“The Rich Loser”
5/19/24
Luke 12: 15-21 LB “15 And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ 21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
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ILLUS: When I was a kid, I went through a phase of collecting rocks, crystals, fossils, and so on.
One day I came up on this beautiful, glittering, yellow rock that I immediately thought was gold.
Of course, it was pyrite, fool’s gold.
I learned early on that all that glitters is not gold!
And this is what Jesus is saying in the parable.
He’s teaching us about the folly of living solely to get more and more stuff, and living only for ourselves.
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He begins by presenting a man who is very successful in business.
In fact, he’s living the equivalent of the American dream!
His farm has been so blessed with abundant harvest that his barns are overflowing—his blessing is literally more than he can handle!
So he proceeds to have a conversation with himself that provides us a window into his soul.
Everything that comes out of his mouth begins with “I”—There are six of them.
First, he considers his problem:
“What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’
There’s the first two “I’s”.
Most men in Jesus’s day were married, but there’s no “what shall WE do?”—It’s only “what shall I do?”
The thought of asking God what to do about it is nowhere in his mind.
He doesn’t think to thank God for his great blessing because it’s never occurred to him that God is where it all came from!
So he’s not about to ask God for wisdom, either.
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He is dealing with life the way most people do:
What shall “I” do?
How shall “I” handle this problem?
—The Bible teaches that God delights in being sought for wisdom and counsel when we encounter problems and challenges:
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5 NKJV).
—But this man is a self-made man!
He is totally disconnected from God and others.
He’s an island, his whole universe is himself!
He perfectly illustrates the old Frank Sinatra song that boasted, “I did it my way.”
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Then next, he makes a decision.
18 “So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.’”
Here we have three more “I’s”.
He decides to hoard his riches, to make more room for what he doesn’t even need.
Again, there is not a single thought about God or others—it’s all about him—I, I, I, my, my, my.
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He has more than he could ever want, yet it’s still not enough—which is the essence of covetousness.
When you are covetous, more is never enough.
As soon as you get this, you want that.
As soon as you get that, you want this.
The Bible tells the truth when it says, “Hell and Destruction are never full; So the eyes of (carnal) man are never satisfied” (Prov. 27:20 NKJV).
The flesh is never satisfied, never content, always chasing the next pot of gold at the end of the next rainbow.
But Jesus says it’s all FOOL’S GOLD!
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Then following his decision on what to do with all of it, he makes a SECOND decision—it’s time to RETIRE!
19 “And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’
There’s the last “I”.
And once again, who is he listening to?
He’s listening to himself, to his flesh, to his own lusts and desires!
He surveys all of his belongings and his fat 401k, and says to himself, “It’s time to step aside and enjoy life without work.”
In today’s language he’s accumulated millions of dollars to live on for the many years he thinks he has left.
If he were alive today he’d be planning to:
hit the golf course,
sip Pina Coladas on some tropical beach,
Travel the world,
sleep late,
take it easy,
and enjoy the fruits of all his labor.
There is no better picture in the Bible of a man achieving the American dream than this one!
—Work hard,
—play hard,
—laugh hard,
—get rich,
—live for yourself…
And when you’ve got enough money set aside, retire and live the rest of your life doing what you want.
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But according to Jesus this is FOOLS GOLD thinking!
Because look what happens next:
“20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’”
The God he’s never once acknowledged or listened to suddenly appears to tell him his life is over.
And the first thing God says is to call him a FOOL!
His whole view of life—
living for himself,
not acknowledging God,
chasing after endless material things,
assuming he had years left on the calendar…
All is wiped away by one word from God, “FOOL!”
This successful, rich man now stands before God the RICH FOOL.
And on top of that, God informs him he can’t take any of his stuff with him where he’s going!
“Tonight you die. Now who will get it all?”
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Now we come to the moral of the story, the all-important thing he missed:
Jesus says, “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
—You should have used your life to be rich toward God!
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That said, I want to give you 3 quick ways you and I can be rich toward God:
I. With our time
Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness” (Matt. 6:33 NKJV).
FIRST is a priority word, and priority is about how you order your time.
Jesus is telling us to prioritize God into our daily calendar FIRST!
For instance, we are being rich toward God when we wake up and immediately put Him first by giving Him the first TIME of every day in prayer and time in His word.
How much time have you given God this week?
Seconds? Minutes? Hours? Leftover time?
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A second way to be rich toward God is:
II. By helping others in Jesus’s name
Jesus said there will be two types of people when He returns to earth—those that helped others in His name, and those that didn’t:
“I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me” (Matt. 25: 35-36 NKJV).
Those He addresses respond by saying, “Lord, when did we do all these things for You?”
And Jesus replies, “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me!”
The Bible exhorts all Christians, “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Gal 6:10 NKJV).
When we bless others in the name of Jesus, we are being rich toward God!
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One final way to be rich toward God is by:
III. Giving to His work
The rich man in our story had more finances than he knew what to do with—but it never ONCE occurred to him to give any of it back to God.
He wanted ONLY to spend it on himself.
The Bible says, “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7 NIV).
Notice it says “Each of you!”
QUESTION: Who is being reached with the gospel, encouraged in the Lord, delivered or healed because you gave to help make it happen?
—God doesn’t need our money, but His work does!
Are you strengthening the outreaches of your church home by giving to help make it all happen?
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So, we are rich toward God when we:
Give of our time to Him
Bless others in His name, and
Give financially to His work