Words to Get Through Difficult Times
by Rev. Eric Folkerth
As I closely read these passages in the middle of the Gospel of Luke —the ones that serve as our lectionary this summer— I’m struck by how much they all surround and reinforce common themes.
On Sunday, we’ll unpack the story of the “Man Who Built Bigger Barns.”
Unlike many of Jesus’ parables that feature an ironic twist, this one is fairly straight ahead. A man has a surplus of crops, more than he knows what to do with. Instead of giving the surplus away to others, he decides to store it up for the future.
He then admires this work, confident that he’s set for “easy street” for the rest of his life.
But that very night, Jesus says, the man dies. And Jesus says God says to the man, “Fool, tonight you will die. Now who will get the things you have prepared for yourself?”
The entire parable gets told because apparently somebody asks Jesus to be their personal Probate Court Judge. Jesus isn’t at all interested in the worry about who owns what “stuff.” And so, he tells this parable.
Jesus introduces the parable with these cautionary words:
“Watch out! Guard yourself against all kinds of greed. After all, one’s life isn’t determined by one’s possessions, even when someone is very wealthy.”
This is taken from the “Common English Bible” translation which I believe emphasizes in an extremely helpful way that there is no level of wealth that can determine the meaning of one’s life. Our “life” must be centered in the spiritual view that extends far beyond the physical realm.
But what’s fascinating to me is to understand the developing themes throughout all of this center-section of the Gospel of Luke. They can be summed up like this…
“Follow me to do the challenging thing (go to Jerusalem).”
“Ask for DAILY BREAD, not more than you need for each day.”
“Spend time with friends and loved ones, and really BE PRESENT with them (Mary and Martha).”
“Help those in need, even your ‘enemy,’ out of what you have (Good Samaritan).”
“And understand that it’s never what we OWN that gives our life meaning.”
When we are stressed and strained —when it feels like either our personal lives, or our world, are falling apart— it can be extremely difficult to remember any of these things, much less all of them.
But I am struck at how almost all of these teachings happen AFTER Jesus “sets his face to go to Jerusalem.” He knows and understands, and so does everybody else now, that his life is likely in danger…that his message is being rejected. And even THEN, Jesus STILL wants to be sure we hear the lesson that we should worry about our lives, what we have or don’t have, that spending time “being present” is important, and that even serving those we dislike is our calling.
Read those bolded sentences again and again. Because I know that it’s a difficult time for our world, but Jesus knows that if we live them, it’s our way through our own difficult times too.