The 8th Sunday after Pentecost

"Money, money, money Must be funny, in the rich man's world Money, money, money Always sunny in the rich man's world Ah-ha, all the things I could do If I had a little money, it's a rich man's world It's a rich man's world"

This is a song sung by one of my favorite vocal groups, ABBA, and one of several from that great musical Mama Mia. Though I’ve never seen the Broadway version, I love the movie with its splendid background of a Greek island and a super cast starring the great Meryl Streep. If you haven’t seen the movie, you will be in for a treat. I have it on a CD and it’s one of my “go to’s” when regular TV offers few worthwhile options.

Money, money, money. Scripture tells us that the love of it is the root of all evil. But you know money isn’t everything. In fact, it often causes pain and suffering. I tell you this because I am your friend and I want to take away your pain and suffering. So, send me all your money…and I will suffer for you.

Cash only please!  Hey, what are friends for?

I must sound suspiciously like the man in this Gospel who asked Jesus to make his brother give him money. Greed. It was rampant then and it’s rampant now. Then it was bigger barns; now it’s McMansions.

Let’s look at this in a larger context. Jesus had just finished having dinner in the home of a Pharisee where he berated the guests for their greed and wickedness.

They in turn have begun to plot against him and get the goods on him, so to speak. Meanwhile, a huge crowd has gathered to listen to him teach and, in the midst of them, this guy, who is oblivious to what Jesus is all about, stands up and says. “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”

Talk about missing the point. But Jesus used his rude interruption to teach a profound lesson by telling the parable of the Rich Fool and his barns—barns he built so that he could store his possessions and live high on the hog.

Just listen to how this guy talks! What should I do? I have no place to store my crops. I will do this. I will build. I will store. My barns. My grain. My goods. It’s all about me. 

I wonder if the back story here is not so much this man’s success. Jesus would have no problem with that. I suspect it has more to do with greed, with “I’m not satisfied with all my barns; I want more.” To me it smacks a sense of entitlement.

Now this term has been bounced around a lot in our sociopolitical arena. To be clear, I am not talking about the single working mom with two little kids who needs SNAP to feed or the wounded Veteran on disability or the elderly person whose primary source of income is Social Security or the young adult with severe asthma earning below minimum wage who would have no health care without Medicaid.

I’m talking about this sense of privilege that “I come first. I’m so important that a can run the red light or cut you off on I-95 in my Mercedes or become a ‘have more’ at your expense. Cause it’s all about me. I’m the only one who matters and, after all, the one who dies with the most toys wins.”

I don’t know if you’ve seen this commercial on TV but it really gets my goat and is a metaphor for the culture of entitlement that has trickled down to kids. It shows this maybe 12-year-old boy walking down Main Street USA and passing a number of shops and looking in the windows.

The background song says, “I see it; I like it; I want it,” and the kid pulls out a credit card and gets a new high-end jacket, fancy cap, and expensive sneakers. Next you see his parents sitting on a bench and looking at her phone Mom says, “Well, he’s still within his budget.”

Have any of you had that kind of adolescence? I sure didn’t.

It is, sadly, an attitude that permeates life these days and at the root of it is the belief that one is entitled to it all and at anyone’s expense or discomfort—just like the jerk who got up and asked Jesus the question in this Gospel.

The gist of this Gospel lesson is that we are not really entitled to anything but the gift of life—and that is a gift from God—and people sabotage any hope for true happiness if they are possessed and defined by their possessions.

Comedian Jack Benny, from TV's Golden age, had a skit which illustrated how people can place money ahead of everything. He is walking down the street when suddenly he is approached by an armed robber, "Your money or your life!" There is a long pause. Jack does nothing. The robber impatiently queried, "Well?" Jack replied, "Don't rush me, I'm thinking it over."

Jesus did not indiscriminately condemn wealth. As a matter of fact, many of his first followers came from homes of considerable comfort, and they and Jesus alike enjoyed the hospitality of similar homes. But he’s very clear about people’s hording it, getting richer and richer while the less fortunate suffer.

Money, money, money. Must be funny, in the rich man's world.

In the end, I think It’s not how much we have that matters; it’s what we do with what we have. Jesus would probably say “Amen” to that.