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Luke 12:13-21
Good morning, friends. It's a good parable. I was looking at my super just yesterday and this is the perfect parable for someone who is doing that. So I'm reading from Luke chapter 12, starting at verse 13.
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? 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 he told them this parable. The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 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 my surplus grain. And I'll say to myself, You have plenty of grain 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 whoever stores up things for themselves, but is not rich toward God.
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
From Pleasure to Treasure
Thank you. Can I use this microphone rather than this one? Thank you.
Our friends, let's pray. Lord make us grateful. Help us to hear your word to us, your call to us today and to respond.
Make us thoughtful. Lift our eyes up from those things that mesmerize us, that worry us, that consume us, distract us to you and to others.
Make us willing, hearing your word, receiving your call. May we be found as those who are ready to respond.
That not only we ourselves would be changed, but the world you've called us to serve. For Christ's sake, Amen.
There are these really good things in a cupboard in the foyer. They're called Bibles. And it's going to be great for you if you've got one.
So I don't mind if you get up now and go and get one because the parable that you've just heard read is only half the story. So the other half is actually found on the pages of your Bible. So please do go and get one.
My plan is to actually have them out on the seats, but I forget to do that. So somebody might like to help me after church today and just put them out so that they're always there when you need them.
This week we move on from pleasure to treasure. Last week we talked about pleasure. This week we're talking about treasure and particular Jesus' parable of the rich fool.
Someone asked me about my friend whose name is Aldrich. I mentioned him last week. Remember the guy with the service station on the Gippsland Highway who went out to close up one night and found a wallet, $87,000 in 1985. That's about $300,000 today.
Here's what happened. He did look through the wallet. He did find an ID. He contacted the person. They did come back and collect the wallet. Not a word of thanks. No reward, nothing.
He reflected that perhaps the money hadn't come from a good source.
A little time after that, my friend, his accountant, ran off with all his money to South America. So that was the end of the business.
When I met him, how I came to know him was that he was the Wesleyan pastor of a church in Belgrave. I was in the Anglican church in Upwey and we used to meet together as pastors to pray.
Wealth is so fickle. Wealth is so fickle, so fleeting, but my friend had not become bitter.
It wasn't like the world owed him or anything like that. He's just this kind of thankful guy.
I think really, even though there were continued hardships for him, because of what had happened, thankfulness was like the tone of his life. So that's what happened to my friend.
Watch Out for the Trap of Greed
You may know this parable, because that's the focus of the reading today, from kids' books. Anybody come across this one? This is a favourite. We used it with my kids and now using it with my grandkids.
Mick Inkpen is a great illustrator. Lots of books well worth looking up. A parable is a wonderful form of teaching.
If we just left that slide up there and I got you as a group to tell me the parable again, you could probably do that. You might miss out a couple of bits, but basically the story is stuck in your head because it's just memorable, short, pithy, you think of a character, whether good, bad, or indifferent, you kind of get involved in the story. Parables kind of sink in.
The great thing about parables is that even a child can understand them. So hence the kids' book. It's just so accessible. Like most kids' books, they love you to read them again and again and again. But for us, of course, the trick is not just to enjoy the story and then sort of go to sleep as what grandchildren do when you read them bedtime stories, but to hear the story and find yourself in it, to kind of think, hmm, which character am I? How do I fit into the story?
Jesus starts this passage of scripture with some pretty kind of significant warnings. You know, watch out. I mean, if we were walking down the road together and I said, watch out, you know, like you go, what? You know, is it a hole? Is it a dog? What is it?
So Jesus is standing in front of his audience, he's going, watch out. Look out. Be alert. Beware. What? He wants us to hear him, to hear God through him. He's warning us today.
This parable should change your life. If only because if you're anything like me, your hope is that at the end of your life, you will hear these words, well done, good and faithful servant. Yeah, that's what I want to hear. Well done, good and faithful servant.
I was at a funeral on Tuesday, a guy called Hugh Kitson, a film director, published many films about Israel. Some of them you might have heard of, certainly available on the internet and on his kind of card, you know, that they gave everybody, it had well done, good and faithful servant.
That's what I want. How about you? But what happens to the guy in the parable? What does God have to say about his life and the choices that he made?
Can you remember? Two words. What were they? What were they? You fool. You fool.
So you've got to work out which way you want your story to end. If you're kind of going for well done, good and faithful servant, listen up, okay? Because otherwise, what's it going to be? It's going to be you fool.
And I would not be happy if I got to the end of my life and God said those words to me.
Where Your Treasure Is, There Your Heart Will Be
Even a child can see that storing up more and more stuff that you will never use is folly. When it becomes an illness, we call it hoarding. But we all do it to a greater or lesser extent.
I had a delicious lunch this week with a couple who are moving out of their home after a lifetime and what are they doing? Can you tell me what they're doing? They're chucking out stuff, okay? Like we all accumulate, like this is what we do.
So because we can, okay, we're privileged, we're rich. If you're wondering who the rich people are in the parable, it's you, okay? Because we can store, you know, for any day and all that stuff.
We must ask ourselves the question as we hear this parable, what does wisdom look like in the age of plenty? What does wisdom look like in the age of plenty?
When you can actually, you can store up stuff. If that's what you want to do, go for it. They'll happily sell it to you. What does wisdom look like in the age of plenty?
Because we are rich, you know. I mean, I'm so glad to be here with our Iranian friends and I'm beginning to hear their stories and you know most all of them have left everything to be here.
You can rattle that off. You can rattle off, you know, possessions, you know, investments, friends, often family, careers, you know, reputation, community, nation, identity, come on, let's keep going. Left that behind to be here, to be here.
So we're rich. We are so rich. So rich that someone would leave everything to have what we have, to share in that.
So it's urgent that we learn this lesson today because Jesus says, watch out, look out, beware, be on your guard. This is life and death stuff. And he said to them, watch out, be on your guard against all kinds of greed. Your life does not consist in the abundance of your possessions.
And friends, if we think our security rests in our possessions or our portfolio or our super balance, think again. This parable is only half, as I said, of what Jesus has to tell us. If you look in your Bible, you will see that he goes on, on to contrast trust in wealth, which is what the parable is about, with trust in God, which is what the next verses are. Verses 22 to 34. Read it.
Verse 29 says this, and do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink. Do not worry about it. Because this chap's not thrilled to the back teeth because he's got more corn in his bigger barns. Again, what does Jesus say? Do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink. Do not set your heart.
Can I just say that word again? Heart. So possessions themselves...
Superannuation portfolio itself is neutral. It's just a thing. But it will kill you if you set your heart on it. More about that later.
Jesus has so much he wants us to hear. But he ends with this. Do not be afraid little flock. Do not be afraid. For your father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.
Sell your possessions. Give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out. A treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted. When no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is there your heart will be also.
There's that word again. You see the contrast could not be greater. The parable that we have before us and the verses that follow afterwards. It's like a hinge. It's like turning the page in a book.
Here we are worrying about our super balance. Or worrying whether we can ever make that house deposit. Or worrying about whether we'll ever get a promotion or be recognized at work. Or worrying about I don't know.
Here we are. If you want a posture for that it's looking down. Do that. Look down. Everybody look down. This is the earth and all the things on the earth and all the things that you manage and you're looking at and you're worried about.
I don't know what you're worried about. Your kids in their performance in their exams or something right? So that's worry isn't it? Because there's not often a lot you can do about that.
What does Jesus say? Don't be afraid little flock. Your father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. It's not even like in the future. He's given it to you. So that's looking up.
And the minute you look up and see that God is your provider something happens to you. To your heart. And you become thankful. Now I'm gonna bet that, and there's no frog for this, that every person in this room has a story of God's provision in their life. Some time that God has turned up. Hands up if that's you. Come on I want to see them. Keep looking you people right?
So if you've known God's provision then you know how do you kind of respond to that? You remember that time. I've just asked you about that time. You're remembering it now. How are you feeling? You're feeling thankful. Thank God. Here's the provider. You know it's his name. Have you heard Jehovah-Jireh? Ever heard that? That's in songs. Okay it's groovy. Jehovah-Jireh. Do you know what it means? God my provider. That's his name. He says call me this name. Jehovah-Jireh. So that's who he is.
And when we receive from him and we're reminded to be thankful it changes our hearts. And something about looking down and worrying and looking up and being thankful is what Jesus is trying to point out today. He wants you to do this not that. If you will look down at the world you'll be filled with anxiety. There's much to worry about. Much to be anxious about. Have you noticed? Much to concern us in the world. That is a true statement.
But if we look up we'll be filled with thankfulness to God our provider. He provides so well for our needs. He says he's given us the kingdom. Why am I worried about my superannuation balance when he's trying to give me a kingdom? It's like you know kids with their hands full of toys. I'm doing the grandkid thing a lot this morning. They're so excited about what they've got and you're trying to give them something else and what do you have to do to take that something else friends? What do you have to do? You've got to put that down. You've got to let it go.
So God is trying to give us the kingdom and we're worried about this stuff. Hasn't he been faithful to us in the past? We're just sung about it. Will he not be faithful to us again? What does our posture have to be to receive his faithfulness? It says here in verse 30, for the world runs after all these things and your father knows that you need them but seek his kingdom and these things will be given to you as well.
We just think we have to do it all ourselves and then turn up at the end you know all bright and sparkling and say look at me God I'm such a good boy. You fool. You fool. Why didn't you just take what I was trying to give you? Yours is not good enough. Friends you only know Jesus is all you need when Jesus is all you've got and if you've had that experience hang on to it. It's like a guide for life.
Stewardship: Everything We Have Is on Loan
The farmer in Jesus story is building a good life. He has a retirement plan. He thought he was an owner.
Parable is interesting. Read it carefully. A rich man. Did you hear it? It starts with a rich man. The guy's already rich and he's still stuffing things into this barn. It won't go in anymore. He's got to build bigger barns.
Like how rich do you need to be? And it was the soil that made him rich. The soil produced a crop. Like it wasn't even him. It's as if God had given him this thing.
He's rich so are we. God's given us this thing and he wants to see how we're gonna manage that. Are we gonna do that in a way that glorifies him or destroys others?
So he thought he was an owner. He thought yeah my fields. Yeah my crops. Yeah my retirement plan. He's got it all stitched up. That night his life was required of him. God said good job but it's over tonight.
You see he thought he was an owner. Actually he was owned. He answers to God. So do we.
I've always found the idea of stewardship most helpful at this point. Everything we have is on loan.
Can you just put your hands out for me? Everything you have is on loan. Anything you can put in these things actually belongs to him. It's loaned to you and you're gonna have to give account for that.
There's going to be a day of reckoning. So you think about the things you handle. They're God's actually. The people, the opportunities, the money, the resources. It's all his.
It's all his gift to you and you will answer for that. It's just passing through. Even our breath is given us to use by God and there will come a time when God says to everyone in this room your time is up and then he will review.
And it will become very clear at that point whether we have used all he has entrusted us in his service or for some other purpose. Whether we were wise or foolish with the opportunities that we had.
And don't worry friends. I'm not saying that money is bad or superannuation is bad or that you know careers are bad. None of that's bad. It's neutral.
He wants to talk to your heart today and he knows that we want to maintain our lifestyle to protect what we currently enjoy or to improve it if possible. He knows that. But can you see that when that is on your mind you become aware pretty quickly that you are now exposed to risk.
Because if you want to maintain, protect and improve, the world is this crazy place. So that means we have to try and control the risk. Good luck with that. Which usually means we need reserves to give us comfort. That what we need will be there if there's a downturn or a rainy day.
So we build bigger barns. The barns aren't bad. It's the reason we build them that's the problem. Because very easily our trust shifts from the God who provides to the bigger barns that we have built and then we fall into the devil's trap. For where your treasure is there your heart will be also gotcha.
Beware. Beware an idol is whatever you are greedy for. Think about that. An idol is whatever you are greedy for. And its power over you is seen in what you are prepared to sacrifice to have it.
If you've got shivers up and down your spine you should have... What are you prepared to sacrifice to have? The career of your choice, the house of your dreams, the superannuation balance, you know, come on keep going. What are you prepared to sacrifice for that? Look out. Where your treasure is there your heart will be also.
Here is a true word. When capitalism takes the form of an ideology it becomes a dire threat to our faith.
Capitalism in its present form is more than a system of ownership and the distribution of goods and services. It is a faith and a way of life. It is a faith in wealth as the source of all life's blessings and as the saviour of humanity from its deepest misery.
It is a doctrine that our most important activity is production and that all other things are dependent on this. Fault that sentence. It's true.
Friends there is either a God in heaven or there isn't. Either he's in control or we are. And if it all depends on us then fear and greed are the only reasonable response.
Can you hear me? It's a discipleship question. That's why this parable is so significant and every believer will have to answer this question sooner or later.
I always tell people you can worry or you can pray but you can't...
Trust in God's Provision
Both so if you are a worry warrior at the moment okay you're very close to a prayerful person all you have to do is worry at God okay true in this section of Luke we hear the words worry afraid or fear repeated 11 times okay this is this is where we live he's not talking about someone else.
Jesus knows our hearts and how vulnerable they are he's not condemning us for worrying he's saying I know you worry and I know it does not help try this instead just take that worry and turn it into prayer. God has a proven track record of providing for his people you see the hands go up before that's now also then the whole scriptures are full of his provision for his people have you seen it?
When you go from here and you get a cup of tea or a coffee or you're gonna pick up your kids from the kids program or wherever you are if you're standing next to someone turn to them and say tell me your story of God's provision in your life they will have one it will build up your faith and it will give them an opportunity to bear witness.
The scriptures are full of passages I think that the one that really sprang to my mind is way back in Deuteronomy but just listen remember says Moses how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these 40 years remember those 40 years in the wilderness remember those hard times remember when you were in need remember when you were in want remember when you were without do you remember that why to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart whether or not you would keep his commands okay.
So look another thing that's true is everybody looks good at the start of the race if you notice they're all looking real good but only one looks good at the end that's that's the one you want to be so God is more interested in your faith than he is in your comfort. God is more interested in you your faith than he is in your comfort and he will take away your comfort so that he can build your faith so that how are you going to know him as Jehovah Jireh your provider unless you've had nothing no no resource no asset no plan and then he's pretty provides and you go oh okay I've just learned something about God.
So that's what God was doing with the Israelites 40 years in the wilderness in order to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart and so that you could see what was in your own heart whether or not you would it keep my commandments then Moses continues he humbled you causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manner which neither you nor your fathers had known to teach you that you do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord beautiful verse so true your clothes did not wear out your feet did not swell during those 40 years no then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son so the Lord your God disciplines you.
You see you can try and insulate yourself against the lessons God wants you to learn by building bigger barns when actually what he really wants is for you just to trust him and come along for the ride and let him show you some stuff so that at the end you might get this commendation well done good and faithful servant again his name is Jehovah Jireh he's trustworthy he's even built it into his name tag.
Friends this is how it is your life may fail your investments may fail your career may fail your marriage may fail your business may fail your health may fail your plans may fail but God will never fail in this parable so I haven't been paying any attention to the slides it's time for the last one in this parable the rich man becomes a poor man because he put his trust in the wrong place did you hear that did you hear that he had all these plans it was going so good and what does Jesus what does God say you fool the rich man is actually a poor man ask our God who will never fail to show you what it means to walk with him to know him as your provider to trust him more than you trust all that the world encourages you to to build up for yourself your bigger barns and let him bring you through the the snares and distractions that that grab your heart and seek to build their idols there that you would be pure and holy we're saying that today too that you could come before him with thankfulness even at the end and hear these words well done good and faithful servant it's worth everything and our father is trying to give it to you if only we will receive it.
We're about to sing and as we do that we take up the offering probably pretty pertinent after a sermon about bigger barns but again God is not interested in your money sorry if that disappoints you he doesn't need it actually but what he is interested in is people whose hearts are molded in his image people who trust him with their words and their deeds and so when we give we're kind of expressing that aren't we so give and let God do his work in you and through this church please stand to sing.
