The Parable Of The Rich Fool

Open your bibles with me to Luke 12…

Tonight our parable comes to us in the form of an interruption. Sometimes the best things happen in the interuptions. What I mean is in the unexpected. You might have expected things to go this way, but the Lord had other plans. So it is with our parable tonight. For the crowd never saw it coming, but the Lord was perfectly prepared.

As Jesus is teaching, our text tells us that someone from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me”. Obviously this man was not the oldest brother, because it was the rule of the law for the oldest male to get a double portion of the inheritance. Thus this man is seeking after the money. Now, what is interesting about this is that this man is sitting in class, or in sunday service lets say for example, adn where was his mind? Not on the teaching of Jesus. His mind was elsewhere. His mind was distracted by the baggage this man carried into the teaching with him. He was concerned about getting something from Jesus, in his way, and in his time, after the rule of his heart.

Perceiving this, Jesus replies to him with a question regarding his authority. Who appointed me a judge over you. The man was bringing jesus into the earthly realm. He was missing it entirely.Being in the thousands in the crowd he was not concered about the fear of the Lord, or the holy spirit, he was concerned with getting what he wanted. He wanted an earthly judge to give him earthly things.

So Jesus lays down the warning clearly. Watch out and be on your gaurd against every form of greed. There is the diagnosis of this mans heart. We do not have to wonder any further. He is suffering from greed. Greed is that desire to have more, to get ones hands on whatever one can… To acquire without need or reference to others situation. He is being tempted by greed. What is even more is that it is not just a temptation at this moment his heart is gripped by it. Look at verse 34…

Luke 12:34 LSB

34 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

It wasn’t just a temptation. The way this man was living, the reason he saw it fit to interupt the teacher who is teaching in front of thousands, was because his treasure was money and his heart was there. This saying is more than just a strong desire, this saying is drawing out where your worship will be. The entire context of this chapter is to fear the Lord, trust the Lord, be ready and wait on the Lord. The converse of this is to fear the world, and trust the world, and wait on nothing go and get now when you want it…

So, in order to draw this out this picture to its logical conslusion, Jesus tells a parable that we all have to reckon with.

He tells us of a rich man who was good at what he does and had recieved the blessing of the lord. His crop was rich. Who makes crops rich? God. So he began reasoning to himself, which is his first mistake. The riches, and the blessing of a productive crop is not the begining issue. It is that he began by reasoning with himself rather than with God. All the crops, are his. All the money. His. All the work, of his own hand. What shall I do since I have no place to store my crops? This sounds like a good idea, I will tear down the old small ones and build a new bigger one.

What was the reasoning here for the new barns? It wasn’t that he couldn’t do something with the excess crops, it was that he wanted to be able to sit back in the years to come and be at ease. This farmer saw that the security of his economic future was cause for his responsibilities to come to an end. Which why I have an opinion that I think our cultures understadning of retirement is wrong. We are never acquitted of our duties before God to use our gifts to serve the Lord. But many have come to understadn retirement as just that, kicking back in the Rv, collecting shells on the beach to show to their friends, and waiting to die. What a waste of gifts and grace of God in your life…

Now again, the building a bigger barn was not the issue, it was the heart behind it. This man was self consumed. There is a story in the scriptures that mirrors this story just with a different heart behind it… Come with me to Genesis 41 while keeping your place in Luke 12…

Genesis 41:15–40 LSB

And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, but no one can interpret it; yet I have heard it said about you, that you hear a dream and that you can interpret it.” Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will answer concerning the welfare of Pharaoh.” So Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, “In my dream, behold, I was standing on the bank of the Nile; and behold, seven cows, fat and sleek came up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the reeds. “And behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and lean, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt, in regard to ugliness; and the lean and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows. “But they devoured them, and yet it could not be known that they had devoured them. For they were just as ugly as before. Then I awoke. “Then I saw also in my dream, and behold, seven ears, full and good, came up on a single stalk; and behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them; and the thin ears swallowed the seven good ears. So I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could declare it to me.” Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dreams are one and the same; God has declared to Pharaoh what He is about to do. “The seven good cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one and the same. “And the seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven lean ears scorched by the east wind will be seven years of famine. “It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: God has shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do. “Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt; and after them seven years of famine will arise, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ravage the land, so that the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very heavy. “Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that the matter is confirmed by God, and God will quickly bring it about. “So now let Pharaoh look for a man understanding and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. “Let Pharaoh take action and appoint overseers over the land, and let him exact a fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven years of abundance. “Then let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and let them store up the grain for food in the cities under Pharaoh’s authority, and let them keep watch over it. “And let the food be appointed for the land for the seven years of famine which will happen in the land of Egypt, so that the land will not be cut off during the famine.” And the proposal seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants. Then Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is a divine spirit?” So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made you know all of this, there is no one so understanding and wise as you are. “You shall be over my house, and according to your command all my people shall do homage; only in the throne I will be greater than you.”

There is nothing wrong with the building of barns, or the storing of grain, or the richness of a man… Even in the abundance of life as Jesus said, your life doesn’t consist of its possession. But that was how he understood his life. Through more, he was a more monster. The issue is with the heart. Look back at Luke 12:31-34

Luke 12:31–34 LSB

“But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you. “Do not fear, little flock, for your Father is well pleased to give you the kingdom. “Sell your possessions and give it as charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Seek first HIS kingdom. And the things you need will be added to you. Food, clothes, wisdom… Jospeh had nothing. He was in a prison. All he had was God! Yet the track recorded of his heart was to do what God wanted. My friends, you can have much, or little, but if you heart is not set on the kingdom of God, you have nothing either way. The man who asks the question come back into view, did he have all he needed? He would if he was seeking the kingdom of God!

Christians have a real treasure. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4 that the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is treasure in earthen vessels.. The salvation we have from Jesus is our treasure and our flesh is the earthen vessel passing away and weak. But the glow of the treasure never fades! Paul puts this nicely in Ephesians 1:3

Ephesians 1:3 LSB

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

We have every blessing in heaven. What can be worth more than that? It is easy to say nothing, but then turn away from that confession and live again for things of the earth. My Friends, we must consider our life. The foolish rich man was a fool because he said, I will still live tomorrow. His heart was set on riches, that is the sin. And the fruition of his sinful heart was an unwise decision. He was blinded by riches and couldn’t see the wisdom that he may not have tomorrow. Rather than honoring God today, he lived for himself tomorrow. He was too focused on the barns, the ease of life, the selfish greed. And not focused on Jesus.

How do we avoid following in the footsteps of the foolish man? Lets look at another parable… Come with me to Matthew 7 24

Matthew 7:24–27 LSB

24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and does them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 “And the rain descended, and the rivers came, and the winds blew and fell against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 “And everyone hearing these words of Mine and not doing them, may be compared to a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 “And the rain descended, and the rivers came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

The difference between a wise man and a foolish man is what he does with the word of God. Jesus says back in Luke 12, Don’t worry about your life or what you will eat, or wear… life is more than stuff… fear God, not man. Seek first the kingdom of God! Make God your treasure! What do you do with that? The wise man says, I will set my mind on how to do that. I will work toward that, whatever it takes! And the fools disregards it and goes about living his own way. The Keyto whether or not that man needed to build a new bigger barn is located in his house… Is his house built on the rock of Christ? On the foundation of his word?

My friends, Where is your treasure? Where is your joy? What is your life built on? Jesus is the chief cornerstone of the kingdom of God. Fall on him, or be crushed by him. Live for him today, or be denied by him tomorrow. Repent tonight if you have been living as the rich fool… Let it be a warning for us all to watch out for every form of greed. Remind yourself, it is better to give than to receive, and you can’t out give God! But let the point not be the money, but to whom your heart belongs and the treasure your heart serves.