Reflections for Youth - Abundance

So, this picture is of my front flower bed.  These flowers are my favorite but are called perennials - which means once you plant them they grow every year.  Every year they spread. They grow into all the space that they have available.  They can overcrowd your flower bed and crowd out all the other plants.  You have to thin them out and separate them because, while they are pretty, they can be too much of a good thing! 

This spring when they started to grow I did rip a whole bunch out (a couple of boxed full, actually) and give them to a friend to plant in her garden. But I was way too cautious because I didn't want to give away too many. 

Well, lesson learned. Flowers gone wild. They are taking over again and every time I look at them I think about how I could have shared even more with my friends and neighbors.  This reminds me of a story Jesus tells in the Gospel of Luke. 

Read Luke 12: 13-21


Our scripture for this Sunday tells us about a time when Jesus was teaching a large group of people—and right in the middle of his teaching, someone interrupted him with a question.

The man in the crowd said “Teacher—can you tell my brother to share the money from our father with me?”

The Bible says that Jesus stopped talking to the crowd and went over to the man and said “Whoa! Who said I should be the judge between you and your brother?”

I wonder if Jesus was a little annoyed that he was being interrupted? He might have been.But he still took the time to pay attention to the man with the question.

Jesus didn’t answer the questions—but he told the man this story (of course he did):

Once there was a rich farmer who had a very large crop. He had so much grain coming in from his fields that he didn’t know where to store it all. The farmer thought about his problem– and if you are a farmer—it’s a pretty nice problem to have.  The farmer decided to tear down his barn and build a bigger barn that would hold all of the grain.

The farmer was happy and said, "I can store up grain for several years and I can stop farming and take a vacation and I will eat good food and enjoy myself."

But guess what happens in Jesus’ story? God calls the farmer and fool and tells him that he might not make it through the night.  And God says—now what will happen to all the things you have stored up for yourself after you are gone?”

After the story, Jesus told the man asking the question “This is what happens when people store up their riches and pay no attention to God."

I wonder—Do you think Jesus answered the man’s question about the money from their father? Or not?  I am guessing the man was probably a little frustrated because he just wanted an answer to his questions. Jesus seems to not be interested at all in serving as a judge or a problem solver for the man. He tells the man a story.  He uses the story to possibly get the man to figure it out himself. 

What I am thinking about this week:
This parable from Jesus seems pretty clear on the surface. The rich man is blessed with abundance. He has more than he can ever need for himself.  I am thinking that what is missing from the narrative is the at the rich man doesn't think of anyone else - family, neighbors, and even God.  I don't think Jesus is saying it's bad to have an abundance. But I think that Jesus is maybe showing us what is missing.  If we don't include first God, and then our family, friends, and neighbors in our abundance then it will go to waste.

Questions to think about:

• What do you have too much of?
• What kind of abundance do you have in your life that will go to waste if you don't share it with others?
• Abundance doesn't only mean money or possessions. What are your gifts, talents, and passions? How can you share these with others? 
• Have you ever had a question for God what you wished God would just answer? 
• Like my flower bed, what things do you need to weed out to make more room for God?