"Foolish Patterns"
Luke 12:13-21
Yonce Shelton, Westmoreland UCC
Aug. 3, 2025
In my sermon last week, I talked a little about the fact that Church is changing; that needs are changing; that life is changing. I argued that we should acknowledge that and adjust how we orient ourselves spiritually. That we shouldn't hold on too tight to the old days. Today's passage also invites us to consider personal change.
There are a few ways to focus on this scripture about the rich fool. One is that “the rich farmer is a fool not because he is wealthy or because he saves for the future, but because he appears to live only for himself, and because he believes that he can secure his life with his abundant possessions.” He is missing an important part of life: community with others and relationship with God.
Another way to approach it is to explore how in the “[Hebrew bible] a fool was anyone who fails to notice how the world works, thus adapting accordingly. Fools … simply do not pay attention to how life works. Fools are un-teachable.”
I want to take a different angle on this passage, but it does flow from the need to understand how the world works. But, in a rapidly changing world – and Church – what adaptation requires may not be clear. So, more effort is demanded from us.
—
When I read this passage, I hear something below the surface. I think about long-ingrained instincts, social expectations, patterns of behavior, and knee jerk reactions that transcend just money or pride. I think about our culture and how I assess well, and act well – or not – based on my beliefs and realities around me. That's a tough one: balancing belief, worldview, and hope with societal realities. Add to that: keeping selfishness and pride out of it.
Yes, time for a deep breath.
In some parts of my life, I know there are better ways to be and act, even if I can’t fully understand everything about that. What I need is the imagination and will to change. And maybe help from God and others. The rich fool reminds me of that. He was trapped by money. His mindset was not good for him spiritually. He couldn't see and admit that. He couldn't get to the point of imagination and change.
It is hard to imagine if we are locked into believing that we possess the truth and the best strategies. Hard to fight instinct – especially when we are confident in what is right and what we know. It can be good at these times to ask: Who challenges us? Who affirms us? And how much should we pay attention to them?
—
I almost didn’t include the next part of this sermon because I know some of you are deeply affected by the focus. I hope my desire to be helpful – and not insensitive – comes through.
Pete Buttigieg was the Secretary of Transportation in the Biden administration and may be a presidential candidate again. This week he criticized the Democratic party for being too attached to the status quo. REPEAT He said:
"You've got an administration that is burning down so many of the most important institutions that we have in this country, which is wrong. It is also wrong to imagine that we should have just kept everything going along the way it was. … It is wrong to burn down the Department of Education, but I actually think it's also wrong to suppose that the Department of Education was just right in 2024. … It is unconscionable that children were left to die by the abrupt destruction of USAID. But it's also wrong to suppose that if Democrats come back to power, our project should be to just tape the pieces together just the way that they were."
I don’t share this because I have a position on it being wrong or right, or to tell you what to think. I’m not even trying to be political. This is simply a timely example - offered to you, who understand and care about large scale change – that illustrates what grabs me about the rich fool. Regardless of what any of us think about Buttigieg’s claim, things are changing – and we may need to discern differently. Old ways may not suffice, even though it can be comforting and provide a sense of direction to hang on to them.
—
“The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do?”
Could there have been some openness there? Maybe he sensed there could be a different way? But maybe he didn't know how to act; didn't have supports; hadn't done the work of cultivating relationship with God and others? So all he knew was the usual way. If only he had the ability to imagine. To change his foolish patterns.
May your journey and approach to change not be one of foolishness that “fail[s] to notice how the world works.” May you not lack imagination for “secur[ing]” life that honors God.
Amen.
