Gracious God, take our minds and think through them;
take our hands and work through them;
take our hearts and set them on fire.
Amen.
Our abundance lies not in things, but in a life big enough to be shared.[1]
Abundance.
When you hear this word, what comes to mind? (listen)
The dictionary has three nuances to the definition:
- an extremely plentiful or over-sufficient quantity or supply: an abundance of grain.
- overflowing fullness: abundance of the heart.
- affluence; wealth: the enjoyment of abundance.
So which of these applies to what abundance means for Christians?
In today’s Gospel story Jesus said, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”
And then he told a story about a rich man whose land produced abundantly, and who then chose to tear down his old barns to build new big ones to store his wealth. And he called him a fool.
That pretty much rules out both the extremely plentiful quantity and affluence parts, and leaves us with the second part: overflowing fullness: abundance of heart.
This is reflected in John’s Gospel when Jesus said: I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
So what is an abundant life? Here’s modern day parable.
The American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
The fisherman replied, “only a little while.”
The investment banker then asked why he didn’t stay out longer and catch more fish?
The fisherman said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs.
The investment banker then asked, “but what do you do with the rest of your time?”
The fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life.”
The investment banker scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat, and with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually, you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise.”
The fisherman asked, “But, how long will this take?”
To which the investment banker replied, “15-20 years.”
“But what then?”
The investment banker laughed and said that’s the best part. “When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.”
“Millions?” asked the fisherman, “Then what?”
The investment banker said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evening, sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos!”[2]
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It reminds you of that passage about not being able to serve two masters, right? You cannot serve God and wealth.
But even more than that, abundance of heart and life are centered on relationships, not on things of any sort.
It is found when we focus on enough, instead of more.
It is found in simplicity, and distilling our lives so we are able to be more – with less.
Our abundance lies not in things, but in a life big enough to be shared.
That is what the rich land owner failed to realized.
It was not that he should have given everything away and kept nothing for himself. But that the maintenance of what he had, became an end in and of itself. And that precluded him from looking up and out beyond himself to see the world and it’s needs.
As the saying goes, when you have more than you need, build a bigger table – not a higher fence (or in the case of the Gospel, a bigger barn).
Because abundance is about sharing not because you have to, or even that you should, but because you can.
Because you realize that as smart as you are, as hard as you’ve worked, you haven’t gotten to where you are by yourself. And so you pay it forward for others.
We have been gifted with life abundant. And what we have, whether material goods, gifts and talents, joy, love, a listening ear, a good word – they are meant to be available to others through our overflowing hearts.
The grace we have been given, the gifts we have been given, they are sufficient.
Sufficient does not mean simply enough to survive, but truly enough. Enough to be filled, and realize we have been filled, with more still left over to share at the table of life.[3]
My prayer for all of us today is that this refrain will shape our believing, and our believing will shape the living of our lives:
Our abundance lies not in things, but in a life big enough to be shared.
~ Just like Jesus ~
~ AMEN ~
[1] The Young Clergy Women Project.
[2] http://bemorewithless.com/the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
[3] The Young Clergy Women Project.