+ In the Love of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our first lesson this morning is from Ecclesiastes. It’s a word that sounds like ecclesiastical, and with good reason― they’re from the same Greek root word which means a “gathering.” Originally it meant a political gathering, something like a New England town meeting, but St. Paul adopted it for church gatherings.
Ecclesiastes is written by “the Ecclesiastic,” which is translated as “the Teacher,” although a better translation might be “the gatherer” or “convener.” In any event, the king has gathered his subjects to deliver a depressing message: “Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”
The word “vanity” in English has two distinct meanings. Usually we think of vanity as something like “excessive pride.” A vain person is a stuck-up person, especially when it comes to his or her personal appearance. But a second meaning of vanity is “futility,” which is the opposite of “utility.” Utility has to do with usefulness; futility has to do with uselessness, worthlessness, emptiness. In fact, the Latin root of vanity means “empty.”
With that meaning of vanity in mind, let’s continue our reading:
“I, the Teacher, when king over Israel in Jerusalem, applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven;”― and his conclusion?― “it is an unhappy business that God has given to human beings to be busy with.” And why has he reached that conclusion? “I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun; and see, all is vanity”― futility, uselessness― “and a chasing after wind.”
And now the Teacher gets to the heart of life’s vanity― the heart of life’s futility― which is death.
“I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to those who come after me— and who knows whether they will be wise or foolish? Yet they will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. So I turned and gave my heart up to despair concerning all the toil of my labors under the sun, because sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.”
And then the Teacher speaks words that I’ll bet have resonated at some time with every one of us here this morning:
“What do [we] get from all the toil and strain with which [we] toil under the sun? For all [our] days are full of pain, and [our] work is a vexation; even at night [our] minds do not rest.” That last phrase, “even at night our minds do not rest,” is even more poignant in its literal translation: “Even at night [our] hearts will not lie down.”
Thomas Aquinas was probably the most influential theologian of the Middle Ages, and today the Church honors him with the title “Angelic Doctor,”― or, to use the original meaning of the word “Doctor,” “Teacher.” On the Feast of St. Nicholas in 1273, Thomas was celebrating the Eucharist when he heard Jesus talking to him. Jesus asked Thomas, “What would you like as a reward for your good deeds?”
What would you say if Jesus asked you, “What would you like as a reward for your good deeds?”
When Jesus asked Thomas, “What would you like as a reward for your good deeds?” here’s what Thomas said: “Only you, Lord. Only you.”
After that experience, Thomas found it impossible to continue his writing. When his companion, Reginald, urged him to get back to his work, Thomas refused. “Reginald,” he said, “I cannot, because all that I have written seems like straw to me”― or, as another Teacher once wrote, “All is vanity and a chasing after wind.”
But occasionally rays of light fall even on the Teacher’s empty landscape.
“This is what I have seen to be good: it is fitting to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of the life God gives us . . . because God keeps [us] occupied with the joy of [our] hearts” [5:18-20]; “I know that there is nothing better for [us] than to be happy and enjoy [ourselves] as long as [we] live; moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. I know that whatever God does endures forever. . . .” [3:12-14].
For the Teacher, the futility of all our gathering― the gathering of wisdom and the gathering of wealth― is only redeemed by the giving of God― the giving of wisdom and the giving of wealth― for our enjoyment. That’s the message in our reading from Ecclesiastes, and that’s the message in this morning’s Gospel [Luke 12:13-21].
“Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’ But he said to him, ‘Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’ 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 them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly.’”
Now notice what the parable says. It’s not the rich man who produced abundantly; it’s the land of the rich man that produced abundantly! We owe so much of our productivity to God’s giving, to the gifts of creation, the circumstances of our birth, our genes, and our opportunities.
“And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store”― the literal meaning is gather― “my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will [gather] 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?’’
This is the very question the Teacher in Ecclesiastes has already answered:
“There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in their toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God; for apart from God, who can eat or who can have enjoyment? For to the one who pleases God, God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner God gives the work of gathering and heaping, only to give to one who pleases God.” [2:24-26].
And Jesus concludes, in full agreement with the Teacher, “So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
The eighteenth century English poet Alexander Pope wrote these famous words: “To err is human, to forgive divine.” The message in this morning’s readings is this: “To gather is human, to give divine.”
May God give us the grace to be “rich toward God” by our giving. Amen.
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