If I won the lottery
Have you ever purchased a lottery ticket? Last year, I purchased a lottery ticket for the first time in my life. My father in law asked my wife and I to buy the mega-million lottery. The amount of money for the winner was 1.6 billion dollars. We said if we won the lottery, you get half and my wife and I get half. It was a good deal. My wife and I talked about our golden future. If we won this lottery, Let's buy a good car like tesla and buy a castle in Europe, and let's go somewhere that nobody knows. Anyway, we did not win. I had a short-happy time for myself. If I won the lottery, I maybe not here. What would you do if you won the lottery? There are some people living well after winning a lottery, and some are not. I found a good life lesson from the experience. I discovered my sinful nature because I imagined running away from the relationship that God has bestowed, I imagined to cut off the relationship. I imagined ceasing offering myself to people as Jesus does. And I imagined making one-way relationships like buying goods and paying money without having a deep relationship. It could be different for your case. Jesus on the road According to the lectionary, today’s bible passage is Luke 12:13-21. It gives us an insight regarding wealth and how we as Christians deal with it. Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem. On the road, he meets many people. He loves to meet people and have talks with them. Anyone is welcomed. Some are regarded religious sinners and outcasts, and some are rich and social leaders. Whoever comes to Jesus, they have a new vision in him. He teaches them how to be true humans and affirms them as children of God. As we know, children of God must be reborn and renewed in grace. Then they must live differently and distinctively from the society. The Parable Among many crowds, someone comes to Jesus and asks, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." It is kind of a ridiculous question because the first son receives twice as much as the second son's inheritance in Jewish Law. Perhaps it does not work for them well, and they might have struggles in their family. Jesus answers them, but it is cynical. v. 14-15 “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you? … Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” If you have a problem regarding inheritance in your family, don't ask Jesus. He is not talking about distribution but warning about possession and greed. Jesus is well aware of the nature of the problem in the family, which is greediness. Furthermore, Jesus tells him a parable. But I think this parable is really weird and somewhat wrong. It does not make sense for us living in the Free market economy system. There is a rich man. I think he worked hard on his farm and produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, v.16 “’What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ then he said ‘ I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.” Perhaps, some of us are farmers on a cornfield and feeding cattle. When you produced a lot, it is natural to build a larger barn, store your crops there, and sell them later. Interestingly, he did not earn abundant wealth by doing bad work, like I did purchasing a lottery ticket. He did not steal someone's possession and he did not get any investment income. Thus, it is not strange for him to say “ Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry” (v.19) I think it is not weird, but it is so natural. For example, if you worked hard, saved much money on the bank for retirement and received them after retiring, it is not bad for you to enjoy your life by using the money. You can say I will relax, eat, drink, be merry. You might plan to go to Hawaii for vacation. In this sense, the rich man is not bad. Then what is the problem? In the parable, God came to the scene and said to the Man, v.20 "You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?" God calls him “Fool!” why is he foolish? And God added that God will take his soul tonight. If God takes his soul, what does money matter? I think God is a little bit over-reacting and it is too harsh for the man. However, We need to listen to Jesus, he says, “So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.” (v.21) We can see his fault here. While he stores up treasures for himself, he is not rich toward God. It is not about the quantity of money, but the attitude and miserly mind for God. Then, we need to raise a question, how can we be not miserly toward God? How can we store up treasures for God? How can we store up treasures in Heaven? In Korea, where I grew up, there is the biggest Pentecostal church. I assume This church is the biggest church in the world and bigger than Lakewood church in Houston. The church has influence over the whole Korean Church. And they are always talking about blessing. They would say if you offer many offerings to the church, that is storing up treasures for God and saving them in Heaven. But, I believe it is a decontextualized interpretation. We need to see within the Book of Luke because the author has a peculiar view about it. Luke 12:33-34 says "Sell your possessions, and give alms, make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." To give treasure for God is to remember and help the weak around you by using your money. That is how to store up treasures for God. Then, no one can steal and burn it because God never forgets your good works. Again, this parable is not talking about the quantity of wealth and how much you have. It talks about your mind. The Pareto Principle Have you ever heard about the Pareto principle? It is so-called the 80/20 rule. Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto argues that 20 percent of people have 80 percent of the wealth in the world. On the other hand, 80 percent of people share 20 percent of the wealth. This is how the world distributes wealth, and it still is effective now. You will see clearly this phenomenon at Wall Street in New York, the center of finance. At the end of the year, they have a lot of bonuses. According to the Office of the New York State Comptroller, the workers in Wallstreet receive 27.5 billion dollars in 2018.[1] And they purchase expensive paints and pictures because it will bring high return more than the interest rate in the bank. $27.5 billion are used to buy some paints. Pondering this phenomenon, I can’t but relate this to today’s bible passage. How do they use the money after selling the paints? To stop illiteracy in the world, we need $5 billion. To stop the climate change, we need $8 billion. To stop malnutrition and hunger in the world, we need $18 billion. To forgive debts of poorest 49 countries, we need $27 billion. But $27.5 billion disappear to purchase pictures annually on Wall street. If we do not store our treasures in heaven, the Pareto Principle will be more hardened and stubborn. Christian Life We remember the widow who offered two small coins. Although she is poor, she stores up treasures for God. We also remember Zacchaeus. After he encountered Jesus, he repented not only his soul but also his pocket. He says “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” Do you remember what Jesus said to Zacchaeus? “Today salvation has come to this house.” People who are saved by Jesus Christ have a room inside of their heart for other. That is the life of salvation. Let’s store treasures up for God who never forget our kind works. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Amen.
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