On Thursday we wrapped up a wonderful four days of Vacation Bible School. Our theme for this year was “Make Waves: What You Do Today Can Change the World Around You”. With songs and stories, games and snacks, crafts and conversation, we learned about how God’s love in us can make a big impact on the world around us.
One of the ways we put our learning into practice was through our small change offering. Over four days, the 85 kids who came through our doors generously gave $284.39, which is enough for nine ceramic water filters through ELCA Good Gifts. These simple water filters are lifesavers when safe drinking water just isn’t available — especially in times following natural disasters or emergencies - and require no chemicals or electricity. Many thanks to those who have added to what we’ve collected for this project.
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| Photo by Photoholgic on Unsplash |
Each day of VBS had a “bottom line” - the main point that tied into our Bible stories and theme. On Monday, we were reminded that each of us were created in God’s image, and made with a purpose: to share God’s love, each in our own unique way.
On Tuesday, we learned that Jesus invited people to follow him - his disciples, and us, too!
On Wednesday, we learned that you can trust Jesus with your life. He is our Savior, and promises to be with us always.
And on Thursday, we found out the new purpose that Jesus gave his disciples, which is the same for us today: to love others as Jesus loves you.
This kind of love has a ripple effect. Jesus’s love for us fills us up and overflows from us to others. When they are filled with love, it overflows and them, too, and the love continues to be shared. As we imagine these ripples, we are reminded of our connections to everyone, and of the joy that is found in receiving and showing love.
In today’s Gospel story, we hear about a man who, at first glance, seems like a success story. He is already rich, even before his land again produces abundantly. With more crops than he knows what to do with, he begins to make a plan. Barns too small? Simply pull them down and build larger ones. What a good problem to have, right?!
With all this in place, everything stored up for the future, he could just coast for the rest of his life. As he said to himself, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” What he didn’t factor into his plan, though, is that perhaps “the rest of his life” would be very, very short. His satisfied musings to himself are soon interrupted by the voice of God, saying, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?”
The story is framed as Jesus’s response to the greed-fueled bickering of two brothers trying to divide up the family inheritance. Through the lens of our VBS week, though, it struck me that it’s also a story about purpose.
God made people with a purpose - our bottom line from day one of VBS - and our understanding of that purpose is what drives our choices. Our work, our relationships, the way we spend our time and our money - so much of it is dictated by our sense of purpose.
Now, in this story, it seems that the rich man understands his purpose to be accumulating as much as possible - be it land, wealth, crops, you name it. Or, perhaps his purpose is to “relax, eat, drink, be merry,” and the accumulation of wealth is just what makes that possible. Either way, he lives in pursuit of this purpose.
When he has an especially abundant harvest, with no room to store it, his first inclination is not to share the excess with those who might not have quite so much, but rather to spend time, money, and effort to pull down his current barns and build larger ones. It hardly seems like the simplest solution, and yet, here we are.
His sole focus is on his own flourishing, and his attention is turned only inward - did you hear how many times he said “I” or “my”? As he tells this story to himself, he does not acknowledge anything else that contributed to his success - not the people who labored in the fields, or those who harvested and stored the crops; not the workers who will presumably be called upon to demolish the current barns and build larger ones; not the rain and sun that watered and nourished apart from his own effort or direction. In his mind, he is an island. I wonder if perhaps this is why God calls him a fool.
One of the ways that Saint Augustine, and later Martin Luther, described sin is with the Latin phrase incurvatus in se, which means “turned in on ourselves”. In this posture, we only see ourselves and our own needs. In this posture, we act selfishly, propelled by fear, or self-preservation, or greed. In this posture, we care only for ourselves, with no regard for the larger picture of life in the world around us.
When we look to the teachings of the Bible, we quickly find that our purpose is not really about us as individuals. Instead, it is about participating in what God is already doing - loving the whole world. Our purpose is about life in relationship with one another and all of creation. Our purpose is about trusting in God’s grace and mercy rather than in our own effort. Our purpose is about freedom, and life, and love - the love that God has first given us.
When someone is baptized here - drawn in by the Holy Spirit, washed in the waters, and joined to the Body of Christ, the congregation welcomes them with these words: “We welcome you into the body of Christ and into the mission we share: join us in giving thanks and praise to God and bearing God's creative and redeeming word to all the world.”
This is our purpose, this is what we have been created for - not hoarding, but sharing; not turning inward, but moving outward; not life on our own, but life in community, life in relationship with God and with one another. Filled with the Holy Spirit, and trusting in Jesus, we share the love of God that has first been given to us, so that it might flow through us and “make waves” in the world and in the people God loves.
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