Sermon - Thanksgiving 2022 - Luke 12:13-21

The Rich Man and Death, David Kindt, 1580-1652 

Life consists in being rich toward God. 

1. Earthly riches are blessings from God, but they’re not the main thing.

2. Having God and being filled with the Spirit is the true treasure.

A happy and blessed Thanksgiving to you, my dear friends in Christ Jesus! I commend you for taking some time out of your busy day to blend your voices in praise and thanksgiving to God for all of His many gifts which He lavishly showers upon you. Indeed, God’s gifts are many and without number. 

Some families and communities have traditions of listing out-loud some of the things for which they’re thankful. But we Lutherans could just recite our catechism. In the first article of the creed we say: “He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.” 

An even longer list is given in the 4th petition of the Lord’s Prayer: “Daily bread includes everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or wife, devout children, devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, self-control, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.”

All of those earthly treasures are gifts from God and make life on earth not only tolerable, but enjoyable and fulfilling. Earthly riches are blessings from God, but we must remember: they’re not the main thing. Having God and being filled with the Spirit is the true lasting treasure. Life consists in being rich toward God. 

Like Jesus said: “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”  As good as all of God’s earthly gifts may be, they’re not the sum and substance of this life. This is the mistake that the guy in the crowd made when he requested “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” This guy completely missed the point of what Christ is all about! Here he is face to face with God, and all he can think of to request of Jesus is to get some of his brother’s inheritance. Jesus had just been talking about how much God cares for us and about eternal life, referring to Himself as the Son of Man, and this guy is just thinking earthly riches.

So Jesus tells a parable which probably hits a little close to home for us. The land of a rich guy produced abundantly, and his barns were so full that he had to tear down his old barns and build new ones to store all of his treasures. He then said to himself: “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” But God told him: “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” 

This parable is basically about the American Dream and describes our lives to a tee! We spend our lives amassing incredible amounts of wealth so that we can retire from our labors and relax, eat, drink, and be merry. The telos, the end goal, of the American Dream is to have security and comfort in all of your riches. Since that’s the goal it means that the prime priority in life is to make oodles of money and acquire lots of stuff. 

Thus, success is defined by having a high paying job, a nice house, cool cars, being really busy with activities, and having enough time to watch TV. For instance when we talk about how we’re proud of our kids or grandkids or other folks, we’re almost exclusively talking about how much earthly treasure they have. We don’t even hardly take into account their faithfulness to God, it’s just about the abundance of their possessions.

But such a take on life is miserably short-sighted and it misses the whole point of life! If this very night your soul is required of you, all of the things you’ve prepared in this life will just be an inheritance that someone else is going to fight over. That earthly treasure won’t do you or anyone else any eternal good. If all of your life was simply directed towards an abundance of possessions, if all you bothered to store up was earthly wealth, then what will happen to you when you die? Like Jesus said, “you’ve already received your reward.”

But there is a treasure which is worth storing up and shall endure for eternity and do you eternal good. Having God and being filled with the Spirit is the true treasure. Jesus didn’t come to earth to split up inheritances and distribute earthly treasures, rather He came to shed His blood for the forgiveness of our sins, earn us eternal life in His kingdom, and send His Holy Spirit into our hearts by which we are made alive! That’s the treasure and it’s worth a whole lot more than some fancy house or TV. 

So St. Paul admonishes us: “Make the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

God’s will isn’t just that we relax, eat, drink, and are merry. But His will is that we are filled with the Spirit. His will is that our hearts and minds are filled with faith, hope, and love toward Him. He is the treasure! To be sure all of our earthly riches are gifts from God and we should praise Him for what we’ve been given. But let’s be on guard against thinking that these earthly possessions are even close to as important as the eternal gifts God gives us.

This Thanksgiving let us set our minds on the higher gifts. Afterall, that’s why you came to church today! Let us recall the love of God which caused His incarnation in the womb of the blessed virgin Mary. Let us ponder the depths of woes our Lord Jesus suffered for us in His crucifixion. Let us meditate on His death and resurrection, by which we are brought out of death to life everlasting. Let us remember the Spirit who emboldens us with zeal and joy in the Lord to make the good confession. Let us receive with thanksgiving the body and blood of our Redeemer, which sustains us in the faith. Let us cling to our baptism which has sealed us and clothed us in Christ’s righteousness. Let us listen with wonder to every word the Holy Spirit penned in the scriptures which points us to Jesus, in whom we have life.

Family, food, and football are nice enough, but God is our true treasure, and life consists of Him and in Him. So may He give you a happy and blessed Thanksgiving.