Dr. John P. Clark's Sermons & Writings

Series on Luke

IV The Imperatives of Kingdom

B Instruction in Rejection

2 Silly Fool

Text:12:13-21

Introduction

A few years ago when ex world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was convicted of rape, Donald Trump came forward with a proposal to try to get his sentence lightened or removed by the payment of a huge sum of money to a worthy cause. The proposal was rightly and roundly condemned by the press. It is easy for us to look away in self-righteous horror from such a proposal, but what we were seeing was a man who literally believed money could do anything. Before we throw stones we need to get out of our glass houses. It was an extreme example to be sure, but the Bible says the love of money is the root of all evil. We all think money and possessions are the answer. The love of money is the root of all evil because it is the opposite of faith. Faith says God will take care of me, but the love of money says that I have to take care of myself. Faith says that I am somebody because God loved me and sent his Son to die for me. The love of money says that if I am not rich I am nobody. Dear friends, faith equals contentment and it is very hard for me to see how a man can be truly content while playing the lottery or following any other get rich quick scheme. It is this very lack of contentment with which we are confronted as we look at our text and see first the rudeness, then the rule and finally the requirement.

I The Rudeness

We discover the rudeness in verses 13 and 14, Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” The problem of this man was a common one, an argument in a family over an inheritance. I come across this all the time. and the ordinary procedure for these people in Jesus’ day was to go to the rabbi or elders to have the dispute settled. Actually that was a good procedure. But here the man is rebuked! Why? Because this is the rude, self-serving question of a materialistically minded man. Jesus has just been talking about life and death matters, about trusting god or perishing, about gaining the whole world and losing your soul, and this man is so focused on his greed and covetousness that he doesn’t even hear what Jesus is saying. His ears are deaf but his mouth works and he can’t wait to get out the only thing that really matters to him which is how about that inheritance? So Jesus enunciates the rule.

II The Rule

The rule in verse 15 is that a man’s life cannot be sustained by things,  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.” The Greek word for life here is a generic word, the same word we find in the word zoology, the study of life, so what our Lord is saying is that feeling, eating and breathing are not guaranteed by possessions. In other words the very processes which contribute to existence are not dependent on our possessions. The problem is we do not want existence we want a certain quality of life and it’s not wrong to work hard for such goals as long as we realize that life depends on God. Covetousness is a sin of the heart and mind. It is an attitude of the inner man. One of the things we sinners do really well is to judge others. If a man has a beautiful home, a nice car, and a good salary we are quick to say he is covetous. To understand this rule we must see that covetousness is a sin of the heart. You need to judge yourself! in support of this I call your attention to two scriptures. First, consider the strange account of Mary of Bethany taking a half liter of expensive perfume and pouring it over Jesus so that the odor filled the house. The objection was made that this was an extravagance and a waste, not by Jesus but by Judas who said why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor, though he did not care for the poor but wanted the money in his pocket. Was Mary covetous for possessing such an expensive bottle of perfume? No, because she gladly gave it to Jesus. On the other hand Judas, who had nothing, was covetous because he wanted it. It’s in the heart where only God and you know about it! The other scripture is Paul’s declaration in Romans 7:7 and 8,  For I would not have known what it was to covet if the law had not said do not covet. but sin seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. Paul abandoned the Pharisaical criterion of outward righteousness when he realized that sin was a matter of the heart. Thus, the real question here is where is your life? And to help you decide Jesus gives a parable which tells us what is required.

III The Requirement

The parable is in verses 16-21, And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.  He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “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. 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.”’ “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?’ “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” The rich man in Jesus’ parable obviously thinks he has attained security. This is the primary point! Take life easy. In our culture as a whole we do exactly what this man did. Our primary focus is on taking life easy. we retire people at a reasonable age so they can enjoy the luxury of taking life easy. The very system by which we do this is called social security. There is nothing wrong with providing for old age when  our earning power diminishes, but if we do this so that we can be unproductive then it is a terrible mistake. Since our highest calling is to minister for God we do not need to  make money to be productive, however there is a trap into which many people fall which is that the most important thing is to be secure. When we do this we forget that our security is in God. The editors of the New International Version call this section the parable of the rich fool. In the end you see there is only one requirement. It has nothing to do with earthly security; it has to do with the meaning of your life. If the meaning is measured in possessions it is a disaster. If it is measured in sacrifice and service it is a triumph as in verse 21, This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God. The ultimate requirement is that we must answer to God for the uses of all our resources. In Philippians 4:19 Paul says to the believers, And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. This sounds great! If it is true we can get rid of social security, and have theological security, but listen to Paul’s description of the Philippians. They are his joy and crown, they shine as stars in the universe because they were the only church to share with Paul when he left them and proceeded to his next destination. To the Corinthians he writes about these same people, We want you to know about the grace that God has given to the Macedonian churches. out of the most severe trial their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. They met the requirement of verse 21, This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God. How will your life be measured?