God bless you as you reflect on the Gospels to share with your congregations.
Luke
12.13-34 (NRSV)
The
Parable of the Rich Fool
13 Someone
in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family
inheritance with me.’ 14But he said to
him, ‘Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’ 15And
he said to them, ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for
one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’ 16Then
he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17And
he thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my
crops?”18Then he said, “I will do this: I will
pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain
and my goods. 19And I will say
to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat,
drink, be merry.” 20But God said to
him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the
things you have prepared, whose will they be?” 21So it
is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards
God.’
My
text this morning is written in Luke 12:21:
21So it
is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards
God.’
We live in a
world which has got its priorities all wrong. And this is nothing new. People
feel that if they have their health and enough money, they will have a
wonderful life and all will be okay. This is evident in the fact that people
tend to treat wealthy people with greater respect than others. People also tend
to allow wealthy people to get away with being rude, brash and unpleasant
because they are people who, in the opinion of the world, are special. This is
even true of people who have done nothing and have simply inherited their
wealth. Jesus, in today's lesson, points
out that to hold this view is to be foolish and to make this point tells the
parable of the rich fool.
A man came to
Jesus for aid in solving a family problem. This was a perfectly natural thing
for the people of these times to do. Religious leaders were expected to be
proficient in the Law of Moses, which dealt with matters in all areas of life.
Jesus refused to act as the mediator in this situation because he knew that no
answer that he gave would deal with the real
problem. The two brothers were quarrelling about their inheritance because they
had covetous hearts. As long as they
remained greedy, there would be no settlement. They asked Jesus to serve them and what they needed was for
Jesus to save them. Their hearts
needed to be changed and the only way any person can be changed is through the
power of God through coming to Jesus, and allowing him to fill their lives with
his transforming love. Life is not made better or worse depending on what one
owns or does not own. Jesus warns in verse 15: “... a person's true life is not
made up of the things he owns, no matter how rich he may be.”
True life does
not depend on money or possessions. All people have certain basic needs. It is
ridiculous to think that we will be any richer if we acquire more and more of
these material things. The fact of the matter is that possessions in no matter
what quantity do very little, if anything to provide us with anything more than
a mere existence. Material things do not last forever. We can take none of
these things with us when we die. And none of us has any certainty when that
will be. There are many people in the world today who will also testify that
riches can disappear in a flash. The number of people who lose everything in a
frighteningly short time is amazing. One day everything is wonderful materially
speaking, the next day, there is nothing!
All too often I
still find myself being overly concerned about the material things in life and
I too still have much change needed in my life.
If
our happiness is determined by the state of our bank balance or what we possess
- we are in terrible trouble. What are we going to do if we lose everything -
and losing everything can happen to any of us.
In
the parable Jesus speaks of a rich fool.
Indeed it is foolish to trust in riches. The rich man thought all the
possessions belonged to him. Notice how many times in the passage he refers to
‘I’ and 'my' and in verses 16-20. But the point is that if a person is in love
with what money can buy, they face the danger of losing the things that money
cannot buy.
Many
people, lured by riches reject God and his ways - for they are willing to
sacrifice their souls through dishonesty and greed - in order to become rich.
The Scriptures warn that there are many dangers associated with riches. In 1
Timothy 6:8-10 we read:
...
if we have food and clothes, that should be enough for us. But those who want
to get rich fall into temptation and are caught in a trap of many foolish and
harmful desires, which pull them down to ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a source of all
kinds of evil. Some have been so eager to have it that they have wandered
away from the faith and have broken their hearts with many sorrows.
Again
in Matthew 13:22, Jesus warns in the parable of the sower:
The
seeds that fell among the thorn bushes stand for those who hear the message;
but the worries about this life and the
love of riches choke the message, and they don't bear fruit.
People
who are self sufficient in material things and money feel that they can do
without God and so they turn away from the word of God. But they are in danger
- they can lose their souls for the sake of mere things that are temporary.
Jesus
states that being truly rich has nothing to do with money or material wealth -
but rather in being rich in God's eyes. How do we do this? In Matthew 6:33
Jesus states:
...
be concerned above everything else
with the Kingdom of God and with what he
requires of you, and he will provide
you with all these other things.
Each
person will know what real life is all about when they get their priorities
right. The first thing we need to above
everything else be concerned with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of us.
Do we have things in their proper perspective? Are we
more concerned about our house on earth or are we making adequate preparations
for our house in heaven? Are we trying to become well-known on earth or are we
striving to make sure that our name is written in the book of life that is in
heaven? Are we willing to face persecution, ridicule, scorn or even death for
the sake of our Lord or are we more concerned with our reputation on earth? Are
we sharing our faith with others, giving generously of our material blessing to
the work of the church so that the Kingdom of God can be extended as others, or
are we hoarding our money for ourselves and our families alone? Do we possess
our possessions or do our possessions possess us? A useful way of telling is by
asking ourselves the question? "What would happen if we were told that we
were going to lose every material thing we owned?" It is okay to feel sad
at the prospect but it really should not matter. The Scriptures provide us with
the perspective we need. In Philippians 4:11 Paul writes:
... I have learnt to be satisfied
with what I have. I know what it is to be in need and what it is to have more
than enough. I have learnt this secret,
so that anywhere, at any time, I am content, whether I am full or hungry,
whether I have too much or too little. I
have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me.
Again, 1 Timothy 6: 6ff states:
... religion ... make[s] a person
very rich, if he is satisfied with what
he has. What did we bring into the world? Nothing! What can we take out of
the world? Nothing! So then, if we have food and clothes, that should be enough
for us. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and are caught in
the trap of many foolish and harmful desires, which pull them down to ruin and
destruction.
When people
have their perspective right, they are liberated from worry. Worrying is one of
the most destructive things a person can do. As Corrie Ten Boom writes: “ Worry does not empty tomorrow of its
sorrow ... it empties today of its strength.”
It is the concern about material things that makes a
person worry. Many, many people worry about, finances, health, shelter and all
sorts of other temporary things. I know relatively few people who are worried
about their souls and those of their loved ones. Many people know that their
children are in a right relationship with God, but few really seem to be
worried about this fact. But let a child be sick or in financial crisis - and
people are beside themselves. This is a sign of a loss of perspective. People
worry about making a living and Jesus tells us that we should be more concerned
with making a life. The proper perspective is to be more occupied with our
souls and minds than with our bodies. Are we doing what God wants us to do? It
is when we fix our attention on the things of the world that we worry. When we
get the proper perspective and fix our attention on the things of God that we
are filled with peace. Paul writing to the Philippians explains (4.6-7):
Don't worry about anything, but in
all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart.
And God's peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts
and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus.
God looks after birds, flowers and animals. How much
more will he look after us who are his children?
We all have to work. The Scriptures are clear in
stressing that laziness is never to be tolerated. People should also not be
irresponsible in not making adequate provision for the future. The issue here
is one of priority. As one commentator puts it: “He does not neglect the worldly
duties of his station, but he regards them as of infinitely less importance
than the requirements of God.”
The things of the world are important, but they are not
as important as the soul. When one has the proper perspective then God gives us
all the things we need. Where is our security - is it in Jesus Christ or is it
in what we possess? Are we making a living or are you making a life? Are we
worried, or do we know God's wonderful provision?
Seek first God's kingdom as your as your first and
priority and you will know what it really means to enjoy life and that in all
its fullness; if we do not, we miss out on what makes life really worth living
– or as Jesus put it:
So it
is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards
God.’
Amen.
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