31st July 2022 All Saints Church, Childwall
Read: Luke 12 v13-21 – The Parable of the Rich Fool
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ 18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
Reflect:
Jesus though refuses to get involved with this case and in fact he implies from his response to the man that the man’s intentions are of greed and gain. v15 “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
Fighting over inheritance is a common problem in all societies and cultures. It stresses people out and
divides families. It can often end up with relationships being damaged and people not talking to each other
for many years.
It shouldn’t surprise us that a man approached Jesus asking for him to tell his brother to share their
inheritance. It was common for Jews to ask rabbis for a legal ruling. The man obviously thought of Jesus as
a respected rabbi who influenced people, and could convince his brother to give him his inheritance. By
calling Jesus a teacher, he acknowledges his authority to give a decision in his case.
Jesus then tells the parable of the rich fool to teach against greed. He emphasizes that a secure life does not depend on possessions, but on trusting God for your life. The scenario that Jesus depicts is a vast wealthy landholder who had an abundant harvest and decided to tear down his current storage facilities to make room for larger ones. By hoarding his harvest this man would have pushed the local price of grain up. Jesus describes a self-centred farmer who makes an unethical profit and harms the economy.
This parable echoes what is happening currently around the world with the impact of supply and demand on grain and oil and gas. The wealthy man in the parable is ultimately labelled as a fool by Jesus. ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ One day life will end for all of us, what are we going to be leaving behind?
Respond:
The challenge to all of us from this passage is to see our lives in the light of eternity! What are we accumulating or holding on to that we don’t actually need? Do we have surplus that we could easily share with others with no real impact on our own standard of living?
What influences do we have in life to bring about change in the sharing of wealth and possessions?
What would the world be like if people were not greedy, but simply had and used what they needed?
Pray:
Father God, help me to be thankful for all that I have. Help me to be honest about what I need. And help me to share and give away all that is an excess in my life. Through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.
Andrew Colmer (Vicar of All Saints Childwall)
One Sunday Morning service at 10am during the summer
Summer Church services – from Sunday 31st July to Sunday 4th September inclusive
Every Sunday – 10am – Holy Communion 6pm – Evening Worship (in the church hall)
Both our Sunday services at 10am and at 6pm will be followed by tea & coffee in the church hall
Every Thursday – 10.45am – BCP Holy Communion
Only exception – Sunday 28th August 10am – Baptism Service 12.30pm – Baptism Service
6pm Iona Communion in the Church hall
Wednesday 10th August – 1pm Funeral of Margaret Whitehead
Adult Confirmation Service at the Cathedral on Monday 21st November 2022 at 7pm
If you are an adult and you would like to be confirmed or would like to know more please will you speak
to Andrew.
Adult preparation will start in September.
Reading and leading prayers in church
If you would be willing to be on a rota to read the bible in church or lead the prayers please will you speak to one of the Wardens or deputy wardens. From September we would like members of the church family to be able to be involved in the services more as happened before the pandemic.
Flowers in church
If you would like to sponsor the flowers for one week in church please will you sign up on the sheet in the church porch. Thank you, Joan & Gwen
We are looking for young musicians to join our Youth Worship Team Project.
We have had 3 young people come forward who would like to be part of our Youth Band. We would like to see more. Do you play an instrument or would you like to learn, or maybe you enjoy singing? We have been given 2 good guitars which are now available for someone to learn on, could this be you?
The Young Musicians will be supported by our Musical Director, Leader and musicians. If you would like to meet with us and maybe play something. We would happily arrange that.
For further information please contact John McLoughlin, on 0776 222 8339 or come and chat to us at the end of our 11am Sunday Service.
Vestry Hour – every Tuesday 7pm – 8pm. There will be NO Vestry hour during August.
Keith Caulkin has been appointed as our second Church Warden to work with Barbara Critchley
Morning Prayer – Monday and Friday at 8:00am – Common Worship Morning prayer service with words on screen. Optional Chat after the service. Meeting ID: 948 786 2454 Passcode: 4allsaints
Weekly prayer meeting – Thursday 6.30pm on Zoom for 40 minutes.
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/8802380315?pwd=cGxQTnQ0QVRjU1gyUnBrYnJMMzZldz09
Please note joining ID. Meeting ID: 880 238 0315
Passcode: yt76bq
Weekly Prayer requests – Please pray for all those who are unwell at this time particularly praying for Stan Cowley, Alison Kefford, Shirley Rawlinson, Diane Deacon, Doris Springer, Sandra Ward, Nicoli Gray (Carole Turner’s daughter) & Jennie Moore. We also pray for the bereaved family and friends of Alan Woods, Norman Bell, John Wright, Eileen Holland, John Canavan & Margaret Whitehead.
Andrew Colmer – Vicar – Tel: 07305 842257 – vicar.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com
Helen Deegan – Curate – Tel: 07984 933467 – curate.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com
Bill Forster – Associate Minister – william.forster1@btinternet.com
Adeyinka Olushonde – Ordinand – adeyinka.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com
