Sunday, July 31, 2016

The substance of vapor

Homily: 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle C
          My mom was here last weekend with my sister, Deb, and her children, Rachel and Luke, my niece and nephew.  While they were here, my mom paused to ask me what sounded like a random question.  She let me know that her and my dad had an appointment with a lawyer in the next week to make up their “last will and testament” and that she and my dad wanted to know whether or not I would want one of dad’s old cars after he was gone.  At the moment I hadn’t really thought that much about it so I didn’t know what to tell her.  It gave me pause, however, to think about dad’s car collection.
          My dad is a “car guy” and so, growing up, there were always old cars from the 60’s in the garage.  By the time I graduated from high school, dad had settled in on a couple of cars: one that, for the most part, was always running and that he could drive or take to the track when he wanted and one for which he had a bigger project planned.  Soon, this expanded to a third car: which he said was a better “base” car for his bigger project.  The thing is, he never sold the second car after he bought the third one.  And then, in what can only be described as an “impulse buy”, he bought a fourth car (or, rather, the shell of a fourth car) and explained to me the extremely extensive project that he planned for it.
          My dad is nearly 74 years old and still works full time.  He’s a great grandpa and helps my sisters a lot.  That being said, I probably don’t need to tell you that those projects for which he bought those other cars haven’t begun.  In fact, I haven’t seen those last two project cars for over ten years: my dad is so far from being ready to begin those projects that he needed to find places to store them until he is ready for them.  I keep asking him when he is going to retire so that he can start realizing some of these projects and he keeps telling me that he doesn’t think that he can afford to, yet.
          My mom’s question, therefore, sparked a moment of fear in my heart: “Oh my gosh, dad’s gonna die and he’s gonna dump all of those cars on me!  What, in the world, will I do when them?”  But it also made me think again what I have often thought about every time that I ask my dad about retiring: “How sad that he has worried so long about having enough saved up to retire that he’ll probably never get the chance to complete any of these projects; and all that he has been saving up to enjoy will ultimately pass into another person’s hands.
          Thus, when I hear the words of our first reading today from the book of Ecclesiastes—“Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! Here is one who has labored with wisdom and knowledge and skill, and yet to another who has not labored over it, he must leave property.”—or the words from Jesus’ parable in today’s Gospel reading—“You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?”—I can’t help but think of my dad and his cars and I worry that, after all his toil and labor, he will never have the chance to enjoy its fruits.
          But this is the narrative of our modern lives, isn’t it?  Who of us wasn’t told when we were young: “Work hard, go to college, get a good job, start investing, get married and raise your kids and hopefully, by the time you reach 65, you can retire; and then you can start to enjoy your life.”  Why else have we taken to calling those post-retirement years the “golden years” except that we believe that we can’t really live until we’ve done all of those other things?  But isn’t this exactly the situation that Jesus warns about in the Gospel reading today?
          There a man from the crowd who is worried about his 401k comes forward and he demands that Jesus—a teacher who teaches with authority—resolve his dispute with his brother so that he’ll receive his share of the inheritance and thus solidify his retirement plan.  And Jesus warns him with the parable: don’t be so obsessed with your retirement plan—that is, with your plans for how you’re going to live in the future—so much so that you forget to live today; because your life will disappear like smoke when you least expect it.  In fact, all life is smoke… vapor… vanity… says Qoheleth, the Teacher, in the book of Ecclesiastes, a “chasing after wind”.  You can imagine what it would be like to chase after wind and so you can see that it would be a meaningless exercise.  This, says Qoheleth, is life: a meaningless exercise.  Meaningless, that is, if life consists only of possessions and our capacity to enjoy them.
          Thus, Jesus’ clarion call: don’t turn your life into a chasing after wind by making it only about obtaining and enjoying possessions.  Rather, focus on the things of God, because it is he alone who gives your life meaning and substance; while possessions, just like everything else in the created universe, add nothing to it; because they, too, will one day vanish like smoke.
          My brothers and sisters, let me ask you this question: What project for the building up of God’s kingdom here on earth has God placed on your heart only to have you store it in a remote garage or shed until the rest of your life settles out and you have the “leisure” to finally take it up?  In other words, have you ever heard yourself saying things like “One day I want to start a food pantry here at the parish, or a bible study, or to be a part of the Haiti mission, or to work with the youth group, but I just have too much going on right now. Once the kids are out of school, or I retire, or the house is paid off, then I’ll be able to do it”?  If you have, then whatever that is is the answer to my question: it is the work that God has given you that you have put in storage until you feel comfortable enough to “retire” and finally take it up.
          You know, I can’t help but think that this attitude is like my dad’s toward his project cars.  When his life turns to dust, those ideas will disappear like vapor and all he had hoped to accomplish by working another year longer will have been in vain, because there will be nothing to show for it.  “Thus will it be” Jesus warns us “for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.”  My brothers and sisters, all of us will leave this life poor in material things, because, as we all know, “you can’t take it with you”.  If we are rich in what matters to God then we will be rich in the next life, because those things go with us.
          And this is good news!—the good news that Qoheleth hadn’t heard—that when we focus on the things that matter to God, God, the source of all existence, gives substance and meaning to our lives so that, when they disappear like smoke, there will be something that remains—something that lasts—that will go with us into the next life, proving that this life wasn’t all vanity, but rather that it had value: value earned for us through Jesus in his passion, death, and resurrection.  And so, as we turn now to re-present to the Father that perfect sacrifice of his Son, let us pray for the grace to take up the projects that he has placed on our hearts so that we might increase our wealth in the things that matter to him: wealth that adds real substance to the vapor of our lives and thus prepares us for the eternal weight of glory that we will enjoy in heaven.

Given at All Saints Parish: Logansport, IN – July 31st, 2016

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If you'd like a further meditation on this topic, check out this video from The Liturgists:



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