Forgetting and Remembering. Luke 12:16-21

1st Sunday of the Nativity Fast

Forgetting is easy. All too often we forget things. It is remembering that is difficult. In the Gospels we are called to remember; Christ calls us to remember what should take first place in our lives, what truly gives our life meaning. The rich man in today’s parable thought he had it made, because all of his material needs were met. He thought he had it all, and that he would continue to prosper; he decided that it was time to “eat, drink, and be merry.” But that night was his last night.

We often forget these things, and so the Gospel often reminds of us these essential truths. The fasting periods do the same thing: we know we should pray. We know we should not over-eat. We know we should not treat our gifts and resources as our own, but return a portion to God, from whom all gifts come. But we forget. We forget to offer praise and thanksgiving to God. We forget that our life is more than food and drink. We forget that all comes from God, we get greedy and selfish. The fasting periods, like the one we are in now, offer a chance for us to remember. And today’s Gospel calls upon us to remember where our treasures come from. We are reminded that all belongs to God, and we are simply stewards of his gifts towards us.

In the Gospels we hear a surprising number of parables dealing with economics. Economics? Oikonomia:  management of a household. The steward who owed debts and forgave them; the unwise stewards who treated the other workers unjustly while the master was away; the master who paid those who came at the first hour and those who came at the last hour the same wages; the man who found the pearl of great price and sold all that he had; the rich man and lazarus; and, to add to these, the parable from today’s Gospel. We may wonder why these Gospel stories so often deal with matters relating to money.  Well, is it any surprise? What do we worry about, probably more than anything else? Money. What is the source of conflicts and arguments, both within families and within groups? Money. And so the Gospels frequently discuss money and its right use.  Often in the Gospel parables we hear about wise or not so wise stewards. A steward was the one charged with managing the financial affairs of a house; the steward did not own the house or the possessions, but was the one in charge of using them properly. In like manner, we are called to be good stewards. All that we have—and I mean everything, our treasures, our talents, even our time—everything belongs to God. We are given these things to use for His purpose. And thus we are given these Gospel stories to remind us how to use God’s gifts properly.

Today’s Gospel tells us about a certain rich man who forgets— he forgets that his riches are not his own, that they came from God. He was doing well, he was prospering, and so he got greedy; he considered it all his, and made plans for an even bigger barn to store his goods. We should pause here for a moment. Some may wonder what the problem is here. Isn’t this good, that he was flourising and doing so well? Don’t we as a society praise this kind of material success? In fact we say— the economy is doing well because there is growth; companies are expanding and building, so things are looking up; the stock market is going up, so we must be doing well? There is a suprise here in this parable, and it comes as a reminder that material success is not the gauge for measuring sucess. For the very night he planned to build a bigger storehouse was his last night, and he learned the hard lesson that we really possess nothing.  The parable ends with the reminder that we not lay up treasure for ourselves, but rather than we should be “rich toward God.”

What does it mean to be rich toward God? Quote from Blessed Theophylact:

“Let us strive, therefore, to be rich toward God, that is, to trust in God, to have Him as our wealth and treasury of wealth, and not to speak of my goods but of the good things of God.  If they are God’s, then let us not deprive God of His own goods.  This is what it means to be rich toward God: to trust that even if I empty myself and give everything away, I will not lack the necessities.  God is my treasury of good things, and I open and take from that treasury what I need.”

As Blessed Theophylact explains, all things belong to God; therefore, let us not speak of my good things, with the emphasis on “my” but instead remember that all gifts come from God. The rich man, on the other hand, sees his abundance and believes it is his own.  He says to himself:  Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. Certainly we have all felt this way: it’s been a long week and work, we are tired, we feel that we deserve a rest. And there is nothing wrong with these things in themselves.  We need rest; we need food, we need drink and merriment. But in good measure. The rich man forgets that these things come from God, that God is our true rest, our true measurement, our true joy. At this time of the Nativity Fast these words are especially appropriate. The time of preparation  is not solely about deprivation, but a return to right balance. In the holiday season the world around us tells us: take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry! But the Church reminds us, not yet: first we prepare, then we feast. The Church gives us the all-important balance that we need in our lives. We lose sight of God and what is most important; we forget and so we have these fast periods to call us to remembrance.

Let us use this time of the fast to remember—let us avoid the forgetfulness that we so easily slip into. During these 40 days leading up to the birth of Christ, let us remember what Christ accomplished by becoming like unto us, born of the Virgin Mary, bringing salvation and restoration to our fallen humanity. Let us use this time of preparation to remember God; our fasting, our increased prayer, our almsgiving should all have this goal in mind, to increase our remembrance of God, to increase our gratitude to Him for all He has given us. Let us learn what it means to be rich toward God.  Our time, our treasures, our talents all belong to God and we receive them as stewards to use for the Glory of God; let us not lose sight of this, and may we all be found to be good stewards, wisely using the things God has given us!