26th Sunday after Pentecost  
Ephesians 5:9-19; Luke 12:16-21

Having told a parable about a man who became rich from a good harvest, the Lord Jesus Christ said:

"This is how it is with those who pile up riches for themselves but are not rich in God’s sight." (Luke 12,21)

A person who becomes rich materially and lives for the sake of "eat, drink, and be merry", i.e. - only for bodily pleasure, that person loses his soul. For the Lord says: "this night, your soul will be demanded of you" - and that can happen to each one of us.

In various countries of the world, and especially on the American continent, the concept of a successful "businessman" (successful businessman) has been widely accepted. Success by way of material enrichment is achieved through various means: sometimes through talented organization of production, through ingenuity (as was the case with inventors Edison and H. Ford), and sometimes through deception, extortion of neighbours, through murders, robberies and other various criminal acts.

In the USA, there was a trial recently against one of the most successful "businessmen", who hired killers to kill his wife, his brother, and even the judge who was supposed to convict him.

A similar trial took place in Canada against another "successful businessman", a millionaire contractor who hired murderers to kill his wife. Now, the rich man is in prison.

But it is quite certain that not all such dealers end up on the dock, not all dirty deeds are revealed, and even fewer of those criminals end up in prison and isolated from society. Many of these people hire the best lawyers who endeavour to achieve success in their profession and use clever means to have criminals released from punishment.

One American professor of criminal law taught his students that a wise lawyer could use all kinds of legal means (in the US justice system) to delay and review criminal cases almost indefinitely. He gave an example that in one case he managed to extend postponements and appeals for up to 14 years. During that time, judges and witnesses died, thousands of pages of testimony were written off, people forgot the facts and tired of returning to the same case; in the end, no harsh judgement or sentence was possible. The conclusion from that is as follows: it is necessary to turn a hot and clear case into a cold and obscured, confused one; then there will never be a great punishment of the criminal.

Furthermore, said the professor, it should be borne in mind that the businessman, whose business affairs he conducted for 14 years, over the years increased his “business”, expanded his estate, and a part of it was constantly being transferred into the defence lawyer's coffers.

Sellers of used cars sometimes make millions, but they organize falsification of the mileage indicators and generally cover up the defects of various cars. Some such businesses often retain permanent lawyers who prove by legal means the innocence of criminals. Many people who suffer both physically and materially from commercial deceptions are often unable to fight against well-organized "successful businessmen".

In today’s Gospel story, we hear about a successful farmer, who had a bountiful harvest from his fields and who hoped that he would thus have plenty to eat, drink and be merry for many years. However, in our present-day conditions, given the local market or commodity economy, behaving in such a way would not be possible for a farmer, but (possible) only for some successful traders or property speculators.

Yet people often praise such a person: "Here is a man who has earned his reward, now he can drink, dance, and not know grief..." But Jesus Christ called a man similarly successful in obtaining material goods foolish, for he was short-sighted and egotistical, and did not care about his own soul, nor about the fate of his neighbours.

Thus, we, people of faith, who follow Christ, also consider such people, who seem to be successful in realty or estate matters, to be foolish if they only care about material enrichment.

Apostle Paul testified that "the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God" (1 Corinthians 3:19).

From the point of view of purely human reasoning, Jesus Christ was not successful: He preached the Word of God, the Gospel, love among people, and people crucified Him and He died on the cross, like the lowliest slave or robber...

Apostle Paul, like other apostles, from the point of view of purely human reasoning, was unsuccessful and unreasonable: he had a high education and had Roman citizenship, but did not use his advantage to acquire a secure position and a profitable earthly life. He wandered through different countries, was persecuted, imprisoned, even endured drownings at sea. And when he finally arrived in Rome, instead of worrying about himself and his fate, he continued to preach there about Christ crucified, wrote letters to various churches, gave instructions in the name of God, until he was beheaded in Rome...

Our Taras Shevchenko was also unsuccessful, judging on the basis of purely earthly and material concerns: Although he was bought out of serfdom and made free, when he gained an education and earned a diploma of a free artist, instead of taking care of himself, instead of using the advantage of his talents and providing a profitable life for himself, he wrote poetry in which he opposed the enslavement of his people, and accused the powerful Russian tsars and their servants. And thus, he fell into harsh captivity again.

He lived for 47 years and died without a home or any material possessions...

We could continue the list of such people who were materially and physically unsuccessful. We have an entire galaxy of fighters for the good of our people in modern times, who chose suffering and physical death, instead of serving the enslavers, from whom they could have received “honours” and acclaim.

But we know and are convinced that Jesus Christ, even though he was crucified on the cross, overcame the world (John 16:33). With Christ, even though he was put to death physically, the apostle Paul also was victorious, just as were all the apostles of Christ. The Church of Christ was victorious. The confessors of Christ were put to death during the first centuries; they are being put to death and are being persecuted even now. From a material and physical point of view, they are unsuccessful, but no one can destroy their spirit, their faith.

On their blood, on their faith, the Church of Christ will be continually reborn, which no one can ever defeat, as the Lord testified. (Matthew 16,18)

All those who boast of their body, their material gains, who live only to "eat, drink and be merry" - they will perish together with their body "and will not leave a trace" on our land, among whose people they lived. Thus declared Apostle Paul: "For it is written [from God],

'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will thwart.'" (1 Cor. 1,19).

Amen.

Very Rev. Fr. Taras Slavchenko

Taras Slavchenko was born on March 8, 1918 in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region in Ukraine. After graduating from school and the Pedagogical College, he entered the language and literature faculty of the Scientific Pedagogical Institute. Having successfully completed it in 1938, he served as a teacher in a secondary school.

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