The Failure Of A Success
Luke 12:13-21
It would be interesting and revealing some day to do an exit poll to find out all the things that people had thought about during the sermon. Some young men would no doubt be thinking, “I wonder who that beautiful is sitting three rows over? I wonder if she has a boyfriend? How could I meet her?” Some of the young women would be thinking similar thoughts about some cute guy.
Some of the older men were thinking, “I hope he gets through in time so I can catch the game on TV.” Some may have been thinking about their work and an important meeting coming up this week. Some of the women were thinking about what they would fix for
dinner after church. Others were thinking about problems with their kids. Studies show that we can listen four times faster than people talk, so there’s a lot of time for other thoughts while you’re listening to a sermon!
I would probably take it personally that people are thinking about other things while I preach, except for the fact that people did the same thing when Jesus preached. Who am I to think that I can do better than the Lord? Jesus had just been preaching on the most solemn and weighty matters imaginable, that we need to fear God who can cast us into hell more than we fear men who can
only harm our bodies. You would think that everyone in the audience would be following with Him on these eternally vital matters!
But with a break in the message a man in the crowd spoke up and revealed that he hadn’t been listening to Jesus’ sermon at all! He said, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” If I had been Jesus, I probably would have thought, “Where was this guy during my sermon?” The man was consumed with his problem, and he had come to try to get Jesus to solve his problem. He wasn’t there to have Jesus change his heart. He wanted his problem fixed without confronting some deeper issues of sin in his life. LIKE MANY TODAY WE WANT JESUS TO SERVE THEM BUT NOT TO SAVE THEM.
In his mind, his problem was his greedy brother who wasn’t giving him his fair share of the inheritance. Surely, Jesus would see the injustice of this situation and right the wrong!
But instead, the man got something he hadn’t bargained for! Jesus saw that his words revealed his heart. The man’s heart problem was not his brother’s greed but his own greed. Yes, the brother may have also been greedy’ therefore, Jesus’ parable was not just directed to the man, but to “them,” which probably included the brother along with the whole crowd. But this man had his focus on getting what he wanted in this world, but Jesus shows him that his true need was to be ready for the next world.
People would have looked at this man in this parable that the Lord used and said that here is a man of success. Men would point him out to their sons. Many would be impressed with what he had accomplished.
Anything he wanted was no doubt at his fingertips, and if not he could buy it ! He had climbed to the pinnacle of success, yet God calls him a " fool," one without sense, or understanding.
There is a MENTAL FOOL (Psalm 14:1).
There is a MORAL FOOL (Proverbs 14:9 ).
Here is a MATERIAL FOOL.
Was this man called a fool because he had wealth? I do not think so!
Was this man called a fool because he was diligent? I do not thin so!
Was this man called a fool because he has aspiring I don’t think so!
When does God call a man who the eyes of the world was a success a fool?
I. A man is called a fool by God when he mistakes Himself for God
His ground was fertile, and his crop was fruitful As he looked at them, he did not see the hand of God – he saw only himself.
There is no giving of thanks to God for his success. In fact, there is no mention of God at all. God was left completely out of the picture of his life.
A. Notice the thoughts he considered “Within himself”
“What shall I do?”
He did not need God for he thought that he mistook himself for god. He did not need to consult God for he was his own god. He thought he was smart enough to decide for himself. .
Those who plan without God betray their own foolishness. See James 4:13-15.
"The way of a fool is right in his own eyes."
He only, who could bring abut success is left out of his reckoning.
B. Notice the things he claimed
The rich fool was foolish in failing to recognize where his wealth had come from.
He recognizes no ones claim on his possession but self.
"my barns"
"my fruits"
"my goods"
“my soul” - Has not God said “All souls are mine. ”
The material blessings of life are either a mirror in which we see ourselves or a window through which we see God. He only saw himself. It was all MINE and none of THINE.
See Psalm 24:1. Every tree, plant, and shrub; the silver and the gold, and the cattle on a thousand hills are the Lord’s. We are in realty nothing but stewards; God owns it all.
Any who dismiss God from the scene of their life, God calls that individual man a fool. Jesus did not call this man a fool because he was rich. Jesus called him a fool because he mistook himself for God.
II. A man is called a fool by God when he mistakes his body for his soul.
The plans and provisions he was making were for his body but not for his soul, and yet he speaks to his soul.
He had a False Success - in the eyes of world he was wise and successful, but in eyes of God he was a fool and a failure.
He had a False Satisfaction - trying to satisfy his soul with goods from a barn. A full barn does not guarantee a satisfying life to the soul.
He may have been an expert at tilling the soil, but he didn’t know anything about tending his soul.
A. Notice the goals he pursued
They were fleshly. He wanted to tear down his barns and build bigger barns. This is not a spiritual goal.
1. He had goals of profit
2. He had goals of plenty
Things will not satisfy the soul. He was so ignorant of what really belonged to the soul that he offered it the foods of the body. You cannot satisfy the soul with material things.
B. Notice the goods he professed
He said he had barns and much fruits. His riches dimmed his view of what he really needed: Jesus!
If he had said, “Body, take thine ease, for thou hast goods laid up for many years,” there would have been sense in that; but the soul is in no way interested in a barn full of corn or a bag full of gold.
Solomon like the rich man tired to satisfy his soul with things but found it was empty.
The soul is not satisfied with abundance OF THINGS . Solomon had houses, gardens, vineyards, cattle, silver, gold, hired servants. and great forest. He had great works, great workers, and great wealth. But it did not satisfy the longing of his soul
Sometimes a man’s overcrowded barns are an indicator of an impoverished soul. All the things are often an indication of an emptiness in the heart of man.
III. A man is called a fool by God when he mistakes time for eternity.
He envisioned a time when he could take it easy and not work so hard. He thought he would be secure.
He thought about time and not eternity. Preparation had been made for time and none for eternity Time is temporal ---- it is swiftly passing. Eternity is forever.
He thought of the future but it was limited only to time.
We are prone to say, "Too bad this fellow died just when he had everything going for him. How tragic he could not finish his great plans." However, the greatest tragedy is not what the man left behind but what lay before him: eternity without God.
When you plan for the future, plan terminally.
A. The shortness of his pleasure
“Many years”
He may have had a store of much goods to be enjoyed over many years but he had not have a store of many years stored up to enjoy his much goods
The statistics on are quite impressive. “One out one people die."
He made arrangements to live but not to die. Instead of barns to savor, he had a burial that separates. Instead of having goods to delight he had a grave that divides.
“Whose shall those things be which thou has provided” - they will not be for him who had provided and palnned for them.
B. The silence in his planing
Before the day was out, his planning was over. Some one else was planning for him now.
False Security.
The individual who provides for this life, but does not plan for eternity, is wise for a moment, but a fool forever.
Conclusion:
I trust this morning that you will take this incident between two brothers and the parable that called it forth and take a spiritual inventory of your life. May God help us to profit from the parable of the success who was a failure.
