Luke 12:13-21

12:13 Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me."

12:14 But he said to him, "Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?"

12:15 And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions."

12:16 Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly.

12:17 And he thought to himself, 'What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?'

12:18 Then he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

12:19 And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.'

12:20 But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?'

12:21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."

I believe I read this in a Reader’s Digest Section entitled, Kids Say the Funniest Things. The quip went that a teacher was instructing on the different types of pronouns. She asked the class what type of pronoun is “my” and “mine”. A boy, who never raised his hand, shot his hand in the air and she was pleased he had been listening. He stood and very proudly announced, “My and mine are aggressive pronouns”. This is so cute mainly because it rings so true.

There is a parable in Luke 12 where Jesus tells of a man who realizes he has an over abundance of crops one year.

He says to himself, “Self, here’s a delicious plan: I will tear down my existing barns and build bigger and better ones so that I may store all my surplus crops and other precious things then I will live off them for years.” And God says, “Fool! What have you gained by this action? Tonight you will die and no one was helped by your riches.” We get the message, but has it ever hit home for you? It sure did for me and it changed my life. I accompanied my mother to MD Anderson Cancer Hospital in Houston, Texas. She had lung cancer and we were going for an operation and would return to Georgia in 7 to 9 days. Because of complications, we spent 75 days there. She remembers little, I remember every minute. Within a week of arriving I met Tracy, a cancer survivor returning for more treatment. We became great friends and spent lots of time together as my motel was next to the hospital and Mom slept a lot. Tracy was at MD Anderson for a bone marrow transplant. Just before Thanksgiving she was going into what they call the Bubble. It is a room devoid of germs. I would be able to visit by sitting on one side of a glass wall and we would talk by phone. The morning she was to go into the bubble, God woke me up. I’m not kidding. I know it was God because He would not leave me alone. I knew that I had to give Tracy my Holy Spirit necklace before they took her to the bubble. Now I don’t know about you, but I have certain pieces of jewelry that have little monetary value, but tremendous sentimental value… that was the case with this carved, wooden necklace depicting the Holy Spirit.

Years before I had been challenged by a task to participate in an event where I was asked to read a dramatic piece a long with some folks. There were hundreds in attendance and I was totally out of my comfort zone. After it was over I was literally exhausted from the stress and suppressed fear I had overcome. So I went out and bought myself this necklace to remember all I had overcome that day and the pride I felt. Get it: lots of possessive (aggressive) pronouns in my story.

AND God would be the only one who could even broach the idea of giving it away!! Certainly it would not have come from me!! Every time I looked at that necklace I remembered the event with pride. But he would not let me go back to sleep that early morning. So there I was at 5 A.M. running to get to Tracy’s prep room before they sealed her into the bubble. I arrived out of breathe and crying. Through my tears I stammered, “God woke me this morning and said I had to give this to you.” Well, you may well imagine the room full of relatives, doctors and technicians regarded me with suspicious caution. But they took it and handed it to Tracy to add to her other belongings to be sterilized so they could be with her in the bubble.

I would visit Tracy every day. There she sat in the white empty space dressed in a hospital gown with the Holy Spirit necklace around her neck. It is real easy to give things away we no longer want or need, this was the first time I ever gave something away that I still wanted, but I knew that I knew it was the right thing, BUT can you believe I still missed it!!

Mom and I finally went home just before Christmas. Tracy and I said a teary goodbye with the glass still between us.

We kept in close touch and she returned to Boston weak and still recovering in March the next year. I have no idea how it started, but we had this game of each other tacky gifts every month. One time, for instance, I sent her a dyed rabbit’s foot key chain. Within a week I got the box back so I knew she had found something even better to return.

When I opened the box there was a note scribbled on a torn piece of paper. It was from her mom and it read, “On July 27th our precious angel went to join the other angels. I remember how much this necklace meant to you that day you gave it to Tracy. She would have wanted me to return it.”

God had taken my cheap necklace, and because I was obedient, albeit with extreme reluctance, he placed it on an angel and then gave it back to me as a priceless treasure. I have never been the same, and things no longer carry the value they use to. Only that which God touches for his use has value. It is a hard lesson to learn: Store up nothing, give away all you can and God will bless others, and you, in ways you cannot imagine until you do it.

The Reverend Dee Shaffer, Vicar
Our Savior at Honey Creek
Spiritual Care Director Heartland Hospice