatile and fractured, we may want to focus on our own safety and security, our wealth and prosperity, our personal lives and vocations… And of course, it is important to take appropriate care for ourselves.
But if our conversations, sound more like the man in the parable, if our actions or deeds, are clambering or trampling over others… then our inward focus has certainly gone too far. If we as individuals (and as a church) are only talking about ourselves then our inward focus has turned to self-centeredness.
In this teaching moment, Jesus’ words convict all of us, to look up from ourselves and to see the community, the gathering crowds that are all around us.
“Be on your guard against all kinds of greed” Jesus tells us. Especially our own.
“For one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”
Life does not consist in the abundance of possessions; Life consists in the abundance of community.
In almost every Gospel, but especially Luke’s Gospel, lesson after lesson calls us to not just think about ourselves but to build up and build connections with the community around us.
It is in community where we find true abundance. Not just of resources and possessions. But true abundance of love, abundance of ideas and creativity, care and compassion, diversity, and truth.
When we move away from focus on resources and move away from solely concerning about ourselves, then our eyes can be opened to see the incredible gift that is the community around us.
The problem isn’t abundance, it’s isolation. This week’s Gospel invites us not to build bigger barns, but bigger tables.
When we focus on community, on sharing amongst one another, on meeting one another, and building each other up, it is then that the kingdom of God can truly be seen because the gifts of the people of God will shine in abundance.
Micah Krey 
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