“If I Were Rich” (Luke 12:13-21)

Dear God, you made many, many poor people.
I realize, of course, that it's no shame to be poor
But it's no great honor, either.
So what would have been so terrible if I had a small fortune?

If I were a rich man,
Daidle deedle daidle
Daidle daidle deedle daidle dumb

All day long I'd biddy-biddy-bum
If I were a wealthy man
I wouldn't have to work hard,
Daidle deedle daidle
Daidle daidle deedle daidle dumb

In the musical, Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye—the father of a poor Russian family of Jews, poses the question to God of what it would be like to be rich.  With wealth he sees a life with a big house, lots of farm animals, and servants for his wife, people seeking his wisdom, and time to loll away the hours sitting in the synagogue discussing with the holy.  Despite the dream, Tevye resigns himself to the life he lives far from the wealth he dreams of.

But, it is good dream . . . isn’t it?

Who among us has never dreamed about what it would be like to be rich?  I know that I have.  In my dream of wealth I envision a life of ease . . . abundance . . . freedom and privilege.  You know, all the stuff of Robin Leach’s show, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous!  I know that isn’t going to happen, but it doesn’t hurt to dream it once in a while.  I will probably never be financially wealthy. 

Years ago, I came across a solution to this dream of being rich. I heard someone once say that if she had found a magic lamp with a genie offering her three wishes . . . she knew exactly what she would wish for.  In fact, she said wouldn’t even need three wishes because her first wish would cover it all.  Her wish?  Her wish was that all she ever had to do when she wanted something was to reach in her pocket and . . . boom . . . the money would be there for her to get it.  She would always be able to get what she wanted or needed.  How perfect is that?

So, if you see me wandering around garage sales just know that I am looking for that magic lamp and genie.

As Tevye gives the answer to what he would do if he were rich, we also slide into the “what if” . . . what if we were rich?  What would we do?  How would we live?

Wealth seems to be a “hot topic” that has been around a long, long time.  Wealth is the dilemma being raised in our scripture reading this morning.  A person in the crowd asks Jesus to tell his brother to divide the inheritance with him.  As it stood, the eldest inherited the brunt of the family fortune and the rest of the siblings got what was left over—a sort of trickle down economic solution.  Apparently the brother asking the question was the younger brother—the one on the short end of the stick!  He knew that if his brother did not divide the inheritance. He wasn’t going to get anything.  In his mind, Jesus could help in making his brother see the light.

Yet, Jesus doesn’t see it this way at all.  Instead, he is pretty curt in his response to the individual’s request: “Man, who appointed me a judge or arbiter between you?  Watch out!  Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in abundance of possessions.”  It would seem that Jesus is not too hot on the idea of wealth . . . that he doesn’t think too highly of it.  From his words and the parable he tells, one gets the idea that the pursuit of wealth is not what is important when it comes to living life.  There is more to life than wealth as far as Jesus is concerned.  Life is too short and uncertain to waste it on the pursuit of wealth . . . especially wealth for one’s self.

Now, I do not think that Jesus was against wealth or that he thought that wealth was bad or evil.  I think that Jesus saw wealth, just as he saw money, as something to be used . . . a tool.  Wealth and money are not evil in themselves, but how they are used can produce evil.  When the pursuit of wealth and money blinds the individual from those things that are really important . . . things like having a relationship with God and others, then it falls into the ire of Jesus.  In Jesus’ mind and heart, is wealth and money more important than relationships . . . of relating to God . . . of relating to others?  No!  Especially when life is so uncertain.  Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

In the parable a rich man has a year of bumper crops.  He has more than he knows what to do with . . . and, he also has nowhere to put it all.  With what he considers to be a stroke of genius, the rich man decides to tear down his old barns and build bigger ones to hold his record crop.  In doing this he believes that he has hit “easy street” and that he can sit back and enjoy life leisurely.  Of, as he himself says, “Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”

It sounds like a great plan . . . but, God has different plans.  Zap! He’s dead.  Gone.  Kaput!  God’s question to the rich man rings out: “Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?”

Jesus ends the parable with the emphasis, again, on the more important things in life . . . relationships.  Especially a relationship with God.  He states: “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

Real wealth, as Jesus sees it, comes down to relationships . . . relationships that are built on love.  We all know that he proclaimed that the two greatest commandments were to love God and others . . . that in the end this was all that mattered.  Relationships based on love.  That is what the Apostle Paul stated in his letter to the congregation in Corinth in what we know as the “love chapter”—I Corinthians 13.  The apostle states that without love, “I am nothing.”  He also states that of everything that a person could possess there is nothing greater than love.

At what cost is the pursuit of anything . . . including wealth, if it sacrifices relationships?

As Jesus answers the man’s request to “make his brother divide the inheritance”, Jesus wants to know from the man if it would be worth it if he lost the relationship he had with his brother.  It is not a blatant question, but one that is implied through the parable.  Jesus understand the fragileness of life . . . that anything could happen . . . and, that there are no promises of a tomorrow.  Because of this the moment becomes what is important.  The moment becomes the pursuit.  To live in the moment.

As Tevye ponders what he would do if he is rich, he misses the fact that so much of what he dreams of has nothing to do with others . . . or at least relationships with others.  His dream focuses on what his wealth will do for himself . . . and, not until the end does he realize the real sort of wealth he already has.  Wealth that comes in his relationship with his wife . . . his daughters . . . friends and neighbors.  When he loses all he owns, he discovers that he was already rich because he was loved.  This is the wealth that can never be taken away.

Knowing this, I think that we can all count ourselves among the wealthy.  We are loved by our family . . . loved by our friends.  We are loved by those who sit around us each Sunday morning.  We are rich in relationships . . . relationships in which we find ourselves being loved, encouraged, supported, and urged to grow . . . people who are there to walk with us in the journey of faith and life.  We are loved by a God who never abandons us, always supports us, urges us onward, and is forgiving in wanting us to grow.

We are rich. Rich in love.  What more could any of us ask for?  God loves us.  Amen.