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.”
Three Stages of Ol Suit.
You may have heard about the young man who proposed to his girl in the following way: “Darling,” he said, “I want you to know that I love you more than anything else in the world. I want you to marry me. I’m not wealthy. I don’t have a yacht or a Rolls-Royce like Johnny Green, but I love you with all of my heart.”
She sat thoughtfully for a moment and then replied: “I love you with all of my heart, too, …but tell me more about Johnny Green.”
Money can’t buy love and that’s true when it comes to our relationship with God, too.
The Context of our Story
Jesus has been preaching some very strong, difficult to hear truths about:
Hypocrisy v. 1
Judgment v. 2
The Certainty of Sin’s Exposure v. 3
God’s Absolute Supremacy v. 4 & 5
The Reality of Hell v. 5
The Intrinsic Worth of the Human Soul v. 6 & 7
Our Obligation to Boldly Stand Up for Good and God v. 8 & 9
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit v. 10
Persecution & Courageous Witness v. 11 & 12
The Interruption
Apparently, right in the middle of Jesus’ lengthy sermon, a man stood up with a complaint against his brother about the fairness of an inheritance settlement.
This is an almost unimaginable breach of etiquette and Jesus rightly protests by saying, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?”
Looking right past the man’s belligerent behavior, Jesus sees the real issue: this man has a heart of greed!
Thus Jesus warns His disciples: “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
In other words the popular saying of our day is true: “He who dies with the most toys…still dies!”
A Warning Against Spiritual Blindness Produced by Greed
The Illustration
A farmer, already quite wealthy, happens to have a great year of abundant crops.
But he does not turn to the God Who blessed his crops and thank Him for His kindness.
Nor does he remember his neighbors and the widows of his community.
His single concern is for his own ease and enjoyment.
Hear his inner monologue with himself: “I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’”
This was his sole preoccupation: to please himself and do whatever he wanted to do.
But there was another actor in this story…Someone Who had been listening in to the selfish man’s monologue. The spotlight of our text falls upon this next actor and in the blinding light of truth we recognize Him to be none other than the God who had so blessed the man. Listen to Him speak:
“You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?”
When God calls a person a fool, we’d better take note of it! This is the very same God who reached out to the man in love, blessing his crops and prospered his life! However, the man foolishly lives as though he by himself is the reason for his sudden prosperity.
What about us? Do we credit God with giving us the blessings we enjoy? Further, do we remember the less fortunate in our times of prosperity?
God gives us many gifts and blesses us in a multitude of ways…but He always expects us to pass along the blessings and gifts to others. Listen to His Word:
Deuteronomy 8: 18 “But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.”
Money can’t buy love or nearly every American would be head over heels in love with Jesus!
Russian author, Leo Tolstoy, once told the story of a wealthy man who was never satisfied with what he had. He always wanted more and more.
One day he heard of a wonderful opportunity. For 1000 rubles he could have all the land he could walk around in a day. But he had to make it back to the starting point by the same day.
He rose early in the morning and set out, walking on and on, as quickly as he could travel, thinking he could get a little more land if only he kept going. Suddenly, he realized just how far he had walked and that he’d have to hurry to get back to the starting point.
He turned and began walking as fast as he could but soon saw that unless he ran, the sinking sun would rob him of his treasured land. Running, now, with all of his might, he came at last to the starting point…where he collapsed and died.
One of his servants then came to bury him and, with his spade, dug up a piece of land just six feet long and three feet wide.
Tolstoy entitled the story, ‘How Much Land Does a Man Need?’. He concludes the story by saying, in the end, “six feet from his head to his heels was all he needed.”
And then there was the wife who said to her husband, as Christmas was nearing, “Honey, this year let’s give each other more practical gifts…like socks and fur coats.”
Let’s hear the warning of Jesus that life is much more than the collection of things we possess. And let’s remember to look up to God and out to the needy whenever we receive one of the many blessings from the Lord…and be thankful!
