The Sánchez Archives EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME Year C

By
Patricia Datchuck Sánchez

Needs and Wants

ECCLESIASTES 1:2; 2:21-23
COLOSSIANS 3:1-5, 9-11
LUKE 12:13-21

In an effort to lead her young charges on an exploration of their values, a second grade teacher gave the following assignment to her class. Take a large piece of poster paper or cardboard and draw a line down the center. On the left side of the paper, write “Needs”; on the right side, put “Wants”. Then, either draw or cut pictures out of old magazines, which illustrate your needs and wants. A few days later, when the assignment was due, the classroom was filled with colorful and candid reminders of the materialistic matrix within which Christianity is challenged to make an impact. Little fingers and small hands had cut out images of video game systems, giant-screen color televisions, ten-speed bicycles, as well as ice-cream sundaes, cookies and a large assortment of candies. Unfortunately, many of these pictures were posted on the side of the poster labeled, “Needs”! Obviously the teacher had her work cut out for her. To distinguish needs from wants and then to discern true needs from false and frivolous ones is no easy task; it is, in fact, a lifelong process which requires continued evaluation. Had the same assignment been given to a classroom of adolescents or to a group of adults, would the results have been different? Or would the pictures simply have reflected the tastes and appetites of older people for sports cars, designer and name brand clothing, speed boats, luxurious homes, and the life-styles of the rich and famous. Would the more mature person also have skewed the line between needs and wants?

Questions such as these are put before the gathered assembly today as the selected readings prompt a careful consideration of the integrity and authenticity of personal and communal values. The values we hold will dictate how we spend our time, talent and treasure and will determine where and with whom we will invest our spiritual, physical and emotional energies; therefore it is important to identify and when necessary, to adjust and reshape our values in order to keep them consonant with those mandated by the life of faith to which we have been called.

In the second reading, the author of Colossians reminds his readers that the faith-life of a believer requires that Christ be the first priority. Hearts which are set on Christ and which are intent upon the things that pertain to Christ are less likely to be deterred by false needs, futile desires and inauthentic values that prove to be only a masquerade for the truth.

Qoheleth, the philosophical and critical author of today’s first reading saw through and exposed the masquerade that many embrace as a substitute for serious, thoughtful and committed living. He wrote off as vanity and misfortune every human effort that is motivated simply by a desire for fleeting things. He urged his readers to question if there be any profit in toiling for that which is here today but gone tomorrow. By his own claim, he had “seen all things that are done under the sun” and found them to be “a chase after wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:14).

The Lucan Jesus in today’s gospel delivered a similar message to his disciples, though in a less skeptical tone, when he related the parable of the rich man and his grain bins. Having been blessed with an abundance of this world’s goods, the rich man made the mistake of making his wealth the basis of his security. He also misidentified his needs and sunk a misplaced trust in faulty values. Believing that his long-term investment in his “piled-up wealth” assured him of “blessing in reserve for years to come”, he allowed himself to be lulled into a false sense of well being. But death, the rude awakener, would unmask the error of his ways. Although it was too late for the rich man, Jesus challenged his followers to learn from his experience. Through the vivid image of the dead rich man and his full storage bins left behind, believers are called to look at their own lives, their own “riches” and to evaluate their true needs and wants.

In an effort to leave a similar image in the minds of his listeners, a preacher on a Sunday morning radio program once advised: “Remember, use your share of this world’s goods to help others who are in need. After all, you can’t take it with you. Have you ever seen a hearse pulling a U-HAUL?”

ECCLESIASTES 1:2; 2:21-23

According to well traveled legend, Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.E.) commanded that when he died and was carried forth to his grave, his hands should not be wrapped, as was the custom, in the burial clothes, but should be left outside the bier, so that all might see them, and might see also, that they were empty. In the brief span of his thirty-three years, Alexander had conquered and possessed the riches of an empire that extended from Greece to India. Yet, in death, his hands were empty; none of his wealth could survive the passage of death.

Perhaps the author of today’s excerpted reading from Ecclesiastes had Alexander, and others like him in mind, when he counseled against placing too much store in illusory treasures. Classified as sapiential literature by Christians and as one of the five books of the Megilloth, or Scrolls by Jews, Ecclesiastes has been assigned a third century B.C.E. date. The unnamed author is referred to as Qoheleth, David’s son and king of Jerusalem; however, there is no record a Davidic son by that name. Qoheleth was probably not a proper name per se, but a participle based on the Hebrew word qahal (in Greek, ekklesia, hence, Ecclesiastes) which means assembly or congregation. As such, the term qoheleth designated someone who functioned in relationship to the assembly, as its presider or preacher.

As Qoheleth of the assembly of Israel, the author of Ecclesiastes offered an assortment of life lessons; because of his critical views, the ancient sage has been variously described as a cynic, a pragmatist and as pessimistic and fatalistic. Dianne Bergant (“Ecclesiastes,” The New Catholic Encyclopedia, Oxford University Press, New York” 1990) prefers a middle path and suggests that it is difficult to distinguish whether Qoheleth was challenging the way of life of his contemporaries or was simply dissatisfied with life itself. A careful reading of his work will show that Qoheleth did not actually despair of life but struggled with its true meaning and with unrealistic expectations regarding it. He had drunk deep of both the joys and sorrows of the human experience and had concluded that, apart from God, all is vanity.

The refrain with which he introduced (1:2) and concluded (12:9) his message, “vanity of vanities, all things are vanity” has been quoted through the centuries as commentary on the futility of life. Actually, Qoheleth was underscoring the transitory and fleeting character of life. Vanity, or hebel in Hebrew, literally means breath or vapor; since Qoheleth did not ascribed to a belief in the afterlife (9:10), he regarded the short time each person exists and whatever efforts they expend as but a puff of wind. Nevertheless, and as Addison Wright (“Ecclesiastes”, The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs” 1990) has pointed out, the author of Ecclesiastes believed that: God has given everything its appropriate time (3:1-11), that God gives the ability to enjoy life (2:24-26), and that acceptance of the ordinary joys which God gives us will lead to contentment (2:24; 3:12, 22; 5:17; 8:15; 9:7-9; 11:9-10). To that end, he advised his readers: to enjoy good days and accept evil ones as a God-given gift of variety (7:14); to enjoy also what is at hand rather than long for that which is unattainable (6:9); to avail oneself of multiple options so as to face uncertainty with confidence (11:2); to live each day to the fullest in the knowledge that it may be the last day (9:10, 11:7-12:8).

Dianne Bergant (op. cit.) has suggested that, given his faith and philosophy of life, Qoheleth would probably be unrelenting in his criticism of many prevailing attitudes in contemporary society. Many are strained and conflicted in their struggle for “upward mobility” because many live under the false assumption that having more of this world’s goods equates with happiness. The ancient sage would not have been critical of hard work or ingenuity, however he would fault with any system that placed more value on the product or on the quantity of the product rather than on the character of the person who produced it. While he would not disparage the proper use of material things, he would strongly object to materialism. Like Alexander the Great, Qoheleth fully understood the old proverb, “There are no pockets in a shroud.”

COLOSSIANS 3:1-5, 9-11

Just as the second grade teacher mentioned in the introduction to this Sunday’s readings helped her students to explore their values by comparing their needs and wants, the author of Colossians invited his readers to a similar exploration by comparing their life B.C. or before Christ to their life C.E. or in Christ.

Before Christ, they had been rooted in earth (v. 9); their lives had become burdened by merely temporal concerns and their entanglements had led them to give themselves over to wanton physical passions, idolatry and dishonesty. In harsh, graphic language, the ancient writer called believers to “put to death” (v. 9) all that would keep them from Christ. Paul had issued a similar challenge in his correspondence with the Roman Church (8:13). So also had Jesus when he demanded that it is better to go without a hand or foot, or eye, than to succumb to sin (Matthew 5:29-30). Referencing a commentary by C.F.D. Moule, William Barclay (“Colossians”, The Daily Study Bible, The Saint Andrew Press, Edinburgh: 1975) suggested that contemporary believers might better understand the command to “put to death. . .” as a call “to kill self-centeredness so as to undergo a radical transformation of the will and a radical shift of center. All that would separate a person from Christ and from full obedience and surrender to God must be surgically excised.” This is usually accomplished, not by one deft slice with a spiritual scalpel but by daily and difficult process of shaving and chipping away at sinful ways and bad habits until they are overcome.

Before Christ, and in addition to the sins already exposed, the Colossians had also been tolerant of barriers of separation, fabricated and supported by human prejudice, ethnic disparity and racism. However, the very fact of the presence of Christ and of the believer’s commitment to Christ demanded that these barriers be destroyed. What would otherwise be an insurmountable task, i.e. putting off the old person and putting in the new has become possible, because through baptism, believers die with Christ, are raised up in company with Christ, and are hidden in God. By means of this unusual expression, hidden in God, the Colossians author subtly reminded his readers that before Christ, those who died remained hidden in the earth, but now, and because of Christ’s victory over death and sin, the dead are freed from their tomb of sin so as to hide in the embrace of God’s merciful love.

By virtue of their life in Christ, it follows, therefore, that the value system of believers must undergo an appropriate adjustment. To set one’s heart on Christ (v. 2) means that Christ is recognized as the first and foremost value, after which, all other values are subordinated and by which all other values are measured. That this adjustment of values will require attentive care and frequent evaluation goes without saying. Perhaps believers might be aided in this regard by a fad that has emerged recently within the Christian community. W.W.J.D. . . . these initials are being sported on colorful bracelets, shirts, tie tacks and necklaces, by young and old alike. What Would Jesus Do? Is the question they ask as they keep the person and values of Jesus uppermost in the minds and hearts of his followers. In today’s second reading, the author of Colossians challenges his readers to remember to whom they now belong and to consider W.W.J.D. before representing themselves as his own.

LUKE 12:13-21

In order to fully appreciate its significance, today’s gospel should be understood as a small portion of the lengthy instruction Jesus imparted to his followers en route to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51-19:28). Just prior to this lesson on greed and undue attachment to material wealth, Jesus had counseled his disciples against all anxiety, telling then that the God who knew their needs and wants would never forget them. Therefore, they need not live in fear of anything or anyone; the presence of the Holy Spirit would sustain them in every circumstance (12:1-12). In today’s gospel, and in response to the question of “someone in the crowd” (v. 13), Jesus challenges those who seek to alley their fears by making an abundance of material goods their base of security and their insurance against the future. As Luke Timothy Johnson (The Gospel of Luke, The Liturgical Press, Collegeville” 1991) has pointed out, “Jesus’ teaching to this point (in the gospel) has stressed a lack of fear before the immediate threat of life, how much less should fear generate an obsessive concern with possessions.

Jesus’ lesson about greed and wealth was prompted by a request that he act as arbiter in a dispute over an inheritance. Certainly, Jesus had wisdom and intelligence sufficient to settle the issue, however he chose not to become embroiled in matters material, particularly since he was directing the attention of his disciples toward the more enduring treasure of the kingdom. As his followers, they would become heirs of an eternal inheritance; therefore all their other needs and wants were to be subordinated and ordered accordingly. Because earthly possessions do not guarantee life (v. 15), Jesus taught his own that their energies should not be spent in having more but in becoming more and more like him.

Whereas the rich man in the parable, regarded his riches as blessings and found peace and contentment in the fact that his grain bins were full, the disciples of Jesus are to find blessedness in divesting themselves of their surpluses and even of and even of their substance so as to see to the needs of the hungry, thirsty, sick, lonely and poor. By calling the rich man a fool, Jesus referenced the Hebrew scriptures (see Psalm 13:1) which described a fool as someone who had denied or forgotten God. Charles H. Talbot (Reading Luke, Crossroad Pub. Co., New York” 1984) has explained that the foolish, rich man’s striving for additional wealth, when he already had enough, did not guarantee his security but, rather, his status as an idolater. He had chosen reliance on things rather than on God; his allegiance was misplaced and his untimely and unexpected death would prove to be a rude awakening.

No doubt, most would prefer to experience their “awakening” before death, while there is still time to respond to it appropriately. A recent television, documentary featured several people who claimed to have had such an awakening; each had had experienced some trauma or calamity which had resulted in severe losses. One woman looked on helplessly as her home was swallowed up by a mudslide and the tumbled down the cliff into the bay below. An elderly couple had survived the tornado that ripped the roof off their home and flung all of its contents into the air. Another person had returned from a trip to find his home and business in ashes. Yet another told of losing all he owned in a faulty investment. When asked how they had coped with their losses and what they had learned, every person interviewed shared a similar insight. “Yes, we’ve lost everything,” one responded, “but that’s precisely the point. . . we lost things. What matters is that we are alive!” Each person emerged from their experience of loss having learned the same life lesson Jesus wished to impart to his disciples. Each had gained a keener appreciation of their authentic needs and a newfound freedom from useless and transitory wants. Each resolved to live life more carefully and wisely, aware that this day is God’s gift and that tomorrow may never come.

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