“And he said to them, ‘Take care! Be on guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of [possessions.’ Then he told a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” The 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; 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?” So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.’” Luke 12:15-21

What does it mean to be rich toward God? That’s the bottom line of this passage. What is my/your attitude toward God? Towards the blessings he pours upon us? Starting with his abundant love, grace and mercy. While this passage speaks of material things, the rich man’s response is one of self-care, me, me, me or I, I, I. In the center of the word sIn is an i. When we make ourselves the center of attention we violate loving God first then others. We build storehouses for “our” stuff, we hoard “our” stuff, we stop working with God removing the opportunity and need for God to bless our work abundantly. We are to practice generosity rather than self-indulgence. As Disciples of Christ we are called to give as generously to others as God gives to us. In response to his question. “What should I do?”, the rich man built storehouses for “his” stuff. How do we answer the question? For ourselves as individuals? For our families? How do we as local congregations answer the question, “What should we do?” How do we answer the question? Are we rich toward God or ourselves?