You Can't Take It With You, But . . . Series

There are some Bible passages which will forever be associated with vivid personal experiences.

And today, as we consider the Parable of the Rich Fool, we have encountered one of those passages.

My experience with it dates from nearly 40 years ago. In the spring of 1986 I was preparing to graduate from 4 years of rigorous study at Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas. Graduation exercises were schedule for May 6 well in advance, and the venerable long-time President of Dallas Seminary, Dr. John Walvoord, now it’s chancellor after about 35 years as president, was scheduled to speak.

It was at about that time that Jeanie and I received some exciting news. Jeanie’s dad, Leon McCoy, a rich and successful businessman from northeast Nebraska, was planning to come and celebrate my graduation with us. Now Leon valued some good things—education, hard work, and the things hard work could buy—he had put all his children through college, so for the first and last time in our married life, Leon was going to make a special trip to visit us.

The other thing about Leon you need to know this morning is that even though at times Leon was very generous, he was very fond of his possessions. He literally had large barns and storage sheds which were full seemingly of everything he had ever owned—a pontoon boat, cars, farm equipment and tractors, furniture, duck decoys, outboard motors and fishing equipment. You name, he had it somewhere and it was gathering dust on his property—he had more stuff than he was ever going to to use, and he kept it all for himself.

Now Leon was not a believer. So, Jeanie had been praying for his salvation for years. So this news that he was coming to our graduation represented a unique opportunity for someone, namely, Dr. Walvoord, to preach the Gospel so he might be saved.

Now, we didn’t know Dr. Walvoord personally. But it happened just a couple weeks before graduation, Jeanie and I were walking through the seminary parking lot late one afternoon when our paths intersected with guess who, Dr. John Walvood himself. And we stopped and talked personally for probably the only time in my seminary career. And Jeanie was very bold and asked him to remember that many unbelieving would be showing up for graduation, and would he share the Gospel.

Dr. Walvoord quietly agreed he would. And boy did he ever. He brought the best message I ever heard him preach, and it was so fitting for Leon, because it was this passage—the Parable of the Rich Fool.

And it is so fitting a passage for many today as we live in what of the wealthiest cultures that the world has ever known. In it, Jesus confronts the rampant materialism that not only infect the world, but the Church of Jesus Christ in America. And He warns us “Be on guard against your own greed; rather be rich toward God & gain eternal treasure.

As we read it, the story begins as Jesus is surrounding by thousands of people—a crowd so thick that they were stepping on each other. And someone in the crowd shouts out to him, requesting his help in resolving a dispute over an inheritance—of course, in his favor. The young man blurts out in verse 13: “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me?

But Jesus is none too friendly toward the idea. He replies, in verse 14: “Man, who appointed me as a Judge or an arbiter over you?” Then 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 possession.”

Now what Jesus had to say was always true, but especially true in this situation. Though Jewish rabbis were often called upon to help settle disputes of this sort, the fact was that even though Jesus would be the judge of all mankind one day, Jesus had no civil authority or legal standing to arbitrate this case. And even if he had, he would not have been able to satisfy either of the parties. Because Jesus knew better than anyone that the root of this dispute was a sin, which he could not participate in, the sin of greed or covetousness. Each brother was concerned about having more than his share, and neither would be concerned about the welfare of the other.

And so, he provides for them and for us, the basic truth behind all that follows in this story. And it’s this: “Be on your guard against every kind of greed; because material things will never satisfy.”

In doing so, he addresses a great deception that fuels the world’s economy and its many legal and personal disputes. It’s the idea that the more you possess, the more you will be fulfilled in life. This is a basic lie that even we as Christian fall into following. But the truth is, riches, no matter how much you have, will not satisfy or fulfill. The more you have, the more you want. A person once asked one of the richest men in all of history, John D. Rockefeller, how much was enough. And his reply was very telling. “Just a little bit more.”