Jesus told a parable about a successful farmer who had an excess and so he wanted to “tear down my barns and build larger ones.” Our Lord critiques this attitude because the farmer is storing “up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.” What is it that matters to God? There is a famous patristic sermon which suggests that the real place that the farmer should have stored his harvest was in the stomachs of those who were starving. If you have enough for oneself, goes the sermon, then what is over and above what you need is meant to be shared with others. What matters to God, therefore, is that we learn to think about others, not just ourselves.
