Jesus has just tried to explain that people need to be alert to all kinds of greed, for life doesn’t consist in an abundance of possessions. To illustrate the story he told the parable about the rich man who decides to build bigger barns to store his bigger excess of crops. The man, pleased with himself for being well prepared, rewards himself with the thought of relaxing, eating, drinking and being merry.
That strategy was not to be a successful one, however. God calls the man a fool, and says that “this very night your life is being demanded of you”, and rhetorically asks whose will the treasures be then? First of all, I’d be a little unnerved if none other than God called me a fool. That it was God who issued this condemnation tells me this is a very serious lesson that Jesus wants to teach.
Obviously, we are not to hoard possessions. We do not need to build bigger barns or rent storage lockers to keep our excess. But we all do it, to some extent, don’t we? We want a bigger this, or more of that. My current vices are two-fold. I recently changed phone platforms so I could have a watch that connects better to some things that are important to me. That’s not necessarily the problem, but now that I’m in this new world, maybe I really need the next generation this, or better that. If my life were called in tonight, would it matter? I have a phone and watch that do what I said I wanted them to do. That should be enough.
My other current excess is in the world of my new home. It’s been some years since we had a tidy, city-lot house and yard. I’m nearly maniacal in weeding, pruning, tidying up outside. Perhaps it’s the forced time at home, but I do find myself dreaming up more and better and prettier things. Again, if my life were called in tonight, what would it matter? I have a lovely absolutely sufficient abode. That should be enough.
From this parable, I can imagine God calling me a fool for fretting over any of it. I should take heed. Today, I’ll try.
And while it seems like this is clearly the point of this parable, I’m struck by what the man says. He says he’s going to eat, drink, be merry, and relax, because he’d prepared and all of his excess was to be stored.
This morning, I’m thinking about the difference between relaxing and resting. This man says he’s going to relax, which after looking it up means to calm down, to be engaged in rejuvenating leisure. Relaxing is always something that starts awake, although some might fall asleep while relaxing. Resting, on the other hand, is to cease from doing. Cease from motion, work, action. Sabbath means rest. So to observe a holy sabbath is not about a leisurely Sunday drive, or a Saturday in the park. It means to stop doing.
As someone who feels like I’m constantly moving and doing, the idea of a real 24 hour rest is nearly frightening. What? No mindless TV? Tidying? Trips to the store? Scrolling? Nope. To rest is to stop doing things.
Sure, we all need to relax. But when was the last time any of us really rested? And while sleep is important, I think we have something to learn if we rested while awake. This week, I want to build some intentional rest time in to my week. I wonder what that will look like.
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