Wendell Berry

The Parable of the Rich Fool

¹³ Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

¹⁴ Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?”¹⁵ Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

¹⁶ And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. ¹⁷ He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

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 my surplus grain. ¹⁹ And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

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?’

²¹ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

Wendell Berry comments on this passage in Luke by stating: "The offense seems to be that he (the rich young man) has stored up too much and in the process has belittled the future, for he had reduced it to the size of his own hopes and expectations. He is prepared for a future in which he will be prosperous, not for one in which he will be dead.”

I read this and think, of course I agree with Wendell Berry! Upon further examination of my heart and intention, however, I realize that I still have much to learn about trusting the Lord.

Some questions that I have been reflecting on are:

1)    What do my actions reveal about the state of my heart as it relates to this passage?

2)    In what ways do I attempt to store up possessions to be comfortable for the future?

3)    What are my expectations for the future? How do those agree/not agree with God’s expectations for my life?

4)    What kind of future am I preparing for?

These are my thoughts after only briefly processing the fourth question: I want to be preparing for a future in heaven. And if heaven has everything I could ever need, why do I continue to try to pack for a place in which I cannot take my luggage? I want to live a life with “just enough”… meaning, I want to live generously and simply. I want to let my possessions bless others and not hold onto them so tightly knowing that they will really only be useful in this life. I cannot bring them to my next destination, so why not use them really well here?