Me, Myself, And I

IN REGARDS TO WEALTH, O.J. SIMPSON WAS ONCE QUOTED AS SAYING, “I SIT IN MY HOUSE AND SOMETIMES I GET SO LONELY IT’S UNBELIEVABLE. LIFE HAS BEEN SO GOOD TO ME. I’VE GOT A GREAT WIFE, GOOD KIDS, MONEY, MY OWN HEALTH -- AND I’M LONELY AND BORED... I’VE OFTEN WONDERED WHY SO MANY RICH PEOPLE COMMIT SUICIDE. MONEY SURE ISN’T A CURE-ALL.”

IN ALL THE HISTORY OF HUMANITY MONEY HAS NEVER BEEN THE ANSWER TO ANY OF LIFE’S EQUATIONS. IT HAS BEEN SAID, “WHEN THERE IS AN INHERITANCE TO BE DIVIDED, 99 PERCENT OF THE FAMILY BECOME RAVINOUS WOLVES.”

JESUS FACED THIS ISSUE HEAD-ON AS A MAN COMES TO HIM ASKING FOR HIS PERSONAL INVOLVMENT IN A FAMILY DISPUTE OVER HOW HE THOUGHT HIS FAMILY’S INHERITANCE WAS BEING DIVIDED.

THOUROUGHLY CONVINCED HE WAS BEING CHEATED OUT OF HIS “FAIR SHARE” HE WANTED JESUS TO INTERVENE AND RENDER JUSTICE ON HIS BEHALF, BUT JESUS REFUSED TO GET IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DISPUTE.

JESUS WANTED NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS BECAUSE HE SAW HOW SUCH DISPUTES OVER MONEY CAN BRING DIVISION BETWEEN FAMILIES AND DESTROY THEIR RELATIONSHIPS.

INSTEAD OF GIVING AN ANSWER JESUS ISSUES A WARNING NOT ONLY TO THIS MAN, BUT TO THE ENTIRE MULTITUDE BY SAYING, “WATCH OUT! BE ON YOUR GUARD AGAINST GREED OF EVERY DISCRIPTION.”

THE GREEK WORD FOR “GREED” USED HERE MEANS “THE THIRST FOR HAVING MORE.” JESUS IS TELLING THEM TO GUARD AGAINST THE DESTRUCTIVE POWER BEHIND THE THIRST TO HAVE…HAVE…HAVE…MORE AND MORE…AND STILL MORE.

JESUS DOES NOT WANT US TO BECOME ENSLAVED TO THIS DEMON OF GREED. THIS IS WHY JESUS COMPLETED HIS WARNING BY SAYING “A PERSON’S LIFE DOES NOT CONSIST IN THE ABUNDANCE OF THE THINGS THEY POSSESS.”

TO DRIVE HOME HIS POINT HE TOLD A PARABLE OF THE RICH FOOL. IN THIS PARABLE JESUS WAS TRYING TO EMPHASIZE HOW FOOLISH IT IS TO BE SO FULL OF OURSELVES. HOW GRIEVOUS IT IS TO HAVE “ME, MYSELF, AND I” AS THE THREE FAVORITE PEOPLE IN OUR LIVES.

JESUS POINTED OUT THAT GOD THE FATHER SAW THIS MAN AS A FOOL. A FOOL BECAUSE OF HIS AUDACITY TO THINK THAT HE, NOT GOD, WAS IN CONTROL OF HIS LIFE, SOUL AND BODY. THAT, SOMEHOW, HE WAS “THE MASTER OF HIS FATE AND THE CAPTAIN OF HIS SOUL.”

THIS FARMER WAS IN TROUBLE AND THE TROUBLE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH HIS SUCCESS AND WEALTH. IN FACT, NEITHER WAS JESUS CONDEMING THE MAN FOR EATING, DRINKING AND BEING MERRY.

THE REASON THE MAN WAS CALLED FOOLISH WAS FOR BUILDING BIGGER BARNS. THE POINT OF THE STORY IS THAT THIS BUSINESSMAN WAS PLANNING TO STORE MORE OF HIS WEALTH THAN WHAT HE ACTUALLY NEEDED TO SURVIVE ON!

HE WAS FULL OF SELFISHNESS. DID YOU NOTICE THAT IN VERSES 17-19, THE WORDS “I” AND “MY”APPEARS TWELVE TIMES? JESUS IS EMPHASIZING THAT HE DIDN’T NEED TO BUILD BECAUSE HE ALREADY HAD BARNS THAT WERE BIG ENOUGH. HE DIDN’T NEED THE EXCESS GRAIN BECAUSE HE ALREADY HAD PLENTY TO EAT AND DRINK.

HE WAS SO THOROUGHLY CAUGHT UP IN HIMSELF THAT HE FAILED TO REALIZE THAT HIS ABUNDANCE COULD HAVE BEEN USED TO HELP OTHERS WHO HAD NO GRAIN AT ALL. SO BLIND THAT HE FAILED TO SEE HOW GOD HAD GENEROUSLY BLESSED HIS LAND WITH FRUITFULLNESS AND FORTUNE.

THE INTERESTING THING I FIND ABOUT THIS PARABLE IS THAT JESUS NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT THERE BEING SOMETHING WRONG WITH AMASSING WEALTH. THE TROUBLE CAME WHEN HE DECIDED TO STORE IT UP JUST FOR HIMSELF.

HE WAS FOOLISH BECAUSE HE DID NOT RECOGNIZE THAT HIS WEALTH HAD BROUGHT HIM HAPPINESS AND THAT IT COULD DO THE SAME FOR OTHERS IF ONLY IT WERE NOT LOCKED UP IN THOSE BIGGER BARNS.

HIS SIN WAS NOT THAT HE HAD BECOME WEALTHY, BUT THAT HE WANTED TO HOARD ALL HIS WELATH. HIS SIN WAS NOT THAT HE ATE, DRANK, AND WAS MERRY, BUT THAT HE WAS WITHHOLDING THE MEANS FOR OTHERS TO DO THE SAME. HE LITERALLY BLOCKED GOD’S ABILITY TO USE HIS ABUNDANCE AS A BLESSING TO OTHERS.

IN TELLING THIS STORY, JESUS WANTED THE PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND THAT HE WASN’T CONDEMNING THE GATHERING OF WEALTH, BUT HE WAS CONDEMNING THE REFUSAL TO SHARE THE PORTIONS OF WEALTH WE DO NOT NEED.

LET US NOT BECOME SHORTSIGHTED BY FAILING TO BE GOOD CUSTODIANS OF THE ABUNDANT BLESSINGS THAT GOD HAS ENTRUSTED TO US TO DISTRIBUTE TO OTHERS IN NEED.

IN THE END, THE MAN DIES AND I’M SURE THE PEOPLE LAUGHED AS THEY DIVIDED UP ALL THE POSSESSIONS HE SO CALLOUSLY TRIED TO HEAP UP INTO PILES FOR HIMSELF. WHAT HE THOUGHT WAS FOR HIMSELF IS NOW FOR SOMEONE ELSE.

LET US NOT BECOME AS THIS RICH FOOL. LET US LEARN TO GIVE AND TO GIVE GRACIOUSLY. LET US BE ENCOURAGED TODAY THAT GIVING IS MORE THAN “JUST” SHARING OUR POSSESSIONS, WEALTH, INCOME AND SUCH. GIVING, MOST IMPORTANTLY, IS THE SHARING OF SELF.