What's In Your Barn?

Sunday August 3

Rev. Jackie Hibbard

Luke 12: 13-21 (The Message)

13 Someone out of the crowd said, “Teacher, order my brother to give me a fair share of the family inheritance.”

14 He replied, “Mister, what makes you think it’s any of my business to be a judge or mediator for you?”

15 Speaking to the people, he went on, “Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.”

16-19 Then he told them this story: “The farm of a certain rich man produced a terrific crop. He talked to himself: ‘What can I do? My barn isn’t big enough for this harvest.’ Then he said, ‘Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll gather in all my grain and goods, and I’ll say to myself, Self, you’ve done well! You’ve got it made and can now retire. Take it easy and have the time of your life!’

20 “Just then God showed up and said, ‘Fool! Tonight you die. And your barnful of goods—who gets it?’

21 “That’s what happens when you fill your barn with Self and not with God.”

The New Testament isn't that new anymore I think it's time for a third installment

I'm sure God can make it quick and easy for us to read just in case we are too busy making

TikToks it can be a snappy little gospel that simply just says:

"you are so small yet you are so loved and that love isn't meant to be locked away

love is hot bread ready to be shared so go be love for everyone trade your ammo in for adoration ~ you were created for spreading love not land mines ~ SO ~go be love go be love go be love you are running out of time go be love."

~ John Roedel on his Facebook page July 29, 2025

What is in your barn?

I have been wrestling with this scripture the last couple of weeks. What is it saying in our country and world in 2025? I read Diana Butler Bass’ substack this morning and her words were, “Preacher go for it!”

It’s been a hard few weeks in the world. Turning on the news or looking at a newspaper brings devastating stories of what is happening around the globe. I can’t bring myself to use it’s official name, but The big, ugly bill cut programs out of the federal budget claiming waste, fraud, abuse and DEI as the reasons - none of which is based on fact. It gives tax cuts to the wealthiest in our country and hurts people who depend on funded programs for food, healthcare, information, education and so much more.

We see starving people in Gaza who then get shot while waiting in line for meager food rations. Meanwhile our government incinerates tons of stored food it decided not to send to people who need it. 

I go to bed at night sleeping in a relatively comfortable bed while I know thousands of immigrants snatched off the street or from the courthouse or school sit in crowded detention centers on cold, hard floors. We are building and funding the equivalent of concentration camps to hold these people, the majority of whom have no criminal record and came here looking for a better life.

The shutdown of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. I wonder what will happen to important shows like Sesame Street that was so formative in my own education and for so many.

Rollbacks of important research by the Environmental Protection Agency years ago confirming “that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are a form of air pollution that the agency can regulate under the Clean Air Act … because those gases contribute to climate change, which harms human health.

That determination, called the "endangerment finding," underpins major regulations — including strict tailpipe standards for carmakers that envisioned at least half the new cars sold in the U.S. being electric or plug-in hybrids by 2030.” (https://www.npr.org/2025/07/29/nx-s1-5463771/epa-greenhouse-gas-regulations-cars-pollution)

This new decision allows car manufacturers to now end some of the work they have been doing to work towards cleaner energy vehicles - likely saving them money and continuing record profits for the petroleum industry.

Two companies in our country have reached the $4 Trillion mark while many people barely scrape by financially and others wonder where their next meal will come from. According to a story on NPR’s Morning Edition, “The world's billionaires are richer than ever, … and there are 3,028 billionaires, the most ever recorded by Forbes.

Forbes senior editor Chase Peterson-Withorn told Morning Edition the annual world's billionaires list has $2 trillion more in wealth from just a year ago. In total, they have an estimated $16.1 trillion in riches.” (https://www.npr.org/2025/04/01/nx-s1-5345950/forbes-billionaires-list)

And these billionaires want more. They aren’t satisfied with what they have, so they continue to accumulate more and more resources and money. 

The blatant greed and disregard of humans and the planet’s survival is mindblowing. The grief, cruelty and sadness of it all can be overwhelming, heavy and we can begin to feel hopeless. I think that’s the point. 

What’s the message here for each of us? None of us in this room are part of the super rich and many of us are working tirelessly to lobby our legislators, attend rallies and demonstrations, take food to food banks, grow extra veggies in your gardens and more.

Certainly there is a message about not being greedy. What do we do with the wealth that we have? Do we hoard it or do we share? Over and over in the gospels, Jesus shares stories about sharing with others and that there is plenty for everyone. 

But the loudest voices and pocketbooks want us to forget those messages. They want us to think we need to keep collecting more and it will make individuals better. You’ll be able to rest and have plenty, but somehow there is always the temptation to “keep up with the Joneses” as the saying goes.

But Jesus said after the man in the parable died with all of his accumulated wealth, this is what happens when you fill your barn with self and not God. 

Filling our barn with self. What is that? The man in the parable talked to himself, he did not seek outside input from his friends who might have suggested something different. He built bigger barns to collect and store his bounty for himself. There is no mention of sharing any with others and surely there were people in need around him. It was all about him, no one else. He was protecting what he had. He filled his barn with self. 

Filling our barn with God, what might that look like? Seeking wisdom from others around you, remembering that flow needs to happen - money and goods flow in and they flow out. You can’t just store it - food will spoil, goods depreciate in value, or the economy stalls. Share the love beyond yourself.

A few years ago I read a book written by Lynne Twist called The Soul of Money. She has developed an institute and philanthropic organization around the principles that she laid out in her book. These principles are the following and seem to me to be quite similar to the message in the parable - 

• “Prosperity flows from sufficiency — the recognition of enough.

• Each individual makes a difference.

• What we appreciate appreciates.

• Collaboration generates prosperity.

• Our legacy is what we live – not what we leave.

• Gratefulness is the heart of generosity.

• Global citizenship is the natural outcome of an awakening consciousness.”

(https://soulofmoney.org/about-2/soul-of-money/)

This seems to me to be what Jesus said about filling our barns with God. What we do with our money, our goods, our gifts matters and either serves the self or serves God or as Mary Magdalene says, the Good. Do we hold fear of not enough and lack and hold on and save things for ourselves? Or do we appreciate what we have, give thanks for the abundance as James so eloquently invited us to last week and then share with others?

And beyond wealth and money we each have gifts of all sorts that we can either store in the barn of self or the barn of God/the Good. 

Here at CUCC this scripture may be an invitation to explore how we share our facility and gifts as a congregation with the community in new ways, to widen our circle of community or do we keep it all to ourselves? The invitation is there for us to explore.

I’ve been offering lots of pastoral care the last few weeks in my various jobs. Recently I sat with and listened to three different people each in very different circumstances and life stages. My role for them was to shine the light on the gifts they have in their barns that they receive and give away. These too are resources and wealth that we accumulate. Sometimes we hoard them or hide because we don’t think they are much or we have a voice that says who am I or my gift is not as good or as important as so and so’s, so I’ll not share it. Sometimes we make ourselves small or think we aren’t worthy.

One person had a major health scare and shared that perhaps there shouldn’t be a memorial service when he dies because he hasn’t done anything too important in her life like others he knows. The person went on to tell me about something he did a short time ago that made a huge difference in someone’s life - it wasn’t a grandiose thing, it was a gesture he offered many times throughout his life, something I know might look small but makes a big impact on those he shares with. I held the mirror up so he could see the importance of what he does and how much of an impact it makes and he was able to recall other times he made a difference too. That is storing in the barn of God or the Good.

Another person has a gift that many people look to her for. Complete strangers strike up conversations and look to her wisdom accumulated from many years of experience. She has been storing her gifts and keeping them to herself until someone sought her out and then she shared. She needed her people this week  to shine the light on her so that she could see the ways she makes a difference in the world even when the voices in her mind yell non helpful messages at her. Her confidence is growing and she is letting herself share more widely from the barn of the Good.

Now I can store my gifts as well hearing the voices in my head tell me that my preaching isn’t as good as James last week or as Nicole. And not that long ago, that voice would silence me. But I’m not storing up my gifts and voice anymore. Love calls me to speak up, to share all of my gifts, not just some and I like to think I’m sharing more from the barn of God/the Good.

Another person I visited had a close call with death and despite many not thinking she could pull through, after many months, she is graduating from rehab back to her independent apartment. She shared her gifts so widely in her life that she neglected to care for herself and her body broke down and she almost died. She realizes now that she needs to fill herself up and receive from others sometimes too. She said she’s finding time to be by herself to fill up her soul tank and time to be with others. And then she can give and it's much easier and her life feels like it is flowing. She told me, “I feel more balanced.”

And maybe that’s another point Jesus is trying to make; that we can be balanced. How do we find that balance of accumulating and giving away to support ourselves and others? When we are out of balance, no one is really served. We can accumulate “stuff,” but still feel empty and so we accumulate more. We can give too much and get worn out or sick. We can accumulate and not give away because we make ourselves small. But when we are in balance, then there is flow, there is enough for all and everyone benefits.

Like the poet John Roedel shared, "you are so small yet you are so loved and that love isn't meant to be locked away love is hot bread ready to be shared so go be love for everyone”  That is the core of Jesus' message to us. Don’t store up love, our gifts, our wealth, share and be love for everyone.

So good people, where does this land for you?

What are you storing in your barn? Is it the barn of self or the barn of God/the Good? How do you find balance?

I’d love to end with a quote from Joanna Macy. Some of you may know of her and her work in the world.  She died last week and leaves behind a legacy of love for humanity and the Earth. She accumulated in, and shared from, the Barn of God/the Good in her life and her message rings true for all of us here today. Hear her words. “If the world is to be healed through human efforts, I am convinced it will be by ordinary people, people whose love for this life is even greater than their fear.” 

May your love be greater than fear or the voices in your mind and may you share it in the world. May it be so.