More and More Marshmallows

First Lesson: Hosea 11: 1-11
Responsive Reading: Psalm 107: 1-9, 43
Second Lesson: Colossians 3: 1-11
​Gospel Lesson: Luke 12: 13-21

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Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
 
The year was 1970; the place was Stanford University[1].  A social experiment was planned to consist of thirty two- preschool age boys and girls of equal numbers.  The test was each child would be offered a choice of one small reward mostly marshmallows, or if the child had enough restraint to wait fifteen minutes before eating the marshmallow, then they would get to enjoy one additional marshmallow for two marshmallows in total[2].  The children were given toys as potential distractions for those fifteen minutes[3].
 
So the study was intending to ask: “How good are preschoolers between 3 and 5 at waiting, even for a very short time, when they could potentially receive a much better reward just fifteen minutes later?”
 
What did the Marshmallow study prove? We’ll get back to the results in just a little bit.
 
Leon Stier tells the story how, once upon a time a young woman was living in California.  She proceeds to write a letter to her mother living in North Dakota[4].
 
Dear Mom,
“Sorry, we haven’t been in touch.  I got sick of hearing all Dad’s and your speeches telling me how I was wasting money.  Even when I last came home as he was dying, he wanted to talk about my foolish spending ways.
 
I write because I must admit that you were both right.  Mark lost his job about six months ago and we’re going under on the home mortgage.  We’re also getting divorced, as the constant fighting about money and our debt has destroyed our marriage[5].
 
As much as it pains me to admit it, I should have listened to Dad more.  I thought Mark and I had it made.  We both had college degrees and good jobs.  Between the banks and credit cards, we were able to travel all over the globe and move into our dream house.  We thought we could have had as many possessions as you accumulated over the years, as soon as we got married.  I thought we had it easy with money that would never run out[6]. I was wrong in many, many ways!
 
I need to say that I’m sorry for our big fight after Dad’s funeral. I was petty and mean on one of the worst days of our life[7].
 
If you could forgive me, I have a huge favor to ask.  I need a place to live.  I need to file for bankruptcy as my company is downsizing.  Could I possibly have my old room at home back, until better days[8]?”
 
Love, Pamela
 
Now Pamela would be an example of a person who only lives life in the short-term.  A person whose wants quickly become needs.  Pretty soon, life falls apart.  What can we learn from Pamela[9]?  
 
I began this morning by telling the story of the Stanford Marshmallow Experiment.  The psychologists behind it did a follow-up study in 1988, where they evaluated the thirty-two preschool children (eighteen years later)  as they transitioned into adulthood.  What the follow-up studies found is that children that were able to wait (fifteen minutes) even as preschoolers  for the extra marshmallows had higher SAT scores, achieved higher levels of education, and carried less body fat all because they had learned the ability of patience to receive rewards when they were very young children[10].
 
Today’s Gospel lesson tells a similar story[11].  Jesus is preaching to a crowd.  When someone interrupts Jesus by shouting out: “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me[12].”
 
I imagine the lesson is set by Jesus being annoyed by this question as Jesus is preaching about Heaven and Hell.
 
So Jesus seeks to make a dramatic point in response! 
 
Jesus tells the tale of a rich farmer.  This farmer’s land had done so well that he does not have enough storage space in his barns.  So he begins to make plans to build bigger and bigger barns[13], so that he may have the most comfortable of retirements.
 
The rich farmer at first glance would seem to be the exact opposite of the children who couldn’t wait for the extra marshmallows or Pamela and Mark who racked up credit card debt all the way to bankruptcy.  The farmer had saved well for the future and seems now to be able to now enjoy his prosperity.
 
But as Jesus says within the parable, the rich farmer has made a miscalculation[14].
 
“You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be[15]?”
 
The big question of our lesson is this:  “Why does Jesus call the rich farmer a “fool?” “ The issue isn’t that the rich farmer saves, but rather the rich farmer thinks his possessions can buy his way into eternal life.
 
You see the rich farmer had more money than he could ever need, yet he was unwilling to consider how he could give back to the God who provided it all.
 
The rich farmer had a wrong understanding of where his security would ultimately come.  He was one unexpected illness or accident away from the same spiritual bankruptcy of the man who interrupted Jesus about his inheritance at the beginning of the lesson[16]. 
 
The point isn’t that the rich farmer’s wealth is a problem; it’s instead where the rich farmer’s priorities ultimately lay.  Was the rich farmer’s life pointing only towards the short-term thinking of what’s in it for him (how many marshmallows can he immediately consume) or would he use his considerable gifts to help bring salvation to the world around him[17]?
 
Let me tell you about another rich person of whom you’ve maybe heard named Henry Ford.  The year was 1908; Henry Ford invents the Model T[18].  Henry Ford soon grew very, very rich.  Henry Ford could have been just like the rich farmer in Jesus’ parable sitting back, building bigger and bigger garages. Henry Ford thought long-term rather than short-term.  Ford longed to create cars that the average person could own.  The labor process for the Model T was too expensive for the commoner, until one day, an employee described a recent visit to a slaughterhouse which made use of a conveyor[19].  Perfecting the assembly line required all sorts of tinkering, patience, investment, and long-range thinking for Ford.  Henry Ford ultimately put his business and fortune on the line for the sake of the long-range goal of an automobile assembly line.
 
By 1914, Henry Ford’s assembly line was a reality. Cars went from taking 12.5 hours to 1.5 hours to manufacture. Prices dropped over  50 percent. Within a decade, Ford would sell his ten-millionth Model T[20]. All sorts of other good things had happened: salaries skyrocketed for employees, working hours decreased, and America within a generation would become a global economic super power.  All these things happened because short-term thinking of merely being rich wasn’t good enough for Henry Ford. 
 
There is a well-known Bible story that like Henry Ford contrasts with the thinking of the rich farmer.   The Book of Joshua tells the tale of the Nation of Israel who had waited for forty long years wandering in the uncomfortable heat of the wilderness eating the same boring foods (day after day) awaiting the long-promised land[21].   Now entering the Promised Land would have appeared to take a mere matter of months, but the nation of Israel kept straying leading to consequences. It was only the generation after Moses, Aaron, and Miriam that would be able to enter the Promised Land .   When the people of Israel finally did enter the Promised Land, they had built enough faith that God’s promises would eventually come through that they were able to overcome mightier enemies than even they could imagine.
 
Bible commentator Elisabeth Johnson recalls how once upon a time, there was a very wise Pastor who realized something important about the difference between thinking in the short-term like the marshmallow eaters, Mark and Pamela , and the Rich-Farmer versus the long-term thinking of Henry Ford and the Biblical Joshua.
 
The Pastor declared: “I have heard many different regrets expressed by people nearing the end of life, but there is one regret I have never heard expressed. I have never heard anyone say; ‘I wish I hadn’t given so much away. I wish I had kept more for myself[22].” Death had a way of clarifying what really matters[23]”.
 
With this in mind, let me close with one final story that comes from my hometown of Lindstrom.  I want to tell you about Elmer and Pearl.  Elmer worked as a milkman.  Pearl worked for the telephone company.  Elmer and Pearl never had any children.  Elmer died in 1961. Pearl would live until 2015  staying quite active in Trinity Lutheran for all these years.  Upon Pearl’s death at the age of 104, it was revealed that she had left her estate to the church.  Pearl’s gift was worth over 1.2 million dollars.  Jaws around town were dropped because people couldn’t believe that she’d have that type of money.  What made Pearl such a remarkable woman of faith is that she understood that Christianity is ultimately not about the sins of your past, nor is about the rewards of the present whether farmland or even marshmallows, instead Christianity looks to the future hope of the Resurrection.  Where the eyes might even be able to see more marshmallows than they’ve ever seen before.  Amen      


[1] “Stanford Marshmallow Experiment.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 21.May.2019. Web. July.18.2019. 
[2] “Stanford Marshmallow Experiment.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation.
[3] For further reading see Walter Mischel’s The Marshmallow Test published by Litte, Brown and Company in 2014. 
[4] Stier, Leon. “Instant Gratification (1/2).” Email Mediatations. 15. Jan.2016. Web. July.18.2019. 
[5] Stier, Leon. “Instant Gratification (1/2).” Email Mediatations.
[6] Stier, Leon. “Instant Gratification (1/2).” Email Mediatations.
[7] Stier, Leon. “Instant Gratification (1/2).” Email Mediatations.
[8] Stier, Leon. “Instant Gratification (1/2).” Email Mediatations.
[9] Stier, Leon. “Instant Gratification (1/2).” Email Mediatations.
[10]“ Stanford Marshmallow Experiment.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation.
[11] Luke 12:13-21. 
[12] Luke 12:13. 
[13] Luke 12:18.
[14] Johnson, Elisabeth. “Commentary on Luke 12:13-21.” Working Preacher. Luther Seminary. Saint Paul, MN. 4.Aug.2019. Web. July.18.2019.  
[15] Luke 12:20
[16] Johnson, Elisabeth. “Commentary on Luke 12:13-21.” Working Preacher.
[17] Johnson, Elisabeth. “Commentary on Luke 12:13-21.” Working Preacher.
[18] History Channel. “Ford’s assembly line starts rolling.” History.com. 13.Nov.2009. Web. July.18.2019.
[19] “Assembly Line.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 27. June.2019. Web. July.18.2019.
[20] History Channel. “Ford’s assembly line starts rolling.” History.com.
[21] Stier, Leon. “Instant Gratification (2/2).” Email Mediatations. 16. Jan.2016. Web. July.18.2019. 
[22] Johnson, Elisabeth. “Commentary on Luke 12:13-21.” Working Preacher.
[23] Johnson, Elisabeth. “Commentary on Luke 12:13-21.” Working Preacher.