Luke 12:13-21 - Rich Towards God

REMINDER

Before we start let’s be reminded by Apostle Paul in

2 Corinthians 4:5 CSB

For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake. For what we preach is not ourselves,but Jesus Christ as Lord,and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

So it’s not about the people in front of you but it’s all about Jesus. Amen?

INTRODUCTION

Last month theme was about the miracle worker where we see Jesus performs miracles in the lives of those people whose faith is in Him.

Today is the first week of September so we have a new theme, it’s called paying it forward.

It’s not pay it later like Klarna ,clearpay or PayPal..hehe

Joke lang po..

"Paying it forward" is the act of using what you’ve been given—whether money, time, gifts, or opportunities—not only for your immediate benefit but to invest in others, in God’s work, and in the future.

Paying it forward in the kingdom of God means responding to the grace and kindness God has shown you by extending the same grace and mercy to others.

Because God has invested so much in us, we are called to “pay it forward” through generosity, stewardship, faithfulness, and readiness for His coming Kingdom.

In short, it means to pass along a blessing.

We are blessed to bless others.

Whatever God has given us, we use it for his ministry, to help others, to extend His kingdom on earth, to glorify His name .

Understood po?

Our text for today is from  

PASSAGE

Luke 12:13–21 CSB

13 Someone from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 “Friend,” he said to him, “who appointed me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 He then told them, “Watch out and be on guard against all greed, because one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 Then he told them a parable: “A rich man’s land was very productive. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What should I do, since I don’t have anywhere to store my crops? 18 I will do this,’ he said. ‘I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones and store all my grain and my goods there. 19 Then I’ll say to myself, “You have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.” ’ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared—whose will they be?’ 21 “That’s how it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

May we call on Argie to read the passage to us and let us all stand up and open our bible..

Blessed be to the word of God..

Thank you Argie for reading the word of God

Let us pray

Father God we thank you for today and for everyone that is in here.

We pray that you open our hearts and mind that we may truly receive your word .

We ask for your Holy Spirit to move among us so that the message for today may plant seeds of faith in our hearts that will help us transform our lives according to your will. 

Remove all the distractions around us and help us to fully focus on you.

Thank you Lord.

We give you all the glory and honor and praise. In Jesus name we pray,amen!

We can all be seated

Our message for today is taken from the parable of the rich fool..

Does anyone here know or familiar with the name Malcolm Forbes?

Malcolm Forbes was an American entrepreneur who is most well-known as the publisher of Forbes magazine. He’s also remembered for several sayings, and one that he always repeated is“

He who has the most toys (in life)wins.” 

True to his word ,he lived an extravagant, flamboyant lifestyle. He spent millions (or perhaps billions) on parties, traveling, and his collecting yachts, aircraft, art, motorcycles, castles, hot-air balloons, and Fabergé eggs, some of which cost over one million each. You name it ,he got it,

But there was a popular line of clothing , I think it still in circulation, called No Fear. 

Who knows it? The one who prints different message on the shirts?

They had one shirt that corrected Malcom’s quote: It say “He who dies with the most toys still dies.” 

They recognized that regardless of how much a man has, he can’t “add a single hour to his span of life,” as Jesus said (Matthew 6:27). 

The No Fear clothing company also recognised that we cannot take any of our toys or possessions with us , because if we could, 

then the one who died with the most toys would be the winner.

Malcolm Forbes and the parable of the rich fool has similarities..not only that they were both rich but they both live only for this life.

So the title of our message  for today is , Rich towards God

The story of the parable of the rich fool started while Jesus was giving a sermon, when suddenly someone from the crowd interrupted him and ask “Teacher,  tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

Jesus replied, “Man, who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you  ?” And He said to them, “Take heed and Beware of covetousness , for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possess.”

The first lesson we get from here is

#1 Be on Guard [against all kinds of covetousness(greed)]

Clearly this man is not there to listen to Jesus teaching , but to ask Jesus to be the judge , an arbitrator over his inheritance problem.

He said, teacher or rabbi tell my brother to divide our inheritance with me.

The man is taking Jesus as a typical rabbi, for the rabbis on that time can  give decisions on disputed points of law. J

Morris, Leon. 1988. Luke: An Introduction and Commentary. Vol. 3. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

This man clearly felt that there was injustice on how the inheritance was being divided between him and his brother. He must felt that the division was unfair to him.

Because according to Old Testament law and we can also see it in Deuteronomy 21:17

The first born child has a double portion of the inheritance.

Inheritance has been , and still does , cause a lot of heartache and problem on family relationships today. It’s really sad on how the inheritance of a parent can have such a negative effect on families. I’m sure we all have seen it before. Sometimes it results in legal battles, or life long cold treatment with other members of a family.

Brothers and sisters fight  over every item in the house, they fight over the money in the bank and the home they grew up with.

It can become really messy and petty.

Just like the man in this story, people get consumed and torn apart from the inside fighting over inheritances.

And How does Jesus respond?

V14- Man who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?

Jesus refused to have anything to do with it. His form of address, Man, is far from cordial (it’s not friendly) (cf. Bengel, ‘He addresses him as a stranger’). Jesus came to bring people to God, not to bring property to people. 

Morris, Leon. 1988. Luke: An Introduction and Commentary. Vol. 3. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Jesus continues in v15 And He said to them, take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possess.

Jesus does not even talk about the inheritance. He sees through the heart of the man , beyond the superficial talk of fairness, through the real root of the man’s problem, covetousness or greed.

This is how Jesus cares for us. He sees our heart and our real problem.

He will not address the insignificant problems we have , but heal us from the inside out.

He doesn’t want to be our law enforcer , He wants to heal our soul.

And yet we often see Him as kill joy, a strict moral enforcer ..We think He only wants to feel us guilty or take the fun out of our lives.

But truly, He cares for us.

He wants us to be whole again, from the inside out.

He wants to heal our hearts.

He doesn’t just scratch the surface of our lives, He gets to the root of all our problems.

So what does Jesus saying to this man?

Take heed, watch out..

Be on guard against covetousness, against all kinds of greed.

Covetousness comes from the Greek word

Pleonexia meaning greediness, 

A grasping spirit

Insatiable desire for more, specially wealth, power or food

Colossians 3:5 NKJV

Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

According to this text- covetousness is idolatry.

Idolatry meaning, it is something that is very important to us other than God.

It may be things or desires that takes the place of God in our life

Many times we are willing to work crazy hours, neglecting our family, friends, church ,to make more money.

Or we see others has a brand new car,new house or go on vacation and we want it as well 

So so we work more hours 

It’s like having more bags or clothes or gadgets but want more 

Our focus shifts on the material ,our personal desires rather than on God

Ecclesiastes 5:10-11 (NLT)says

Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers!

So the more money you have, the greater your desire to have more.

Greed is insatiable. You cannot satisfied it.

Matthew 6:24

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

If you in this life runs after wealth, wanting to be rich , it means that money is your God and you don’t care really about spiritual things.

The consequences of covetousness/greed is not only for this lifetime but has eternal value as well .

Mark 8:36-37

36 And what do you profit if you gain the whole world but loses your own soul? 37 What can you give in exchange for your soul?

Life does not consist of how much we have but what is the condition of your soul?

And there is an interesting point made in v20b, it says..

Then who will get everything you work for? When you die, who will left with all you have worked hard for?

This is the same thoughts expressed in 

Ecclesiastes 2:18-19

18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless.

The things you work hard for will someday be left to those who didn’t earn it and therefore don’t appreciate it.

Or they will be left to those who fight over it, just like the brothers in the beginning of this story.

So we should not devote our lives to gathering and accumulation of wealth and we should not hoard our wealth to ourselves. 

We should not be greedy.

We are blessed to be a blessing in the lives of others and we are blessed to build the kingdom of God.

Second lesson we can get from today’s message is

#2 Be Aware [that God is the provider of all things]

So in order for the man and also us to understand more about the kingdom of God,

Jesus told the parable of the rich fool.

V16 The ground of a certain rich man yielded  plentifully..

He has so much he said “ I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones.. take life easy- eat drink and be merry!”

Now who do you think is responsible for the land to yield a great harvest?

Is it the man’s effort or God’s  providence?

Many times it’s hard for us to see that everything comes from God.

For example, if you study for a degree, it’s hard to say that God gave this to me because you feel like you earned it and work so hard to get it.

The same can be said when you work so hard at your job ,and you get promoted, when you practice an instrument diligently and become a great musician  or train for a race and win.

But we forget that the very air we breathe is from God.

The rich fool thought that his wealth was all his doing.

He forgot that God provided the rain and the sun in order to grow his crops.

There is no mention of God, or other people, no gratitude.. only I,I ,I and my.

What shall I do

Since I have no room to store my crops

So he said, I will do this

I will pull down my barns and build greater,

And there I will store all my crops and my goods.

And I will say to my soul…

Even his soul he thinks he owns..

And he said,  soul you have many goods laid up for many years, take your ease, eat drink and be merry.

He already made plans without God.

He made business plans, lifestyle plans, retirement plans but sadly, no eternity plans.

James 4:13-14 says

13Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”  14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Instead you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

We may make our plans but God’s plan always prevails.

So we should always include eternity plans in our life.

V20 but God said to him, Fool! This night your soul will be required of you.

God is the creator of life, so everything belongs to Him

Ezekiel 18:4 says.. Behold, all souls are mine..

Our souls belongs to God.

He can choose to take our soul anytime

The question is, where will you spend eternity?

Have you been a good steward of the things he has entrusted in you?

Where did you spend your money?

What did you do with your time?

Did you use your talents to help others?

We don’t own anything in this world whether you believe it or not, we are just steward of what God has entrusted to us.

Are you ready to give God an account of the things God has entrusted to you?

It’s not too late yet. Habang may buhay , may pag-asa.

As long as we’re still alive there is hope or until Jesus comes back again.

Lesson number three

#3 Be Rich [Towards God]

V20 God said to him,fool!

What does fool means?

According to Oxford dictionary

Fool

- Silly or stupid

-a person who acts unwisely

Now about the rich man, does he look like a fool to you?

I don’t think so.

He was an astute farmer and successful businessman.

He demonstrated many financial principles: like,

not being wasteful—he said, “What shall I do, since I have nowhere to store my crops?”

planning—he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones.”

saving—he said, “There I will store all my grains and my goods.”

preparing for the future—he said, “I will say to [myself]…you have ample goods laid up for many years.

He seems to handle money better than most of us.

But God called him fool.

People can look wise and successful in the world’s eyes, but they can be fools and failures in God’s eyes. But also, people can look wise and successful in God’s eyes, but they can look like fools and failures in the world’s eyes.

People can be physically rich and spiritually poor or spiritually rich and physically poor. 

This is illustrated by two churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation:

Smyrna, the persecuted church, was physically poor and spiritually rich. Jesus told them, “I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich)” —Revelation 2:9

Laodicea, the lukewarm church, was physically rich and spiritually poor. Jesus told them, “You say, ‘I am rich, I have become wealthy, and I have need of nothing’—but do not know that you are wretched, poor, blind, and naked” —Revelation 3:17

The rich fool was also financially rich but spiritually poor. 

You may be successful in eyes of the world- you have a big house, great paying job, several cars and money in the bank …but are you spiritually poor?

The rich man has no record of him lying, cheating, or stealing. He seemed to be a diligent, hardworking man who obtained his wealth honestly and morally. 

Although we aren’t told he went to hell, it is implied. 

God’s judgment seems surprisingly strong for a man who doesn’t look that bad, or some might even say he seems moral. He looks like not a bad person.

What was so bad or wrong about him? 

Jesus gave the answer:in Luke 12:21 “[He was] not rich toward God”

No matter how much wealth we accumulate in this life, if we aren’t rich toward God, we are fools.

The rich fool is like the third servant in the parable of the talents. Do you remember this parable? The first servant was given 5 talents and he returned 10 talents, the second one was given 2 talents and returned it double as well. The third one was given one talent and he returned it the same, still one talent.

There’s no record of the third servant doing anything evil, but there’s also no record of him doing anything good; therefore, he’s called a “wicked and lazy servant” — Matthew 25:26 

The rich fool is different in that he wasn’t lazy— he was hard-working—but he’s similar in that he also did nothing for God. 

Are you like the rich fool and the third servant?

Do you go on your life not doing anything bad, not breaking any law, but do not do anything for God as well?

You work hard, study hard, go holiday, then what?

Do you give to the poor?

Or make time to help other people, listen to their problems, share the Gospel of Christ…

Encourage others to walk with God..

Do you?

People might look at the rich fool and say, “What a tragedy that he died just when he had everything going on for him.” This isn’t the tragedy. The tragedy is that he entered a Christless eternity. 

He lived without God throughout his earthly life and would do the same throughout his eternal life.

The account does not mention God until He appears and calls the rich man a fool. 

Can you imagine never thinking about God (or at least never taking Him seriously), and then the first time you do is when you stand before Him on the day of judgment? God gave the rich man many blessings, such as wisdom, strength, wealth, success, business, health, and even creation itself: 

“He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust”(Matthew 5:45). 

The rich fool enjoyed these blessings, including the sunlight and rain on his fields that made him rich. But he gave no thought to the God who gave them to him.

 The rich fool , the unbelievers and those who are not rich towards God have many things in common.

They enjoy blessings like relationships, jobs, food, wealth, homes, possessions, health, and creation. 

They take every breath from God, yet they don’t thank Him, worship Him, or look to the Savior God has provided. The first time they’ll take Him seriously is when they hear something like, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you” (Luke 12:20), or “I never knew you; depart from Me” (Matthew 7:23), or “Cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30). 

Don’t wait until God calls for your soul to start seeking Him, serving Him and living for him.

Because you don’t know when will God will say, Fool. This night your soul will be required of you.

This parable a makes important points, and one of the most important is that if we are spiritually bankrupt, we are foolish.

The point of our life is not to simply store up things for ourselves.

But the ultimate and eternal purpose of our lives is to be rich towards God.

CONCLUSION

1: Be on guard against all kinds of greed, for a persons life does not consist in the abundance of their possessions.

2: Be aware that everything we have-every breath, every talents and every blessing- belongs to God. We are not owners of them, we are stewards.

3: So let us not chase after worldly wealth but instead Be rich towards God - rich in faith, rich in love, rich in obedience, rich in generosity.

For in the end, when God calls for our soul, it is not our bank account or status in life that matters, but wether we live for Him.

I will end with this passage, let us all read it together..

1 Timothy 6:17–19 “Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share, storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of what is truly life.”

PRAYER

Father God, we thank you for reminding us today that life is not found in the abundance of things, but in knowing you.

Forgive us Lord , for the time we’ve chased after possession, status or comfort , and neglected the condition of our soul. Help us to guard our hearts against all kinds of greed. Teach us to live with open hands, knowing that everything we have comes from you. Make us faithful stewards of your blessings. Lord help us to be rich towards you. Fill us with deep desire to seek your kingdom first. And when our time comes and you call for our soul, may we be able to hear from you- well done good and faithful servant. We surrender all to you today. In Jesus name we pray, amen.

REFLECTION

What signs of greed might be present in my heart, and how can I guard myself against them?

What does it means for me personally to be “ rich towards God,” and how am I living that out in my life?