Store Up Treasures In Heaven
- Deacon Dan DeLuca
- Oct 18, 2022
- 5 min read
Store up treasures in heaven. Most Catholics know that is what they should be doing: focussing on the life that is to come not the life of this world. Yet how many of us actually live our lives like this is the case? How many of us have bought into the rat race, the idea that we continually need to accumulate more and more? How many of us have so much stuff that we can’t even find room to store that stuff? The Gospel warns us against such behavior. It warns us to not focus on earthly treasure but heavenly treasures.
The Parable of the Rich Fool
One of the multitude said to him, “Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or divider over you?” And he said to them, “Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 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.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12 : 13-21
Scriptural Analysis
Jesus was instructing his disciples when someone from the crowd interrupted him causing him to switch topics. Jesus had just gotten done telling the disciples not to worry or be afraid about facing persecution. He is now going to instruct both his disciples and the crowd to not be afraid of lacking material necessities.
His instruction starts with a man asking Jesus to settle a dispute over an inheritance. The basic inheritance laws are laid out in Deuteronomy and Numbers. Jesus tells the man that he is not their arbitrator. This response parallels the question asked of Moses, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us?” (Exodus 2:14) Rather than solve this dispute, Jesus uses this opportunity to instruct: to issue a warning about the pursuit of material wealth.
Jesus makes his point by providing the parable of the rich fool. This man was blessed with a bountiful harvest and he is left trying to figure out what to do with his crops. Literally he debated within himself wha he should do. The man was consumed with greed and so he decided to build bigger barns to store all of his good so that he could sit back and take it easy. Compare that to Joseph who stored up grain with the intention of sharing it when famine came, “And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured. – So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses.” (Genesis 41:49,56)
Jesus calls the man a fool. This harkens backs to the Psalms, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” (14:1) The man is behaving as if there is no God as he has put all his trust in his own ability. He is an atheist in practice. However, all his plans are for nothing as that night his life is going to be demanded of him. The Greek word used here for demand really means to call in a debt. This life that the man thought was his own, was really on loan to him from God. God is calling in the debt.
The meaning of the parable is fairly direct. One needs to keep God at the front of their life. All earthy things, wether good or bad, need to be considered from the perspective of eternity. The man in this parable did not do this. He did not thank God for the bountiful harvest. He hoarded his wealth instead of sharing it with the poor.
St Cyril of Alexandria provides a beautiful summary of the meaning of this Gospel:
It is true that a person’s life is not from one’s possessions or because of having an overabundance. He who is rich toward God is very blessed and has glorious hope. Who is he? Evidently, one who does not love wealth but rather loves virtue, and top whom few things are sufficient. It is one whose hand is open to the needs of the poor, comforting the sorrow of those in poverty according to his means and the utmost of his power. He gathers in the storehouses that are above and lays up treasures in heaven. Such a one shall find the interest of his virtue and the reward of his right and blameless life. Commentary on Luke Homily 89
Daily Application
In 2021 Americans spent close to $40 billion for self-storage units. That is over $100 million each and every day to store stuff that we can’t fit in our homes. To help put that number into perspective, the UN Food Program put together a proposal to essentially provide 43 million people in the world who are facing famine with 1 meal each day at a cost of $6.6 billion. With $40 billion you could give each of those people 6 meals a day or 129 million people 2 meals a day. We spend a small fortune every year to store excess stuff because our homes, which have increased in size from an average of 980 square feet in 1950 to 2600 square feet in 2014, are already full of stuff. Imagine instead of buying all of that stuff and then paying to store it, we used that money to feed those who are starving.
In the Gospel, Jesus is telling us to do just that. The man with an abundant harvest could have used that excess to feed the hungry. Instead he built bigger barns, his own self-storage units, and stored his excess wealth. He stored it with the intent of sitting back and relaxing while others starved. The rich man failed to realize that the bountiful harvest was a gift from God. A gift that he was called to use for God’s glory and not our own. The reality is everything we have truly does not belong to us. It is a gift from God that he has graciously bestowed upon us. That gift has strings attached. We are called to be good stewards of the resources given to us: to use those resources to assist in the common good: in the care of our neighbor.
Now, there is nothing wrong with putting away something reasonable for the future in case of a famine or, in our current times an economic recession. That is a prudent position and completely within the realm of Church teaching. However, what is not acceptable is greed. What is not acceptable is to store in excess of one’s reasonable needs while failing to help others who are in need. The God who blessed us with abundance is aware of our needs. He will not forsake us. We need to trust and not hoard the blessings he has given us but share them: share them abundantly. Do not store up treasures on earth, rather store up treasures in heaven.
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