Luke 12:13-21 Someone in the crowd
said to Jesus, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance
with me." But Jesus said to him,
"Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?"
It
is important to remember that Jesus does not speak to us so that we can use his
words as a tool to manipulate others.
Instead, he speaks to us so that we
might be changed. That’s especially important
for us to remember as we hear Jesus speak to us today about the place and role
and importance that money has in our lives.
We are tempted to
tell ourselves that this parable of the rich fool really doesn’t apply to me
because-- after all—I’m not rich—or at
least not as rich as some. We are
tempted to look around the sanctuary to make sure that others are
listening.
But in these temptations
we are just like the man that Jesus rebuked who wanted to use the authority of
the Lord’s words as a tool designed for others.
But it’s not—it’s a word of divine authority--from God--for us—to change us.
Jesus speaks these
words to each of us today because greed
and coveting is not about how much money we have—it’s about what’s first in our
hearts. The parable he tells is not
really about what we possess—but about what possesses us. Jesus said:
"Take care, and be
on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in
the abundance of his possessions."
Sin
begins in the heart and it is for that reason that God forbids coveting that
which belongs to another. Adultery
begins in the heart with a lack of appreciation and thankfulness for the spouse
that God has given to us and a sinful desire for another’s spouse. Stealing begins in the heart with a lack of
satisfaction for the material gifts that God has given to us and a sinful
desire for other’s things. Idolatry
begins in the heart with a lack of satisfaction that we are creatures and a sinful
desire to be our own god.
Covetousness is a spiritually deadly sin. James writes in chapter 4 of his epistle:
“What causes quarrels
and what causes fights among you? Is it
not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you
murder. You covet and cannot obtain,
so you fight and quarrel.”
The man who came
to Jesus out of the crowd that day thought he had an inheritance problem that a
proper disposition of money could fix.
But he didn’t. He had a spiritual problem that only Jesus could
fix—and that spiritual fix began with recognizing that the problem was in his own
soul. It begins in the same place for us—with
recognizing and confessing the sins of our heart.
Jesus says, “…be on your guard against all
covetousness.” We do have to be on guard because this sin can sneak up on us. There are
economic disparities. There are differences in people’s gifts and
abilities and resources.
And the shift in
our hearts from thankfulness and satisfaction for what we do have-- to resentment and covetousness for what we don’t have-- can almost be imperceptible
until we’re overcome by this sin.
That I why Jesus reminds
us that: “Life does not consist in the abundance of one’s possessions.” We know
this don’t we—at least intellectually? We
know that: no matter how rich we are or successful or
powerful we are, life itself is much more than mere things. We know that all of the wealth in the world
will not extend our life one breath or beat of the heart beyond that day that God
has already ordained for us.
We know the truth
of what Jesus says (that life does not consist in the abundance our possessions)
but how hard it is for us to remember it and re-order lives accordingly! And so Jesus tells us this parable of the
rich fool to illustrate in a memorable way his point about the place and
importance of material things in our lives.
"The land of a rich man produced
plentifully, and he thought to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have nowhere to
store my crops?' And he said, 'I
will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there
I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you
have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.'
One
of the very first words our kids learn is the word: “mine”.
Children have to be taught to
share. It doesn’t come naturally to them
anymore than it does to us because our sinful flesh is turned in on itself--
and we see the truth of human self-centeredness so clearly in the rich fool’s
words. My crops—my barns—my grain—my goods—my soul.
Mine! But how wrong he was! As much as he thought all these things were
his—Jesus tells us the truth about the real source of his wealth. Jesus says, “…the LAND of a rich man
produced plentifully.”
The truth about
farming is that no matter how smart you are and no matter how hard you work and
no matter how much modern technology you bring to bear in your work as a farmer—a
crop simply will not be produced if there is not adequate sunlight and rainfall
and fertile soil and dry weather for harvest—gifts only the Creator can give.
Most farmers know
this and have a humble faith in God’s provision in God’s provision. But there are exceptions—and this man was one
of them--for he left God out of the picture.
He said: What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?'
I want you to
notice what he didn’t ask. He didn’t
ask: “Lord,
what would you have me do?” “Seeing as how
you have so abundantly and richly blessed me, how can I serve you and your
people with these your blessings?” God
never even enters into his thinking. It
simply never occurs to him that the God who has blessed him-- might have
something to say about the blessings he has bestowed. What about us?
When we get a
raise or a promotion or a bonus, is our first thought: “Lord,
what would you have me do?” Or is
it, “What
will I do with more money?” It is so easy for us to forget that, behind
our hard work and behind our intellect and behind our wise investing is the God
who gives it all. Much too often it is pride
that fills our hearts over what we
have done—just like that fool in the parable who said,
'I will do this: I
will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all
my grain and my goods.
Once again I want
you to hear what he doesn’t say: “I will do this.” “I will return a tithe to the LORD as the
Giver of it all.” “I will help those in
need around me”. “I’ll do give an offering
for the temple of
God
But what his plan really
revealed was the poverty of his soul and the emptiness of his life. He said to himself. Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat,
drink, be merry.' And of course he was right! He had every thing he needed for many
years—EXCEPT—the many years. Only God
can give those years.
We can deceive
ourselves into believing that the material things we have are of our own making--
but that illusion will come to an abrupt end when we come face to face with the
real Giver of those gifts. We can delude ourselves into believing that we
are the captains of our souls and the masters of our destiny-- right up until
we face God.
The rich fool and
the people around him thought he was the brightest, most successful, and wisest
man they knew. But God thought
differently.
God said to him,
'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have
prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself
and is not rich toward God."
The
fool went to sleep that night just as he had every other night of his life
believing he had the world by the tail—but that night was not like every other
night—it was his last night. He had not--
and would not—entrust his soul into the hands of his Creator and Redeemer and
so his soul was taken from him in eternal death in hell.
With that most
precious possession lost—all that remained of his life—all the things he called
his own—all he valued above God-- was be given to others-- who would fuss and fight
over them just like the man at the beginning of our lesson. Such is the end of all those who lay up
treasures for themselves and are not rich toward God.
But thanks be to
God, that moment has not yet come for us!
Today is a God-given opportunity to re-evaluate our lives and turn in
repentance from greed and covetousness—a day to topple the idol “mammon” off
the throne in our hearts and receive in faith what truly counts as treasure in
God’s sight—and that is Jesus.
The Good News for us
today is that our Lord Jesus Christ did not fail to keep “first things first”
as we so often do. He came to do the
will of his Father—and he did it—perfectly.
He came, not to be served- but to serve.
And he did not count his own life too high a price to pay to secure the
salvation of our souls and to free us by his resurrection from the fatal
bondage to the things of this world.
Life does not consist
in the abundance of our possession—but it consists—from beginning to end-- in
Christ-- who is our life.
All of the riches
of Christ are set before us today—his Word that calls us to repentance and
faith—his body and blood which assure us that his death and resurrection are
for us individually and personally—his abiding presence that makes our lives--
no matter how humble-- very rich indeed.
When we lay our heads down tonight—even if it is our
last night—we can commend our souls into the hands of our merciful, forgiving
Father and sleep at ease-- knowing that in in Jesus we are rich beyond
measure. Amen.
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