Falling Bridges

The Rev. Joseph Winston

August 5, 2007

Sermon

Grace and peace are gifts for you from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.1
For the last forty years, the Mississippi River Bridge, with its eight lanes has
been bringing one hundred and forty one thousand cars into and out of the down-
town area of Minneapolis. Normally, no one paid any attention to this massive
structure that joined the Downtown East and Marcy-Holmes neighborhoods. Ev-
ery day, trains ran under the bridge on its north side. Children, parents, and joggers
ran in its shade on the other side of the river. And the river poured millions of gal-
lons of water beneath its spans.
All this dramatically changed on August 1. Around 6:00 pm as the drivers
pulled onto it many concrete lanes, they watched in horror as the world around
them fell apart. A school bus filled with sixty one passengers, most of them school
1
Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians
1:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, Philemon 1:3

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aged children, returning from their weekly trip to the water park plunged sixty feet
into the river. Miraculously, the bus remained upright and landed on the road now
lying in the river. An eighteen-wheeler, thrown around like a child’s unwanted
plaything, erupted into flames as it landed beside the school bus. Other cars were
destroyed when they were tossed in the river while some were crushed under tons
of mangled steel and broken cement that only a few minutes early formed a bridge.
Just a few minutes after the collapse, rescue worker arrived at the scene and
started the grisly task of triage: finding those who do not need any immediate help,
identify the injured, and locating the dead. Everyone on the school bus survived
their scary ride and so did many of the other drivers and passengers. Other people
that traveled on the bridge Wednesday afternoon were not so fortunate. The driver
of the eighteen-wheeler that caught fire died. So did at least four other people.
In the hours and the days following the horrible accident, it became apparent
that the failure was not due to an act of terrorism nor was it cased by some unusual
event like an earthquake. Instead, the tragedy was a result of man-made causes.
Someone, somewhere, had missed something about this specific bridge. It might
have occurred during the bridge’s design. The problem possibly was introduced
during the construction of the bridge. The fatal flaw could be a result of wear and
tear. As it became apparent that the failure could have been avoided, people all
around the stat of Minnesota and the country started to cry out, “Why?” “Why
would such a critical bridge in the United States crumble and fall?”
The parable about the foolish rich man in today’s Gospel lesson also contains
a catastrophe that is brought on by man-made causes.

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 The story starts out with Jesus surrounded by a hostile crowd.2 Someone
shouts out to Him, “Teacher, say to my brother divide the inheritance with me.”
(Luke 12:13) Jesus yells back to him, “Man, who put me to be a judge or arbitrator
over you?”3 (Luke 12:14) Then He quickly retorts back to the questioner, “Look
and watch for all greediness. For life is not found in abundance.” (Luke 12:15)
Next, Jesus tells us this tale. A rich man was doing very well and he needed a
place to store all of his profits. His business plan was simple: expand. The result of
his work was just as predictable. He could then lead a life of leisure. Unfortunately
for him, God recognized that this man was an idiot and he died that very night.
Jesus then asks the crowd, “But who gets this stuff?” (Luke 12:20b) “There-
fore, this happens to those who keep things for themselves but are not rich toward
God.” (Luke 12:21)
To understand how today’s Gospel lesson is a tragedy that we bring on our-
selves we need to carefully look at two sentences. The first one precedes the para-
ble when Jesus literally tells us in the Greek, “Life doe not exist in abundance.”
In today’s American society with all of our debt load, this sentence may be hard
for us to swallow. A new house, a new car, or even a new spouse might mean the
“good life” but it does not mean that one is living. This is exactly what Jesus tells
His followers. Immediately after this parable is a reading that is excluding from
the texts that we normally hear every Sunday. In this lesson from Luke, Jesus tells
us that life is much more than food or clothing. (Luke 12:23) For example, the
2
Luke Timothy Johnson; S.J. Daniel J. Harrington, editor, The Gospel of Luke, Volume 3, Sacra
Pagina, (The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1991), p. 198.
3
Ibid.

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crows and all of the other birds have no place to put up food despite that God
feeds them. (Luke 12:24) Are you not better than they are? (Luke 12:24) Also,
look at all of the wildflowers in the field. (Luke 12:27) They have done nothing to
deserve their beauty but yet they are more attractive than the richest leader that has
ever existed. (Luke 12:27) Since these flowers fade so quickly, do not you think
that God will give you what you need? (Luke 12:27)
The questions that Jesus asks each of us He also answers. Jesus tells us that
God freely gives us everything that we need. (Luke 12:29-31) The rich man in the
parable was an idiot because he forgot this basic teaching that God gives us life
and all of our goods. Additionally, the successful businessman was foolish since
he failed to recall a fundamental tenet of Judaism. Life does not come from our
possessions rather we live because of God. (Deuteronomy 8:3; Luke 4:4)
The second sentence that explains why this parable illustrates how we con-
demn ourselves is found in the last part of our reading where Jesus says, “This
happens to those who keep things for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
(Luke 12:21) This teaching by Jesus is not a criticism of wealth because if it were
then Jesus would have to denounce the father of the faith: Abraham. Even today,
his wealth is staggering since it was on the level of the Pharaohs of Egypt. How-
ever, throughout the entire Bible Jesus never disapproves of Abraham’s financial
success. Instead in today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus is reminding us that we are re-
sponsible for all of those people around us. This is exactly what Abraham did
with his wealth and this is what it means to be rich toward God. Jesus expects that
His followers help the people in our lives. We are to give housing to those people

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living in the streets. We are to provide food to the hungry. We are to fight for the
rights of the underrepresented.
In the upcoming days and weeks, we will finally learn the root causes of the
horrendous tragedy in Minneapolis. We do not need as much time to realize that
you and I are just like the wealthy farmer. We have both forgotten what life truly
means and we do not devote our riches to helping those people around us.
If we really believed that God’s Word brought us life then this nave and those
of every other church in the world would be filled to the breaking point because
people would be crowding in to receive the free gift of life. From looking around
us in this building and the buildings of the other congregations all around the
world, we know that most of us do not believe this to be true.
We are not the only ones who forget to help our neighbors. The institution
known as the Church also suffers from this same problem. For example, take the
cost of seminary education in the ELCA. Each student pays almost one hundred
thousand dollars in tuition. By the time books, room, and board are added in the
total bill approaches one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. This debt load,
forced on the student by the ELCA, severely limits the student’s options. They
cannot afford to go to the poorer areas of the country since they will not be able
to pay their debt to the church.
Into our world where we try to find life in our possessions, Christ comes with
a dramatic alternative. None of your stuff, He says, can give you what you really
want. Think about it, He continues. The items that you hold so dear are nothing
more than material. Real life cannot come from what was created. It must come

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from the One who invented life in the first place. Stop rejecting this gift of life that
I am giving you.
Our response is one of utter amazement. How can this be, we say? How can
we be given something that is priceless? This is what it means to live, Jesus says.
Take the most precious thing possible life and give it away. I have done this for
you. But what will it cost me, we ask? Nothing at all, Jesus replies, there are no
strings attached to this gift of life. But I must warn you, He continues, true life
will change you. You will become like Me and will want to give away your life
for others.
This dialogue between Jesus and each follower is the true heart of Christianity.
Jesus freely gives you life so that you might give it away to someone else. Only
when we can live out this paradoxical fact that life comes when it is given away
will we be transformed by the Holy Spirit from being a foolish but rich person
into one that acts like Christ and freely gives everything to others.
This lesson is so important that we will continue to hear it over and over again
in the next eight weeks. Today we heard how the accumulation of wealth without
caring for the poor is foolish. Next week, Jesus will command us to sell what we
have so that we can help the less fortunate. On the first Sunday in September, Jesus
requires us to invite only those who cannot afford to repay us to our feasts. The
week after that Jesus states that only those who sell everything can be followers of
Christ. The lesson for September 23 is very similar. Jesus tells us that we cannot
serve both God and money. This two-month period finally ends with the parable
of Lazarus and the rich man who was condemned to hell since he ignored the poor

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at his door.
While we still do not know what caused the horrible collapse of the bridge in
Minneapolis, we do know that it could have been prevented through some com-
bination of oversight and maintenance. The Gospel lesson today and those in the
coming weeks provide the same function for each of us. Jesus is warning us that if
we continue to follow our possessions they will lead us straight into destruction.
In our own homes and in those down the street from us are people who are
on a course that will bring them to disaster. They think that the accumulation of
wealth is what life is all about. Jesus tells us the complete opposite. Life does not
come in the acquisition of materials. Life comes when it is given away.
Each of us has been given the chance to warn them about what will happen if
they do not change.
“The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.”4

References

Johnson, Luke Timothy; Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., editor, The Gospel of Luke,
Volume 3, Sacra Pagina, (The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN: The
Liturgical Press, 1991).

4
Philippians 4:7.