Luke 12:13-21
What Is Your Attitude Toward Possessions?
Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’” But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” (NIV1984)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
What do hurricanes, wildfires and floods all have in common? That’s not a difficult question is it! Each of those “natural disasters” can take each and every possession that people spend so much time and so much energy and so much money gathering together and sweep them away. Anyone who has experienced that truth first-hand can tell you that when something like that happens, when everything you have spent so much time and so much effort and so much money accumulating is suddenly gone, it makes you re-evaluate your attitude towards your possessions. As Christians, it makes us re-evaluate what is truly important and what is not nearly as important as we may have once thought it was.
While our text for today does not focus our attention on a hurricane or a flood or a wildfire it does indeed give us a powerful reminder that one day all of our possessions, one day everything that we spend so much time and so much effort and so much money gathering together will be distributed to others. Since none of us can avoid that reality, let’s use this portion of God’s Word as an opportunity to ask the question: What Is Your Attitude Toward Possessions?
Not surprisingly the larger context with in which we find these words of our text is important to a proper understanding of this text. Luke chapter twelve begins with Luke revealing to us that a crowd of many thousands of people had gathered to listen to Jesus teach. As He was teaching all these people Jesus warned them about hypocrisy. He warned them not to be afraid of those who can only kill their bodies, but rather they are to fear the God who has the power to condemn both their body and their soul to hell. He then encourages them to fearlessly “acknowledge” Him before others and boldly proclaim His Word.
As Jesus was teaching these important spiritual truths to this crowd of thousands of people Luke tells us, “Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.’” What? After hearing Jesus warn about hypocrisy, after hearing Jesus warn them about people who can only kill their bodies but cannot harm their soul, after hearing Jesus encourage them to boldly acknowledge Him to others— after hearing all of this, the one thing this man was concerned about was getting what he considered to be his fair share of his father’s inheritance? Really?
While the Holy Spirit does not share with us how Jesus’ face must have looked after hearing this request, He does share with us Jesus’ response. We can sense the exasperation in Jesus’ voice, we can hear the determination in His words when He says to this man, “’Man, who appointed me a judge or arbiter between you? Then he said to them, ‘Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’”
While this man may have thought that Jesus’ status as a powerful and highly respected “Teacher” would be very useful in solving this dispute with his brother, Jesus very strongly reminds this man— and everyone!— that He did not come into this world to serve as some kind of government official to whom people could come to have Him settle their disputes. That strong reprimand led Jesus to give an even stronger warning against greed.
That strong warning against greed brings us to the “heart and core” of this text, the Parable of the Rich Fool. We cannot overlook the fact that the man in this parable was “rich” even before he had this “bumper crop.” The fact that this man was already “rich” reminds us that there is nothing morally wrong with being wealthy. This man was undoubtedly very dedicated to his work and very good at his work! (See 1 Timothy 6:17-19) As Christians we all want to be good stewards of the gifts, talents and abilities that the good Lord has given to us. I know a number of people who have become “rich” for that very reason.
We also need to understand that there is nothing morally wrong with planning for the future— especially if we have received unexpected riches. Wise King Solomon highlights this truth in a very memorable and picturesque way when under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he compare the “ant” which “stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest” with the “sluggard” whom he describes in this way, “a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man” (Proverbs 6:6-11).
Since it was not wrong for this man to be rich and since it was not wrong for this man to plan ahead and “build bigger barns” so that he would have a place to safely store all his grain and all his goods— then why does Jesus label him a “fool”? The answer is found in this man’s attitude toward his possessions! His attitude is then revealed in that monologue he had with himself, “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’”
What was the focus of this man’s attitude toward his possessions? Did he consider how he could use his “riches” to bring honor and glory and thanksgiving to the God who had blessed him so abundantly? Did he consider how he could use his “riches” to help others who were struggling to make ends meet? Not at all! His attitude toward all of his “riches” centered on— himself! These were his “riches”! These “riches,” these possessions were his ticket to enjoying a life of ease! These “riches,” these possessions meant that he could now do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted “for many years”!
Jesus brings out the utter “foolishness” of having this kind of attitude toward possessions when He says in this parable, “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’” The most “foolish” part of this man’s attitude toward his possessions is that it cut God completely out of the picture! His attitude was focused exclusively on his life in the here and now. He was convinced that he had “many years” to enjoy all the possession he had accumulated. He never gave even a moment’s thought to what happens “next,” what happens to his soul when he dies. Since death can come in an instant, since death can come when we least expect it, the height of “foolishness” is not planning for one’s eternity.
What is the main point of this parable? What does the Son of God want us to take home with us this morning? The answer to both of those questions is found in the closing words of our text, “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”
“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” Only you can determine if your attitude towards your possessions centers on “storing up things” for yourself or being “rich toward God.” How do we make this determination? We start by sitting down and prayerfully examining what we are doing with the possession, the blessings, God graciously gives to us. What do we do with our paycheck after it hits the bank? How do we spend any “extra” money that we receive? If the answers to questions like that center on ourselves, if our plans for our possessions focus on an attitude of “eat, drink and be merry” then we have a problem. Then we need to kneel at the foot of the cross (Pointing to the cross), remember what the Son of God was willing to sacrifice in order to secure our salvation, and ask Him for both forgiveness and guidance— forgiveness for having an improper attitude toward our possessions and guidance to help us become “rich toward God.”
That begs the question: What does it mean to be “rich toward God”? Being “rich toward God” includes recognizing that our greatest and most important “possessions” can’t be bought— not even with all the gold and all the silver and all the precious gems of this world! Our greatest and most important “possessions” were purchase for us at the “cost” of Jesus’ holy precious blood. Our greatest and most important “possessions” are: forgiveness of sins, eternal life and salvation.
Being “rich toward God” includes consciously using whatever material possessions God has placed into our care to openly show our humble dedication to the two greatest Commandments: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mathew 22:37-40). As we balance our bank accounts at the end of the month we have an opportunity to see how well we have done when it comes to being “rich toward God.”
Being “rich toward God” means working hard to provide for our family while always trusting that our God is in control of all things. He is the One who will provide us with our daily bread. He is the One who will provide for our future needs.
Being “rich toward God” means understanding that true “riches” are not to be found in what we leave behind for our loved ones when we die. True “riches” are summed up in the words of the apostle Paul when he writes in his second letter to the Corinthians, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).
Being “rich toward God” means recognizing that we are 100% dependent on the grace and the love, the mercy and the forgiveness of our God. We depend on Him to supply all of our needs. We depend on Him to protect us from our enemies. Ultimately, we depend on Him to “guide us through the valley of the shadow of death” and usher us into that glorious room that He has prepared for us in our heavenly Father’s Home.
What is your attitude towards possessions, my friends? My prayer this morning is that our attitude toward possessions will always be shaped and guided by the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel enables us to see that every possession we have is a gift from our heavenly Father— a gift that He wants us to humbly enjoy, a gift that we want to use in a way that brings glory to Him. The Gospel enables us to look beyond the temporary possessions we have here on this earth to the eternal riches that are waiting for us in heaven. The Gospel is what keeps us from striving to “store up things” for ourselves so that we can always strive to be “rich toward God.”
To God be the glory!
Amen
