Amen. And let's take our Bibles now and open
them to Luke. Luke chapter 12. We're going to
look at verses 13 through 34. I initially had
12 or 21 rather. But I think we need to see.
This parable that we're gonna look at we need
to see it in its context We need to see the teaching
that follows the parable now what we're doing
today is Looking at just one parable we finished
our series through the book of Jonah Lord willing
we're gonna start our new series on the miracles
of Jesus But today we just look at this one parable
and and there's a good reason for that Typically,
each November, this church has a sermon on stewardship.
And I know how I used to hear that when I was
a boy growing up in church. The preacher would
say, I'm going to preach on money today. And
I would groan. I hope that you're not groaning
with this today. Because we must recognize that
what we have comes from God. And what we have,
we should use to glorify God. And what we have,
we should use to help others. And so let this
be encouraging to you to use the wealth that
God gives to you for kingdom purposes. And we
can do this whether we find ourselves with a
lot of wealth or just a little. We can do this
whether we are children who might have a piggy
bank. or whether we're adults who have saved
for years. And so listen to this text. This is
Luke 12, 13 through 34. Someone in the crowd
said to him, him being Jesus, 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." 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. 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. 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 towards God. And
he said to his disciples, therefore, I tell you,
do not be anxious about your life, what you will
eat, nor about your body, what you'll put on.
For life is more than food, and the body more
than clothing. Consider the ravens. They neither
sow nor reap. They have neither storehouse nor
barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more
value are you than the birds? And which of you
by being anxious can add a single hour to his
span of life? If then you are not able to do
as small a thing as that, why are you anxious
about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they
grow. They neither toil nor spin, yet I tell
you even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed
like one of these. But if God so closed the grass
which is alive in the field today and tomorrow
is thrown into the oven, how much more will He
clothe you, O you of little faith? And do not
seek what you are to eat or what you are to drink,
nor be worried for all the nations of the world.
Seek after these things. And your Father knows
that you need them. Instead, seek His kingdom,
and these things will be added to you. Fear not,
little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions
and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with
money bags that do not grow old, with a treasure
in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief
approaches and no moth destroys. For where your
treasure is, there will your heart be also. Let's
pray. Father we thank you for this text And we
thank you for this parable and we remember why
the parables were written They were written to
edify and so Lord I ask that as we study this
parable and the teaching that follows Lord that
we would really truly take it to heart and Serve
you with everything we've got these things we
pray in Christ's name Amen I was in a worship
service in Bulgaria in a small village. A few
of you have been to this village before. This
was years ago. We're having a worship service
and we had our typical time of singing. We had
our time of prayer. We had our time of reading
scripture and explaining of scripture. And then
it kind of turned into a bit of a Q &A. And one
of the young gypsy men asked me, He said, you
are rich. Why are you here? I don't remember
my entire response to the young man, but I said,
I'm not rich. I'm not rich. I was wrong. We are
rich. We are richly blessed. Indeed, In this
sanctuary, we have different levels of people
where you are with finances and things, but we
can all say because we are here, we are richly
blessed by knowing Jesus. But we also have received
from the very hand of God everything we have.
You're wearing clothes today. You drove or somebody
drove you here today. Most of us will go home
today and eat lunch, right? We are indeed blessed.
And so, when a young gypsy man who has spent
his entire life in despicable conditions, in
orphanages, living on the street, when that young
man says to you, you are rich, you say yes, but
you also point him to Luke chapter 12 verse 21
and say yes, we must though be rich towards God.
And that's what we're talking about today, being
rich towards God. You see the setting for this
parable, don't you? You see what led to it. There
is this man in the crowd. It sounds like he interrupts
Jesus. Can you imagine interrupting the greatest
teacher of all time to talk about this situation?
Can it not wait, right? Jesus has more patience
than I do. This man says tell my brother to divide
the inheritance with me Now this this isn't entirely
uncommon rabbis in Jesus's day some of them would
have definitely done this but Jesus does not
and The reason is because this Jesus has a mission
to do and he's sticking with his mission and
you can see verse 15 Kind of tells us the lesson
here Be on your guard against all covetousness
For one's life does not consist in the abundance
of his possessions. The abundance of possessions,
of riches, of treasures is not what life is all
about. It's not. And so today, if you find yourself
in love with your stuff, if you find yourself
in love with your bank account, if you find yourself
in love with your credit cards or your home or
your boat or whatever it may be, This parable
is for you, and this parable is for me. We need
to see what all of this means. Where is Jesus
going with all of this? And so he helps us. And
he does so with the help of a parable. And so
he tells this story, and initially the parable
begins in this way that we might say, This is
a good problem to have. You've got all of this
grain, all of these crops. It's abundant. You
don't know what to do with it. This is what we
call a good problem. You've all heard people
say that before. Well, that's a good problem.
Notice it's always the case the person who says
this is a good problem to have is not the one
who has to solve it. Kind of like when you have
a fall festival and you have more show up than
you think and so you have to do a rescue mission
for more hot dogs, right? It's a good problem
to have. This man is blessed, right? But notice
the wording of it. Does Jesus attribute the all
of the wealth, all of the grain, all of the abundance?
Does he attribute it to the man? Does the man
have a green thumb? No. Jesus attributes it to
the land. The land does this. The land produces
this. The prosperity then is from God. who made
the land and who made the crops. This man is
quickly falling into a very serious error that
wealth can trap us. Wealth can trap us into only
thinking about ourselves. Wealth can trap us
into materialism. Wealth can trap us to thinking
that we're the ones who are bringing about all
of the good things in our lives. Wealth, if we're
not careful, has us just thinking about wealth
and not other people. Now I can feel it welling
up inside a little bit, and maybe you can too.
As people in the West, people who have money,
many of us, We want to come quickly to the defense
of our wealth, don't we? It seems that any time
someone preaches or teaches on wealth, somebody
has to say, wait a second, wealth isn't wrong.
And that's true. It is true. Money, having money
is not wrong. We can see that. to at least two
of the Ten Commandments have to do with wealth.
You're not supposed to steal people's things,
and you're not supposed to covet those things.
So surely it's okay to have wealth, but why is
it that our first, the first thing that we do
when we talk about wealth is to come to the defense
of it? Sometimes when we do that, I wonder, are
we loving our stuff more than we're loving other
people? Are we loving our stuff more than we're
loving God? How much do we really need? How much
time do we spend thinking about our stuff rather
than spending our time striving for the kingdom
of God? You're probably like me in that you have
ordered something online before from a website.
And in order to get that special deal of 15 %
off, you give them your text, your phone number,
your email address, and then you proceed to get
blown up by all those texts and emails forever,
right? These companies are very good at these
things, right? They kind of feed upon us in our
need for more. We ought to be using what we have
to serve God. and to serve his kingdom. And we
should also recognize how scripture shows us
the many times that people have been ruined by
their love of money. You remember Solomon. Solomon
had a lot, right? And it got to him. He wasn't
guarded against these things. You might remember
Ananias in Sapphira from Acts chapter five, right?
Who. kept back some of their proceeds and essentially
lied to the Holy Spirit. The problem is the heart.
Maybe the rich young ruler of Luke 18, whose
chief obstruction to following Christ was his
stuff. He had made all of his things and his
wealth into an idol. And that's what this man
is doing within this parable. This man thinks
to himself, What am I to do? And there's nothing
wrong with that. At least to begin, we might
say the man is showing some wisdom here. He's
thinking what to do. But one of the first problems
that I see from this man is he doesn't acknowledge
God in the parable, does he? He does not acknowledge
God with this incredible harvest, right? And
so he thinks to himself, what am I to do now?
I'm very thankful that he thought this to himself
and didn't say it out loud. Can you imagine saying
that out loud around other people who might not
have quite the harvest that you do? They would
not have liked him very much. And so he thinks
to himself, what am I to do? And without consulting
God, he makes a decision. I need bigger barns.
I need bigger barns. And part of that sounds
wise, too. It sounds like he's planning for the
future, but in reality, he's not even planning
for that very night. Wisdom should have had him
consulting the Lord, but he doesn't, and he's
also not concerned for the well -being of others.
There's nothing to suggest in the parable that
he's going to build these bigger barns in order
to store food for other people, because look
at verse 19. And I will say to my soul, soul,
you have ample goods laid up for many years,
relax, eat, drink, and be merry. He wants the
good life. He thinks he has the good life, right?
But remember the purpose of this parable, that
we would not covet, that we would not be greedy.
that we would not hoard things for ourselves.
Sometimes we do that with our wealth. Rather
than using it for kingdom purposes, we keep it
for ourselves. We don't look out for the needs
of other people. God though gives us so that
we can provide for others. And so this is what
a Christian should do. We must look out for other
people. And what a great thing it is within this
church that we do things. where we do look out
for other people. We've got the Operation Christmas
Child Boxes. We've got the Deacon's Fund, which
provides for these things. We care for one another
with what we have. But this man, he has no interest
in doing that. And part of his problem is he
makes a very serious assumption. Notice what
he wants to do with this incredible harvest.
He wants to put his feet up and enjoy it. And
it says he wants to enjoy it for many years.
And so this man makes a dangerous assumption.
He assumes that he will always have his wealth.
And he assumes that not only will he always have
it, but he's going to live a very, very, very
long time to enjoy it. But friends, this is the
reality of our wealth. It's fleeting. The writer
of Ecclesiastes says here, it's vanity. Let me
read to you from Ecclesiastes chapter two, 18
through 19. The writer says, I hated all my toil
in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I
must leave it to the man who will come after
me. And who knows whether he will be wise or
a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which
I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This
also is vanity. The writer of Ecclesiastes, he
gets it. Later on, he's going to say that wealth
doesn't satisfy. But the man in the parable,
what he is doing is he's thinking it will satisfy.
And in doing so, he's breaking the first commandment.
He is making his money, his wealth, this harvest
into an idol. Friends, when wealth becomes the
thing that we think the most about, when we elevate
our gifts over the giver, we are making idols
out of our stuff. This is delusional to think
that our things will truly satisfy us. Just ask
somebody who has ever lost it all. If you know
anybody who's ever made a very bad investment
or maybe they've been through some sort of tragedy
or loss and they have lost so much, they will
tell you, guard against these things because
they will not satisfy. If wealth is your God,
it will lead to your destruction. This is the
truth that Paul talks about within 1 Timothy.
If you will, go to 1 Timothy chapter 6. And no
doubt you've heard part of this before. This
is important. I would tell you to put a bookmark
here or underline it, highlight it, maybe all
of it at one time. 1 Timothy chapter 6, I'm going
to read verses 9 and 10. But those who desire
to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare,
into many senseless and harmful desires that
plunge people into ruin and destruction. For
the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
It is through this craving that some have wandered
away from the faith and pierced themselves with
many You cannot love God and money. If you love
your money, you are making an idol out of it.
And the Bible would call that foolish. This is
how Jesus refers to this man of this parable.
Look in verse 20. God says to him, fool, this
night your soul is required of you. and the things
you have prepared, whose will they be? The Bible
doesn't throw around the word fool all the time.
It's very intentional about this word. You see
it in Psalm 14 about one who doesn't believe
in God. To not believe in God is foolish. And
this man is acting the fool. He may say he believes
in God, but his God is his wealth. His God may
be his stomach. And it's foolish to be more concerned
with the treasures of this life than eternal
life. And so this man, he thinks he will live
forever enjoying his wealth, but this is very
clear. This night, your soul is required of you,
it says. And we know this from the book of James,
chapter four. We are not promised a single day,
are we? You are not promised a single day. And
so do not put off knowing God until a later time.
Don't wait until the crops run out. Don't wait
until the good times become bad. Don't wait until
the wine goes dry. Don't wait. You must believe
in Jesus Christ to be saved and to receive ultimate
blessing. If you think that you are happy now
with the things that you have, friends, Jesus
is preparing a place for you that you cannot
believe. Do you know what God has in store for
you? When we give all of our attention to treasures
in the here and now, we neglect what's in the
storehouses of God. Listen to what Jesus says
here. What will it profit a man if he gains the
whole world and forfeits his soul or what shall
a man give in return for his soul? Look at verse
32 Fear not little flock for it is your father's
good pleasure to give you the kingdom It's the
Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Are you worried about small things all the while
God is giving the kingdom? This indeed is foolish.
I like how Psalm 84 puts this. This is what we
have to look forward to. This is who we ought
to be. For a day in your courts is better than
a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper
in the house of my God than dwell in the tents
of wickedness. For the Lord God is a son in shield.
The Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing
does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts
in you. Will God hold back anything? That He
has promised for us. No, of course not. And what
is the kingdom of God but the King? Jesus. And
you, by your union with Christ, you are joint
heirs in the kingdom. Why does God love us like
this? Why does He care for us like this? Go back.
into our chapter and look at verse 24. Consider
the ravens. They neither sow nor reap. They have
neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds
them. Of how much more value are you than the
birds? God values you, Christian. God loves you.
And so do you know him? Do you know God through
Christ? If tonight were to be your last, would
you walk through those eternal doors into his
blessed presence? Would you go to the place that
Jesus calls paradise? Are you rich towards God?
Do you know Jesus? And if you know Jesus, what
are you doing about it? We just celebrated Reformation.
day, week, month, whatever I want to call it
recently. And I went over some of the characters
of the Reformation. And one of them really shows
what it means to be rich towards God and to lay
up our treasures in heaven. His name was Peter
Waldo. Some of you will remember me talking about
Waldo. Peter Waldo lived in France in the end
of the 1100s into the 1200s. And Waldo was very
wealthy. wealthy, but he heard someone speak
on this passage, either this passage or Matthew
19 about giving our treasures away to people
who need them, about being rich towards God,
and it impacted Waldo. And so what Waldo did
was he gave away his wealth to people who were
in need. But he also did something very special
with some of that wealth. He gave it to some
scholars to translate the Bible into the common
language of the people. He gave up his wealth
so others would hear and know who Jesus is. Friends,
that's how to be rich towards God. That's how
to lay up your treasures in heaven. Because the
reality is that even for this man in this parable,
He did have a place to put all of his grain.
He did have a place to put all of this food.
I like how Church Father Ambrose put it. Oh,
foolish friend, he says, referring to this man,
you have room, you have barns, the cupboards
of the needy, the house of the widow, the mouth
of the orphan. There were places to put all of
this. and there are places for us to put what
we have into the hands of people who need it.
God has given you the kingdom and he is at work
in your lives conforming you more and more into
the image of Jesus that you would serve him with
everything that you have, that you would be rich
towards God and acknowledge that everything that
you do have is from God's providential hand.
And so what you do have is not really yours.
And so use what you have to serve other people.
Invest in the kingdom. And how interesting that
is. To be rich then is to give. To be rich is
to give. That's the exact opposite of the rich
fool. And so friends, give to God with joy. Give
in your tithes and your offerings. Support kingdom
work by providing for missionaries. Give your
time in investing in the lives of others. Give
your talents recognizing where they come from.
Give yourselves to the kingdom of God because
God has given you his kingdom in Christ Jesus.