Luke 12:13-21 Don’t be a fool
1. Jesus encourages folks to watch out for Greed
• Jesus says, in verse 15: “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”
• The brother in the text is concerned about his share of an inheritance. Look at verse13Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."
• Remember “rich young ruler” what must I do to inherit eternal Life he did all the things he should but Jesus said, Sell what thou hast and give to the poor then he went away sorrowfully ?
• Jesus said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew
2. Jesus talks about a fool
• The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17He 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
• 19And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '
3. God calls this person a fool
• 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?'
• God might be saying to the fool Open your eyes guard against greed in all its forms.”
• Don’t let Greed grab you by the throat and rob you of your life.”
• Once it’s grabbed you,. You will always be unhappy; what you have will never be enough. No wonder that Jesus says, “For one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions” (v. 15).
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4. Is this man a fool or not?
• This man is riddled with anxiety “And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’” (v. 17). Woe is me! What should I do?! I don’t have enough room to store all my crops!” In other words, “I have no more room for my stuff!”
• Now He really is a fool: Consider His statement Now he gets this insane idea: “I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store” … all my stuff (v. 18).
• His stuff is the cause of His anxiety 17He thought to himself, `What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
• As someone said, “Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get.” Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing” (vv. 22-23).
5. This man is a fool because of Greed, but also because He is not rich towards God. You can be rich and be rich in Christ
• Jesus said , 21"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."
• You can be rich and be faithful Abraham’s faith ”So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. 2Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.
• Isaac was rich 12Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him. 13The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy.
• King Solomon 23King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth.
• The faithful follower Jehoshaphat 181Now Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor,
• Hezekiah (2Ki 20:12-13). Job (Job 1:3; 31:24-25,28). Joseph of Arimathea (Mt 27:57). Zacchaeus (Lk 19:2).
6. In conclusion Lets us Be Rich in Christ and don’t be a fool
• Let us be unlike the Rich Man but let us Produce a good crop of faith, faithfulness, let us be Jesus strong
• Let us tear down some barns such as barns of greed, hate, bitterness, unkindness,
• Let us store up some good grain such as Pureness, Holiness, kindness, tender hearted, forgiveness
• Let us take life easy, eat drink and be merry by growing in Christ, being a child of light, by hungering and thirsting for God, grow in grace, let us be the salt of the earth, the city set on a hill, imitators of Jesus, grounded in love, following the Christ and being rooted in Christ. Amen.
