Sorting, saving, or sharing

Jesus, help me learn to share even what I've sorted into favorites! Amen.

Jesus told this story: "A rich man had a big farm. 'I know what to do with all the food!' he thought. 'I'll store it and then party, because I'll have food for years!' But God said, 'You fool! You're going to die tonight. What will happen to all you saved up?'" Jesus finished, "That's what happens when people hoard everything, but aren't rich in what matters to God. Don't worry about what you'll eat or wear. Birds and flowers don't, and God takes care of them!"

Are you a sorter? Some kids get a bag of jellybeans and immediately pick out their favorite flavors to save for later; others have stuffed animals they like best and ones that are just okay.

If you like to sort things into favorites, you'd probably freak out if someone took what you like best. But in this week's Gospel (Luke 12:13-21), Jesus points out that saving things for later doesn't always work out.

Sorting jellybeans according to how much you like each flavor means you'll taste your favorite flavor last -- but if a friend shows up and you've already eaten all the boring ones, you'll have to share your favorites!

Jesus was saying something similar in the Gospel story. The rich man Jesus described had saved all his crops to make sure he'd always have food -- but then he died, so he never got to eat what he'd hoarded.

Sorting can be fun, but sharing is also important. Jesus pointed out that the rich man had lots of food, but not the company of his friends, because he was greedy. He could have made a lot more friends by sharing the heaps of food he was lucky to have.

That's something to think about when you're hiding all the green jellybeans so no one else can eat them!