"Going, Going, Gone?"

“Going, Going, Gone?”

One of the interesting traits of baseball broadcasters is the variety of ways they describe home runs. Bob Prince of the Pittsburgh Pirates would say, “He’ll touch ‘em all!”. Joe Castiglione of the Boston Red Sox announces, “You can forget about this one!” And who can overlook the Yankees’ Mel Allen’s, “That ball is going, going, gone!” While all three used their catch phrases for virtually every homer they called they were more enthusiastic when it came to their own teams.

“Going, going, gone” can describe a man in one of Jesus’ parables whom many translations refer to as “The Rich Fool”. Our Lord tells his story in Luke 12:16-21 after saying, “…(One’s) life does not consist in the abundance of (one’s) possessions.” (Luke 12:15). This prosperous farmer had harvested a bumper crop which he thought he could keep and support himself in a comfortable retirement without seeking after God. But that night he died and his wealth was left behind. (Charles Swindoll once observed he’d never seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul.) So what he had accumulated was, for him, gone overnight without warning. A couple of chapters later we read of “The Prodigal Son” who found his fortune “going, going, gone” when he “…squandered his wealth in wild living.” (Luke 15:13). He was welcomed back by his father (Verse 13) but his inheritance was gone (Verse 31), How many in history have walked similar roads?

In and of itself money is morally neutral—it can be used for good or evil. Paul challenged his pastoral mentoree to “Command those who are rich in this present world not to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” (1 Timothy 6:17, emphasis added). Solomon wrote, “…Riches do not endure forever….” (Proverbs 27:24), a principle he understood from his accumulating much of this world’s goods which didn’t satisfy (read Ecclesiastes, his “spiritual autobiography”). Maybe Jesus had him in mind when He said, “Do not store up treasures here on earth, where they can be eaten by moths and get rusty, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where they will never become moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be kept safe from thieves.” (Matthew 6:19-20, NLT).

We can’t take our “stuff” with us but we can send what we’ve invested in God’s kingdom ahead—“going, going, gone” to be used by Him.

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan