A Fool and His Money
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Scripture Reading
Scripture Reading
Luke 12:13–21
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21 “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”
Introduction
Introduction
This morning in our study in Luke’s Gospel, we find an attempt by a particular man that was in the crowds listening to Jesus attempting to distract Jesus from His main purpose and mission in this world. For the last while, we’ve been looking together at Jesus’ interactions with the various groups of religious leaders. We’ve also looked at the cautions that Jesus gave to his disciples against the kind of religion that was prevalent in that day - one that was very self-centred and relied on a religious superiority in order to win favour with God.
But this morning we come to the first to two immediate texts that deal with the issue of finances, and in light of that, a question of priorities. In particular, we will see how Jesus addresses the hearts of people and the priorities of people in terms of their approach and responses to financial situations. As Jesus responds to this circumstance that arises in our text this morning, we will find that he addresses the weightiness of Gospel involvement and Gospel generosity, even in light of a perceived injustice. In the text that we will Lord-willing consider next week, he will address the matter of Gospel generosity and priority, even in the context of a perceived lack of financial provision.
This is always a somewhat sensitive topic… But it is a very important topic, especially for us as Christians as we consider our manner of life in this world. It is a matter that is very important, because very often our approach to finances and our response to our present financial situation can be a good indicator of where our priorities lie, and where our trust lies.
So, let us consider this passage together...
The first main point that I would like us to note from this text is...
1. A Passion for Self (vv.13-15)
1. A Passion for Self (vv.13-15)
The scenario is introduced to us in verse 13…
Luke 12:13
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
The crowd that is in mind here is that large crowd that was gathered to listen to Jesus after he had left the house of the Pharisee. It was the crowd that was gathering around Jesus as He spoke to his disciples and warned them about the yeast of the Pharisees, which was hypocrisy.
Now, one of the people from the crowd, hears a break in Jesus words’, and decides to use this as an opportune time to bring a personal request to Jesus that would call upon Jesus to weigh in and act as an arbitrator between him and his brother in a dispute that they have over an inheritance handed down. “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me,” says the man to Jesus.
We are not given precise details in this instance as to the nature of the man’s concern. In that day, the inheritance would usually be divided up among the sons of a deceased father, with a double portion going to the eldest brother. From the complaint that is given in this instance, it’s possible that this was a younger brother, and he had not received his share of the inheritance. Alternatively, it was the older brother complaining here, and the inheritance had gone to the younger brother, without him receiving his double portion.
Either way, the reality is that there was some unhappiness that justice had not been carried out. And this man approaches Jesus in order to ask for help in resolving this perceived injustice. Keep in mind that it was a common occurrence in those days for people to approach Rabbis in order to try and assist in these matters, and Jesus was well-known as a Rabbi, or teacher. That’s probably the reason that this man approaches Jesus.
Two things that I would like to point out in this regard at this stage. Firstly, the sheer impossibility for Jesus to weigh in on every dispute of every person. There were literally thousands of people crowding around Jesus, trampling on each other in order to get to him, and now this man wants Jesus to focus his attention on him and help him to settle a dispute. I think we can immediately get a sense of how selfish this man was being.
But further to this, we must keep in mind the context in terms of all that Jesus has been teaching. He had been confronting the religious leaders, telling them that they were hypocrites, to the extent that they wanted to put him to death. In light of this, he had taught the crowds not to fear men, but rather to fear God in obeying the Messiah, even though that would mean facing the rulers and authorities, and perhaps even being put to death. There was an urgent mission on hand, and Christ was proclaiming the Gospel and the importance of it, and here comes this man and says, “Hey, can you just pause what you’re doing over here, and come and settle this inheritance dispute that we’re having here.”
It really was a little absurd. In light of all that Jesus was teaching, and the weightiness of His words, all this man could concern himself over was his inheritance.
But friends, we must see the significance of this in terms of application for ourselves. We come to church, and we listen to the Gospel being proclaimed. We hear about the great sacrifices made to redeem sinners. We hear that the very Son of God was put to death so that I could be saved, and live a new life in freedom from sin, that I would not be under the just wrath of God. And then we walk out and start worrying about such petty things. We’re consumed by the worries of this world, rather than profoundly moved by that which is of eternal significance.
It’s in light of this, that we see a very strong response from Jesus in verse 14…
Luke 12:14
14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?”
Christ will not allow himself to be dragged into this man’s concern and so become distracted from His work of Gospel proclamation, saving sinners. He will not even become distracted for the perceived injusticeover an inheritance. It was not that this man didn’t have a case to be settled. But there were other places to and have the case settled. They would have had courts that they could go to in order to settle their disputes.
But clearly, Jesus knew what was in this man’s heart, and he knew that his mission here was not to deal with squabbles over an inheritance. There was a higher priority work to be done. But we must also not lose sight of the fact that Jesus knew the hearts of men. He knew where this man’s priority was. It was evident of the selfish request that was brought. But Jesus also knew the hearts of men, and that they are so quickly drawn to placing trust and putting emphasis on the wrong places.
We must consider our own hearts in light of this. Our natural and general tendency as people is to place a priority on riches, and to place our trust in riches, and to look for satisfaction in the things of the world, rather than to place a top priority, a first importance in the Gospel work of Jesus Christ. We look to find a sense of security in what we have, and what our bank balance looks like. We often think that if we have abundance of riches, well then we’ll have so much less to be concerned about. We think that the more we have the happier we’ll be, and the more freely we’ll be able to serve Jesus.
11 The wealth of the rich is their fortified city;
they imagine it an unscalable wall.
This is a natural tendency, and Christ knows the proclivity of the heart of man towards sin, particularly as it relates to financial matters.
This was indeed a matter of justice or injustice if this inheritance was not correctly apportioned. However, there was something far more important that needed to be dealt with here. There was something that was of far greater priority.
Going further, having essentially told this man that he will not get involved in this personal dispute, he goes on to give a warning, both to this man, and to the crowds around him.
Luke 12:15
15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
Here is another warning that Jesus gives to the crowds. He already warned them previously to be on their guard against the yeast of the Pharisees. The natural tendency of man within that context was to create a self-centred religion, and to try to earn one’s salvation. To do good works in order to please God.
In this case, the warning is against greed. Notice the force of the words of Christ… “Watch Out!!” It is a strong warning to the man that he is in a dangerous place. It is a strong warning to the crowds listening that they must guard themselves against greed. Likewise, it is a strong warning to us today to guard our own hearts. The man that approached Jesus was motivated by greed.
Thus, the warning from Jesus is against greed. “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed.”
The word that Jesus uses here to convey this to the crowds refers to a continual longing for more. It is when a man wants more and more and more continually and is not satisfied with what he has. We must see also that he speaks about all kinds of greed. What are these all kinds of greed that he speaks of? Greed for more wealth. Greed for greater status. Greed for more respect and honor from people. Greed for anything within this world.
The fact is that the heart of man tends to be greedy for things in this world. Listen to some Scriptures that point this out for us.
20 Death and Destruction are never satisfied,
and neither are the eyes of man.
Solomon wrote a fair deal on this in the book of Ecclesiastes. Keep in mind as we read these verses that Solomon was a man with great wealth and he had experienced what was to have much. And yet, as he lived his life, you realize that there was a lack of meaning in this abundance in and of itself. The constant refrain from Solomon through the book of Ecclesiastes is, “vanity, vanity, all is vanty…”
8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
8 There was a man all alone;
he had neither son nor brother.
There was no end to his toil,
yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.
“For whom am I toiling,” he asked,
“and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?”
This too is meaningless—
a miserable business!
10 Whoever loves money never has money enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.
This too is meaningless.
The point that I wish to make from this is simply the fact that the heart of man tends to not be satisfied with what he has. As we look at the world around us, as we consider what the people around us have and enjoy, we have a tendency to be jealous or to covet what they have. Very often we will couch this in very reasonable language. But beyond this, even if we’re not jealous, we can tend to place a priority on this world, rather than on the Gospel of the kingdom of Christ. We’re more concerned for justice and our rights being done, than in Christ’s name being glorified and honoured and hallowed in the world.
Let us be sure that we will never acknowledge that we are greedy from our own side. We know that greed is wrong. We know that covetousness is wrong. The danger is not in the obvious coveting after our neighbor’s goods. The danger is in that subtle greed that is taking hold of our hearts without us even realizing it. Is that not the case with this man who came to Jesus with a genuine concern of genuine justice? But Jesus saw his heart.
As Jesus addresses his disciples in this verse, he is emphasizing the fact that there is a great danger for men to be longing for the things of this world even though he may not realize that that is where is longing is. That leads us to consider our second main point from our text…
2. A Parable on Priorities (vv.16-20)
2. A Parable on Priorities (vv.16-20)
This present scenario leads Jesus to tell a parable to his disciples and to all those who were around him. In verse 16-17 we read:
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
Notice the present scenario of this man in the parable. Jesus presents for us a man who is very wealthy. It is a man that has done well in life in terms of material goods. This in and of itself is not a bad thing. In fact, very often (should I say always) an abundance is because of God’s kindness in allowing that abundance to be created. So here is a man who has an abundance of wealth, probably because of doing hard work and good work in achieving well for himself in life. He has one of these good problems in life. His problem is there’s got so much abundance of crops that is run out of place to store it. This is what we call a first world problem.
As this man faces his so-called “problem”, he comes up with a plan that to most people would seem to be quite an ordinary and logical plan. We find his plan in verses eighteen and nineteen.
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’
What a perfectly reasonable and sensible idea under the circumstances! If you do not have place to store your grain and goods, and God is blessing you with abundance, simply build bigger storage facilities to keep the abundance. Store up while you can and while the going is good, so that later on in life you can simply sit back relax and enjoy your life. Who doesn’t want to enjoy the fruit of their labors in this world? Who doesn’t want to enjoy an early retirement after having worked hard to bring in an income?
Friends, this is something that we see very often in our day and I think increasingly so. More and more people are trying to work hard while they are young, earned a good and decent living, so that they can enjoy their life either through early retirement, or even go by going into retirement and enjoying their life when they retire.
I’m going to suggest to you this morning that those who hold this view have a fundamentally wrong view of life in this world. Rather, let me say that they have a fundamentally un-biblical view of life in this world. The reason I say that is that so often their life is oriented around themselves and their enjoyment in this life rather than oriented around the worship and praise of God in all that they do.
I’m not saying here that it is wrong to be wealthy. I’m also not saying it’s wrong to retire and to have a season of enjoying the fruit of a long life of hard work and diligent labor. What I am saying is that your emphasis in your focus must be correct. I am saying that your priorities and your emphasis on right priorities is important. What I am saying is that if your motivation is wrong in this world, then ultimately it is all worthless. Worse than this, is that if the motivation is wrong and you’re living and working for a self-centered reason, it possibly is true that all you’ve done is lived for you, rather than for the glory and honour and exaltation of the Almighty God of the universe, the one deserving of all praise and honour and glory.
I don’t think I need to convince you that such a position is not a good one to be in. The position is one that puts forward personal advancement and self-attainment before God. It is one that puts personal comfort and pleasure ahead of devotion to Christ, and a life of humble service to Him. It is idolatry.
13 “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
Here was the concern of the man in the parable. Jesus conveys to his hearers that the simple desire of a man to make bigger barns was an indicator of a heart of greed. As Jesus continues his parable, he brings across the reality that this man’s life was simply not his own to begin with, and he had no control over the start and end of his life. Read with me verse 20…
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
The point that Jesus makes through this parable is quite simply that we do not know the number of days that are allotted to us. This man had a dream of a long life of enjoyment and relaxation. He had an abundance, and so he made his plans to wisely store up the abundance, and use it for his enjoyment down the line. But he forgot that his life was not his own. His existence ought not to have been driven by his selfish desires, but rather by a deep sense of the priority of the worship and exaltation of God, even as he abounded in prosperity.
This man ought to have lived in light of the fact that this world is not all there is. In fact, this world is only a very short breath when compared with eternity. This life is the mere blinking of an eye in light of eternity. Martin Luther is quoted as saying, ““Preach [and live] as if Jesus was crucified yesterday, rose from the dead today, and is returning tomorrow.”
If we had to pause and take stock of our lives, knowing that Christ was returning tomorrow, what would we be doing differently? How tightly would we be holding onto our things? How much emphasis would we be putting on all these important things in life? How much emphasis would we be placing on all of these different priorities in our lives? These are questions that we need to be asking ourselves!
This leads us then finally to consider…
3. A Principle for Application (vv.21)
3. A Principle for Application (vv.21)
In verse 21, Christ applies all that he has said through his parable to the people that were listening.
21 “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”
The warning is given clearly to the people that were listening. It is foolishness to live life as if this were the only life. It is foolishness to go about your daily business as if the priority in this world is the accumulation of goods and prosperity. It is particularly foolishness if you are not rich toward God.
Again, this is a matter of an attitude of the heart, and an ordering of priorities. Christ is not saying here that it is inherently wrong to be wealthy. The question is, what do you do with your wealth? Paul instructed Timothy to teach those who were wealthy with these words…
17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
From this passage, it’s important to see that Paul doesn’t tell Timothy that those who are rich must sell everything and give it to the poor, or give it to the church, and then live with nothing. He doesn’t even say that those who have an abundance are not allowed to enjoy anything of that abundance. In fact, he does say that God has richly provided us with everything for our enjoyment.
But there is nonetheless the important matter of knowing the heart and ordering priorities. The danger for the rich person is that they put their trust in their riches, rather than in God. The danger is that they focus so much on their own enjoyment of “God’s blessings” to them, that they don’t consider others, and they give little thought to a life of great generosity towards the work of God. The danger is also that they become so consumed with the work that they do, and accumulating this wealth, that they have not time for Christ. No Bible Study, no prayer, no generosity… I just don’t have time.
This truth and attitude is applicable to rich and poor alike. Each one needs to evaluate themselves where they are in their own lives and see if they are placing the correct priority on generosity towards God. Are we being rich towards God?
The commentator Alexander Maclaren writes these words…
Not what we possess, but what we are, is the important matter.… The real life of a man has little relation to what he possesses. Neither nobleness nor peace nor satisfaction … has much dependence on property of any sort.… Covetousness is folly because it grasps at worldly good, under the false belief that thereby it will secure the true good of life, but when it has made its pile, it finds that it is no nearer peace of heart, rest, nobleness, or joy than before, and has probably lost much of both in the process of making it. The mad race after wealth, which is the sin of this luxurious, greedy, commercial age, is the consequence of a lie—that life does consist in the abundance of possessions. (Alexander Maclaren)
That is the lie that so much of our society is living with. That is nothing new. It was true of the days of Christ as well.
With that in mind, let us consider some application.
Application / Conclusion
Application / Conclusion
A.1. Set your priorities
A.1. Set your priorities
As we think of how we can apply this, we must begin by setting our priorities straight in our minds. Without a correct perspective on life, we will never be able to get our priorities right. And we must see that our priorities will only be oriented correctly when we are walking in the wisdom of God through His word.
We simply cannot decide in this moment, “Oh, I see, I need to be more generous towards God by giving to the church and the poor.” In 1 Corinthians 13, that wonderful passage on the priority of love, Paul even makes the statement…
3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
The point that I make is that this requires first and foremost a change of heart, and a change of desires. If our hearts are set on the things of this world, or if our hearts are driven by a selfishness to earn God’s favour, either way, we miss the point.
And so friends, we need to be driven by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our knowledge and depth of understanding in terms of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ must motivate us through our response to that Gospel to be generous, and to give heartily to the Lord. It is the Spirit of God that must move us… but we ought to be moved. If our hearts are not moved by the gospel towards a life of satisfaction in God’s provisions, and generosity towards others, then there is a problem with the heart. It all begins there.
Keep in mind that the generosity that we will show is an overflowing of the generosity that God has shown to us in Jesus Christ. If we don’t believe that a great sacrifice was made on our behalf, then we’re not going to be moved much to make sacrifices for others.
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
We need our hearts and minds transformed. That transformation takes place as we diligently apply ourselves to seeking after God through the Word, prayer, fellowship with His saints, participation in the life of the church.
As this happens, we should also then…
A.2. Look to Scriptures Examples
A.2. Look to Scriptures Examples
As God works in our hearts by His Spirit, we will find that we are moved to greater generosity towards others. But we ought to cultivate this. In other words, we must put our faith into action, or rather, our faith should be demonstrated through our actions, what we do.
I would like to point out some instances in Scripture where the people were moved by God to give generously.
The first is from the book of Exodus…
4 Moses said to the whole Israelite community, “This is what the Lord has commanded: 5 From what you have, take an offering for the Lord. Everyone who is willing is to bring to the Lord an offering of gold, silver and bronze; 6 blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; 7 ram skins dyed red and hides of sea cows; acacia wood; 8 olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; 9 and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece.
Moses also commanded the people that anyone with particular skills was to come and utilize those skills for the building of the Tabernacle. But what is important is the response from the people.
20 Then the whole Israelite community withdrew from Moses’ presence, 21 and everyone who was willing and whose heart moved him came and brought an offering to the Lord for the work on the Tent of Meeting, for all its service, and for the sacred garments.
We then see the result of the people of Israel as they were moved by God in their hearts to contribute…
2 Then Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord had given ability and who was willing to come and do the work. 3 They received from Moses all the offerings the Israelites had brought to carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary. And the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning. 4 So all the skilled craftsmen who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left their work 5 and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the Lord commanded to be done.”
6 Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more, 7 because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work.
Some examples are found in the New Testament that are worth pointing out…
The first is found in Acts…
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.
Later on in the book of Acts, this generosity continued…
32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. 34 There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.
The point of these passages is not to say that this is what you ought to do. The point is that when God’s Spirit worked in these people their hearts were moved to generosity. One of the critical evidences of a profound work of grace in the hearts of the people was their generosity towards the church so that the needs of God’s people could be met. And they did it joyfully.
One more example from the New Testament…
1 And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. 5 And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will. 6 So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. 7 But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.
A.3. Be Joyfully Generous Towards God
A.3. Be Joyfully Generous Towards God
Flowing out of all of this, and in terms of very practical application, I want to encourage each one of us here to consider the extent to which we are able to contribute to the work of the Lord in various ways. I’ll share the ways that I would encourage this in a moment, but the call at this moment, from the text that we’ve studied today, is to very carefully consider where our priorities are, and then to give joyfully and abundantly to the work of God. We are to live generous lives in which we joyfully serve one another’s needs as the body.
So, where does the Lord call us to give?
Firstly, care for the needs of your family. Even extended family.
Secondly, contribute generously to the needs of the church… there is a very practical and immediate need here.
· Support the continued work of the ministry of the church…
· Support the families of this church that really have little to nothing, and don’t even know where their next meal is coming from.
· Support the outreach ministry of the church… there is a need for spreading the Gospel, and this needs funding.
Dear friends, the matter that we’ve looked at today is an important one, and it is a matter of priorities. Is Christ Jesus and His kingdom taking first place in our hearts. That’s not to say we have nothing. It’s not to say we don’t engage in employment in this world. We certainly do. But we must ask ourselves what our priorities are. In light of this passage today, let us ask ourselves the question, what does the use of that which God has blessed us with demonstrate about our priorities? Where do our priorities lie.
7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
May the Lord move us all to be a people that are generous, even as we delight in God’s generosity towards us.