Asbury Free Methodist – October 4th, 2020
Luke 12:13-21
I have seen it. You probably have too. A family comes together, a death happens – and then the will is read. It is like a thermal nuclear warhead is set off in the middle of family relationships. It’s not fair. I worked harder than my brother, but she treated us all the same. Or, I think that so and so exerted influence over that person and I got the short end of the stick in the will. There is nothing like the reading of a will to bring on a good family fight.
And that is what happened in the time of Jesus.
Luke 12:13 (NIV)
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
Jesus knew that this was a no-win situation. The problem wasn’t the will, or the settlement – the problem was greed in both brothers’ hearts. So, he says – I have not been appointed your judge. Even if I speak in your favour your brother doesn’t have to listen to me. I do find it interesting that he, who will judge the world, choose not to judge in a situation when his authority is not recognized.
Instead of dealing with the situation, Jesus deals with the heart. (rift-life stealers and life substitutes)
Luke 12:15 (NIV)
15Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
That was not only a message to the man and the disciples and the crowd; that is a message to us.
Luke 12:15 (NIV)
15Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
As with many great speakers, Jesus told them what the was going to tell them. He tells them through a story, and then he tells them what he said. His point is watch out for greed.
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The bible does not condemn people for being wealthy, but it does condemn people for being greedy. There is a big difference between those two things. If you are going to understand this story you need to understand the difference.
Maybe the best way to get at this is to take you to
Colossians 3:5 (NIV)
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
Did you catch what greed is. It is idolatry. A quick definition of idolatry is this. God is meant to be the highest-ranking authority or value or entity in our lives. If anything takes the place of God, that is an idol. So, when we say that greed is idolatry, it means that the accumulation of money, or things is the highest-ranking value in our lives.- Or at least it ranks above God. Money and the things that money can buy is what we live for.
Luke 12:15 (NIV)
15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
And Jesus would say, life, real life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed.
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Did you know there was different kinds of greed? The rich and poor often have a different kind of greed – but mostly it is a matter of scale. One wants a 20 million dollar private plane, and the other wants 50 thousand dollar Ford F-150. But one can be greedy of prestige or power or position. There are all kinds of ways to be greedy.
And Jesus says. Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed.
Then he tells this story.
Luke 12:16–21 (NIV)
16And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 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 my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain 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 whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
Let me walk you through the story Luke 12:16. The story starts out with this rich person who has a big field, and then has this huge crop. So far so good. There is nothing wrong with being rich. There is nothing wrong with having a great crop.
The story goes on. There is a problem, I can see the size of the crop and I can see the size of the barns. When I harvest the crop, it I not going to fit into the barn. There is no problem with having a problem – even a problem with abundance.
So, the guy goes into problem solving mode. That is what you do when you have a problem – you set out to solve the problem. But here is where things start to go sideways. He looked for a way to solve his problem as if there wasn’t any God.
Let’s skip to the bottom of the story.
Luke 12:21 (NIV)
21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
God was left out of the problem solving phase. God what do you want me to do with the surplus. Maybe God would have said build a bigger barn, or maybe he would have said, help your neighbour. But there was no relationship with God, so we don’t know what God would have said.
And when we don’t include God in our problem solving, we have a way of missing what is important in life. Here is how it came out in this man.
Luke 12:19 (NIV)
19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’
Notice where he is trying to find life. Take life easy, is what he says. Eat drink and be merry is what he says. Is there anything wrong with celebrating – No! Christians should be the best at celebrating the good things of life. But that is not where you will find real life. Having the best things will not bring you the life you want.
God is absent from this man’s consciousness – but God is never absent. God comes to him.
Luke 12:20 (NIV)
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?’
Notice that the guy has not even harvested his crops little own, ripped down his barns and built bigger ones. None of his dreams have been realized. And then he dies. Now notice the first line of the next verse.
Luke 12:21 (NIV)
21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
This is how it will be when you try to find life in things rather than God. It doesn’t work. You will live your life, but you won’t really be alive and then you die, never having achieved the life you wanted, because you were pursuing the wrong things.
Jesus then goes on to say, don’t worry about stuff. God is going to take care of you. You are valuable to God. Verse 30 says people who don’t know God run after stuff, but God knows what you need.
Then he goes on to say in verse 31
Luke 12:31–32 (NIV)
31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.
God wants to have his kingdom come in around you. It gives him pleasure to see that happen. His kingdom is life. In his kingdom you will find what you are seeking for. So, what would the man in the story look like if he were a person in the kingdom of God?
I want to show you this video.
SANCTUARY
What if the guy in the story set apart his farm as Kingdom Ground?
What if you were to consecrate the parts of your life to God and his kingdom?
The whole point of the story is that you can’t find real life chasing after things – real life is found in the kingdom. Seek the kingdom first and then all these things will be added onto you.
Maybe you are listening today and God is showing you that you have been pursuing life in a way that isn’t going to get you what you want. There is a way back. It is called confession and consecration. Confession is simply agreeing with God that you are going in the wrong direction and asking for forgiveness. Consecration is giving those parts of your life to Jesus and asking him to use them for his purposes.
Will you do that today
Sermon Questions – The Parable of the Rich Fool
October 4, 2020
Introduction
1. What are you celebrating this week?
2. What has been most challenging about last week?
Digging In
3. Read Luke 12:13-21
4. What was being asked of Jesus, and how respond did he respond and why do you think he responded that way? (Verse 13-14)
5. Read Verse 15. What is a good definition of greed? (Col. 3:5) What are different kinds of greed? Why does Jesus think greed is problematic? What does he mean by that?
6. The sermon said, “The bible does not condemn people for being wealthy, but it does condemn people for being greedy.” Do you think that is true? Should that statement be qualified?
7. What was the problem with what the man said in verse 19? Have you ever said/thought something similar?
8. Why does God call this person a fool? (Verse 20)
9. What is Jesus saying in verse 21?
Application
10. The video that we looked at talked about consecration. How does consecration deal with what the man in the parable did?
11. Is there areas of your life that you need to consecrate?