Luke 12.13-21
The Rich Fool
Did you know you can purchase almost anything on eBay these days? Just this past week an Australian man has sold his complete life – his home, his possessions, his job and his friends – the bidding had gotten to £400,000. Not so long ago a 20 year old student in the USA put his ‘soul’ up for sale on eBay. The bidding went to $400 before eBay removed the advertisement. What value would you put on your life this morning? What would you grab from the house, after your family, if there was a fire? Did you ever play that ‘midnight game’ that Gordon MacDonald mentions at the beginning of ‘When Men Think Private Thoughts’? Or maybe you have recently read ‘When it is all over it all goes back in the box’ by Ortberg. How do you value a life? How do you measure what your life is worth?
Have you read that children’s book ‘Guess How much I love you?’ Read it sometime – simple but maybe we all need to take it on board this morning. I tell Taylor that I love her more than the moon, the stars and the whole wide world – you cannot measure that, can you? Turn with me to Luke 12.13-21. Here is Jesus’ teaching, via a parable, about how to value a life, your life.
To the classical Greek world the division between soul and body was commonly accepted, as it is today. To the Hebrew mind, and to the Christian mind, such a division was, and is, unthinkable. For the Judaeo-Christian mind it is impossible to separate the soul from the body. The Hebrew word ‘nepes’ – the self was a whole person, indivisible into parts and it is that understanding that we must keep in mind as we turn to this parable of Christ Jesus.
The Setting – if you look at 12.1 you will see that Jesus is teaching crowd of many thousands. From the crowd a voice is raised above the others and asks the question of verse 13. ‘Teacher’ is Luke’s word for ‘Rabbi’ and the man in the crowd assumes he is addressing a legal expert. So he asks Christ a question concerning inheritance. I want you to note first what he does not ask Jesus. He does not say to Jesus that he and his brother are quarrelling over money and that he does not want this to get out of hand and to destroy their relationship with one another. Therefore for the sake of their brotherly relationship would Jesus intervene and reconcile them. No, instead, he says something like this. “Rabbi, my brother is in the wrong here, would you tell him he is in the wrong and that he should give me my rights.” The words of this man, the demands that he makes, indicates that he and his brother had already been estranged because of this issue. The assumption behind the request is clear. The father had died without leaving a will or instructions. According to the law of the time the estate could not be divided until the older brother agreed. The fact that this man wants his inheritance would lead us to conclude that he was the younger brother. The petitioner had already decided what would be a just outcome to his request. How would Jesus respond?
Verse 14 – Jesus addresses the questioner as ‘Man’ which was form of address which denoted displeasure in the Middle East. He refuses to be the judge between these two men and proceeds to explain why. He uses the question as a teaching opportunity, not just for the benefit of the man who had asked the question.
Verse 15 – here is a clear warning about the insatiable desires of possessions. Possessions are attached to a deep, often irrational fear, that one day we will not have enough. There is always that gnawing fear that one day it will all be gone and it is never satisfied. Why? Because the insecurity is never dealt with. Christ warns the man, and us, that the measure of a life is more than possessions. The amount that you have is no measure of the value of your life. Note how Christ describes this desire for possessions – ‘greed.’ Greed is never satisfied, it never has enough. Christ then moves to tell them a parable to illustrate this general point.
Verses 16- 20 the parable of the rich fool.
The man in the parable is already rich. He had what he needed for daily life and a bit more. He did not work any harder for this bumper harvest that had arrived this year. It was not by the sweat of his brow or the toil of his labours that his fields had yielded more than any other year. But listen to what he says next – read verses 17-19. Did you notice that at the very beginning? ‘He discussed with himself..’ This would have come as a shock to those listening to Christ that day. In the Middle East people make important decisions after long discussions with their friends. Everybody’s business is everybody’s business in such village life. Sometimes even trivial decisions are only made after discussion with family and friends but it would appear from Christ that this man had no friends. The literal translation is that ‘he dialogued with himself.’ What a sad scene is painted in those words – he had riches but he was alone. Isaiah 5.8 warned about the dangers of wealth – this man had paid no heed to the warning and was alone, with no one to discuss what he should do with this bumper harvest.
“What shall I do with my crop?” This man believes that this harvest is his. He shows absolutely no awareness that this harvest is a gift from God. He has a plan – verse 18 – but note how self centred it all is. Read verse 18. There is no mention of what the farm labourers had done. It is my crop, my barn, my grain, my goods and my soul. He finishes by saying “I will say to my self/soul” in verse 19. Let me read a verse to you from Ecclesiastes 8.15. It would appear that this rich man had decided to follow that advice, at least the start of the verse because he has failed to heed, ignored, the latter part of the verse – it is God who gives the days of life to a man. This man believes that a man made in the image of God can be ultimately satisfied with eating, drinking and being merry. What a fool he truly is? In Psalm 42.1-2 we read that the soul of man thirst for God just as the soul of a deer thirsts for water. Augustine famously stated ‘my soul is restless till it finds it rest in thee.’ This rich man believed his soul would find rest, satisfaction, in the storing of the abundance of his wealth in bigger barns.
Suddenly, verse 21, the voice of God is heard – read verse 21. God announces that this man’s soul is forfeited that very night and the goods that he was planning to store, and satisfy his soul with, would be left for someone else to enjoy. In the Greek there is a subtle play on words. The man, following the teaching of Ecclesiastes, plans to ‘make merry’ or ‘rejoice’ which is the Greek word ‘euphraino’ but God calls him ‘aphron’ – they sound almost identical when spoken. He thought he would ‘rejoice’ but God said he was a ‘fool.’ He learns, too late, that his soul is not his but is a gift from God. In fact the language used by Christ here denotes the repayment of a loan. His soul was not his but was God’s and God called it in. The question now moves to who will inherit this man’s wealth – Ecclesiastes 2.18-19 read. In the parable God reminds this rich man of this other gem of wisdom from Ecclesiastes.
Jesus concludes the parable with another general principle – verse 21. The young man had come demanding his share of the wealth of his father but Christ turns his attention to his wealth with God. Whether the inheritance was under the control of his brother or them both ultimately it was under the control of God. Ultimately it belonged to God and was on loan to them.
Conclusion
You know it would be easy for us all to dismiss this parable this morning. Alan, I am not rich like this man. I am not about to knock down any barns and build bigger barns. I have had no bumper harvest this year or haven’t you read about the credit crunch. Allow me for one minute give you some facts:
If you have money in the bank this morning, money in your wallet and if you have a dish in your house that has spare change sitting in it then right at this moment you are in the wealthiest 8% of the world’s population.
If you went to school and learned to read then you are better off than 2 billion people in this world today.
If you have food at home, live in a house and have bed to sleep on then you are wealthier than 75% of the world’s population
I could go on but I will not. You know what I am saying to you this morning. But let us bring it right down to our level this morning. Right now if God demanded your soul of you where would your wealth/treasure be stored? Right at this moment where do you stand with God? Are you the blessed who has stored up treasure in heaven with God in Christ? Or this morning are you a ‘rich fool’ before God whose material possessions are keeping you on the road to hell and a lost eternity? Sobering isn’t it? God will one day demand an account from you. Listen to these words from James 1.11. Is that you this morning? As you go about your daily business will you fade away just as a plant withers and dies in the heat of the sun?
This young man came asking about material wealth and Christ turned his eyes to his eternal wealth – what about you this morning? By the very fact that we live in this country we are amongst the top 8% of wealthiest people in this world. Are you planning on building bigger barns? Are you going to plan your life - eating, drinking and making merry? Heed the warning, my friends, because this very night God could demand your soul of you and where would you spend eternity?
Amen.
