Listen Up People!

"Hear this, all you peoples;

give ear, all inhabitants of the world,

both low and high, rich and poor together.

My mouth shall speak wisdom;

the meditation of my heart

 shall be understanding."

(from Psalm 94:1-12)

One the many blessings of my Vermont ministry was a burial in Hope Cemetery, created around 1895, one of the most beautiful rural cemeteries in the world.

The 1918–1919 Spanish flu, along with Gray Lung, a form of Silicosis, increased the death rate and need for tombstones.

Realizing death could be right around the corner, many sculptors created a monument to display their skills. 

In other nearby cemeteries, I would gather with the family around a grave with only a temporary marker or a small stone with a family name and date.

The contrast was significant. 

Whether beautiful monument or simple stone, the "low and high, rich and poor together" were gathered in grief and mourning.

And so, God calls all  people to give ear, to listen to wisdom and understanding.

 

Listen, then, to Jesus' parable.

Jesus' parable of the rich fool teaches that secured life does not depend on possessions, but on trusting our life to God.

Jesus is saying the rich fool lost his soul to gain earthly possessions that will not benefit him in the afterlife.

The wise person is the one who is “rich toward God,” which means generous towards others in need.

Greed is the moral opposite of generosity. 

We worry about the future instead of trusting God, who holds the future. 

Greed destroys us, but generosity blesses us. 

Greed destroys as the rise of gas prices and inflation resulting from greed and unfaithful stewardship show as companies jack up prices more than necessary to gain unethical profit. 

This psalm and Jesus' teaching invites us to reflect on what we do with our possessions, which are God's gifts.