August 16, 2026
When I was in college, I studied Russian language, and I got to spend a semester in Russia on a program for American students. We were told before we went, don’t bring many clothes. There are no laundry machines to wash your clothes. You have to wash your clothes by hand in a washtub. For a four-month stay, I packed few clothes. In Russia I washed my clothing in a wash tub.
When that semester was over, I went back to Georgetown. I asked friends who had studied in other countries, how did you wash your clothes? Christi studied in France and said someone else washed them. A guy who studied one semester in Egypt and another in Israel said someone else washed his clothes. Annelies studied in Senegal, West Africa, and said the same. So did Sharon who studied in Taiwan, and Kathy who studied in Spain. I had one friend who studied in Japan. He actually washed his own clothes, in a washer and dryer. I thought, why were all these people having a first-class experience, and I had to do manual labor? I felt jealous and resentful. But later it felt like a badge of honor! When I got back from Russia sometimes, even with a washer and dryer available, I would wash something by hand. I was used to it! Over time I got used to washer and dryer again, they’re pretty nice! But I was also grateful I had the experience of hand-washing clothes! I feel like it made me a stronger person.
Gratitude doesn’t come just from having it all. Jesus told a parable in the gospel of Luke about gratitude. A parable is a made-up story, told to make a point. Jesus tells the parable of the rich farmer or the rich fool, because a man comes up to him and says in Luke 12:13 “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus replies: “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
Jesus doesn’t get involved in the dispute about an inheritance. His message instead is, beware, life isn’t about what you own. Then in v. 16 Jesus tells the story of the rich fool. “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.’” What can he do with his abundance? Well, here’s some ideas! He could give a bonus to those who work in his fields! The farmer wouldn’t have that great harvest without them! He could bring some of his crops as an offering to God at the temple. Because God gave him that wonderful soil, rain and sunlight that made him rich! He could share some of his harvest with poor widows or beggars. He could take his wife on a cruise on the Mediterranean Sea! She deserves it! She probably washes his clothes by hand! But the rich farmer doesn’t do any of those. In vs. 18 he says, “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.’”
The rich farmer is smart. He knows how to make money as a farmer, and how to store things up for the future. And that’s good! We all need to know how to be good with money, to work hard, and to think about the future. He’s a decent person: the rich farmer is honest; he didn’t take what wasn’t his. He doesn’t mistreat his workers. He’s not an evil person. But this is called the parable of the rich fool. He is a fool!
Why? When he talks, it’s all about himself, he lives for himself, he plans for himself, he congratulates himself. He wants a life of ease for himself. Does he realize he is not a self-made man? That so many people contributed to his success? He doesn’t see that there’s more to life than what you own! There are people in his life who help the farmer and he could show gratitude to them! But he doesn’t believe he is blessed to be a blessing to others. He doesn’t think about how much God loves him, and express thanks to Him by loving God and serving others. He just wants to secure for himself a life of ease.
Verse 20 tells us that for all his planning, the farmer’s future on earth is coming to a quick end. “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?’ Jesus says, “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
The parable warns us to watch out for the love of possessions! The world pushes us to want more and more things, to treat ourselves to the best, to think that possessions are what we truly want in life! We can forget what really matters.
When our kids were little, Kevin and I took them to Disneyworld with my brother Ed. We were all having a great time. We stopped at a children’s play area in Disneyworld. It didn’t take long for me to look around and ask: ‘Where’s Ian?’ We looked around but couldn’t find him. We’re all looking. We ask a staff person for help, and staff are talking to each other on walkie talkies. We finally found Ian! He was happily enjoying the five-story playground. I was the most grateful person in the world! When you lose a kid, then find him: you feel like luckiest person on the planet! That was me! Did you ever have that experience? You find your lost kid, or someone close to you becomes very ill, but they pull through. You feel immense gratitude. You realize in that moment that everyone in your life is a blessing, and it’s not a given that they will always be there. You tell them how much you love them! You look at life differently! Who cares how much money I have or don’t have? Nothing matters except that my kid was found, or my loved one is restored!
Think about a time you were the most grateful person in the world! You had an attitude of gratitude! The secret to having it all in life is knowing you already do! You already have everything you need. When you feel so much gratitude for a loved one or friend, you can ride that gratitude wave to be even more grateful! You can find a reason to be grateful today for things you ordinarily spend a lot of time complaining about. For example, you can be grateful for your grumpy husband. You can choose to focus on some wonderful qualities he has! You’re grateful he has always been a faithful provider. Maybe your wife takes forever getting dressed. You can choose to focus on how grateful you are that no one is a better mother than her! Maybe your kids think they are smarter than you. You can be grateful they are smart because you know they will find you the best nursing home when you need it! Maybe you’re feeling your house isn’t good enough. It doesn’t have fancy countertops, and you just wish you had a good house. You can choose to be grateful and say, I thank God that I have a roof over my head that doesn’t leak, and in the summertime I’m cool, and in the wintertime I’m warm, and whenever I flush the toilet, it flushes. Praise God for working toilets! Next time you want to gripe about your job, that you’re sick of it, sick of the people you work with, and sick of your boss, you can say, “God, I thank you I have a stupid job, because some people don’t.” You can choose gratitude. It’s a battle in your mind. I don’t know why but we spend a lot of time complaining about our lives and dreaming about having more money and possessions! It’s like the devil wants to steal your contentment and gratitude. He wants to trick you into focusing on getting more and more things, so you don’t pay attention to the people and blessings you already have from God!
The secret to having it all in life is knowing you already do! You already have everything you need. People matter so much more than things! When you lose someone, you’d give anything to have them back. The things in life pale in comparison.
My challenge for you this week, is each day, when you wake up, find something to thank God for! You might thank Him for loving you, that He saves you and is always there for you. You can thank him for the people you love, your dog, or thank God for your toilet that flushes, there are so many things to be grateful for! Repeat after me, the secret to having it all, is knowing you already do!
Jesus says, Life does not consist in the abundance of possessions. We all know that in our head. But when it gets deep in your heart, you change. You express love and gratitude more often; you give and share. You become happier and closer to God and those around you, because you know what a blessing they are! It’s all in your mind! So, live with an attitude of gratitude! Amen.
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