Luke 12:13–21
Presented August 5th, 2007, by J.D. Kline
The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
National Public Radio has a series of brief essays entitled This I Believe, shared by both the famous and the unknown, highlighting personal beliefs and how they shape the sharer’s life. The South American novelist Isabel Allende speaks of the shaping experience of her daughter Paula’s death. At age 28 Paula entered into a coma that lasted about a year, and during that year, as well as in the time following Paula’s death, Isabel felt as if everything in life had stopped. Paula had been a giving person, serving those on the fringes of life, and her illness seemed so unjust. And yet, during that time of grief and loss Isabel began to reflect deeply on the beliefs and principles that held her life together. Though it felt as if she had lost everything, it gradually dawned on Isabel that she still had love—love that could be shared. Isabel came to recognize that we only have what we are willing to give. By spending yourself, Isabel discovered afresh, you become rich.
“What’s the point of having experiences, knowledge, or talents, if we don’t give them away?” questions Isabel. “What’s the point of having stories to tell, if we don’t share them with others? What’s the point of having wealth, if we hoard it only for ourselves, if we do not share generously?” After asking these challenging questions, Isabel asserts somewhat tongue-in-cheek, “I don’t plan on being cremated with any of these things.”
Her experiences of agonizing grief taught Isabel Allende the value of casting aside that which is not essential in life; as a result, Isabel found herself no longer clinging to material things. In giving, asserts Isabel, she found the essentials—connecting with the world around her, and connecting with the divine.
Jesus reminds his hearers of a similar truth—does he not?—in the parable that forms this morning’s Gospel lesson. It’s an incident that flows out of a request from one of the hearers in the crowd, a request that Jesus serve as arbiter in a family dispute over property. “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me” (Luke 12:13). In a culture such as ours, with home ownership a critical component of “the American dream,” it seems like an understandable request made to a wise teacher. And in ancient Palestine, owning a piece of the land was perhaps even more critical, for not only was land seen in that culture as an economic asset, but even more, a religious one as well. The Jews of old, not unlike today, were convinced that God had gifted the land of Israel to them, and therefore the one making this request of Jesus is asking for confirmation that he, too, might be able to share in God’s promise.
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