Brief synopsis of the readings: We begin with the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes. The writer, Qoheleth, speaks of how all things are vanities. A man works his life with wisdom and skill but must leave it to one who hasn’t. “For what profit comes to a man from all the toil and anxiety of heart with which he has labored under the sun?” The result is sorrow and grief. Luke’s Gospel recounts Jesus being asked to settle a dispute between two brothers where one is asked to share his inheritance. Jesus asks why he is asked to settle this. He then warns about greed. He then tells a parable about a rich man who enjoys a large harvest. When he runs out of space to store his crops he decides to build larger barns which will lead him to live happily ever after. But God then told the rich man that his life will be taken and his treasures will be of no value to him. “This will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.”

When asked about the book of Ecclesiastes most people will probably draw a blank though a few will begin to recite the lyrics of the 1960s Byrds’ song Turn! Turn! Turn!. I’ll spare you, recognizing that Alexa will be happy to sing it for you. It does quote Ecclesiastes but it really leaves the reader with an anemic view of this book. In reality Ecclesiastes is fairly harsh and even cynical and reminds us that we simply can’t do anything that ensures we’ll “live happily ever after” even if we do the right things.

I say this because I honestly believe that everyone who is reading this does want to do the right thing. Even a cursory viewing of movies like The Godfather shows us that not everyone in the pews is there with the right intention but I don’t think any of them are reading this. But even a pure heart doesn’t protect us from a world whose only moral compass is us.

Because, let’s face it, we all want to labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill. There’s obviously nothing wrong with that but while it is a recipe for goodness it’s not necessarily a recipe for success, as much as we want it to be. Back in the 1980s the televangelist Jerry Falwell recorded a series of tapes entitled The Law of Sowing and Reaping where he drew a straight line from good actions to God’s rewards, and also a straight line from sinfulness to God’s punishment. More recently, after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Franklin Graham blamed the sinfulness of New Orleans (even though the worst damage wasn’t done to the French Quarter but the lower 9th ward which is poor an black). We want to believe these words even as we recognize that bad things happen to good people, and good things sometimes happen to bad people.

Ecclesiastes reminds us that no matter what we do, our days are numbered and we will need to leave our life’s achievements to others. So too, by the way, does today’s Gospel. It’s too easy to read this and criticize the foolishness of the rich man, though there is some justification. Instead of building larger barns he could have decided to store the excess grain in the stomachs of the hungry. But he couldn’t have stored his harvest for years; today’s ability to increase shelf life depends on modern technology like pesticides and airtight containers. The larger barns would have been of limited use to him.

Let’s look at these readings instead in terms of the one thing we can’t really increase: the length of our life. As you know I had a front row seat for two decades as I ministered to people living the last chapter of their lives. Most talked about what they had done in their lives and more than a few wanted me to gasp at the size of their homes or portfolios. But the ones I admired were the ones who recognized that they were leaving a legacy that others would judge. I remember a man in a nursing home who said: “I’ve had a good life and I’ve done the best I can. Now it’s time for me to step aside and allow others to pick up where I left off.” When I asked him how he wanted to be remembered he said that it wasn’t up to him to decide how he would be remembered.

I also remember a man who worked for a savings and loan bank. This has been largely buried by more recent events but savings and loan banks (called S and L’s) made money by writing mortgages. But many of them got greedy and went bankrupt when interest rates went up. Between 1986 and 1995 about a third of them failed. My patient worked for one of them and despite great pressure he refused to do anything unethical. He paid a price for this as this blocked him from several promotions and when his S and L failed he was unemployed for a time. But reflecting on this he was satisfied. In a difficult time he did the right thing and while his standard of living suffered, his view of himself did not. He had enough to put a roof over his head and keep his refrigerator stocked. His family dearly loved him and were grateful he didn’t become the kind of man others had. At his funeral I described him as about the most spiritual non religious person I had ever met. He was not a church going person and I’m not sure he had even heard of the book of Ecclesiastes. But I think he would have been puzzled by Qoheleth. I think he would have said that laboring with wisdom and knowledge and skill should have been enough.

In the end we sow what others reap and we can’t write our own legacy. When Jesus instructs us to store up treasure in those things that are rich in God, perhaps he means we should do the right thing for the goodness of itself and not worry what people will say about us when we’re gone.