And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:16-21
“‘What shall I do?’ says the rich man in the parable. Who would not pity a man so beset? Pitiable for his abundance, wretched for his good things present, more wretched still on account of what awaits him. His land brings him not produce, but sighs. He does not lay up for himself fruits, but care, and sorrow, and grievous anxiety. He laments like the poor. Is it not the very same thing that the poverty-stricken man says? What shall I do? Where shall I find food or raiment? What shall I do? You might well have said, I will fill the soul of the hungry. I will open my barns and summon all who are in need. I will imitate Joseph, and cry with a loud voice, All you in want of bread, come to me, and each one take his fill from the gracious gifts of God, as if from a common fountain.
Soul, thou hast much goods laid up: eat, drink, and be merry. What madness! If thou hadst a swine’s soul, what else wouldst thou say to it but this. How thankful oughtest thou be to the Bountiful one, how joyful for the honour given thee, that thou dost not crowd the door of other men, but others occupy thine! But now thou art morose, and avoidest meeting the poor, lest, perhaps, thou be compelled to give something. One reply alone thou knowest how to give: I cannot, I will not give. I am poor. Yes, truly poor thou art, and in need of all things. Poor in love, poor in kindness, poor in faith toward God, poor in eternal hope.”
Basil of Caesarea (c. 329-379) in Hom. in illud Lucæ, destruam horrea as recounted in St. Basil the Great compiled by Richard Travers Smith (London: SPCK, 1879). He is also known as Basil the Great, the second of the Four Doctors of the Eastern Church that we explore on the topic of abundance. He’s also one of the three Cappadocian Fathers.
When we see a wealthy man, we don’t often describe him as “pitiable for his [or her] abundance.” That’s precisely his [or her] situation, especially in light of the messages the world tells them.
Last week, a seminary administrator who meets regularly with wealthy givers commented, “The biggest obstacle to generosity I come across is the notion that people with wealth are filled with fear and say they never have enough money.” Or as Basil puts it, they are troubled with “care, and sorrow, and grievous anxiety.” Fear not only hinders generous giving and renders them poor toward God, the result is that they are “poor in love, poor in kindness, poor in faith toward God, poor in eternal hope.” Basil is right. It’s madness indeed!
So why is the rich person “pitiable for his [or her] abundance?” When a person has wealth they are fooled into thinking it sustains them. Every generation faces this. Only God sustains us!