Rich fools

Greg>
I am compiling more random thoughts about our trip. I have had a lot of fun with those, but many have made me think as well. A recent thought that was to be added to the random thoughts is this:

"Every person reading this blog is rich. Believe it."

But as I continued to ponder this, I read Luke 12:13-21 in my quiet time and realized that my random thought really needed to be addressed to a greater detail. What follows is a set of cohesive thoughts compiled around one random thought.


Luk 12:13
Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
Luk 12:14
Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?”
Luk 12:15
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.”
Luk 12:16
And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.
Luk 12:17
He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
Luk 12:18
“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.
Luk 12:19
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.” ’
Luk 12:20
“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?’
Luk 12:21
“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”


Ok, so those weren't exactly my cohesive thoughts! Now, what really follows is my cohesive thoughts on things random and not so random.

Jonathan Burnham once taught a sermon that contained a lot of stats about people in the US compared to around the world. I cannot guarantee that the following statistic is exactly right, but I am pretty sure it is the statistic he provided.

"If you make at least $25,000 per year, you are in the top 1% of the richest people on the face of the planet."

Think about that for a moment. Nearly everyone reading this blog wishes he or she had "just a little more money" to do this, accomplish that, be happy, whatever. I have heard people say that they would give more to the Lord if He would just provide a little more for them. Rich Mullins once wrote in song, "Everyone says they need just one thing, when what they really mean is they need just one thing more." There are many of us, this writer at the front of the line, that are closer to being a rich fool than we care to admit. There are many of us who ARE rich fools yet pretend really well that Jesus was talking to those other people.

You have gathered from my blogs that I am absolutely amazed at the sheer number of people I see around me. I have been here now over a week and the awe has not lessened even one bit. I probably earn more in a month than most of these folks earn in a year. I made friends with a shop owner today. He and his wife both work 12-13 hour days seven days per week to try and make things work out for their family of 3 (one child policy and all that). I complain when traffic gets me home 15 minutes later than normal.

Luke 12:48b From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

I fear that we as a people, as a nation, as a church, as a family, and as an individual have no idea that we have been given much and that much is expected from us. We must repent of the attitude that we can do whatever with what we have. We must repent of the approach that says God can have a tenth but the rest is ours. Just so I don't sound like some pompous, self-righteous writer, please know that I have been repeatedly challenged during this adoption process and again very much on this trip that what I have is not mine. I don't "own it", I am NOT generously giving some of it. I am trying very hard to remember that I have been given much and that I am now being asked much. I am also failing an embarassing and humbling amount. And yet through it all, I remain rich.

May we be humble. May we be malleable. May we accept what is required and asked of us. May we not be rich fools.