What are you getting ready for?
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Big Idea: Christians focus their energy on eternal things.
Life does not consist in the abundance of possessions
People tend to focus more on their earthly security than on eternal blessings
We do not know how long we have in this life, so we are better off preparing for eternal life.
Last week: We must acknowledge Christ, not just in word, but in our living. This includes believing and proclaiming the truths of scripture.
Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?”
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.”
And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully,
and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’
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.
And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’
But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’
So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
Jesus is teaching and has just made some strong points about professing him. Now he is seemingly interrupted by a man who probably missed the point of that teaching because his mind is singularly set on his main concern: He feels he has been shorted in his inheritance and that his brother owes him.
Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
The sad story that repeats again and again in families when there is a death: Who gets what?
Sometimes good relationships are broken over this very thing.
Rabbis did sometimes arbitrate in such situations.
He doesn’t say, “hear our case, and decide what is right”
He wants Jesus to take his side. He wants Jesus to tell his brother to divide the inheritance.
Jesus is not here to be involved in these earthly disputes:
But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?”
Jesus denies any responsibility in this case. He is not here to settle family quarrels over money, he is here to bring the kingdom of God.
Jesus refuses to get involved in this, but sees an opportunity for a teaching.
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.”
Two imperatives: Take care, and be on your guard.
Be guarding against, be wary of, be sure to be careful to avoid
Be on your guard against what? Covetousness.
Sometimes this is simply envy of another’s property or possessions or wanting to gather more possessions
Sometimes it is a greedy holding onto of one’s own possessions
Why be on guard against this?
Of course, it is obvious that there is a commandment against this.
But also, Jesus adds, one’s life is not granted or preserved through these things. Rather, life is granted by God, and no one knows when their own time will be up.
And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully,
Notice this man is not said to have gained his wealth through any evil.
He is not put up as having been an abuser of workers, or a thief. He is simply a man who has been blessed with good crops, and now has a lot of resources.
Being blessed with resources is not a sin. Wealth and possessions are not evil
His wealth comes from God. If the land produced, it was from God
What should he do with his wealth? Here we see his earthly wisdom:
and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’
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.
The American Dream: Retire well so that you can enjoy the last years of your life in leisure with no worries for things you need to live.
Retirement is a huge industry. It is said that the young are pursued by advertisers to make them want all the products available to them now. But to the middle aged, they are sold on a life of leisure once they retire. Work now to have a great time later.
Many scrimp and save, work so many hours they never know true family life, and all aimed at retiring, but they get to retirement and some can’t enjoy spending because they were so frugal their whole life, and others simply don’t live long enough to enjoy all that they stored up, those earthly treasures
So this man, who has wealth, that he apparently came by honestly, and he decides the best thing he can do is to protect that wealth by building granaries to store it all. Why?
And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’
This is why people have 401Ks, and Roth IRAs, and all that.
Is it bad to set away and be prudent about preparing for the future? No.
But what are the motives, and what drives a person to want to have financial security? Is it because they want their life to bless God, or because they want to be free of financial worries so that they can be comfortable? What drives the motivation?
You see, this is one of the only passages in scripture that could be said to refer to retirement. There are a few others, but all of them are put in a negative view.
Retirement as many understand it is not a biblical concept at all. That doesn’t mean you have to keep the same occupation until you fall over doing it. However, it is the case that we should always desire to have some sort of work to benefit others, and more importantly, to serve God’s Kingdom.
If our motivation is purely selfish, then we may find out like the rich man in this parable, that even though we felt like we had prepared well for our future financial security, that God had other plans:
But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’
So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
The things you have prepared, whose will they be?
Will your family members be squabbling over the things you left behind?
Perhaps you say no, I have a will. I will save them from the squabble by assigning the property to each one.
Will this prevent them from being angry with each other, or jealous?
Perhaps your family will not fight. Perhaps they will use the property they inherited well. Regardless, whatever wealth you have accumulated will one day be completely out of your control, as your body lies in the grave, and others decide what to do with it.
Walt Disney left behind an enormous company. Others have come and made it something quite different. Whatever he worked and built, some say it has been bastardized by others as the company with his name produces evil filthy programs.
Whether on a large or small scale, whatever wealth is left behind, no matter how careful we are, whether we have a trust, or a will, or anything else, there will come a day when whatever we worked hard for, and put aside, will simply be left to the control of others. And if we had laid it aside thinking it would benefit us, we are no less a fool than the rich man of this parable.
So don’t lay up treasure for yourself and not be rich towards God.
He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.
But godliness with contentment is great gain,
for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.
But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.
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.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
What does it mean to be rich to God? Instead of thinking simply of our comfort in retirement, what should be our motivation to be financially free? Service to the king.
We have many retired people in the church. Many of them can be seen doing work for the kingdom. They use their retirement to serve.
You may see them:
At Costco getting supplies for the church
Serving by keeping the church property looking great
Teaching bible studies
driving others around to help them
visiting others
helping with other ministries.
Finding out needs people have and quietly meeting those needs.
So what is your motivation to retire? To enjoy yourself as you live a life of leisure, or to serve God in His kingdom?
Are you rich towards God? This passage speaks of wealth, but I think behind every teaching on wealth is a bigger teaching, and that is about the heart. Where is your heart at when it comes to the things you work the hardest for? Do you gather for yourself and your family so that you can better serve the kingdom of God? Do you manage, not just your finances, but your time, your health, and other areas of life as you consider how to serve?
If you want to improve your finances in order to serve God, that is great.
Also important is how you budget your time
How you care for your health.
If you have no money, you can serve still. But if you have no time, or don’t take care of your health, you will not be able to serve well. So do all you can to have financial health, but also to have sustainable time management, and also take care of your physical health so that you can serve the Lord for as many years as he gives you. And this is what it means to be rich towards God. His glory radiating through our lives should matter to us more than our own comfort, status, or personal security.
