OPEN: The year was 1347. The Black Plague was raging across Europe and people by the 100s and by the 1000s in field and cities all across that part of the world. Some began to suspect the deaths were brought about because of the wrath of God and in one of the cities of Germany (Lubeck, Germany) they determined that they needed to do something to appeal to God for forgiveness. So they began to bring enormous amounts of money, jewels and other riches to churches and monasteries in the area. But there was one monastery that didn’t want their offerings. The monks and priests that monastery were convinced that the money was contaminated with whatever had spread the plague... and so they barred their gates and refused to allow the citizens to enter. But the people were frantic, and so they picked up their valuables - coins, gold, and jewels - and threw them over the walls. But the monks didn’t want this wealth so they threw it all back. Then the citizens threw it back inside, and monks threw it back outside. And so it continued for hours - riches were tossed back and forth until the clerics finally gave up and allowed the riches to remain. Within hours, piles 3 to 4 feet high filled the monastery courtyard and for months following the incident – some say for years - the money remained untouched.
(“More Fascinating Facts” by David Louis p. 31)
The monks and priests at that monastery believed this wealth would harm them. They believed these great riches would destroy them. And that was pretty much what Jesus warned His disciples about. “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” Luke 12:15
This is a repeated theme in Scripture. Paul wrote to Timothy: “… those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.” 1Timothy 6:9
And Job said “If I have made gold my trust or called fine gold my confidence, if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant or because my hand had found much… I would have been false to God above.” Job 31:24-25 & 28
Now, that’s not to say that being rich is a bad thing. Throughout the Old Testament, God blessed many who loved Him with wealth. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, David, Solomon and others - they were all wealthy men.
In fact, God implied that if Israel obeyed Him… they would be a wealthy nation. “Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Deuteronomy 8:11-14
So you see, the problem is not wealth. The problem is when wealth takes control of people and causes them to forget God. Psalm 10:3 tells us “… the one, greedy for gain, curses and renounces the LORD.”
And that brings us to our text this morning. There’s a man who wants Jesus to settle a family dispute: “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
Now, that was normal back then. William Barclay notes, “It was not uncommon for people in Palestine to take their unsettled disputes to respected Rabbis; but Jesus refused to be mixed up in anyone’s disputes about money.”
But now why wouldn’t Jesus do that? Why wouldn’t he get mixed in this argument between these 2 brothers? Well because… the problem (as with many disputes over inheritance) had to do with greed/covetousness.
ILLUS: I’ve known brothers and sisters who hate each other and have never talked to each other because they didn’t get what they wanted when daddy died. I’ve even heard of a family where brothers cheated their sisters out of the farm… and it created a conflict they NEVER resolved. And they were all “Christians.”
You see, an inheritance often brings out the worst in people, because there are people who love their riches more than they love their relatives. So Jesus rightly turns down this greedy family member and launches into a lesson about covetousness: “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness.”
To illustrate His point, Jesus tells them a parable about a wealthy man who had been blessed with a bumper crop. So he decided to tear down his old barns and build new barns to hold all the excess. Now, is there anything wrong with a farmer having a good harvest? (NOPE) And was there anything wrong with building bigger barns? (NOT REALLY) So what was wrong with what this guy was doing?
Well, Jesus said the wealthy man said: “I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:19-21
What was wrong? Well, the man’s - FIRST thoughts - were about HIMSELF. “I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ It was all about him! In fact, if you went through this parable you would find of the 54 words in the parable in the original Greek, fully 18 of them are first-person words like “I,” “me,” and “my.” (observation by Dan Doriani).
God - and what God wanted of him - wasn’t even on this guy’s radar.
ILLUS: A few weeks ago the news was filled with stories about mega-million lotteries and power ball lotteries. And on Facebook, someone asked (leaving out any reference to lotteries) “What would you do if someone suddenly gave you $50 million.”
I was intrigued by the answers people gave. They wrote about how they’d pay off their debts, or go on a cruise or a special vacation. How they’d buy a better house or better car, or maybe get a take care of their parents or set aside a trust fund for their kids. And that was all good stuff.
But what I found interesting was that nobody seemed to mention… God. Nobody talked about how they’d spend any part of this vast amount of money for missions or helping the poor, or giving to the church. None of that came up. God, and what He would want from them, wasn’t even on their radar.
Now… it didn’t really matter. The money wasn’t real! None of those folks had ever received $50 million… nor were they likely to. It was all a game! (PAUSE) But in that game, they revealed their priorities. When they let their imaginations run wild, God didn’t even show up in their thoughts.
I mean it not like they had any of this money anyway. They could have given it ALL $50 million to God and they wouldn’t have been out a dime - because there was no money!!! It was all imaginary. But their first thoughts were all about themselves. I – ME – MINE – MYSELF… just like the rich fool.
Even without the presence of millions of dollars in their bank accounts, God doesn’t show up in a lot of people’s financial thinking. I ran across a cute little poem a few years back:
“It's not what you'd do with a million, if a million were your lot. It's what you are doing at present with the dollar and a quarter you've got.”
The Bible repeatedly teaches about this: Proverbs 3:9-10 says “Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.”
The rich fool forgot that. He didn’t honor God with the first fruits, because all he could think about was himself (not God). But why? Why would the Rich Fool forget God? Well, the rest of Jesus’ teaching tells us why: “Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!” Luke 12:22-24
You see, the Rich Fool wasn’t rich toward God because… He was afraid!
And that’s the reason a lot of Christians don’t honor God with finances. They are afraid. They are afraid that God isn’t going to take care of them. And so, they get anxious. They worry about they’re going to eat. They worry about how they’re going to have clothing. Where they’re going to live.
Money is the one place where many of us Christians struggle with our faith. We’re not sure we can trust God enough to really take care of our needs. Money is the barometer of our faith and it often reflected by much we put in the offering plate, or how much we help the poor, or give to missions.
Now, oddly enough, the one group that struggles the most on this… are the rich.
ILLUS: I have a friend who is a preacher and he tells of a relative of his who belongs to church he serves. The relative is fairly wealthy and often brags about the fact that he gives a great deal to the church. By my friend tells me he’s watched this relative put money in the plate and he knows this wealthy older man usually only puts in $10 or $20.
There’s an unusual prayer in Proverbs: “give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.” Proverbs 30:8-9
The rich tend to trust their money, their possessions, their 401 K’s. And too often they’re the ones who put $5 or $10 or even $20 in the plate (that’s if they feel generous). They have lots of money… but they just don’t give it to God.
But (now wait a minute) don’t the rich have more money than the poor? Of course they do. That’s part of the definition of being rich! But they have different priorities about how they spend it.
ILLUS: Several years ago we bought a water purifier for under the kitchen sink from a local company. But that local company was eventually bought out by another company in a much larger and wealthier city about 30 minutes away. Over time the “bladder” for the purifier needed to be replaced and we called the new company to send a repairman. As the repairman was working under the sink I spent some time talking with him. I noted that his company must prefer doing jobs in that larger city – where they had a couple of car companies and a large battery making company. Compared with our smaller city, that big city must be a better market for them.
“No,” he replied. “We would much rather do business in Logansport.”
I was surprised and asked him why. He responded that even though people tended to make more money in that larger city, they had their problems. They’d often buy homes in rich subdivisions. Then they’d notice that the car in their neighbor’s driveway was better than theirs… so they’d go and buy a similar or better vehicle. They’d see a boat a neighbor had and decide they needed one too. And on and on it would go until they were so far in debt that they had to work overtime to make the payments on their loans. Oftentimes certain debts would go unpaid. Debts like the one to their company. They much preferred to do business in Logansport. People here paid their bills.
Jesus gives us those priorities when He quotes the Rich Fool’s in Luke 12:19 “I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’
So, what was the goal of the rich fool? He wanted to relax. He wanted to enjoy the “good life.” And that’s what often happens when people who cling to money - they’re driven to enjoy the GOOD LIFE… but not the “God” life. So they end up trusting in their money, their possessions, and their 401 K’s.
I think maybe the rich fool went to “church” – I’m sure he attended the Temple and the synagogue. But he didn’t trust God. Why? Well (pulling some bills from my wallet) I can see THIS. I can count this. I can tally up the amount of money I have in savings and checking and other accounts… but I can’t see God. I can’t see God, but I can see and touch my money… and so it is easier to trust that which I can see.
And that’s what happens with too many church-goers. They can’t see God, so He’s not quite “real” to them. I mean, they’ll go through the motions of church – singing, praying, communion, the sermon – but it’s all a matter of doing “church.” They’ve done their religious duty, but they don’t think much about God because He’s just “not there.” And thus (because He’s not quite real) they don’t really believe God will be there for them. And they end up worshipping their money. But they ultimately pay a terrible price.
There’s a book called “Money Madness” that observed: “… (for) those who devote themselves to money… money seems to eat them away, inside out. Inside they lose their joy and spontaneity and generosity of impulse. Outside, they seem to wither, to become pale and drawn and fragile looking. It is difficult, of course, to decide how much of the aging process. But certainly not all old men look as ravaged as Howard Hughes or as desiccated as Rockefeller or Mellon or J. Paul Getty. These men all complained of fatigue, sleepless nights and digestive ailments. They all appeared wispy and mummified.”
(Herb Goldberg & Robert Lewis – “Money Madness” William Morrow & Co.)
A famous millionaire named Andrew Carnegie (his name is on almost all public libraries) noted that "Millionaires who laugh are rare."
ILLUS: There’s a story told of a businessman was granted one wish by an angel. He said he wanted to see the stock prices for one day in the future. He figured that if he knew what the stocks would be like ahead of time he could invest accordingly and thus he could make a killing on the market. So, the angel gave him a future NY Times. As the businessman poured over the stock quotes he began to gloat over his potential riches, but then he leafed through the rest of the paper and stopped on the obituary page. Guess whose name he read there? That’s right – his own. All his great wealth would do him no good… because he’d be dead.
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In Jesus’ parable - God says to wealthy man ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ Luke 12:20
CLOSE: And so Jesus says “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” Luke 12:15
Don’t let money become your God! Let GOD be God… and trust HIM to supply all your needs.
One of the most famous Christians of all time was the apostle Paul. He wrote about half your New Testament and started a number of churches throughout Asia, Greece and Rome. And this great Christian wrote this to the church at Philippi: “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content whether well-fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:11-13
But then Paul gives us this astounding promise in Philippians 4:19 “my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”
Now, here’s the deal – this sermon isn’t meant to shame anyone. We all struggle with our faith at one time or another. But it is worth noting that we often spend money on things that we want. The more we want something, the more we’re willing to pay. So the question this morning is this: how much is God worth to you? How rich do you think you should be toward your God?
INVITATION
