EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY

by adam harbinson

‘Your life is not measured by how much you own.’ Jesus said that. He was way ahead of his time, for while he could easily have been speaking of our present materialistic age, but he was referring to the values of his own era. Nothing much changes.

Cardinal Murphy O’Connor, leader of the Catholic Church in Britain, made a statement a few years ago describing the state of today’s society. He said, ‘Christianity is in danger of being overwhelmed,’ and he added, ‘our values are; you are what you have.’ And he was right.

Jesus was addressing his disciples one day, surrounded by the usual crowd of spectators, when someone in the crowd, who was having an argument with his brother about money, shouted out, ‘Teacher, tell him to divide the inheritance with me!’ This type of issue was usually decided by a tribunal in the local synagogue, so typically, Jesus refused to be drawn into the matter. He answered, ‘That’s none of my business,’ and then he resumed his monologue, cleverly using the interruption as a teaching aid.

‘Be on your guard against all kinds of greed,’ he said, ‘your life is not measured by how much you own.’  And then he told the parable of the rich fool who said, ‘I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones. I have plenty of good things laid up for many years. I’ll take life easy, I’ll eat, drink and be merry.’

Now Jesus had no objection to wealth per se, it’s a question of priorities. The man who shouted out appeared to place more value on the disputed inheritance than on his relationship with his brother

Paul developed Jesus’ point when he wrote, ‘Whether I have much or little, I have learned to be content.’ Why could he say that? Because the basis of his identity was not material things – they can vanish like summer snow.

Suicidal men formed an orderly queue on top of the Empire State Building when they lost their fortunes in the Wall Street Crash; we can only hope it doesn't happen again. The reason was that everything about them; who they were and what they were, was embodied in what they had, and God said, ‘You fools! This very day your life will be demanded from you.’

When Jesus said, ‘Store up for yourself treasures in heaven,’ he was not exhorting us to transfer funds by Western Union to some great celestial bank, he was warning against the greed that leads men to exploit others or ignore their sorry plight.  He was opposed to self-sufficiency and pride, his concern was our attitude to money. The Bible does not say that money is the root of all evil, it’s the misplaced love for it that does the damage.

So what then should be the Christian’s attitude to wealth? Paul said, ‘Our citizenship is in heaven,’ and that must be the basis of our identity rather than our financial status.