Leaving an Inheritance

The 10th Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 13C), Aug. 5, 2007

BCP: Eccles. 1:12-14;2:(1-7,11)18-23; Psalm 49 or 49:1-11; Col. 3:(5-11)12-17;Luke 12:13-21

RCL: Hosea 11:1-11; Psalm 107:1-9, 43 or Eccles. 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23; Psalm 49:1-11; Col. 3:1-11; Luke 12:13-21

It’s been said that whoever dies with the most toys wins, and many of us seem to believe that. And it isn’t just toys we seek to accumulate beyond any semblance of reason. Most of us share as a life goal dying with far more assets than we’ve been able to use. Why else would estate planning be a major and growing industry in our midst? And what, in the end, is the point?

A third-century B.C. rabbi ponders this very question in the book of Ecclesiastes. “What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun?” he asks (Eccles. 1:22). “I turned and gave my heart up to despair concerning all the toil of my labors under the sun, because sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it” (1:20-21). His conclusion? “[I]t is an unhappy business that God has given to human beings to be busy with” (1:13).

Jesus makes much the same observation in this Sunday’s gospel. In his parable, an individual with a strong work ethic lays up for himself far more of this world’s treasure than he’ll ever be able to use. He’s got it made, it appears. “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?’” (Luke 12:20). So what, in the end, is the point?

Many of us think that we alone “get the point”—that we’re somehow blessing our offspring through assuring that we “take care” of them from our grave. But are we really doing them a favor? Particularly if no one “took care” of us during our lives, aren’t we actually saying to our children that we think they’re far less capable than we are?

So what are these riches “toward God” — the things which we’re called, apparently, to bequeath to our children? Paul suggests that they’re things like “compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” (Col. 3:12). He enjoins the virtue of forgiveness: “just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive” (3:13). “Above all,” he teaches, “clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (3:14).

“Take care!” Jesus warns. “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15). Instead, Paul advises, “whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col. 3:17). The spiritual inheritance that we ourselves have received is what we owe to our children. And that, in the end, is the point.

Look It Up

What is “the inheritance of the saints in the light” (Col. 1:12)? How have we received it? How do we pass it on to our children?

Think About It

What are some ways in which leaving money to others can do them harm?

Next Sunday

BCP: Gen. 15:1-6; Psalm 33 or 33:12-15, 18-22; Heb. 11:1-3(4-7)8-16; Luke 12:32-40

RCL: Isaiah 1:1, 10-20; Psalm 50:1-8, 23-24 or Gen. 15:1-6; Psalm 33:12-22; Heb. 11:1-3, 8-16; Luke 12:32-40