The Foolishness of a Non-Generous Life Luke 12:13-21

Broadcast Dates: November 16 & 17, 2020 Steve DeWitt

How many of you like to travel? Me, too. Road trips can be long but also fun, especially if the company is good and the scenery enjoyable. There are lots of places designated “scenic views.” They’re little parking areas where you can stop, take in the view, and then be on your way. We are going to pull off the highway of agape love and take in a scenic view. What’s the view? Love’s generosity. More specifically, how God’s love to us in Christ will and must make us generous toward Him.

Jesus loved to talk about this, probably because it got people squirming 2000 years ago. They felt like He was meddling. They didn’t mind Him talking about love, but they didn’t like it as much when He talked about their money and how they use it. You may have heard that Jesus spoke more about money than He did heaven and hell combined. It’s true. If Jesus was the pastor of Bethel Church, how often would we hear about money? A lot.

Shouldn’t we ask why? Why would Jesus focus so much attention on money and how we use it? He answers that in Matthew 6:21, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Mark it down. Money and heart always go together. Where your money goes, there goes your heart. Where your heart goes, there goes your money as well. So if you want to know what your heart really prioritizes, just look at your checkbook or your credit card statement.

People protest this today just like they did back then. They weep and gnash their teeth. No! You can truly love God without it being seen in your financial priorities. Here’s what Jesus taught: there are few outward objective measures of where our faith is; one of the clearest is what we do with our money. That doesn’t mean if you give a lot of money to the poor or a church or missions that you are necessarily a godly person. It does mean that if you don’t, you’re not. Cue the weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The fact that we protest this so much shows how true Jesus’ teaching is. Heart and money are intertwined. Did Jesus talk about this so much because He wanted the disciples’ money? No. He talked about it so much because He wanted the disciples’ hearts.

A Shout From the Back

One of the ways Jesus calls us to generosity is to show the foolishness of not investing for eternity. Our little scenic overlook is a parable Jesus told that begins in Luke 12:13 – "Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12:13-15)

The setting here is a common one. Jesus is teaching. He did that a lot. Luke 12:1 tells us this was a huge gathering. Thousands of people surrounded Him, wanting to get close and hear anything this young Rabbi said. There were no nice chairs or rows. People were sitting on the ground and standing on the edges. There were no microphones; no amplification.

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In the midst of this, a man shouts at Jesus, Tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. Let me give you a little background here. The law of the land was the Old Testament Law which spelled out how inheritances were distributed. According to Deuteronomy 21:17, the firstborn son received a double portion of the inheritance – twice as much as the other siblings. How many oldest sons here think this is a great idea? Me, too. I am the oldest of four and I’ve told my parents I think they had three children too many.

This is hard to believe, but somehow in this family money had become an issue. Money + Family = Problems. Why? Money and heart go together. Apparently this man was a younger brother and the older brother was not sharing any of the inheritance with him. So he shouts at Jesus hoping Jesus would mediate in the matter. It was not uncommon for teaching rabbis to arbitrate disputes. So this guy could have stumbled on the scene, saw thousands of people listening to Jesus, and thought, Here’s a guy who can make my brother give me the money.

Jesus declines to mediate but uses the man’s brash request to point out a problem more severe than how inheritance is distributed. Jesus points out what his concern about it revealed. His demand came from a priority in his heart. “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Verse 15)

What was behind that man’s request? A sense of justice? Fulfilling Mom’s desire, God rest her soul? No. It came from a heart that coveted money. He wanted more of it! He was willing to brazenly shout it in front of thousands of people, likely embarrassing his whole family. I want my money and I want it now! Jesus identifies the real issue. Much like He did the rich young ruler who came to Him (Luke 18:18ff) and said, What must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus said…“[Obey] the commandments.” [The man] said, “I have.” Jesus quickly saw the real issue and said, “Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” The rich young ruler left sad. He was not willing to pay that price. Jesus said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”

Why? Because heart and money go together. You cannot serve God and money. (Matthew 6:6) This would be a good time to think, I wonder who I am serving. Who has my heart?

Now, back to our story. The younger brother’s demand showed a heart living for material things. The old definition of a materialist still works – someone who buys things they can’t afford to impress people they don’t like. A materialist lives for the here and now. The things here and now can provide. The rewards this life has to offer. Jesus doesn’t care about this man’s bank account, but He does care about his heart and tells a story that shows where this kind of living will lead you.

The Parable of the Rich Fool

"And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ (Verse 17)

Note that this man is already a rich man. There’s no indication that this is ill-gotten gain. He’s a well-to-do fellow in town. One particular harvest season, his fields “produced plentifully.” He had a bumper crop. It was an outstanding year. Most of us are not farmers, so you have to contextualize a little. Maybe it’s the company you work for. The side business you started. The stock you bought. Or maybe you were out hunting rabbits and you were shootin’ at some food and up from the ground comes a bubblin’ crude. Oil that is.

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Black gold. Texas tea. (Theme song from The Beverly Hillbillies) There was a windfall profit. How much? We don’t know, but the money is not the story here; it is what the windfall reveals about the man’s priorities.

And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ (Verses 18-19)

Sounds pretty good. It’s a 2000 year old story, but this fellow would fit right into the American dream. Get rich quick. Pile it up. Retire early. Sit back and count your money. Be the envy of all your friends. Relax in your hot tub. Eat what you want, when you want. Be merry all the day long. Some of your eyes are glazing over. That sounds great! To have it all!

The rich fool’s self-absorption

In only three verses, the rich fool manages to say the words “I” and “my” 12 times. What is conspicuous by its absence is any acknowledging of God’s provision of the windfall. No thankfulness. No thought given to the needs of others. Not even a thought about using the windfall for kingdom purposes. All his thoughts are on how he can improve his own life and take care of himself. This is the self-absorbed man, the live-for-now man that God is about to all call a fool.

The rich fool’s not-so-strategic plan (verses 18-19)

Build BIGGER

And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. (Verse 18)

Bigger barns meant more capacity to pile up wealth. In an agricultural society, barns were like banks. You stored your wealth there. He was all about having more. More. More. More.

If you are merely living for this life, it makes perfect sense to accumulate as much as you can.

Take it easy

And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ (Verse 19)

Sounds really good, doesn’t it? Pile it up. Live off it. Not a worry or concern. Eat, drink, be merry. For the materialist, this is as good as it gets – a life of ease and financial security. So the picture is of a man completely consumed with self, living for pleasure and ease. No thoughts of God or eternity. No thoughts of others. He is leveraging his resources completely for his own benefit for the many years ahead. You may say, This doesn’t sound foolish; this sounds like the American dream! What if the American ideal isn’t God’s ideal? What if what Jesus is about to say to this man turns the American dream upside down? How can this be? Listen to what Jesus says to the American dream…I mean, this man in the story.

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Rich toward God?

"But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” " (Verses 20-21)

This man made an incredibly stupid calculation and one that is made in our culture every day. It’s not what you think. It’s not the reality of his riches or even deciding to build bigger barns. It was who he was doing this for and what he was going to do with it. He completely missed that using earthly riches for yourself is incredibly shortsighted. God’s judgment points this out. Tonight you are going to die, then who gets what you have amassed for yourself? In other words, you don’t get to keep it! Not one dime. Of course you do. There are laws against people stealing it and the FDIC guarantees the deposits and so you really do get to keep it. No. How much did the great Pharaoh of Egypt Ramses keep? King Tut? How much did John Rockefeller keep? How much will Warren Buffet and Bill Gates keep? How much of what you have will you keep? The answer is the same for everyone including this rich fool. Nothing. Not one dime. All we have in this life will be given to someone else. That very night he would die. Then what would he “have”?

The point of the parable is not about wealth and money, but how foolish it is to live for them and not use them for what will gain us treasure for eternity. This is the foolishness of a non- generous life. So tragically shortsighted.

Randy Alcorn illustrates it very simply:

Don’t live for the dot. Don’t waste your life. Don’t waste your resources. When we die, we stand before God. Nothing material goes with us or matters before God. What matters is what we did with what God gave us.

Let’s reread verse 21, So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. The goal for the Christian in this life must be to be rich in the next. This is why how we use our money is such a helpful indicator of where our hearts are. Here or there. Now or then. Which are you living for? How can you know? Look at your bank statement. Look at your checkbook. The places with the most digits are what you love the most. This whole parable is saying that if our biggest digits are spent on us for the here and now, then we are playing the fool.

I recently read a book that really challenged me in lots of categories of living. Radical by David Platt. I encourage you to read it. Since I can’t read the book to you, I’d like to play the promotional video which is a good summary. Listen from the perspective of The Parable of the Rich Fool. Click on this link to see the video: http://www.radicalthebook.com/

I want to speak to our church family. If you are a guest today, we’re glad to have you here. I need a little time with those that I call the Bethelonians. I’m going to die. So are you. I will give an account to God for my shepherding of you. I am thankful for so many true and faithful servants who steward their time, talents, and treasures for God’s glory through this local church.

But I have a growing fear that there are a significant number of pretenders and tagalongs among us. As our church has grown, it has become easier and easier to hide in the crowd. Enjoy the experience. Ride on the edges of the church.

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When you hear what Jesus says here and the grim reality that what we do with our resources in this life defines God’s perspective on us in the next, we have to ask ourselves, Am I playing the fool?

I fear that I will stand before God and give an account of what I said, preached, called you to. I hear this a lot from people: We like to listen to you. Our kids think you are funny. I would rather we never have a moment of levity in this church again IF it meant we were serious about following Jesus.

To be frank, I see the statistics of how many hundreds and hundreds of people that attend Bethel week after week give nothing to the Lord’s work here. Maybe there is great generosity in ministries to the poor or missionaries or other ministries. But I don’t think so. I see the statistics of how many hundreds of people attend here and their giving is so little that it can’t be called a tithe or an offering; it’s merely a tip. Year after year our constitution’s requirement that leaders be tithers to the church eliminates recommended individuals for leadership.

As your pastor, what can I say? Nothing? I don’t think God would have me do that. We are so rich. Even in this economy, we are the richest Christians who have ever lived. We will dismiss our services this weekend to around 10 million dollars of worth of cars in the parking lot and drive to hundreds of millions of dollars worth of homes. We are rich. The eternal question is, Are we rich toward God?

Rich toward God includes much more than how we handle our money, but it most certainly includes that. I have said it many times over the years – I want to be the kind of pastor that one minute after you are dead, you are glad that I was your pastor. These are messages that will matter then.

So let me be a good pastor to you. I urge you to live wisely. To live these days in ways that when you are dead, you will be glad that you did.

© Steve DeWitt, 2020. You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that: (1) you credit the author, (2) any modifications are clearly marked, (3) you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction, (4) you include The Journey (http://thejourney.fm) or Bethel Church (http://www.bethelweb.org) website on the copied resource.

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