Love Is The Answer

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” He replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” Then he said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

Then he told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’

But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.” (Luke 12:13-21)

“You can’t take it with you” is a familiar expression used as the title for a famous 1938 movie: “You Can't Take It with You.” This film was an American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Capra and starring Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, James Stewart and Edward Arnold. It was about a man from a family of rich snobs who becomes engaged to a woman from a good-natured but decidedly eccentric family.  It was a critical and commercial success receiving two Academy Awards from seven nominations: Best Picture and Best Director for Frank Capra.  

The family’s Grandpa Martin Vanderhoff (Barrymore) said: “Maybe it’d stop you trying to be so desperate about making more money than you can ever use?  You can’t take it with you, Mr. Kirby (actor Arnold playing Stewart’s rich father).  So what good is it?  As near as I can see, the only thing you can take with you is the love of your friends.” 

To rest, eat, drink, and be merry has little meaning unless accompanied by love.  Building bigger barns, just to have more, is foolish, as God reveals.  Love is the answer.  Remember the 1979 song? 

“Love Is the Answer” by England Dan & John Ford Coley

Name your price

A ticket to paradise

I can't stay here any more

And I've looked high and low

I've been from shore to shore to shore

If there's a short cut I'd have found it

But there's no easy way around it

Light of the world, shine on me

Love is the answer

Shine on us all, set us free

Love is the answer

Who knows why

Someday we all must die

We're all homeless boys and girls

And we are never heard

It's such a lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely world

People turn their heads and walk on by

Tell me, is it worth just another try?

Light of the world, shine on me

Love is the answer (let it shine)

Shine on us all, set us free

Love is the answer (you know the answer is love)

Tell me, are we alive, or just a dying planet?

What are the chances?

Ask the man in your heart for the answers

And when you feel afraid, love one another

When you've lost your way, love one another

When you're all alone, love one another

When you're far from home, love one another

When you're down and out, love one another

All your hope's run out, love one another

When you need a friend, love one another

When you're near the end, love

We got to love, we got to love one another

Light of the world, you got to shine on me

Love is the answer

Shine on us all (know that love can save the day)

Set us free

Love is the answer

(Just give it, just one more chance)

Light of the world, shine on me

Love is the answer (love, love, love)

Shine on us all, set us free

Love is the answer

(Lord, you just can't let it stop, Lord)

Light of the world, shine on me

Love is the answer

Shine on us all, set us free

Deacon David Pierce