Homily One on the Ninth Sunday of Luke
(26th Sunday After Pentecost)
On the Foolish Rich Man
Luke 12:16–21
By St. John of Kronstadt
(26th Sunday After Pentecost)
On the Foolish Rich Man
Luke 12:16–21
By St. John of Kronstadt
In the Gospel read today, my brethren, you heard the Savior’s parable about the foolish rich man, who, having received from the most generous God a multitude of fruits of the earth, wanted to use them solely for his own pleasure and did not think of sharing them with his neighbors in need; who dreamed that he would live in this world for many years, and did not think that perhaps that very night his soul would be torn from his body and would be caught up for judgment before God, the impartial Judge of our life. The Lord Jesus Christ, who uttered this parable, offered the following moral teaching to the people listening to Him:
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you" (Luke 12:22–31).
Let us consider the foolish words of the rich man. When he had a good harvest in his field, he reasoned with himself: "What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?" This is a foolish concern: where to gather a multitude of crops. Why should you gather them into storehouses, accumulate them and, perhaps, let them rot? Did the Lord produce them so that they would lie in barns and rot? Or only so that you alone could enjoy them? Was it not so that you could share the gifts of goodness with heartfelt goodness to your poor brethren? Or so that from the gifts of mercy you could make deeds of mercy? Do you live alone in the world? Do all prosper in wealth, like you? Do you not see the hungry, the half-naked, driven from their homes for non-payment of money, which they do not have; do you not see the sick, the crippled, the lame, the crippled by disease, who all need your assistance? Why are you mad, saying, "I have nowhere to store my crops?" How is it that you have no place? Here are your granaries: the hands of the poor. Give the gifts of God's goodness, given for many, to many poor people, and receive for this from the Lord forgiveness of sins and great mercy. Having done this, you will act in accordance with the will of God, for the Lord gives us abundance to help the poor: for the merciful will themselves obtain mercy (Matt. 5:7); you will gladden and make happy many; you will gather for yourself a wonderful store of gratitude and blessings from the poor and suffering, which will serve you for salvation and a pledge of your well-being on earth and eternal well-being in the future life.
Are not many of us, my brethren, partakers in the sin of this rich man? Each of us who accumulates in his storehouses a lot of money, a lot of clothes, a lot of expensive and often unnecessary dishes, is like this rich man and is guilty before God of cruelty to the poor. How will you appear before the righteous Judge and Creator, whose gifts you have squandered madly and from the gifts of goodness and mercy you have not done, perhaps, a single deed of mercy, but have used everything to satisfy the mad lusts of your flesh? You drink a variety of liquors, eat all sorts of delicacies, but you grudge the poor for bread? Or do you lose whole tens of rubles at cards, and do not give the poor even a few kopecks? Or do you arrange so-called tableware even from silver and gold dishes, and allow the poor to shiver from the cold? Or do you spend a lot of money on the fine clothes prescribed by fashion, and pass by a beggar dressed in rags with disdain, as if you were already some special, higher being than a beggar in poor clothes? Or do you have several houses and collect large sums of money from the tenants, and do you save this money for God knows who, or do you spend it all on yourself, live in luxury, and satiate yourself? I am afraid, I am terrified for you: what will happen to you after death, when you will not be able to take anything with you and when the Judge demands of you deeds of love and mercy?
Let us listen further to the rich man’s insane words: “And he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry'” (Luke 12:18–19). Oh, how these words of the rich man and similar thoughts of similar rich men today are displeasing to the Lord, Who sends us His blessings not so that they lie in barns, but so that they may be used by people for food and enjoyment, for the glory and thanksgiving of the Lord? To what extent does a person become addicted to the earth and to earthly life, that he forgets God, the generous Giver of all blessings, and becomes as hard-hearted as a stone toward his neighbor, who is of the same nature with us and from the same blood with us! Hear what the hard-hearted rich man says to his soul: Soul! You have much good stored up for many years: rest, eat, drink, be merry! Evil and wicked soul! You consider all your occupation in life to be only to rest, eat, drink and be merry! Do you not notice that this is in the spirit of our time and present-day people! And now they consider the good of life to be to invent various kinds of relaxation, pleasures, amusements, to eat, drink and be merry? O, poor souls! You have completely lost the common, evangelical sense! Were you created only to eat, drink and be merry? Is this your calling? Is it not to cleanse yourself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit and to create holiness, pleasing God? Is it not the cross of sorrows, is it not the cross of persistent struggle with sin bequeathed to you by your Savior? Is it not weeping for sins? Is it not abstinence? Is it not a narrow and thorny path? But you want only to rest, eat, drink, and be merry! This is paganism, idolatry; there is nothing Christian in it! A Christian is wise in the things above, not in the things of the earth (Col. 3:2). And how can we distribute our pleasures over many years? How can we assign to ourselves long years of life? "You fool!" says the Lord, "This night your soul will be required of you; then who will get what you have prepared?" And He adds: "So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God" (Luke 12:20-21).
Indeed, we need not worry about the future: we have the Heavenly Father Himself as a vigilant Guardian for us, Who knows what we need, and Who wills that we ask Him for our daily bread only today, for this day, Who wants our heart to be given exclusively to Him, the Source of life, the God of our heart, and not to earthly pleasures, not to our enemy, the devil, who seduces us with earthly delights and takes possession of our thoughts and hearts through the passion for earthly things that he produces in our hearts. Oh, how heavy, how unbearable is this yoke of earthly addictions! How suffocating it is! Let us despise the delight of the flesh, that we may enjoy the spirit in God forever! Let us gather for ourselves a reserve for the future life by works of mercy, let us not gather for ourselves, but grow rich in God; let us not be anxious about what to eat and what to drink or what to wear, but let us seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to us. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you" (Luke 12:22–31).
Let us consider the foolish words of the rich man. When he had a good harvest in his field, he reasoned with himself: "What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?" This is a foolish concern: where to gather a multitude of crops. Why should you gather them into storehouses, accumulate them and, perhaps, let them rot? Did the Lord produce them so that they would lie in barns and rot? Or only so that you alone could enjoy them? Was it not so that you could share the gifts of goodness with heartfelt goodness to your poor brethren? Or so that from the gifts of mercy you could make deeds of mercy? Do you live alone in the world? Do all prosper in wealth, like you? Do you not see the hungry, the half-naked, driven from their homes for non-payment of money, which they do not have; do you not see the sick, the crippled, the lame, the crippled by disease, who all need your assistance? Why are you mad, saying, "I have nowhere to store my crops?" How is it that you have no place? Here are your granaries: the hands of the poor. Give the gifts of God's goodness, given for many, to many poor people, and receive for this from the Lord forgiveness of sins and great mercy. Having done this, you will act in accordance with the will of God, for the Lord gives us abundance to help the poor: for the merciful will themselves obtain mercy (Matt. 5:7); you will gladden and make happy many; you will gather for yourself a wonderful store of gratitude and blessings from the poor and suffering, which will serve you for salvation and a pledge of your well-being on earth and eternal well-being in the future life.
Are not many of us, my brethren, partakers in the sin of this rich man? Each of us who accumulates in his storehouses a lot of money, a lot of clothes, a lot of expensive and often unnecessary dishes, is like this rich man and is guilty before God of cruelty to the poor. How will you appear before the righteous Judge and Creator, whose gifts you have squandered madly and from the gifts of goodness and mercy you have not done, perhaps, a single deed of mercy, but have used everything to satisfy the mad lusts of your flesh? You drink a variety of liquors, eat all sorts of delicacies, but you grudge the poor for bread? Or do you lose whole tens of rubles at cards, and do not give the poor even a few kopecks? Or do you arrange so-called tableware even from silver and gold dishes, and allow the poor to shiver from the cold? Or do you spend a lot of money on the fine clothes prescribed by fashion, and pass by a beggar dressed in rags with disdain, as if you were already some special, higher being than a beggar in poor clothes? Or do you have several houses and collect large sums of money from the tenants, and do you save this money for God knows who, or do you spend it all on yourself, live in luxury, and satiate yourself? I am afraid, I am terrified for you: what will happen to you after death, when you will not be able to take anything with you and when the Judge demands of you deeds of love and mercy?
Let us listen further to the rich man’s insane words: “And he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry'” (Luke 12:18–19). Oh, how these words of the rich man and similar thoughts of similar rich men today are displeasing to the Lord, Who sends us His blessings not so that they lie in barns, but so that they may be used by people for food and enjoyment, for the glory and thanksgiving of the Lord? To what extent does a person become addicted to the earth and to earthly life, that he forgets God, the generous Giver of all blessings, and becomes as hard-hearted as a stone toward his neighbor, who is of the same nature with us and from the same blood with us! Hear what the hard-hearted rich man says to his soul: Soul! You have much good stored up for many years: rest, eat, drink, be merry! Evil and wicked soul! You consider all your occupation in life to be only to rest, eat, drink and be merry! Do you not notice that this is in the spirit of our time and present-day people! And now they consider the good of life to be to invent various kinds of relaxation, pleasures, amusements, to eat, drink and be merry? O, poor souls! You have completely lost the common, evangelical sense! Were you created only to eat, drink and be merry? Is this your calling? Is it not to cleanse yourself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit and to create holiness, pleasing God? Is it not the cross of sorrows, is it not the cross of persistent struggle with sin bequeathed to you by your Savior? Is it not weeping for sins? Is it not abstinence? Is it not a narrow and thorny path? But you want only to rest, eat, drink, and be merry! This is paganism, idolatry; there is nothing Christian in it! A Christian is wise in the things above, not in the things of the earth (Col. 3:2). And how can we distribute our pleasures over many years? How can we assign to ourselves long years of life? "You fool!" says the Lord, "This night your soul will be required of you; then who will get what you have prepared?" And He adds: "So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God" (Luke 12:20-21).
Indeed, we need not worry about the future: we have the Heavenly Father Himself as a vigilant Guardian for us, Who knows what we need, and Who wills that we ask Him for our daily bread only today, for this day, Who wants our heart to be given exclusively to Him, the Source of life, the God of our heart, and not to earthly pleasures, not to our enemy, the devil, who seduces us with earthly delights and takes possession of our thoughts and hearts through the passion for earthly things that he produces in our hearts. Oh, how heavy, how unbearable is this yoke of earthly addictions! How suffocating it is! Let us despise the delight of the flesh, that we may enjoy the spirit in God forever! Let us gather for ourselves a reserve for the future life by works of mercy, let us not gather for ourselves, but grow rich in God; let us not be anxious about what to eat and what to drink or what to wear, but let us seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to us. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.