The Rich Fool

Reflection on Luke 12:13-21

The parable in today’s gospel passage has often been referred to by biblical scholars as “The Parable of the Rich fool.” That is a rather curious title, somewhat like calling someone "an evil genius", and the person in question actually admitting that he is one. How can someone be rich and a fool at one and the same time? That is only too possible, as can be clearly from the parable in question.

The man in the parable was rich in material terms; that is, he had managed to amass a great amount of material wealth. But he had no sense. He made the mistake of reposing confidence in his wealth. He thought that it was all he needed for his security. He failed to reckon with God. When the demand was made for his soul, his entire material wealth was of no use to him.

The man’s foolishness becomes dearly evident when we consider that material wealth can evaporate as a result of some unforeseen circumstances, an accident of one sort or another. How often have we seen that happen? Someone was rich and comfortable yesterday. He was on top of the world; the whole world was at his feet. People were queuing to be admitted into his presence. Then maybe he became seriously ill and had to spend his entire fortune on hospital bills, and today he is penniless. Or else, maybe he made one wrong investment, hoping to make a "kill" In terms of financial returns. But instead, he lost his entire investment, capital, profit and all, and now he is left with nothing. That, sadly, has been the experience of many people in Nigeria in the recent past.

All that goes to justify the warning of Jesus in Matthew 6: 19-20: "Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and woodworm destroy them and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworm destroys them and thieves cannot break in and steal." The rich man in the today's parable was a fool precisely because he stored up his treasure on earth rather than in heaven.

There was this other man, a maximum ruler, who built himself a fortress on a rock. He surrounded it with the most mind-boggling security apparatus, men and materials. He hardly ventured outside his fortress, and on the rare occasions that he did, the most formidable security cordon was thrown around him, such that even a mosquito could not penetrate to perch on the great one. Everything had to be done to keep him alive and in office at all costs. Unfortunately, the man and his entire security outfit had failed to reckon with one enemy that was invisible, noiseless, tasteless, odourless, intangible: death. On the day that it came calling, it took all of them unawares. In an instant, perhaps one of the most protected human beings on earth was felled by it, and a whole nation heaved a sigh of relief that reached up to the sky: "Good riddance to bad rubbish!"

The lesson of today's parable is that our real security can be found only in God. It cannot be found in material possessions. They can evaporate at short notice. It cannot be found in our natural and acquired endowments. They too can take leave of us In an Instant. It cannot be found in human beings either. They can let us down when we least expect or need them to do so. It cannot be found in the paraphernalia of power. These offer no protection against the ultimate enemy of them all, death. I believe that is what the Psalmist meant when he wrote, "If the Lord does not watch over the city, in vain do the watchmen keep vigil" (Psalm 127:1).