Dr. Bradford Reaves
CrossWay Christian Fellowship
Hagerstown, MD
www.mycrossway.org
We come now to our second parable in our study of the parables of Jesus. And I chose to make this the 2nd of our study, after our study of the Soils, because they really go hand in hand. In your life, this world and our eternity will be at odds with each other, preparing us for our life to come. But the Bible makes it clear: what we do here on earth will have tremendous bearing on our eternal life.
Context is important. It is good for to remind you of what was going on in the ministry of Jesus. If you think back to the Sermon on the Mount, much of what Jesus was preaching about was countering the false propaganda fed by the Pharisees and Scribes. The crowds described in verse 1 that are following Jesus are huge. Some are looking for Jesus to be their Messiah, some are looking for a revolutionary, some are looking for miracles, and some are hungry to learn what Jesus is talking about with the approaching Kingdom of God.
There is a portion of these crowds that Luke identifies as disciples. The word used to describe these people or matethes, which simply means “learners.” These are distinct from the 12 disciples who followed closely after Jesus. But these are people who are trying to arrive at a conclusion. And this is who Jesus directs this parable And much of his teaching toward.
Much of what we find in Jesus’ teaching is a warning. Often we find Jesus using the word “beware” as we find in verse 1 where he says “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.” Beware of false religion and false teachers.
This morning, we look again at a similar warning from Jesus where he says in verse 15, “Beware of the greed that is in your heart.” I think Jesus is zeroing in on the things that will blacken and damn your soul. The one is in the spiritual realm. The other is focused on the material realm. Wealth, possessions, covetousness, and materialism (or the pursuit thereof) will steal your soul from God just as quickly as false religion.
What is interesting is how closely both of these realms collide with each other. Where you find false teaching and false teachers, you find it exorbitant greed. If you want to look at whether someone is a false teacher, all you have to do is follow the money. Luke 16:14: “The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him.”
And so in this morning's passage, Jesus really lays it out: You are going to be a person who invests your treasure for yourself, or you will be rich in God by laying up treasure in heaven. But it is objectively impossible for both. And we live in a world, especially here in the West, that is abhorrently greedy. Staggering amounts of wealth and materialism surround us. We are consumers being consumed by our consumption.
The Setup
Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12:13–15)
Whenever I study a passage in the Bible, I always look at context first. This is fundamental to good inductive Bible study. And so before Jesus tells us the parable of the rich fool, we find an unusual situation. Remember, Jesus is teaching the crowds, and he's been teaching about the distinction of living in the Kingdom of God. When suddenly, out of the crowd comes a voice who seems to blurt out, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” (v.13 ).
Now, we don't know much about this man, but he's not that hard to figure out. He is the quintessential materialist. He has no interest in the spiritual things at all. He has no interest in what Jesus is talking about as far as the Kingdom of Heaven goes. He just wants to get to Jesus to settle his own greed.
In fact, notice that he doesn't even ask Jesus for advice. Rather, he's giving Jesus a command, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family and heritage. Here we have a man who simply wants to wield Jesus's power to get his own way. He represents the people who see God as a convenience for themselves. That is, they have no interest in the Kingdom. They have no interest in honoring God. Their only interest is the benefits they can receive.
And so Jesus comes back quickly with a response, verse 14. The expression Jesus uses, “man,” is like us saying, “Mister.” It is a term used to address a stranger. I don't know you. To me is a similar sentiment as when Jesus says, “Depart from me I never knew you.” (Matthew 7:21-23).
And so Jesus says, “Who appointed me a judge or arbiter over you?” I think what Jesus is saying, because Jesus is the ultimate judge, is that the legal, economic, and social parts of this world are not part of the Kingdom that is to come. So Jesus was saying, “That's not my Kingdom. I'm not going to speak to these things.
And he said to them, “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)
Understand that Jesus isn't saying that possessions or wealth are sins, but rather, he is telling the crowds that these things cannot guide your heart. The sin is in the discontentment. The sin is in the attitude. We find many in the Bible who are described as very wealthy but also righteous. Why? Because their attitudes and their passions were for the things of God, not for the things of this world.
He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 5:10)
For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. (Ephesians 5:5)
But 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. (1 Timothy 6:9)
Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. (Colossians 3:5)
because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. (Romans 1:25)
Jesus is saying to this guy and everybody who thinks this way, you're going down the wrong path. You're never going to be satisfied. You think that you're going to find life in these things, but it is going to destroy your soul.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)
The Wealth
And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. (Luke 12:16–18)
So here we find the story. Verse 16 begins the parable about the rich man enjoying a bountiful harvest. There's no mention of him being dishonest or a criminal. We could say that this man was the beneficiary of common grace. The point is that we are all recipients of God's goodness here on earth.
Everything we have in this world comes from God. God created this planet for us, which has the phenomenal capability to produce everything we need to live and prosper. So everything that is material has in some way been given to us by God to enjoy. The issue is not in the possessions. The issue is in our attitude toward our possessions. When we realize that what he has comes from God, then we learn to first acknowledge Him in the very basics we own and then trust Him for all we have.
And so here, in verse 17, the man begins to reason with himself. ‘What am I going to do with such an abundance?’ Notice that he only thinks of himself. It is as if he believes his good fortune is his own doing. He is only focused on the idea of how he can continue to benefit from this massive harvest.
So he devises his plan. Look at the greed surrounding his plan. Luke 12:18 “And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.” There is no thought of others, his neighbors, his family, and no thought of God.
In these two verses, he uses the word “I” 8 times and “my” 4 times. He's going to tear down his barns (wastefully) and build bigger barns. And you can see the greed building in him. He's not going to flood the market with his crop and bring the prices down; he's gonna store it in his own barns so that he can get as much as he can.
Not only does he store the bumper crop but also all of his goods. Nowhere does he mention returning the blessing back to God, and it is true for many. No matter what they receive, they never give anything back to God. Jesus says one day, you will be left with nothing.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21)
The Arrogance
And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” (Luke 12:19)
This man represents an arrogance that exists in those who think it is all about them. “My Crops… My barns… My goods… My Soul.” Everything is about him. “I need to do this… I need to do that.” Look how bright my future is. I can retire and enjoy my leisure. He never considers consulting God, even more acknowledging that without God, he would have nothing.
for he is like one who is inwardly calculating. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
A pastor was invited to dinner in the home of a very wealthy man in Texas. After the meal, the host led him to a place where they could get a good view of the surrounding area. Pointing to the oil wells dotting the landscape, he boasted, "Twenty-five years ago, I had nothing. Now, as far as you can see, it’s all mine." Looking in the opposite direction at his sprawling fields of grain, he said, "That’s all mine." Turning east toward huge herds of cattle, he bragged, “They’re all mine." Then, pointing to the west and a beautiful forest, exclaimed, "That too is all mine."
He paused, expecting the pastor to compliment him on his great success. The pastor, however, placing one hand on the man’s shoulder and pointing heavenward with the other, simply said, “How much do you have in that direction?" The man stared blankly for a moment, then hung his head and confessed, "I never thought of that."
Some people make some big mistakes in life:
1. In planning for themselves, they forget others.
2. In considering their material goodies, they forget the Giver.
3. In providing for their bodies, they forget their soul.
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. (Proverbs 19:21)
The Foolish
But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night, your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they are?’ (Luke 12:20)
God has one word to describe such a man. Despite all of his wealth, prestige, and ambition, God calls him a fool. What a tragedy to make it all through life, thinking you are at the helm and the master of your time and resources, only to make it to the end and discover that not a penny or a grain can go with you. You have lost it all and your soul. God has one word to describe that person: Fool.
God is not using condescendingly. He’s using it to underscore the folly of this man’s materialistic hope. All of his life he has refused to acknowledge God and instead pushed forward with his own agendas. “Fool” is used by God to define his tragic and unnecessary demise. Swindoll said, “It suggests a lack of good sense, lack of foresight, failing to realize the consequences of a stupid act before it occurs. Scripture calls that ‘folly’ or ‘foolishness.’”
I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, 19 and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 2:18–19)
The man’s folly is not his wealth, and it is not his success. His folly is never realizing that his days were given to him by God. Before he could ever put his greedy plans in place, he was gone. And in all his days, he refused to acknowledge God, and now those days have come to an end. God tells the man that everything he has stored up for himself, and he never stored up treasure in heaven, will now be his downfall.
Friends, this is the sad tragedy of many in the world today, including those who come to church every Sunday. We somehow equate success to godliness. This was the message of the Pharisees. And this is the message of the false teachers of the prosperity gospel. And it is not limited to just people with wealth, but it can be just as important to those of you who have put your life in pursuit of getting more. But in that pursuit, they never acknowledge God, and they never give a penny. No matter how much you possess if you are not rich in God you're a spiritual pulper.
There’s a story told of a businessman who 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.
The Application
So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:21)
God, the Grand Weaver of our lives, seeks those with tender hearts so that he can put his imprint on them. Your hurts and your disappointments are part of His design to shape you. The hurts you live through will always shape you. The triumphs will shape you. The question is, for you, will you put God on the throne of your life? I have buried a lot of people, and I have never seen a U-haul at their funeral. Most of the time, the stuff they toiled so futilely for winds up in a donation bin somewhere.
Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, 9 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)
I know people who have no problem buying a $7.00 latte or spending all kinds of money on video games but scoff at the thought of giving to the church or supporting missions. They are bankrupt in heaven, and it's no surprise they complain about their finances all the time. And I know people who are barely scraping by, and they are more generous to the Lord than anyone I know. They’re rich in God, and they never worry about finances. My point is this: whatever you have before you, use it to honor God.
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? (Mark 8:36)
My prayer is that you are not sitting here today, thinking you have all the time in the world and tonight your soul will be demanded of you by God, and instead of hearing the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant, you hear ‘you fool.’
