Jesus said to them, "Take care! [Pay attention!] Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." Jesus goes on to tell a story - a parable - to respond to the person in the crowd who wanted Jesus to settle his family inheritance dispute. As the story goes, the rich man decides to build bigger barns to store all his grains and goods before relaxing and living it up! But God says, "You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. The things in your barns, whose will they be? (because you are not going to be enjoying them)" The moral of the story: unless we share what we have, and are rich toward God, we will end up the same way.

The image of Ebenezer Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol” comes to my mind when I hear this parable. Ebenezer, who hoarded every penny and who was not generous, even at Christmas, sees himself in a series of dreams interacting with the Ghost of Christmas Past, The Ghost of Christmas Present and The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. These dreams show some of the reasons why Scrooge is the way he is and they show a vision of the community celebrating when he dies. It’s as if Scrooge hears, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. The money you’ve hoarded, whose will it be? You are alone, no one likes you, and you have nothing to offer.” Yet Scrooge is given another chance. He wakes up Christmas morning transformed. He becomes a model of generosity and kindness.

You and I are neither the rich farmer with an abundance of crops nor Ebenezer Scrooge; however, we may have our own hoarding behaviors. Are we guilty like they are of accumulating great possessions – material things like cars, houses, electronic gadgets – or boasting of great riches, lavish meals, vacations? The list could go on. It is not that these things are bad in and of themselves; rather, we are not to hoard, but are to share our treasures with others.

To be clear, this is not a stewardship sermon or a message for you to be generous in the collection which will benefit both John Dwyer, St. Thomas’ new associate rector, and me, St. Thomas’ seminarian! Rather it is a reminder that everything we have is a gift from God and to be rich toward God is to share what we have with others.

Here, at St. Thomas’ we have plenty of opportunities to share with others through many and various outreach programs and service activities, committees and groups that form and strengthen this faith community. There are lots of ways to be involved and you are needed - your talent AND your treasure.