Eccl. 1:2,12-14,2:18-26, Col. 3:1-11, Luke 12:13-21
FIRST LESSON: Ecclesiastes 2:18-26
1:2 "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." (RSV "Vanity of vanities.")
2:18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.
24 A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26 To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
GOSPEL LESSON: Luke 12:13-21 The Parable of the Rich Fool
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."
14 Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" 15 Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
16 And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' 18 "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."' 20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' 21 "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."
What would you do if you suddenly ran into money? Perhaps it might be an inheritance or the lottery. Would you spend it all immediately or save it up for the future? Would you rather have a fling or security? Jesus tells about a rich man who had a good year in farming. He had made enough to support him for the rest of his life. He had security. Then he said, "Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." That is the advice of the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes.
Security is good, but the rich man had security in 'goods,' in things. He had security in himself, what he had done. But no one knows the future. He heard the voice of God, "You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?" We too plan for the future. We have our social security, pensions, and savings. But the stock market drops, there are not enough young people paying into social security, a fire or a medical emergency can wipe out all our savings.
On our own, we cannot build permanent, eternal security. There is no eternal security without God. Psalm 53:1 says, "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" The rich man had put his trust in his own efforts without God, and then God said, "You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?"
The devil called Jesus a "fool." On the cross there was no security. He had been stripped of his clothes, he had no money, his friends had deserted him, it seemed that even God his Father had deserted him, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" The only things that secured Jesus that day were the nails that secured him to the cross, and the sin of the world that condemned him to die, and the love that he had for us so that he willingly died in our place. Real security was the promise of God. That is the promise he spoke to the thief on the cross, "Today you will be with me in Paradise."
Easter proves that there is no security in Hell. Easter proves that the devil cannot hold us forever. Easter proves that real security is in Jesus. This is eternal life. This is when we can really eat, drink and be merry. Psalm 23 says, "5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."
In the Lord's Supper, Jesus tells us to eat his body and drink his blood and make the covenant of faith. Eat, drink, and rejoice in the security of eternal life. Our treasure is in heaven (Luke 12:33). And so we can understand and follow the advice of the writer of Ecclesiastics, "24 A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?"
Amen.
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church