Brandon's Homily Luke 12:15-25
“15 And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” 16 Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17 And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 18 Then 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. 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, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
Do Not Worry
22 He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?”
Oh, how man forgets God and thus himself! For without God what is there, but oblivion. This is what the man in the parable found out when he stored up his grain. He thought himself safe and secure. He believed that his grain afforded him life abundant. Yet God came for his life and no amount of his grain could pay his ransom. His life was at and end and nothing in creation could save him. The man forgot God and thus forgot where he drew his life. He, like Adam and Eve, pursued life outside of God and received death. Know that it is not the tree or the grain that is at fault in the stories, but the choice to trust in something other than God for life.
So we come to worry.When we chose to worry do we not raise something higher than it ought to be? Do we not give it a sort of power over us? We become again like the man who stored his grain, thinking only that the grain will give us life. That by having the grain we will be satisfied. That only money will sustain us. Only the strength of arms can save us. Only clothes will cover us. So we forget another thing, our worth. And so we make light of the sacrifice of God. For can grain pay for eternal life? Will money buy a seat in heaven? Can strength of arms rescue from the pit? Will clothes give new bodies? No, these lesser goods could never provide these things. God alone provides, for he so loved the world that he gave his only son. That is what you are worth. The blood and sacrifice of the Only Begotten Son of God. So if God is willing to go to this length to secure your life, what do you gain in worrying? Know worry only lessens the gift that is already given. It does not add to life but takes it away.
So I say to you, my brothers and sisters, know your worth and do not forget where you draw true life.