“Houston, we have a problem!”
The immortal words of Tom Hanks … actually, astronaut Jack Swigert, Apollo 13, April 11, 1970 … an electrical problem, an oxygen tank explodes … a series of life-threatening failures … quick thinking and lots of jury-rigging saves the crew – though unable to land on the moon, they successfully return to earth.
“Houston, we have a problem!”
Our story begins simply enough …
Jesus, on his way to Jerusalem, large crowds all around.
One man steps forward: Tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.
Something gone wrong.
Something unfair.
A family in distress over the inheritance.
“Houston, we have a problem!”
Jesus, can you help me?
I thought of an earlier moment in the Gospel of Luke.
Remember when Jesus visits in the home of Martha and Mary?
Mary sits with Jesus.
Martha fusses and frets in the kitchen, until she can take no more, and angrily comes to Jesus and asks, Don’t you care that I’m left with all the work while Mary talks theology with you?
Don’t you care?
Care about what Martha?
The pots and pans in your kitchen?
There’ll be time enough for that Martha.
Right now, there are other things more important.
Now is the time, Martha, to talk with me.
We’ll take care of the food later.
For now, let’s talk about God.
Jesus is not sympathetic with Martha’s frustration.
Nor is he sympathetic with this man’s family dispute.
Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbiter over you?
I’ve seen families in dispute over money.
It’s not a pretty picture.
It’s ugly and frightening.
Years ago, a funeral counseling with a family – the mother had died long ago, and now the father died, too.
I was called to do the service at a local funeral home.
I didn’t know the family.
They came to my office, so I could learn a bit more about their father.
Two brothers and sister …
And before long, I knew that something was seriously wrong.
I thought there’d be a murder right in my office..
We got through the visit, and off they went.
I did the service two days later.
And afterward, stood by the coffin as folks walked by to offer their final respects, until everyone was gone, except the two brothers and one sister were and the funeral director.
It didn’t take long for them to get in a brouhaha right next to the casket …
A family feud.
Hard and sad.
Some of us have gone through something like this … about as tough as it gets … brothers and sisters, cousins and uncles and aunts – everyone gets into it … years later, no one even remembers how it all started.
All anyone remembers is the bitterness.
The sadness.
The pain.
“Houston, we have a problem!”
But there are problems, and then there are problems!
A knight of the round table set out on a mission, and in the course of his travels, the knight had to cross through a valley.
Setting out across the valley, the knight is attacked by a fierce dragon.
Every attempt to cross the valley is blocked by the dragon.
This went on for days.
And then one day, the knight decides to simply watch the valley.
Early in the morning, the knight sees a small man come out with buckets of feed.
Feed for the dragon.
Every morning, every day, the dragon is fed.
So the knight does what knights do.
He meets the little man with the buckets of feed, and kills him.
Sorry, that’s the way the story goes.
And, then, in a few days, the dragon is hungry … so hungry, the dragon goes away.
The knight crosses the valley safely.
“Houston, we have a problem!”
There are problems and then there are problems.
Jesus understands that the presenting problem is never the real problem.
Martha’s frustration with being left in the kitchen isn’t the real problem.
Her problem is embarrassment about Mary’s boldness.
Maybe Martha is even jealous.
Maybe Martha wants to sit at the feet of Jesus, too.
But she’s a prisoner of her own rules and regulations.
It’s not the pots and pans.
The real problem is her soul.
That’s always the real problem.
The disposition of the soul.
“Houston, we have a problem!”
It’s our soul.
So Jesus turns to the crowd and warns them about greed.
Greed of every kind.
And then Jesus tells a story.
About a wealthy man.
The man was blessed by God.
A year of great harvest.
The man thought to himself, What should I do?”
I know what I’ll do, I will pull down my old barns and build new barns, bigger, better and brighter.
And then I will say to my soul, ‘Now you’re safe.’
‘You finally have enough … sit back and relax … eat, drink and be merry.
“Houston, we have a problem!”
Let’s see if we can probe the story a little bit.
Jesus grew up in Northern Palestine – Galilee; then, and now, the breadbasket of the middle east – fertile and pleasant and productive.
A land of peasants and powerful landlords.
Rembrandt’s picture, on the front of today’s bulletin, says it well …
Look at the man’s face.
I like him.
He’s a wise and prudent man who’s parlayed his lot in life into a very comfortable existence … he’s invested well and made good decisions.
And this year’s harvest has been particularly good.
What should I do? He asks.
Look at the picture … he’s holding a coin in his hand … mesmerized by its beauty … I kept thinking of Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” … Gollum’s enslavement to the ring of power … his precious …
Entranced with the coin in his hand, he asks, What should I do?
Let’s put on our thinking caps.
What happens to food prices when the harvest is good?
That’s right, food prices go down.
Today at Vons or Ralphs … or in First Century Palestine, market forces are always the same.
Big harvests, lower prices.
So the man decides to build bigger barns and store the grain.
Why?
That’s right … drive up prices …
He’s not going to eat all that grain … he’s got tons of it.
More than enough for his family.
It’s market manipulation.
Sound familiar?
“Houston, we have a problem!”
God calls the man a fool.
Why?
Psalm 14:1, fools say in their hearts, ‘There is no God.’
The rich man turns from God, and that’s why he’s a fool.
He thinks his investments are his own decision.
His wealth, the result of his own intelligence and labor.
Turns to the coin in his hand, and thinks:
You’re mine, all mine, by the labor of my hand and my shrewd decisions.
What should this man have done?
He might well have remembered Israel’s time in the wilderness.
The people were fed every day.
Manna from heaven – collect just enough for yourself and your family, and share with one another as needed … don’t hoard it … trust God … there will be manna for you every morning …
Some folks tried to hoard the manna, and it only grew wormy and moldy.
They had to learn to depend upon God.
Every day … give us this day our daily bread!
There will always be enough …
God’s pie is really big.
What should the man have done?
Leviticus 19 …
When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the every edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien; I am the LORD your God.
What should the man have done?
The man is a fool not because he’s greedy.
The man is greedy because he’s a fool.
He has forgotten God!
The God of the harvest.
The God of abundance.
The God of mercy and kindness.
Jesus knows this is the real problem.
For all of us.
Rich or poor.
Makes no difference.
When I was a pastor in West Virginia, early 70s … the poorest county in the poorest state at the time … I worked with community organizing, and I saw poor people fight like cats and dogs with one another who was going to be the president of the local development group, who was going to drive the van and be the treasurer – of a huge some of money, a grant of $500.
Rich or poor.
Makes no difference.
Except one.
From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded – Luke 12:48.
God has blessed the rich man with abundance, and because of the abundance, the rich man has the greater responsibility.
The LORD of the harvest entrusted to this man enough grain to feed hundreds and maybe even thousands.
More than enough for him, and more than enough to go around.
Yes, we all have responsibilities.
But to those to whom much has been, much will be required.
The welfare Moms of this land will face a lighter judgment in the kingdom of God than the women and men of great wealth who manipulated the markets to their own ends and built bigger and better and brighter barns.
Jesus reminds us all: use well what is given to you.
It’s all given by God.
Use it well.
With that, Jesus goes to the heart of the problem.
When we feel anxiety coming upon us, there is only one recourse that works: turn to God …
The God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ.
Do not worry … God feeds the ravens, and they’re dirty birds, but God feeds them anyone; think how much more God cares for you.
Consider the lilies of the field … not even Solomon was as glorious as they are … and if God cares for the lilies, think how much more your Father in heaven cares for you.
Do not be afraid little flock … it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
When you’re tempted to build bigger and better and brighter barns, have a great big garage sale instead, and give the proceeds to the poor.
Jesus is not asking us to get rid of everything.
No, no, no, no …
Here’s the point:
We just don’t need bigger barns.
Live well within our means.
Be generous and kind.
Practice charity.
Enjoy the blessings of God for sure.
Keep a kindly eye on the poor.
And think about God, says Jesus.
Think a lot about God!
The love of God. The providence of God.
The ravens and the lilies.
Let God be the treasure of your heart, not the coin in your hand.
The coin can’t save us.
God already has.
Where your treasure is, your heart will be there, too.
“Houston, we’ve solved the problem. We’re on our way home!”
Amen and Amen!
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