One of the greatest temptations for us is that of riches,
wealth, things, stuff. The material
world. Greed and covetousness. The continual lust for more. Who hasn’t daydreamed about winning the
powerball, or inheriting millions from some long-lost uncle? Who doesn’t want a bigger house, a nicer car,
better duds, or the ability to travel in luxury?
The New Testament spills much ink, and our Lord Jesus speaks
many warnings about the dangers of money, the temptation of materialism, and
the like. Today we have one of his most
poignant parables – commonly called the “Parable of the Rich Fool”
And like a fine wine pairing, so often our Old Testament
reading closely aligns with the Gospel reading (non surprise, because they have
the same ultimate author). Today we hear
from Ecclesiastes and we have the ruminations of Solomon, one of the wealthiest
men ever to live.
2 Chronicles 9 tells us about Solomon’s great wealth:
King Solomon's Wealth
13 Every year King Solomon received over twenty-five tons of gold, 14 in addition to the taxes paid by the traders and merchants. The kings of Arabia and the governors of the Israelite districts also brought him silver and gold. 15 Solomon made two hundred large shields, each of which was covered with about fifteen pounds of beaten gold, 16 and three hundred smaller shields, each covered with about eight pounds of beaten gold. He had them all placed in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon.[a]
17 The king also had a large throne made. Part of it was
covered with ivory and the rest of it was covered with pure gold…
20 All of King Solomon's drinking cups were made of gold,
and all the utensils in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold.
Silver was not considered valuable in Solomon's day. 21 He had a fleet of
ocean-going ships sailing with King Hiram's fleet. Every three years his fleet
would return, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys.
22 King Solomon was richer and wiser than any other king
in the world. 23 They all consulted him, to hear the wisdom that God had given
him. 24 Each of them brought Solomon gifts—articles of silver and gold, robes,
weapons, spices, horses, and mules. This continued year after year.
(and he also had 700 wives and 300 concubines!)
But now, in Ecclesiastes, near the end of his life, Solomon
writes that all of this is vanity! It’s
nothing! It is of no value. All the toiling and gathering, all the
building of bigger barns, all the stuff upon stuff that Solomon had…
…the business of gathering and collecting, only to give
to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
It’s like Jesus says about the Rich Fool, “Fool! This
night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose
will they be?”
The point is the same:
We are all tempted to be caught up in the gathering of material things,
but quick to forget that none of this wealth will last. We will die, and someone else will take over
everything you once called yours: Your
bank account, your fancy things, even the contents of your junk drawer.
It's all vanity. It’s
all worthless, ultimately, when you die.
Or another way of saying it is the true wealth of Solomon
wasn’t in the gold and the silver and the monkeys. It was the wisdom God had given him. So would the Son of David named Jesus point
us to true wealth in the wisdom of God.
If one’s life does not consist in the abundance of
possessions, then in what does life consist?
If we ought not be too concerned to store up treasures on earth, then
how do we get the treasures of heaven?
The answer is always found in Jesus Christ, of course.
The Small Catechism puts it nicely, that “he has redeemed
me, not with gold or silver, but with his holy precious blood, and with his
innocent suffering and death.” The blood
of Christ, the death of Christ, which redeems us from death – that’s the
treasure, that’s the real value proposition here. For all these things of the world ultimately
avail to nothing. They are passing away. But the work of Christ, the grace of God, the
riches of the cross are ours forever.
This is the treasure of heaven, that golden ticket to
paradise that is only punched by faith in Christ, and that faith itself a gift
and treasure.
And so the good news today is not to shape up and get your
priorities in order, give away all your stuff and live like a pauper. The good news is that you already have the
best treasures in Jesus Christ! Rich or
poor, young or old, male or female, whatever your station or place in
life. Christ gives richly and freely of
his most precious gifts to us all. You
have the wisdom, better than the riches of Solomon, in Christ! You have the foolishness of the Gospel, which
far exceeds the wisdom of men.
And this, dear Christian, this is what reorders our thinking
about all of life’s “stuff”. We regard
the blessings of this life as blessings, yes.
As Solomon says, “There is nothing better for a person than that he
should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from
the hand of God”
And yes, we use them and enjoy them, not in covetousness,
but with contentment. We receive our
daily bread with thanksgiving, and acknowledge the goodness of the giver.
But we are also generous with these blessings. Freely have we received, so we also freely
give. The Christian shares out of the
abundance God has given. It is our joy
to give. It’s even better than
receiving.
And we also seek to be good stewards of the things he has
entrusted to our care. Like a manager in
charge of a house while the master is away, these barns don’t belong to us
anyway. This vineyard is only on
loan. This life itself, and everything
in it, all that we have is Thine alone, a trust, oh Lord, from Thee.
But these things are not where our true treasure lies. They are not all there is. They are not where life consists.
The things of the world are limited, they are passing away
along with everything in this fallen world.
So build your bigger barns - for the Gospel, for the faith,
for the Word of God. Put your heart
where your treasure already is, with Jesus, with knowledge and wisdom and joy,
and not with much gathering and collecting.
Come and receive those treasures today in the holy Sacrament of the Altar. Live each day in the treasure of your
baptism. And grow in the words that
Jesus speaks to you, for you, those words in which are abundant life.
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