Homily Two 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
Today we read the Gospel of Saint Luke about the foolish, selfish rich man who collected only for himself and did not share his wealth with those in need (Luke 12:16–21). This is a parable; therefore, its meaning is obviously much broader than it seems at first glance. By a rich man we must understand people of every rank, title, and condition, endowed by God with every good and material prosperity, and not only landowners and people of taxable status. Likewise, by a good harvest of the field we must understand not only natural, plant products, that is, wheat, rye, and the like, but all material prosperity: a rich inheritance, a large salary received from the state treasury, rich income provided by some place or position, direct or indirect, overt or secret - good, profitable trade, a good income from renting out houses, a profitable craft, and so on. Thus, this parable, like a net, catches very many and, in a word, all those who have good means of living.
What does our divine teacher, the Lord Jesus Christ, want and demand of us in this parable? He desires and demands of us that we not only use God's gifts for our own pleasure, to satisfy our own animalistic needs, habits, passions, and lusts, but that we share our goods, according to our means, with the poor and needy, of whom there are so many everywhere. For the Lord sends us every kind of material abundance not for ourselves alone, but through us for our neighbors as well. You have a multitude of God's gifts given to you, both for yourself and for the common good, and they lie there uselessly, and you transform the source of God's blessing into a source of curse. You mock the goodness and generosity of God, you are a friend of the common enemy the devil; for you are an enemy of God and man, because you destroy many with your hard-heartedness. This truth, which seems strange to many, is so clear that it speaks for itself, and a person who looks at the matter directly, without his own preconceived thoughts and false convictions, has no need to explain or prove it: for all of us, rich as well as poor, noble and simple, educated and uneducated, all close to each other, as descended from the same blood, members of one great family of God, members, if not of one Church, then of one state, members of one common fatherland, have one king-father, who cares equally for the good of all his subjects, for whom the highest desire is that everyone, in general, be contented and prosperous, that all work for the benefit of society and each for his own. But our extreme self-love, which accustoms us to consider our material possessions exclusively our own, our false view of our relationships with others, and our strictly judicial, one-sided view of our neighbors who require our help, run counter to this truth, and very many say: "What's mine is only for me and no one else; others don't care about it," although it is obvious that such a belief is false and extremely inhumane, i.e., not philanthropic. We will prove, on the basis of reason and the word of God, its inconsistency and then draw the conclusion that we should not collect only for ourselves, but to become rich in God, that is, to become rich in mercy, truth and, in general, good deeds.
Firstly, in all of nature, in the entire visible world, we notice reciprocity and sociability. The sun from the heights of heaven illuminates, warms and vivifies the whole earth, all creatures, of which there is no number; air permeates everyone and everything - we all breathe and are nourished by it every minute; the winds, blowing alternately from all sides, produce a beneficial change in the air in different places, purify and heal it; rivers, irrigating the various localities through which they flow, bring many benefits to people and animals. Bees collect fragrant, healthy and nutritious juice from flowers, put it in honeycombs and form honey, which is used by many people; the silkworm spins cocoons, or silk threads, and man uses them in his products. People of science and art, crafts, agriculture, trade, industry share their treasures with others; an army lays down its life for the faith, the king and the fatherland. Everything and everyone is interconnected and connected. But here you have large sums of money lying around, enough to feed a thousand people — what good is it? Could it be that property, money, bread, clothing, and homes are to be solely our own possessions, and that we will not willingly share them with our needy brothers? Have mercy, my brethren, for this is contrary to nature and to our reason. Just as all of nature shares its treasures and riches with us, so too should we mutually share our possessions with one another for the common good.
Secondly, since we all, as Christians, constitute a part of the spiritual body of the Church, whose Head is Jesus Christ, and whose Guide or Ruler is the Holy Spirit, we are therefore obligated to care, both spiritually and materially, not only for ourselves but also for the other members of the body. As the Apostle Paul says: "If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. And you are the body of Christ, and individually members" (1 Corinthians 12:26–27). The Church and the state are a living organism, but in it there are members that are sickly, weak, of little ability, or lacking in labor and unable to obtain it. If this is so, then how can a rich man not provide for the poor — a rich man of every rank: a clergyman, a merchant, a man of secular or military rank, a scholar or a ruler of any rank, or a rich artisan? And in this case, higher or higher-ranking persons, as more educated, should set an example for the lower ones, according to the words of the Apostle: "We, who are strong, ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not please ourselves" (Rom. 15:1). If the powerful, noble, high-ranking individuals or the wealthy only cater to themselves, paying no attention to the poor and weak, what can people do for them, even with good intentions, desires, and initiatives, if they are not strong in terms of power and means? For example, here in Kronstadt, we have a poor, unprivileged class of self-employed townspeople who have neither work, nor money, nor food, nor clothing, nor housing, nor the slightest moral voice to defend themselves, yet they could be of use if those honored with authority took a fatherly interest in them. Tell me, what will become of them in the end if the powerful in the city do not pay attention to them? Must they wither away and die prematurely from hunger and cold, or will they resort to unlawful means of provision to avoid starving to death? And if the noble and the wealthy are unwilling to provide them with what is necessary for life from their granaries or rich treasuries, then at the very least, it is necessary for society as a whole to take care of providing them with shelter and engaging them in work suited to their abilities, with common support. After all, they are Christians just like us; subjects and children of the same sovereign as we are; members of the same society as we are. Yet, they, our members, remain without any care due to some strange negligence and hardness of heart of society. Oh, vanity, pride, cruelty, and the consuming arrogance of the haughty with their false enlightenment of people! What is scientific enlightenment without Christian love? It is nothing. "The wisdom of this world is foolishness before God" (1 Cor. 3:19).
Humble yourself, proud mind, before the teaching of the Gospel and before the poverty of Christ; step down from your pedestal, lower yourself, approach these poor whom Christ Himself is not ashamed to call His brethren, and extend to them a helping hand; do not gather only for yourself, do not satisfy only your own whims, but also grow rich in God through good deeds, which will follow you even after death. Therefore, nature, reason, and the word of God urge us to be generous and sharing with our neighbors in our possessions, to be accommodating, without complaint, without stinginess, but to willingly, diligently, meekly, humbly, and kindly help the poor, as brethren in Christ and as members of civil society. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
What does our divine teacher, the Lord Jesus Christ, want and demand of us in this parable? He desires and demands of us that we not only use God's gifts for our own pleasure, to satisfy our own animalistic needs, habits, passions, and lusts, but that we share our goods, according to our means, with the poor and needy, of whom there are so many everywhere. For the Lord sends us every kind of material abundance not for ourselves alone, but through us for our neighbors as well. You have a multitude of God's gifts given to you, both for yourself and for the common good, and they lie there uselessly, and you transform the source of God's blessing into a source of curse. You mock the goodness and generosity of God, you are a friend of the common enemy the devil; for you are an enemy of God and man, because you destroy many with your hard-heartedness. This truth, which seems strange to many, is so clear that it speaks for itself, and a person who looks at the matter directly, without his own preconceived thoughts and false convictions, has no need to explain or prove it: for all of us, rich as well as poor, noble and simple, educated and uneducated, all close to each other, as descended from the same blood, members of one great family of God, members, if not of one Church, then of one state, members of one common fatherland, have one king-father, who cares equally for the good of all his subjects, for whom the highest desire is that everyone, in general, be contented and prosperous, that all work for the benefit of society and each for his own. But our extreme self-love, which accustoms us to consider our material possessions exclusively our own, our false view of our relationships with others, and our strictly judicial, one-sided view of our neighbors who require our help, run counter to this truth, and very many say: "What's mine is only for me and no one else; others don't care about it," although it is obvious that such a belief is false and extremely inhumane, i.e., not philanthropic. We will prove, on the basis of reason and the word of God, its inconsistency and then draw the conclusion that we should not collect only for ourselves, but to become rich in God, that is, to become rich in mercy, truth and, in general, good deeds.
Firstly, in all of nature, in the entire visible world, we notice reciprocity and sociability. The sun from the heights of heaven illuminates, warms and vivifies the whole earth, all creatures, of which there is no number; air permeates everyone and everything - we all breathe and are nourished by it every minute; the winds, blowing alternately from all sides, produce a beneficial change in the air in different places, purify and heal it; rivers, irrigating the various localities through which they flow, bring many benefits to people and animals. Bees collect fragrant, healthy and nutritious juice from flowers, put it in honeycombs and form honey, which is used by many people; the silkworm spins cocoons, or silk threads, and man uses them in his products. People of science and art, crafts, agriculture, trade, industry share their treasures with others; an army lays down its life for the faith, the king and the fatherland. Everything and everyone is interconnected and connected. But here you have large sums of money lying around, enough to feed a thousand people — what good is it? Could it be that property, money, bread, clothing, and homes are to be solely our own possessions, and that we will not willingly share them with our needy brothers? Have mercy, my brethren, for this is contrary to nature and to our reason. Just as all of nature shares its treasures and riches with us, so too should we mutually share our possessions with one another for the common good.
Secondly, since we all, as Christians, constitute a part of the spiritual body of the Church, whose Head is Jesus Christ, and whose Guide or Ruler is the Holy Spirit, we are therefore obligated to care, both spiritually and materially, not only for ourselves but also for the other members of the body. As the Apostle Paul says: "If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. And you are the body of Christ, and individually members" (1 Corinthians 12:26–27). The Church and the state are a living organism, but in it there are members that are sickly, weak, of little ability, or lacking in labor and unable to obtain it. If this is so, then how can a rich man not provide for the poor — a rich man of every rank: a clergyman, a merchant, a man of secular or military rank, a scholar or a ruler of any rank, or a rich artisan? And in this case, higher or higher-ranking persons, as more educated, should set an example for the lower ones, according to the words of the Apostle: "We, who are strong, ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not please ourselves" (Rom. 15:1). If the powerful, noble, high-ranking individuals or the wealthy only cater to themselves, paying no attention to the poor and weak, what can people do for them, even with good intentions, desires, and initiatives, if they are not strong in terms of power and means? For example, here in Kronstadt, we have a poor, unprivileged class of self-employed townspeople who have neither work, nor money, nor food, nor clothing, nor housing, nor the slightest moral voice to defend themselves, yet they could be of use if those honored with authority took a fatherly interest in them. Tell me, what will become of them in the end if the powerful in the city do not pay attention to them? Must they wither away and die prematurely from hunger and cold, or will they resort to unlawful means of provision to avoid starving to death? And if the noble and the wealthy are unwilling to provide them with what is necessary for life from their granaries or rich treasuries, then at the very least, it is necessary for society as a whole to take care of providing them with shelter and engaging them in work suited to their abilities, with common support. After all, they are Christians just like us; subjects and children of the same sovereign as we are; members of the same society as we are. Yet, they, our members, remain without any care due to some strange negligence and hardness of heart of society. Oh, vanity, pride, cruelty, and the consuming arrogance of the haughty with their false enlightenment of people! What is scientific enlightenment without Christian love? It is nothing. "The wisdom of this world is foolishness before God" (1 Cor. 3:19).
Humble yourself, proud mind, before the teaching of the Gospel and before the poverty of Christ; step down from your pedestal, lower yourself, approach these poor whom Christ Himself is not ashamed to call His brethren, and extend to them a helping hand; do not gather only for yourself, do not satisfy only your own whims, but also grow rich in God through good deeds, which will follow you even after death. Therefore, nature, reason, and the word of God urge us to be generous and sharing with our neighbors in our possessions, to be accommodating, without complaint, without stinginess, but to willingly, diligently, meekly, humbly, and kindly help the poor, as brethren in Christ and as members of civil society. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
