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…And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." Then he told a parable:

"The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull 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, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’

So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."

It feels foolish to say much more. In good rabbinical style, Jesus says what we need to hear through a story. A short story. Contrary to popular belief, the one with the most toys at the end, does not win. The ones with their trust and commitment toward God win. You can’t take it with you. In Christian irony, we must lose our life in order to have a life.

The very next lines in today’s Gospel, same chapter, read: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse or barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?"

I suppose we can subtract a few hours from our life span by worrying. We can stress and even destroy the earth that sustains us in our zeal to have more. The Jones’ have gone off the deep end and keeping up with them, or even trying to, is sinful. Greed, my brothers and sisters, ticks off God. It always has – I suspect it always will.

There are song lyrics by B. Gordy that go, "Money don’t get everything, it’s true. But what it don’t get, I can’t use. Just give me money, that’s what I want."

Corporate executive officers and drug dealers are not the only guilty parties. We Americans, billionaires and those just getting by are greedy. Our so-called Christian value oriented society doesn’t know its Bible. No, that’s not it. We just choose to ignore that which makes us uncomfortable. Are not God and Jesus about comfort?

Three weeks ago, Jim preached an outstanding and inspired sermon about our reticence to love, to love as Jesus challenges us to love. A major point that I came away with is that Christian love means we must choose to be uncomfortable. We need to extend compassion and love to those we "cannot" or "will not" love. Repentance is in order. Our community and societies have sinned. We do not love our neighbor and we do not foremost trust God.

In 1938 an award winning film hit the silver screen, "You Can’t Take It With You." I’ve not seen it but I’d like to. I suspect it’s one of those movies that a preacher could get excited about. Here’s a plot summary: Alice Sycamore has to introduce the family of her fiancé, Tony Kirby, to her own family. The Kirby’s are wealthy; a stuffy family of great self-importance, while the Sycamore’s are a collection of good-hearted lunatics. When the two families come together, lifestyle and philosophy collide head on.

Grandpa Vanderhoff has some notable lines. "Maybe it’ll stop you trying to be so desperate about making more money than you can ever use? You can’t take it with you, Mr. Kirby. So what good is it? As near as I can see, the only thing you can take with you is the love of your friends."

Grandpa again: "Lincoln said, ‘With malice toward none, with charity to all.’ Nowadays they say, ‘Think the way I do or I’ll bomb the daylights outta you.’"

"You can’t take it with you, so who gets it?" asks a retirement planner article.

On CowboyLyrics.com I found several songs aware of today’s gospel wisdom. A little different take perhaps. Rhonda Vincent laments, "I gave you my heart. I gave you my soul completely. You’ve got my dreams. You’ve got everything that I need if you leave me alone. I’ll give you my love for the rest of my life. But I want to make sure you know, you can’t take it with you when you go."

Tim McGraw has a song to which some of us can relate. It’s called, You Can Take It With You (When You Go). "Well, I’m gonna have to get a new mailbox ‘cuz all she left me was a hole. And I’m gonna hafta get a new washin’ machine as soon as I get some new clothes. Well I could close my eyes and run through the house and never once stub my toe. It was a man who’d never been left who said, You can’t take it with our when you go. Hell, she took everything but the kitchen sink. If I had me a glass Lord, I’d pour me a drink. It’s a lesson hard learned but it just goes to show, you can take it with you when you go."

The Allman Brothers Band had a You Can’t Take It With You song that Julia was going nuts trying to remember. Maybe some of you can sing a few lines. Internet to the rescue!

The refrain goes, "Can’t take it with you, everybody knows. Can’t take it with you when you go. Can’t hide your love away, save it up for a rainy day. Ya can’t take it with you when you go."

Everybody knows ya can’t take it with you. Why then do we build so many barns? Work so many extra hours? Max out our plastic? Compromise our values? Hoard rather than share? Stuff and status bring lasting happiness, right?

The Center for a New American Dream with connections right next door in Takoma Park was founded to facilitate conversation about materialism and its social and environmental effects. The work and shop consumer treadmill does not lead to lasting happiness. Executive Director Ellen Furnari says, "Our research discovered that a majority of people agreed with the statement: I believe my own buying habits have a negative effect on the environment. We learned that people will consider changes in their consumption habits when they see clear links between our materialistic way of life and environmental degradation."

Why don’t Christians consider changes in their consumption habits when they realize that God expects us to share bread with everyone around the table or with those sitting on the mountainside. Why isn’t greed the scorned sin that upsets the masses? Why don’t we hold ourselves more accountable and change habits because we trust God more than stuff? Because, - we don’t trust God more than stuff or anything/anyone else. And that goes for you and me active in the ministries of this church.

Songwriter Paul Kelly writes: You might have a happy family, nice house, fine car.
You might be successful in real estate. You could even be a football star.
You might have a prime time TV show seen in every home and bar
But you can’t take it with you. …
You can’t take it with you though you might pile it up high.

It’s so much easier for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye. You might have a body of fine proportion and a hungry mind; A handsome face and a flashing wit, lips that kiss and eyes that shine. …But you can’t take it with you.

It’s a classic theme, older than the Bible. What matters is our connection with the sacred. Recognizing and embracing the sacred brings serenity and meaning. Security lies not in things that can be lost, stolen or broken. Nor in things that rot, fade or kill. Security is grounded in trust. A trust that allows us to let go because we know God is the ground of our being and all being.

…And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." Then he told a parable:

"The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull 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, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’

So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."

Amen.