Living in modern America we have a lot to be thankful for. In the Gospel Parable of the Rich Fool, we are challenged to understand that all the great blessings we have received are from God, not for us but for others. The time has come for us to give thanks to God, not only in words but by allowing God to use us to bless others. The blessings we receive from God are not for us, but for us to bless others.
My brothers and sisters, this morning’s gospel, I’ll start with the last words that we heard: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
If we hear the gospel for what it is, it should terrify us, because the gospel this morning, my brothers and sisters, is a perfect gospel leading up to Thanksgiving. We have this amazing opportunity this week to give thanks to God for all of the blessings that He has given us. And living in this great country, even if we struggle, we have great blessings. The poorest among us have it better than so many others throughout the world. We have a lot to be thankful for.
And this morning’s gospel, my brothers and sisters, reminds us that all the good things that God has given us are not for us. It says some rich man. Again, like with the rich man in Lazarus, just some rich man. We don’t know his name. He’s anonymous. It says, “His land produced a great harvest.” Right there, the Lord is reminding us it wasn’t because of him. It was because of the land. The land gave him the dirt and the nutrients. God gave it the water. He added his work, but that’s because God wanted blessings to come from the earth.
And so all these great blessings, he says, “I have more than I can store.” How many of us, if we’re honest with ourselves, have more than we need? And the convicting part of this morning’s gospel, my brothers and sisters, is the response that he had. He had so many blessings. He says, “I’m going to tear down my barns. I’m going to build bigger ones, and I’m going to spend the rest of my life just relaxing. Eat, drink, and be merry.” The Lord says, “You fool. Tonight, your soul is required of you. Of all those things you’re storing up, whose are they going to belong to now?”
You see, my brothers and sisters, God has given us blessings so that we can bless others. The blessings are not for us. Now, I know that’s hard to hear. We work hard. We deserve what we have. I worked hard for every penny. Well, you couldn’t do it without God’s help. We couldn’t do it without the other people who participate in our society. We aren’t living exclusively by ourselves on the face of the earth. The only way we can truly be human is to live for the good of other people. Because to be truly human, my brothers and sisters, is to live in the image of God, and everything God has ever done is for the others. He created all of the blessings of the earth so that we could find Him.
It’s our job now, if we really want to celebrate Thanksgiving, to take the blessings that God has given us and to bless others with them. That is how we thank God. We don’t thank God merely by saying, “Thanks.” We don’t thank God merely by sitting around our Thanksgiving table and laughing and telling stories and watching the proverbial football game, arguing over who forgot to bring out the spanakopita. We thank God, my brothers and sisters, in allowing God to use us to bless other people. That’s how we express our thanks to God.
And so we are challenged in this morning’s gospel, and I am challenging you directly, my brothers and sisters. This year for Thanksgiving, take the opportunity of Thanksgiving to help other people. You can come and you can help with the Thanksgiving meal that we’re serving for those who are less fortunate. If you can’t come that day, maybe you invite someone to your house who’s all alone. But don’t spend Thanksgiving just pleasing yourself. Don’t spend Thanksgiving just saying to yourself, “I have everything I need. Eat, drink, and be merry.”
Because we don’t know when our soul will be required of us. We don’t know when the Lord is going to call us home. And we don’t want to hear the words, “You fool.” We want instead to hear the words, “Good and faithful servant, enter into the kingdom of your Lord.” But we can only do that when we serve other people, when we take what we have and we offer it as a blessing. It doesn’t mean that we starve ourselves, but it means that we allow ourselves to be a blessing for others. That’s how we thank God.
Glory to God for all things.
