Luke 12: 13-21
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 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.”
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18 “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. 19 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.” ’ 20 “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?’
21 “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”
This is a time when many people are struggling. The financial engine of our country is sputtering. As a result, people are losing their jobs, their homes. Many are struggling just to get by including some of us. And who knows when things will turn around.
So it might seem strange that your pastor picked this text to preach on. It might seem out of place in such a time as this to sound the warning that it does.
But it’s not. What Jesus warns about is not so much a problem of how much we have. Rather what he warns us about is a heart problem. What value, what place do we give to the stuff in our lives. Is money, and the stuff it buys where we put our hope for happiness and the good life? That’s a heart problem that doesn’t require you to be rich. So our Savior’s warning is for us all. Watch out!
Watch out, dear Christian
Picture this scene. Luke tells us a crowd of many thousands had gathered to see and hear Jesus., so many that they were trampling on one another. Here is the one who gave sight to the blind, fed thousands with a few fish and loaves of bread. Here is the one that pointed them to the kingdom of God.
It’s obvious that in such a crowd not everyone could get near him to hear him and certainly not talk with him. But for one man that opportunity comes. Think about it. If that was you, what would you ask of Jesus? What would you ask him to explain or do? Now he stands before you.
But what does this man ask of him? Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. Here stands the one who would lay down his life for us all, the Son of God. He comes with the words of eternal life. But this man tries to enlist Jesus to help him get a bigger slice of the family pie. It’s a window into his heart.
What does Jesus see when he looks there? It’s pretty obvious. He turns to the crowd and says: Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed. (15) In other words, greed is something you and I need to beware of. It is something that lives inside each of us. It’s part of our sinful nature that we need to watch out for.
I call it the grab of greed. For what is greed. It’s a selfish desire to grab all I can for me. But what happens when we act on that greed, when we start grabbing up every bit of time, attention, all the money or stuff we can get our hands on. What happens in that grab of greed? People get left out. People get hurt. You heard what James wrote to the rich: You have hoarded wealth in the last days…You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence while ignoring and taking advantage of others. (5:3,6)
But greed doesn’t just hurt others. It hurts us as well. You see, greed grabs hold of something else. It grabs our hearts and puts something else in God’s place. That’s why Paul wrote to the Colossians 3 Put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature: One thing he lists is this: greed, which he calls idolatry. For greed grabs your heart and puts something else in the place of God.
Here Jesus is talking about stuff. About houses and cars and gadgets and bank accounts. If only I can get this. If only I can get more of that. Stuff we might set our hearts on. Watch out Jesus says. Watch out for that grab of greed. A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. So watch out, dear Christian. because that’s where the world points you.
I just Googled a man’s name and got his obituary. I served him as pastor down in New Mexico. He had come to this country from Denmark with just a few dollars in his pocket. He worked hard and through the years became a leading land developer in Arizona and New Mexico. At one point he had a business jet, was friends with our Senator and had a place in Maui. Then something happened where he lost it all, the saving and loan debacle. This rich, powerful man was reduced to bankruptcy. It broke his heart and almost took his life. But it also did something else. The Lord used it to teach him what he says here. A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.
Instead this same one points us in an entirely different direction that the world calls foolishness. He says to us: I have come that they might have life and have it to the full. He says to us: I am the way, the truth and the life. And yes we agree. We say yes Jesus. I believe life, real life is found in you. But how easily our hearts are distracted and led astray. So watch out. It so easy to let ourselves sink down into that cozy chair of wealth.
Jesus 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. Think about the man’s question. What shall I do? He was blessed by the Lord. But not a word of thanksgiving to the Lord for his rich blessing. He’s too comfortable into that cozy chair of wealth.
18 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. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ He slouched down into that cozy chair and thought to himself. With all this stuff, I’ve got it made. I’m set for life.
But was he really? Are you? Jesus tells another parable about the sower and the seed. The seed of course is the Word of God and the soil is men’s hearts. He speaks of some seed that landed amongst thorns. That seed begins to grow but gets choked out by the thorns. Then he tells us what those thorns represent. One thing is this. The deceitfulness of wealth.
There is a proverb I like to quote. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Give me only my daily bread. Then the writer explains. Otherwise I may have too much and disown you and say Who is the Lord? That’s the deceitfulness of wealth. It can make you think what this rich man did. I have all I need. I’m set for life. And it might seem so sitting in that cozy chair of wealth. It’s might seem so until it’s too late. So watch out. Don’t be deceived. Don’t be like this man who overlooked what we really need from Jesus. Forgiveness for our sins, peace with God and life, life that does not end at the grave, but life with Him.
There was a time in our country called the Gold rush. People came from all over our land to prospect for gold. Many came to California to places like Nevada City. They were looking for treasure that would make them rich. And some found it. But some found something else. A mineral called pyrite. It looks like gold. It glitters like gold. It got some very excited to think they would now be rich with gold. But when they brought it in they suddenly found it was worthless. They got fooled. And so pyrite came to be called, fool’s gold. Well here you might say that Jesus warns us in this parable to watch out. Watch out for what I call fool’s gold.
He said to himself, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ In one moment all the things that he had treasured in this life became worthless, all the things he depended upon could do him no good. They were fool’s gold. For when this short life comes to an end and we face eternity, the stuff that we get so worked up about will do us no good.
There is only thing that will have any value and that it this. Our relationship with God. Are we rich toward God? This man was not. His heart had no place for the Lord, only himself and his stuff, fool’s gold.
Well what about you? You know the grace of our Lord Jesus that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor. Bearing our sins, he became the poorest, most despised person on earth as he suffered and died for you. He became poor that you might become rich. Rich in God’s love, rich in his forgiveness and rich in the sure hope of the resurrection. He became poor that you now can enjoy a rich relationship with God.
So watch out, Jesus says to us. You have a treasure. Keep Him in your heart. Then you won’t leave this world empty, but blessed. Amen.
