What matters to God

By Fr. Dan Debano
RR Ministerial

A few years ago when I was visiting my mother, one day we went to visit a close friend of mine Alzheimer’s unit of the local nursing home. As we sat in the large dining room there was another woman sitting by herself over in a corner talking out loud to herself about all the mistakes President Franklin Roosevelt made during WW II. At one point she got up from her chair and like a robot shuffled over to where we were visiting. With a frown on her face, fire in her eyes and staring off in the distance she shouted at us, “Brown Sugar!” (That is substitute for what she really said.) Then she wandered off to her room.
After our laughter subsided we discussed the sadness of people who because of illness or because of choice, “LIVE IN THEIR OWN WORLD.”
In the Gospel of Luke (12: 13-21) Jesus is telling us the story of a rich farmer who chose to live in his own world. He too was talking to himself. In five short sentences the words I, me, or myself are used eight times. There is not one mention of his relationship with God or others. God calls him a “FOOL.” WHY?
It is not because he is wealthy. God does not condemn money. What matters to God is that we are good stewards of all our gifts. His word is clear. He tells us, “Without neglecting to tithe, do the works of justice,” with that money. “That which you have received as gift, give as gift.” What God condemns is hoarding, stinginess, and selfishness - the misuse and waste of his gifts. He calls us to lives of radical generosity.
The man in the story is a self-made successful business man. He did nothing illegal. His foolishness consists on the one hand in his mistaken assumption that real happiness is found in the principle, “More is Better.” Bigger harvests, bigger barns, bigger belly - Big is Beautiful was what motivated him. He made accumulation of possessions and pleasure his goal, his purpose for living. On the other hand his foolishness lies in his total lack of concern for others and his insensitivity to the transcendental dimension of life, namely, his relationship to God. He was rich materially, but poor spiritually.
This gospel invites us to become rich in what matters to God. What matters to God is made clear in the two great commandments of loving God and one another. That is the summation of all the Prophets and the Law. Therefore, what matters to God is all about RELATIONSHIPS - LOVING RELATIONSHIPS. Life does not consist in possessions. What matters most is our relationship to God and to one another.
That is why Jesus does not enter into the dispute over the family inheritance of the man who comes to him asking him to intervein in this family feud. Instead He invites the man to reflect on what he values most - his relationship with his brother or the acquisition of material things. Jesus is telling him that if he gets his priorities straight, the problem will be resolved. It is GREED that raises havoc with our relationships. It blinds us to the vanity and foolishness of making things that are temporal more important than our relationships with God and others which are eternal. That is why St. Paul tells us to put to death “the greed that is idolatry,” - that is, to ignore what matters to God.
THERE LIES DEEP WITHIN THE HEART OF EACH ONE OF US A TERRIFYING VOID. When we try to fill that void with “stuff,” it leaves us restless and desiring more. Nothing seems to fill that emptiness. If we were Buddhists, we would be advised that the key to happiness is to kill all our desires. However, the Christian approach is not to eliminate our desires but rather to redirect them - to redirect them toward God and serving others. Then, like St. Augustine, we discover that our restlessness subsides and happiness fills our cup to overflowing.
The wisest investment you and I can make during our brief Earthly journey is to dedicate ourselves to becoming RICH IN WHAT MATTERS TO GOD. What matters to God is:
First - our relationship with Him. All we have is a gift from Him. We are dependent on God for absolutely everything. The question then is, “Do we love God above all else?” Are we grateful daughters and sons of Abba, our loving Father?
Second - our relationship with others. “Do we love every sister and brother as Jesus loves us - even the least of them?”
Third - that we lead lives of joyful generosity. We are not to hoard or be wasteful with the gifts God has given to us. We are to be good stewards using our resources for helping others. What we do not need, in justice belongs to those who are in need. The great Jewish theologian of the 20th Century, Rabbi Abraham Heschel, tells us to “FEEL FIERCELY” the plight of the poor and to do something about it. As the saying goes, “NO ONE ENTERS HEAVEN WITHOUT A LETTER OF REFERENCE FROM THE POOR.” The truth is we are all poor, spiritually speaking.
If you or I were to die tonight, would there be a letter of reference on St. Peter’s desk?
This week look for opportunities to build honest, loving relationships with God and one another. IT MATTERS TO GOD AND OTHERS - and IT WILL MATTER TO YOU!