Sermon on the Range with Fr. Bryce Lungren
(August 3rd Sunday Homily)
Readings:
Reading 1 — Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23
Psalm — Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17
Reading 2 — Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11
Gospel — Luke 12:13-21
Transcript:
It’s wild how a teaching some 2000 years ago can still ring true today. This gospel, we can relate to and it also still challenges us. This scenario of a man putting forth in front of our Lord the whole notion of possessions and how we deal with them. Our Lord’s challenged us on this matter before, many times throughout the gospel. He kind of warns against riches and many possessions, things like that, and what they can do to us personally, okay? It’s not then necessarily in of themselves, but it’s the attachment of a heart that it can create.
I think the actual, the lesson here, the practicalness of our Lord’s teaching doesn’t need any explanation. Like this parable that he gives us, I mean, it really sticks in our mind. There’s a lot of different ways that we can come at it and let the Lord speak to us and challenge us. We wanna receive that genuinely. We’ll leave that to itself. But I think, really, the kind of moral takeaway here has to do with the notion of greed.
So just as our Lord says, take care to guard against all greed. For though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.
So I think there’s just a good opportunity for us to be challenged by the vice of greed and where do I land on that spectrum? Maybe it’d be helpful to know what is greed? You know, what is it? Maybe a little bit more theologically, philosophically and stuff. I’d say along these lines, that greed is a disordered desire for riches, for possessions. Disordered desire.
Following human nature, which is all of us, since Adam and Eve, we have disordered desires. The idea through life is you don’t just go with the flow, you correct them, you properly order them. We call this a virtue. We wanna not give in to the vice of virtue and properly order to the virtue of generosity, not sure exactly what that would be, but at least we know the problem.
Greed is a disordered attachment, desire towards riches, wealth, possessions, things like that. Guard against it and we have the tendency towards it. Note to self, how do I get out of that? Okay, so then the idea is to properly order. So I wanna properly order. I guess even St. Paul keys on the disorderedness of greed, the pride of place that it can take. He calls it in our second reading, “And the greed that is idolatry.” All greed becomes a God in our life. Like this hunt for possessions, riches, wealth, things like that becomes a God. It takes the place of God. You see the disorderedness in it?
To bring it back, most things, generally speaking, most created things are all a means to an end. They’re useful in so far as it helps me attain something else. Take money, money is kind of the number one greed factor, right? Money in and of itself is nothing, a piece of paper gets you nowhere in and of itself. Now if I use it in exchange for something else, it’s got a place. It’s a means to an end which is something else. So in and of itself, it’s not bad, it’s got its place it can be good.
What happens is when it becomes an end, when money becomes an end, my goal, that’s a problem. That’s where greed comes in, idolatry. It’s my goal, it’s what I live for. Now I got a problem. Now we’re working with the greed department. We got to back up from that and choose to put it in its place, which is a means to an end, which is some other greater good, hopefully.
What we’re after is properly ordering our passions, in this case, the passion of wealth, we might just say. Our Lord does not, he does not objectively condemn wealth and riches as he says today. Take care to guard against all greed. For though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions. Though one may be rich, fine, but that’s not your God. The possessions, the wealth, all that stuff is a servant to a greater good. Providing for the family, serving the needs of God, helping others, things like that. It’s a great gift that’s been entrusted to us.
How does it not get in the place of God? That’s what we’re after today. I’m just saying properly order it. Wealth is a means to an end. What’s that greater end? The greater end is always the kingdom of God. Even St. Paul, says it, “think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ.”
Think of what is above. That’s the greater good. Everything else in life should be subservient to that. It should be a means to eternal life. This properly orders things and we can use the things of the earth in their proper realm. I always say if we live for the life to come, then this life will make sense.
If everything we do is focused on the life to come, eternal life, now we can properly use this life. But often we fall short. We try to build our kingdom here, and that’s where possessions, riches, and stuff become the god in our lives, and we’re in trouble. Shoot high, aim high, to eternal light. Now even I don’t need everything. I don’t need all this money, wealth, possessions, stuff like that. Not that I don’t need something to go to the grocery store with. But it doesn’t take up that place in my heart that God is there. I trust He’ll provide. He’s given me this. I can use it. He’s where I find my solace, not my bank account.
If greed is a thing, if this gospel challenges us, we’re all in good company. Human nature’s fallen, and part of that is disordered desires. Greed is one of them. It’s an inordinate attachment, affection, desire towards wealth. Okay, good news, God’s grace is here. Now with His Grace, we can properly order it. Wealth, riches, any of that stuff, it’s a means to an end, means to a greater good. Ultimately, that greater good is eternal life. So if we aim high to heaven, to eternal life, then this life will make sense.
