And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
— Luke 12:16-21
“Fool!” says God (and so long as it stays a parable, this is a caution; but when I shall hear it in fact, it has become a death knell). Fool, this is as simple as it gets: if you do not interrupt your life with convictions of the death to come, then neither shall your death, when it comes, be interrupted by life.
— Walter Wangerin, Reliving the Passion
The Invitation of Lent
Lent is a holy interruption of the status quo. Through the ancient practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, Lent encourages us to reassess where we’re storing our treasure. What do we give our attention to? What appetites drive us? Where do we spend our money? Are we preoccupied with growing our private kingdoms at the expense of investing in the kingdom of God?
The answers to these questions can be painful. We realize we’re not as devoted, faithful or as generous as we’d like to be. We’re faced with the reality that there are lots of things we might desire more than the kingdom of God. If we’re being honest, building bigger, better barns sounds like a great idea —and certainly one that our broader culture applauds.
Lent does its work revealing our disordered loves. But is this just a dour season where we’re supposed to think poorly of ourselves? Can we find any comfort in Lent? I believe so! Here are a couple encouragements for today.
The Comfort of Lent
First, as Walter Wangerin reminds us, as long Jesus’ parable above is merely a parable, it serves as a caution, not a condemnation. As long as there’s breath in our lungs, there’s still time to repent and turn from our foolish attempts to amass more wealth, status, and fame for ourselves.
Second, Jesus empowers our transformation. Jesus came to give us abundant life! Paradoxically, He tells us that the path to a rich and fruitful existence is one marked by sacrifice and service to others. Right after the parable of the Rich Fool, Jesus teaches that the Father knows all that we need. And he is eager to give us his kingdom! We don’t have to follow the well-trodden path of self-aggrandizement, financial or otherwise. Be rich toward God, Jesus says, and your life will be full.
Good Friday Offering
As we make our way through these final weeks of Lent, may I remind you of an opportunity to invest in the Kingdom of God. Every year, Restoration takes up a Good Friday offering for a ministry or mission project outside of our local congregation. This year, our recipient is New Life Family Services. New Life is building a new clinic just 30 blocks north of us on Chicago Ave. You can learn more about this initiative here.
A couple things to note– this clinic will be near the busiest bus stop in the state of Minnesota! Through a partnership with Community Care Clinics, they will be able to provide a full-service medical clinic for the whole family. The project cost $4.1 million dollars and they have just $184,000 to fundraise. After the clinic opens, hopefully sometime in April, we will keep you updated on opportunities for volunteering and getting a tour of this new space.
If you haven’t had a chance, pick up a baby bottle bank in the library and bring back at our Good Friday service. You may also give below, or with a check/cash next Friday night.
With God’s help, may we be known for being rich toward God and his kingdom.
