THE FOOL STRAINING AT THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE - TAKE NOTE AND LEARN
THE INTRODUCTION
{{Luke 12:20 but God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you, and now who will own what you have prepared?’}} -
In verse 20 why did God call him a fool? Well there is one thing we know - and that is, he was not a fool because he had a good farm and managed his affairs well. He planned ahead. So, then, why is he called a fool.
THE REQUEST FROM “SOMEONE”
But God called him a fool so there was a reason for this. The answer lies in what had occurred before this verse. It began with a request from “someone” who approached the Lord asking Him to decide a matter on his behalf. Verse 13 is the start and verse 14 is the Lord’s response to that, and it would seem on face value that He was a little abrupt with the “someone”.
{{Luke 12:13 Someone in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me,” Luke 12:14 but He said to him, “Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbiter over you?”}}
The reason why the Lord dealt with him a bit abruptly lies in what follows in the parable resulting from this request. The divine One knew the end from the beginning and He knew what lay in the heart of the inquirer. Before the parable, the Lord said this in verse 15 by way of introduction -
{{Luke 12:15 and He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed, for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”}}
Well, very importantly, in verse 15 the Lord exposes greed and because He knows the heart of man He knew the request was linked with greed. The man had the wrong motive with regard to his brother and the inheritance. The Lord knew that. He knows everything. Thank God we have a Saviour who knows everything. He knows my problems and the desires of my heart. He knows my failures, every one. That verse was a rebuke to the “someone” who asked but it is so important a principle in life that He addressed His answer to all of them.
MOVING TO THE PARABLE
Let us read the Parable carefully – {{Luke 12:16-20 “He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a certain rich man was very productive, and he began reasoning to himself saying, ‘What shall I do since I have no place to store my crops?’ and he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods, and I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come. Take your ease, eat, drink and be merry,”’ but God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you, and now who will own what you have prepared?’}}
This parable is about a rich farmer with a productive farm. As I said already he seemed to manage his farm well. The man was enterprising – good business practices. He planned for the proper use of this productive land. He assessed the potential and planned accordingly by replacing his old barns with bigger in order to accommodate the harvest. He worked hard his whole life we would think, and retirement was near so he began to map out some activity. Is that wrong? Is it wrong to get to retirement age and go cruising or travelling or doing what you were not able to do earlier because of work and family? We don’t think so. We could even say he was honest and treated people fairly and maybe conducted good works. We could argue all that from silence.
Therefore why did God judge him so harshly in verse 20? Some say it was because he was rich. The Lord said it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. THE FOOL AT THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE. {{Luke 18:24 and Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! Luke 18:25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Luke 18:26 They who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?”}}
He was rich but that was not the reason for God calling him a fool, for Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were rich. He was successful but that was not the reason because Joseph was successful in Egypt and Daniel was in Babylon. He wanted to retire with a good superannuation system and go cruising and eating out and enjoying himself, but that was not the reason either, for Jonah went cruising and David and Solomon ate and drank well in kingly palaces, and the household of the prodigal son did what the father of the household stated, “Eat, drink and be merry”.
We come back to verse 20. The answer indeed lies in verse 20 and the language used. God called him a fool and as we look at the parable, he was no fool at all according to human reasoning. We have to go to Psalms to see what God had already said. {{Psalm 14:1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt. They have committed abominable deeds. There is no one who does good.”}} The fool has said in his heart there is no God. What that Psalms verse is saying is more than just talking to atheists. It means setting God aside and not even acknowledging Him in your life. It is as if God does not exist. It fits David Attenborough.
For the farmer, God did not count. He was either an atheist, or operated as if he was one. He just disregarded God completely. It is appointed unto man to die once and after this, the judgment. God called that man to account on a particular night. The time for repentance had passed. This man was a fool because he set God aside. I looked up Proverbs yesterday and found 69 references to fools. (Share some of these. Highlighted in blue).
TRUE DEPENDENCE ON GOD
Chapter 12 continues and we will read on from the parable.
{{Luke 12:21 “so is the man who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”}}
The Lord clarifies this very well in verse 21. He presents to us the two ways. You have a man who lays up much treasure but discounts God. By inference you would have a man who is rich in God’s sight and may or may not have treasure, BUT if one does not have treasure towards God, he has absolutely nothing.
{{Luke 12:22 He said to His disciples, “For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat, nor for your body, as to what you shall put on, Luke 12:23 for life is MORE than food, and the body than clothing. Luke 12:24 Consider the ravens for they neither sow nor reap, and they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them. How much more valuable you are than the birds! Luke 12:25 Which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life’s span? Luke 12:26 If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why are you anxious about other matters? Luke 12:27 Consider the lilies how they grow. They neither toil nor spin, but I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these. Luke 12:28 If God so arrays the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you, O men of little faith! Luke 12:29 Do not seek what you shall eat, and what you shall drink, and do not keep worrying, Luke 12:30 for all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek, but your Father knows that you need these things, Luke 12:31 but seek for His kingdom, and these things shall be added to you. Luke 12:32 Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. Luke 12:34 for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”}}
I don’t know if it is because one gets older but for me anyway, things get clearer in life in the matters that follow in this chapter after the parable. The Lord is speaking very tenderly to His own and laying before them the faith life.
He begins in verse 23 by placing realities in context. There is something more important than food, clothing and shelter, things considered the necessities of life. Would God deny these to His own children? No, God wouldn’t, but man does, and in God’s providence it is allowed in His permissive will. He allows that to happen as we know that happens to Christians in oppressed countries. To find the answer to what is more important than food, clothing and shelter, income, financial stability, transport and many other things we take for granted, we must move to verses 31 and 34. That is the “more” of verse 23.
Our priorities must be at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a life of faith that says, “I am placing all my needs and problems at the feet of my blessed Lord.” We can stand back you know, and see how God will work for us. Too often we are like Martha fussing around and getting anxious and then a bit cranky. The Lord wants us to be like Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus.
In verses 23 – 32 He develops the matters of physical needs, for God cares very much about physical needs. Do you know some of the richest people spiritually live in poverty? They have learnt what it means to have treasure in heaven and God will most certainly “add all these things to you” from verse 31. Maybe it won’t be in their lifetimes, but their treasure is being stored up in heaven, and I think they will be richer in glory than most of us will be. On the other hand nearly all the richest people in this life are totally bankrupt in the spiritual sense.
THE LITTLE FLOCK
Verse 32 is so lovely. He calls His own, “little flock”. What is He saying? Well if they are the flock, then He is the Shepherd. We know He is the Shepherd. His tender care is towards His own. I can not stress properly the intimate concern the Shepherd has for you, you members of His little flock. Your names are in heaven. Your account is in heaven. Your treasure OUGHT to be in heaven! In verse 34 the heart (your mind, spirit, interests) is linked with your treasure. The rich man with goods laid up for this life as his only treasure, had his mind set on them. The child of God has his mind on things above where Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father.
THE PERSONAL APPLICATION
What does the Lord require of us? First of all He wants our lives and why is that? It is because He has redeemed us. Then He seeks our faithfulness, and our devotion and trust. He wants us to know the truth of “Abba Father”. The Lord is coming. I think it is very soon He comes for the Church but whether in our lifetime or not, let us be, each as a trusted servant of His. Some Christians are like Jacob who kicked at the traces a bit, and was a bit sneaky in his dealings sometimes, but when God put his hip out, he then learned dependence. Maybe God needs to put the hip joint out to teach some of His own.
All I have said so far to this point, came to me while sitting in the waiting room of Nissan when the car was being serviced. At this point, while the TV was going in the room, some woman celebrity in an interview said, “I have worked hard all my life to get where I am and I am not about to throw it away.” The unsaved work all their lives in order to achieve everything in this life. When they die, what will they have? Nothing, but a Christless eternity. That is the greatest loss.
THE TWO HOUSES
In Matthew 7 that chapter closes with the parable of the house built on a rock and the other built on sand. Tell me, who had the better house? (Well I think the one built on the sand. Not so much spent on building costs and easier to construct). In the judgment storm that came which house survived? Yes, the one on the rock/Rock. Why was this? It had a better foundation. We use that parable usually in regard to the unsaved but I am going to apply it to Christians. You see building a life - all through life - is all about the foundation.
THE JUDGEMENT FIRE
We will read the 1 Corinthians passage. {{1Corinthians 3:11-15 “For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident, for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built upon it (the foundation) remains, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire.”}}
A Christian has two foundations spiritually. The first is his salvation and that is built on the foundation of Jesus Christ, which is His atonement for sin. That foundation is secure and permanent, as is our salvation. It is the new covenant document that is signed in blood. It is the foundation forever for those who come to faith in Jesus Christ.
Then there is another foundation. It is the one upon which Christians build their lives and structures for the Lord. The building materials are very important. You can be like one of the three little pigs who built his house out of straw and it was blown away and the pig suffered loss. Even sticks did not suffice and the second pig lost everything. The third pig used bricks, something solid and sure.
The building that a Christian does must be solid and that means with gold, silver and precious stones and it won’t be burnt up. However what is the gold and the silver and precious stones?
Some people think they must have to be great to receive the good rewards. They cite great preachers, famous Christians, being a missionary, being martyred or eaten by cannibals. That is so wrong. Do you know what our works done for the Lord will be judged on? There are two words the New Testament and even the Old Testament use that underpins all that we do.
Those words are commitment and faithfulness. Committed to Christ is He having control of our lives, not us controlling our lives for our pleasure. What sort of soldier is the one who is in the army, and is slack and lazy and does not obey? Where is the commitment?
Do you remember the words, “Well done you good and faithful servant,” from Matthew 25? The person who is serving the Lord with the ability the Lord gives is the one who is faithful. The one who serves himself with the ability that Lord has given is utterly unfaithful.
CLOSING
{{1Corinthians 16:15 “Now I urge you, brethren (you know the household of Stephanas, that they were the first fruits of Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves for ministry to the saints), 1Cor 16:16 that you also be in subjection to such men and to everyone who helps in the work and labours.”}}
Just briefly I want us to consider the closing words of verse 16 “and to everyone who helps in the work and labours.” What is the most important thing in a fellowship of God’s people – great teachers, or the one who prays with a neighbour or witnesses to someone, or helps in menial tasks in the church, and a whole lot more we could mention? The point is not one of those tasks or gifts is more important than the others. It distresses me sometimes when some men who are pastors, ministers, leaders, think they are so important that they are superior to the rest of the church. I am positive that is the case with mega churches but it can be just as relevant in smaller groups. It cuts across everything written on humility and serving one another and being shepherds of the sheep.
God is not going to look at how eloquent a speaker is or how many people are sitting before a speaker. He is going to look at commitment and faithfulness to the gift He had given. More is required of those to whom the Lord has given greater ability. The most humble Christian in obscured places, who serves faithfully in some small way will hear, “Well done, you good and faithful servant.”
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
