A Fool and His Money (2)

A Fool and His Money

Week 2

Luke 12:13–21 (ESV)

13 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.” 16 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. 19

And I will say to my soul,

“Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’

20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Warm Up

At least 28 percent of the time, Jesus Christ opened his mouth he was talking about money.

One’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions

The reason Jesus talks about this is that giving your money and generosity of your money is at the heart of everything a Christian is and does.

Jesus has much to say, which gives us a biblical perspective on money.

“Jesus taught that what we do with money is an index to a person’s character, so much so that people’s view of money is evidence of whether or not their salvation is genuine.”

John MacArthur

After Zaccheus was converted he said, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much” (Luke 19:8).

cunning conniving tax collector

In response Jesus declared, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham” (v. 9).

The immediate change in his attitude toward money was evidence of his spiritual transformation.

Jesus affirmed the reality of Zaccheus’s salvation based on his willingness to part with his money for the glory of God and to help others.[2]

How we view money is an effective barometer of our spirituality.

Money is neither good nor bad in itself; corrupt people can put it to evil uses, while good people can put it to righteous uses.

Though it is morally neutral, what people do with their money reflects their life priorities.

In the words of Jesus, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Luke 12:34)

Introduction

To illustrate to His hearers the foolishness of seeking fulfillment in riches, the Lord told them a parable.

It was a simple, agrarian story that everyone on that occasion would have understood.

Like the man who had interrupted His discourse,

the imaginary man in the Lord’s story was consumed with the pursuit of riches. “The land of a rich man,” Jesus began, “was very productive.”

There is no implication of any wrongdoing, dishonesty, or crime in his success; he just had a bumper crop.

Farmers are dependent on circumstances and factors beyond their control for their success.

Therefore they should be most grateful to God for His providential control of those factors.

But instead of thinking of what he could do to express his thankfulness,

he began reasoning to himself, saying,

“What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?”

The huge harvest presented a dilemma since he had insufficient room to store it.

Selling the excess risked flooding the market and driving down the price that he could get.

After musing on the problem,

he decided to tear down his barns and build larger ones to store all his grain and his goods.

By rebuilding larger barns on the site of the existing ones, he would increase his storage capacity without having to build on productive cropland.

His selfish indulgence (illustrated by the repeated personal pronouns “I” and “my”) gives insight into the heart of a materialist.

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. 19

And I will say to my soul,

“Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’

20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you,

Instead of considering giving some of his wealth to God or the poor, this man’s only thought was how he could best use his resources for his own benefit.[3]

It is not bad when your “land produces plentifully”

(verse 16). It is not a bad thing when your business prospers. It is not a bad thing to receive a promotion and, with it, a pay increase. It is not a bad thing when your investments increase in value.

That is not the evil in this parable.

He is not called a fool for being a productive farmer.

God knows this broken world needs productive farmers and profitable businesses.

Why is he called a fool?

Not only a fool but a fool who loses his soul.

By the way, he used the increase of his riches;

he did not indicate being rich toward God.

He kept building bigger barns. That might be OK—if you’re storing the grain for use, that shows God is your treasure.

What does the farmer say?

Verse 19: “I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ ”

The use he plans to make of his wealth says one thing: “My treasure is relaxing, eating, drinking, and fun.”

Not only that, but he also doesn’t just say stored up; he says he stored up all my goods. Do you see verse 18? “I stored up all.” Because he saved, he’s happy.

God says, “You’re a fool.”

And here’s why: because he stored up as if this world was all there is, as if there wasn’t a spiritual reality,

as if the material world was all there is, when actually there’s an immaterial world as well.

Another way to put it would be …

If there is a physical world (and there is), then to save nothing is stupid. It’s foolish.

If there is something besides a physical world, then to save everything is stupid and foolish because God says, “You fool. You’re dying tonight.”

Look at that great question: “Who will get … who will receive? Now who will get what you’ve prepared?” He didn’t think of any way of sending it on.And the riches in my barns make it possible.

What’s wrong with saving everything?

Nothing if there is no infinitely valuable God and no resurrection.

That’s why Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:32, “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’ ” But there is a God, and there is a resurrection.

What’s wrong with this man’s way of handling his riches is that

he fails to use them in a way that shows he treasures God more than riches.[4] He fails to realize that there is a resurrection.

What does it mean to be “rich toward God”?

20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

a. The world says, “Store up everything,” and the Bible says, “Empty your barns.”

b. Jesus says, “The one who wants to find himself must lose himself.”

The way to real honor is to humble yourself.

c. The way to real joy is to repent.

d. The way to real power is to serve.

e. It is the opposite of laying up earthly treasure for yourself. Being rich toward God

f. It is the opposite of treating the self as though it were made for things and not for God.

g. Being rich toward God is the opposite of acting as if life consists in the abundance of possessions not in the abundance of knowing God.

h. “Rich toward God” means using earthly riches to show how much you value God.

This is what the prosperous farmer failed to do. And the result was that he was a fool and lost his soul.

Jesus considered money hazardous. It lures us out of love for God. It lures us away from treasuring God and losing our soul. [5]

As for Giving

I am testifying, not commanding.

Let the example of Jesus Christ inspire you. you need not coerce you with demands.

I am taking my cue from

2 Corinthians 9:7 (ESV)

7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

I want you to be radical, generous people (to be “rich toward God”) because God is your treasure, not because I quilted you into the tithe.

People last forever. If you put your money into people, you’re putting your money into something that lasts.

This man said, “I am smart.” If somebody gets the lottery and makes a million dollars and immediately goes out and spends it all on cowboy boots, you say, “You’re a fool! You need to put your money into savings. You need to put your money into investments, into something that lasts!”

Here of course,

Jesus Christ is coming along and saying,

If you take your money and put it all into barns, put it all into the savings, does that last? The banks fall apart.

Everything falls apart here.

Put your money into God. Put your money into God’s kingdom. Put your money into the spreading of God’s Word. Put your money into people. That lasts forever. [6]

How to guard against the hazards and maximize the usefulness of money.

1. Read the Bible.

Philippians 3:8 (ESV) 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.

2. Pray that God will free your heart from the dangers and hazards of money.

3. Ask God for the Faith to believe that He will meet your needs.

4. Practice regular, disciplined, proportionate giving to the church which is normal Christianity.

Giving should be regular and free—disciplined and spontaneous.

1 Corinthians 16:2 (ESV)

2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.

This points to the wisdom of planned, regular, disciplined giving. Sporadic giving with no plan will probably mean you are not treating giving as an integral part of your worshiping life.[7]

The Motivation for Giving

1. When you become a Christian, you become rich.

Here’s how you know you really have become rich. Here’s how you know that you have experienced this, that you have seen what Jesus has done, that it has melted your heart, that you have actually come to God,

not full but empty, and he has filled you

Do you know what the gospel is?

The gospel is that Jesus Christ came with his spiritual riches.

2 Corinthians 8:9, “Jesus Christ, though he was rich, became poor, so that through his poverty we might become rich.”

Jesus Christ on the cross is the ultimate fool, at least as far as the world is concerned.

Paul puts it, in 1 Corinthians 1,

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. […] For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.”

When Jesus went on the cross, he won through losing. He was filled through emptying. He got glory by emptying himself of his glory..

He has changed your standing. he has changed your status, he has given you the protection, he gives you the access …

Now, because of what Jesus has done, you’re clothed in his righteousness. You’re holy and blameless before God. You’re rich! Here’s how you know.

“One way you know that Jesus Christ is precious to you is that nothing else is. Everything else is expendable. Your money isn’t precious to you anymore. Your possessions aren’t precious to you anymore. These things don’t have a hold on you anymore.” Charles Spurgeon

The world says, “Store up,” and the Bible says, “Empty your barns.”

It says it in many ways. Jesus says,

“The one who wants to find himself must lose himself.” What? But what the Bible says is the way to real honor is to humble yourself. The way to real joy is to repent. The way to real riches is to empty your barns. The way to real … everything. The way to real power is to serve.[9]

[1]MacArthur, J. (2013). Luke 11–17 (p. 128). Moody Publishers. [2]MacArthur, J. (2013). Luke 11–17 (p. 128). Moody Publishers. [3]MacArthur, J. (2013). Luke 11–17 (pp. 133–134). Moody Publishers. [4]Piper, J. (2014). Sermons from John Piper (2000–2014). Desiring God. [5]Piper, J. (2014). Sermons from John Piper (2000–2014). Desiring God. [6]Keller, T. J. (2013). The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive. Redeemer Presbyterian Church. [7]Piper, J. (2014). Sermons from John Piper (2000–2014). Desiring God. [8]Keller, T. J. (2013). The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive. Redeemer Presbyterian Church. [9]Keller, T. J. (2013). The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive. Redeemer Presbyterian Church.