Psalm 49, Ecclesiastes 1: 12-14;2:18-21, St. Luke 12:13-21,

Collect

Proper 13, Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Some years ago I was in Jerusalem for a conference at St. George's College. Our group was joined for lunch one day by the bishop and clergy of the Anglican diocese of Jerusalem. They said, "We're here for the church court." In the Episcopal Church courts are rare, held only when clergy discipline involves questions of theological or moral principle.

In Israel the civil courts defer to the religious courts which decide questions of personal law, marriage, divorce, adoption, probate of wills.

This continues the old Jewish, Muslim, and Roman practice.

In Jesus' time a large part of a rabbi's work was arbitrating legal matters. Perhaps in the village where Jesus and his disciples were visiting the former rabbi had died or left, and the new one had not yet come. So one of the crowd called out, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me!" But Jesus, as he often does, spoke to the wider picture. He responded, " Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions."

A while ago someone wrote the Antiques and Collectibles column of the newspaper, "I'm cleaning out my childhood home, and found my old Golden Books. What are they worth?" That was before internet search engines. On abebooks.com where I am selling my books, there are 18,000 Golden Books listed with prices from one dollar to 500. I can sympathize about the old Golden Books. Lucy and I have buried all four parents and closed three houses. I'm a saver; she's more of an evaluator. I want to keep everything and avoid the pain of having to decide. She's more ready to evaluate our needs and dispose of what we're not likely to need or want.

Jesus reminds us, " Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions."

Lucy, Sarai, and I are planning an October two week trip to the Sinai desert with a group from the Institute for Servant Leadership. Last week we reviewed with a new lawyer the wills we had redone in 2000 in Durham when the family visited in China. We had to look again at who gets what, and all the contingencies. We were reminded again that Jesus says, " Take care! Be on your guard .. .one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions."

We are sacramental beings. Things have meaning. Water washes away dirt, and the water of baptism washes away sin. We need to eat to sustain life, and in the bread and wine of Holy Communion our spirits are fed. Some things have meaning because they remind us of the people who owned them.

We use family silver and dishes that belonged to grandparents; we hang family pictures on the walls. Some things have meaning because they remind us of events. We frame our children’s wedding pictures and put them on tables. We keep pictures of family events. This congregation rescued the cornerstone from the old St. Paul’s for the new St. Paul’s.

Our service today is very like the one used almost 100 years ago in the old church. Things help us remember. Jesus took bread and wine and said, "This is my body; this is my blood; do this in remembrance of me."

A cartoon shows a young husband and wife standing in a kitchen surrounded by gadgets looking forlorn, saying, "what shall we do now that we’ve made all our major consumer purchases?" One answer is, Pay for them. I am constantly amazed at the loads of consumer debt people struggle under.

When I do premarital counseling I give two pieces of advice based on Scripture. One is from First Corinthians 7, "don’t refuse one another."

Sex is a gift of God; don’t use it as a weapon. The other is from Romans

13:8 "Owe no man any thing but to love one another," which means, among other things, "Stay out of consumer debt. Don’t borrow to buy anything that will not increase in value quicker than your payments unless you really can’t do without it. That’s not always possible, but it is a good rule to follow. It requires saving, and it requires the attitude Jesus teaches in today’s parable: "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions."

Life consists of relationships. - first and primary our relationship with God, in love and service, relationships with the people we love and who love us, relationships with friends, in the church and in the community,

Jesus reminds us, "Be on your guard . . . life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." He calls us to be "rich toward God." Inwardly we are rich when we put our whole faith and trust in God’s love and care.

Outwardly we are rich toward God when we are generous with our time and efforts, hospitable and welcoming. We are sacramental people. Things have meaning. And our relationships, with God, with our families, and with others, show forth the love and grace of God.