The Fullness of a Life

What makes a life full?
That’s the question underneath today’s Gospel.
Not just what fills our time or our bank account.
Not what makes us look full from the outside.
But what makes a life truly full?

A man comes to Jesus out of the crowd and asks him to settle a family inheritance dispute.
And Jesus refuses.
Not because property is unimportant,
but because the man has come with the wrong question.
And so Jesus, as Jesus so often does, tells a parable.

It's about a rich man. Productive. Strategic. Responsible.
A good harvest, a surplus, careful planning -- this guy's doing everything by the book.

He says, “I’ll store it up, I’ll build bigger barns, I’ll secure my future.
Then I’ll relax. Eat, drink, and be merry.”

But God calls him a fool.
Why? Because that very night, he will die.
And all those things? They’ll belong to someone else.

This parable exposes the myth of control.
We plan. We save. We build. And it’s wise to do so.
But we cannot own tomorrow. We can’t guarantee a single moment of the future.

The Teacher in Ecclesiastes reminds us: All is vanity.
We labor, we worry, we build -- and then we die, and it all goes to someone else.
Psalm 49 says it too: We cannot ransom our lives, or live on forever.
The wise and the foolish die the same.

Jesus isn’t criticizing wealth, planning, or hard work --
he’s questioning the illusion that possessions can protect us from mortality.
That a full barn equals a full life.

The parable ends with this line:
“So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
Rich toward God.
That’s an interesting phrase. What does that mean?
Paul, in Colossians, gives us a picture: “Set your minds on things that are above… not on earthly things. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
To be rich toward God is to live a life that’s open.
A life that shares. A life rooted in love.
A life where we hold things lightly and people dearly.

In the kingdom of God, abundance isn’t stored in barns. It’s shared in community.
We are not made full by what we keep.
We are made full by what we give, by how we love, by whom we trust.
The man in the parable spoke only to himself --
“I will do this. I will say to my soul…”
But the life of faith is not a conversation with yourself.
It’s a relationship -- with God, and with others.

So I ask again: What makes a life full?
Is it the savings account? The security? The bigger barn?
Or is it the richness of grace?
The mystery of a life hidden with Christ in God?

Today, Jesus invites us to loosen our grip.
To trust in a deeper abundance.
To stop measuring our worth by what we store up.
And to start measuring it by love.

That’s where the fullness is.
That’s where the treasure lies.
That’s where your life is safe:
Hidden in Christ.
Held in God.
Forever.
Amen.