The Hamster Wheel

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:13-21 ESV). I have discovered an interesting dichotomy with the start of school this year. Both Faith and Logan have entered Middle School. It is a new location from previously with all the attendant “new” things. They have many new experiences in store in the coming weeks and months. Of course, this meant that the first day came with the expected level of both excitement and anxiety. Because of schedules, I was to take Faith to school the first day. It did not go as well as I had hoped. Though we left forty-five minutes ahead of time in anticipation of a little traffic, we were surprised that the normal fifteen minute drive took nearly an hour. She was two minutes “late.” As she saw the time ticking away she asked me, “Where do I go?” I simply answered that on the first day all the teachers would expect some students to be a bit late. Just go where you were going before we were late and all would be fine. Not having experienced this before caused the question. It was unfamiliar. You know, we never seem to have that problem when going to a store for the first time. Take any child to a toy store for the first time, and you will not have to teach the child what to do. Thousands of hours of media advertising have already taught him how to consume, possess, or amass. Take the same child to church for the first time, and they will be disoriented, confused. They will not know how to act.

It underscores a basic principle of fallen humanity. Our sin nature drives us to acquire “more.” This is the lesson Jesus teaches in our reading today. We seem to live our lives on an endless treadmill of acquisition, frantically amassing more and more stuff. And then one day you die, and they give all your stuff away. It is a destructive way to live. It is reminiscent of a hamster on a wheel. This is true of the rich farmer who keeps racing on the treadmill, amassing more and more, oblivious to the source of all his blessings, until the voice of God comes whispering: “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” (cf. v. 20). You can get off the treadmill. It’s okay to possess things; however, refuse to be possessed by those things. Focus on the familiar of the presence of God.