Sermon for Aug. 4, 2019

This morning I'll be reading Luke chapter 12 verses 13 through 21.

And I'll be reading the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

These scriptures begin with the statement that someone from the crowd makes about making his brother divide the inheritance but Jesus turns that statement around and tells them what they should be concerned with,,, and that means that we should be concerned with them too.

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.”

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord, as we begin this morning, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.

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At the beginning of the week,,, as always,,, I'm praying,,, checking scriptures,,, trying to get an idea of God's intentions for this weeks sermon.

Monday as I read the scripture selections from the lectionary,,, I didn't like the way that this scripture started out and dismissed it almost before that I started reading it.

But as the day passed on by,,, and I would come back to this scripture,,, it just seemed like God was telling me to look at it again.

And when I did,,, that's when it hit me,,, this rich man was just like us when we put all of our effort into worldly things instead of planning for our real future,,, our eternity in Heaven!

As I said last week,,, it seems like we can plan more for our retirement here on earth than the effort that we put forth for our true retirement.

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As we begin with these verses,,, I think that an explanation is needed as to why this individual would have asked Jesus to correct his brother.

In Jesus' day,,, if the people had problems that they couldn't agree on,,, sometimes it was brought before the rabbis and they would rule on who was right or wrong.

In one of the sermons that I read,,, he said that the man asking the question was probably the younger brother who had no say in the matter of dividing up the inheritance.

My Holman Christian Study Bible says that problems like this were often brought before the rabbis for them to settle,,, and Jesus' answer wasn't a change of subject.

Instead,,, Jesus is pointing to a higher issue,,, which is a correct attitude toward the accumulation of wealth.

Life is more than material goods,,, far more important is our relationship with God.

Here,,, Jesus put his finger on this questioners heart.

And when we bring problems to God in prayer,,, He often responds the same way,,, showing us how we need to change and grow in our attitude toward the problem.

The answer is often not the one we were looking for,,, but it is more effective in helping us trace God's hand in our lives.

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Jesus answers the statement from someone in the crowd by replying this way in verse 14: 14 “Friend,” He said to him, “who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?”

In my Faithlife Study Bible,,, it says that Jesus has no interest in settling material disputes.

I believe that it is obvious that Jesus spent His time wisely,,, doing the work that God sent Him to do.

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In verse 15 it says: 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.”

Jesus' point was that having many possessions wasn't what life should be about.

The disciples needed to learn the lesson that life spent living for God is more important than material things.

Today we need to hear this as well

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In verses 16 - 20,,, Jesus begins to tell the parable of the Rich Fool.

That's the title that my Study Bible has above it.

In this story,,, a man's land was very productive and he had a bountiful crop.

He harvested more crops than the barns that he had would hold.

He wasn't sure what to do.

So he decided to tear down his old barns and build newer,,, bigger barns,,, that would hold all of the harvested produce.

And that's exactly what he did.

He built enough barns that held all that he had harvested and put it up for his future.

Now he thinks that he has it made,,, he doesn’t have to worry about anything any more.

All that he needs to do now,,, is just sit back,,, and enjoy everything that he has worked for.

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How many times have we seen someone get close to retirement and suddenly they become really sick or hurt from an accident without any warning?

We usually,,, or at least I do,,, feel sorry for them.

I wonder what they will do now.

It seems like they have just gotten to where they can relax and really begin to enjoy life and then something like this happens.

Sometimes you will hear these people tell of their regret for not spending their time more wisely in the past.

They will tell of regret for working away from their families too much,,, or ignoring them,,, not putting their happiness first!

You never hear of them complaining that they should have worked harder and made more money,,, "No,,, not at this time in their life".

Now there is only regret for the things that they realize they missed out on.

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In a sermon by Jeff Strite,,, he mentions that recently someone posted a question on Facebook related to all of the lottery winners at that time and the question was -

What would you do if you were suddenly given 50 million dollars?

He was amazed at all of the answers that were posted.

There were people that wanted to buy new cars,,, new houses,,, pay off bills,,, take vacations,,, retire,,, and on and on.

These were all good ideas,,, nothing wrong with them,,, really.

But the main thing that he couldn't get over was the fact that not one single person ever mentions,,, God.

None of them said that they would help others,,, use the money to help the poor or give it to the church.

You see,,, they had the same problem that the farmer had.

All they could think about was themselves.

Every thought revolved around,,, I,,, me,,, mine,,, myself,,,

Just like the rich fool.

These thoughts by themselves aren't bad,,, but when they consume us and that's all that we can think of,,, then we have a problem!

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Now,,, going back to the farmer in the scriptures,,, he was apparently rich before he had the huge harvest because he has the means to build bigger barns to take care of everything.

There isn't any mention of any struggle to pay for the bigger barns,,, just the question he has of what should he do now.

The point that I'm trying to make is,,, the farmer was given a great gift.

It's what he does with that gift that became the problem.

As I've told before,,, being rich isn't the problem.

But allowing money to define us or lead us to do things that we shouldn't,,, that's the problem.

There have been plenty of rich men that were blessed by God,,, Job,,, Abraham,,, David,,, all of these men were men that loved God.

They would have given up their wealth if it would have been required to do so!

The difference was their attitude towards God compared to the farmer.

You see,,, the farmer confuses ownership with stewardship.

Nowhere does this farmer thank God or even acknowledge God for anything.

Just like the world today,,, he only had thoughts of himself.

People of the world will say that today is my lucky day,,, I thank my lucky stars,,, or whatever else comes to mind,,, when they should be thanking God for their wonderful gift.

You see,,, everything that we have,,, is from God.

It's our job to take care of it,,, use it to the betterment of His Kingdom,,, that we learned about last Sunday.

The Kingdom of God is "Jesus' Church".

That is why Jesus taught us to pray: “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done,,, on earth as it is in heaven.”

We are in the world,,, but not of the world.

We are a part of the Kingdom of God!!!

And therefore,,, we are to live accordingly.

And so, the Parable of the Rich Fool, which we are looking at this morning is really a parable about how NOT to live—even though it is the way the world teaches us to live.

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Philip Ryken said in his sermon,,, the farmer thought he had a storage problem when he really had a spiritual problem.

He lived like he was an atheist,,, someone who didn't believe in God.

His life revolved around himself.

His life,,, his priorities and his actions tells us that apparently he didn't have the relationship with God that he should have.

So my question to you is,,,

What about you?

Are you living your life for yourself?

Or,,, are you living your life for God?

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Look at what God said to the rich fool in verse 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?’

He was called a fool because he lived his life as if God doesn't exist.

The farmer thought that he would live many more years but God said that this very night his life was demanded of him.

The farmer made plans for his life in this world but he planned nothing for his life in eternity!

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Verse 21 says: “That’s how it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

When we have our thoughts on ourselves instead of focusing on God,,, we lose everything in the end because nothing goes with us when we die.

The only thing that we have are the things that we do here on earth that help us to get to Heaven.

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William Barclay tells the story of a conversation between a young man who thought he had his entire life planned out and an older gentleman that knew life.

When the older gentleman questioned the young man about his plans,,, he told him, "I'll learn my trade."

"And then," asked the older gentleman.

“I will set up in business.” said the young man.

“And then?” asked the older gentleman.

“I will make my fortune.” said the young man.

“And then?” asked the older gentleman.

“I suppose that I shall grow old and retire and live on my money.” said the young man.

“And then?” said the older gentleman.

“Well, I suppose that someday I will die.” the young man told him.

“And then?” came the last stabbing question from the older gentleman.

To which he was only greeted with silence,,, because the young man really hadn't planned that far ahead yet.

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So my question to you today is: What about you?

Have you made the correct plans that you need to make if God made the same request of you?

If God calls you home today,,, are you ready?

Have you spent your life thinking of yourself and the needs that you have today without any concern for the time when you are called home?

If so then there is still time to change.

Today is the chance to change your life if you can relate to this farmer's way of thinking.

We aren't promised tomorrow.

We don't know the hour or the day when Jesus will return or the hour or the day when we will be called home,,, we are just told to be ready!

This parable that Jesus told was a warning to be ready at any time,,, we won't be given many warnings,,, this is one now,,, and if needed,,, then I beg you to take this opportunity and use it wisely.

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So as we sing our final hymn,,, let me remind you that the alter is always open,,,

If you feel God speaking to you,,, don't hesitate to come,,, maybe you just have questions,,, God will answer,,, you just have to ask Him,,, whatever the need may be,,,

As we sing the final hymn,,, come if needed!

Oakdale - Hymn Page -

Seminary - Hymn Page - 382

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