Luke 12:13-21

     Jesus is by now a known and respected speaker. A man in the crowd spoke up and asked Jesus to require his brother to divide with him the property their father had left for them. It has been speculated that this would have been the younger brother. The larger share of property always went to the eldest son in the family. Although this seems unfair to most people today, it was the accepted practice in many cultures throughout history. Scholars say that it was to ensure the maintenance of larger estates for social stability.
     This isn’t to say that the younger brothers enjoyed the situation...as this story and the tale of the prodigal son both illustrate. In this particular situation, the elder brother has apparently refused to give the younger sibling his allotted share and this defrauded man looks to Jesus to remedy the situation.
      From a certain perspective, this may have seemed right. Jesus was respected. He clearly had an air of authority that impressed the crows and made his opponent nervous. Perhaps the brother had even come and joined the crowd, thereby acknowledging some sense of respect for Jesus’ opinion. Yet, from the perspective of time, we might look at this man and wonder why he was bothering with physical property when he had the lord of life in front of him.
     The response of Jesus doesn’t appear to be scornful, but more sad when he asks who had given him the right to judge the matter. Then he used the moment to pass on a teaching to the entire crowd when he warned them to beware of greed, for their true and genuine life was not summed up in what they owned.
      Jesus proceeded to tell the parable of the man with the bigger and better barn. He’d had a great harvest and decided to tear down his barn and build one good enough for his harvest. Once it was done he congratulated himself and decided he could be at ease. But God tells him he’s a fool, for he would die that night and what good would his barns or harvest be?
     This is how it was, Jesus said, with those who pile up earthly riches, but are not rich with God and spirit.
     Jesus had a clear sense of priorities. A person grasping after wealth was missing out on eternal riches. Most spiritual paths have tended to raise concern over those who emphasize the physical over the spiritual. A Hindu fable ends with the comment that those who live only for bread will do anything to attain it.
     One wonders if the man wanting his share of the his father’s property understood, or rejected the teaching. Certainly, Christians have not always had a comfortable relationship with the physical world. Responses range from ascetics who reject all physical pleasure or comfort, to those who have convinced themselves that being a Christians is a path and justification for affluence.
     It is true that Jesus’ words can be taken in more than one way. He doesn’t necessarily say that wealth and spiritual riches are necessarily exclusive. That is, perhaps someone can be rich in both ways. The dangers of it are clear--the temptation to forget priorities in the pursuit of worldly gain. On the other extreme, few Christians have gone the path of someone like Mother Teresa, and many feel a sense of spiritual angst in observing that sort of consecration.
      It is not a subject that is or should be easily resolved.

What is your relationship with money?
If you were brutally honest with yourself, how important is physical wealth to you?
Would your attitude toward worldly security lead you to be blind to the treasure of Jesus standing in front of you?