Open 580 RR Luke 12:16-21 (Insert) NKJV "The Rich Fool" Close 581 or 600 Luke 12:16 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." As usual I want to take a peak at the events that are recorded just preceding the parable that we are looking at today. Jesus had gone to a feast with the Pharisees where he was questioned about not taking part in the ritual washings before eating. Now this did not have anything to do with cleanliness per se. In Iran they had a custom that anything that was dipped in water 3 times was clean. Unfortunately, the issue of getting food or germs off of the item dipped was irrelevant. So in response to their questions He calls them foolish and pronounces woes upon them. Luke 11:39 Then the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness. 40 "Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? 41 "But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you. 42 "But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. 43 "Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. 44 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them." The lawyers respond by saying that in pronouncing woes on the Pharisees he is reproaching them also. Jesus concurs and proceeds to pronounce woes upon the lawyers also. 46 And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 "Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48 "In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 "Therefore the wisdom of God also said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,' 50 "that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, 51 "from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation. 52 "Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered." As a result we read: Luke 11:53 And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, 54 lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him. Now a almost humorous thing happens. The common folk and the disciples are eavesdropping on the conversation. I can imagine the delight with which they listen to Jesus. He was probably expressing the very thoughts that some of them had thought from time to time. Luke 12:1 In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 "For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. 3 "Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops. 4 "And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5 "But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him! 6 "Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So far we find a mix of three things. 1. The hypocrisy of the Pharisees and lawyers. 2. Jesus shows them for the spiritual fools that they were. 3. The topics of wealth, riches, and values permeate the discussion in an undercurrent. As Jesus mingles with the crowd and begins to talk to them, the common folk are probably eating it up. Almost everyone of us enjoys seeing a pompous person put in their place. As Jesus is teaching there is an interruption from the crowd. 13 Then one from the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." 14 But He said to him, "Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?" 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." It was common in those times when there was a dispute to take it to a rabbi, scribe, or lawyer and have him give an opinion on what should be done. Since Jesus had just matched wits with the lawyers and come out on top in the eyes of the people it was only natural that someone might come to him with an issue to settle. After all, if He had the same wisdom in dealing with this issue as He had with the Pharisees, He surely would give a good judgment. I refer you back to the time of Moses when this was done so much that Moses could not get anything else done. Anyway, this question brings all of the issues mentioned to a head and Jesus gives the reason why he gave the warning of verse 15. So let's summarize the parable. Luke 12:16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. First it is called a parable so there should be no issue there. Jesus then goes on to describe the blessings that this farmer had received from God. The man planted. He cultivated. He cared for the crop. He harvested it. That is what any farmer does. There is no condemnation here. This is in fact what he should have been doing. Plant, cultivate, and harvest is what farmers do. And we all eat because of that activity. 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. Still no issues here. It is only wise to store up some of the crops that are grown for the future. There will need to be seed for the future. The next crop may not be as good as this one. Poorly constructed barns would encourage loss of the harvest, and that would not be good. So the building of larger, solid barns was probably a good idea. But now comes the rub. 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 are several issues here. 1. There could be any number of reasons that he might lose his crop. Rodents, fire, rot, or weather could destroy the crop. 2. It could be stolen or taxed away. 3. He is planning for a life that might not be his to plan. 4. His concern is not just survival, it is ease and dissipation. 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?' I had someone in my life that l loved very much once tell me that he planned to be a millionaire by the time he was 35. He put all of his efforts towards that end. He slighted his family, and his own health in his drive to accomplish the task. And he came very close. But just as his goal was within reach, he died. The story of this rich man is not much different. The goods were still going to be there. The houses were still going to be there. The crops were still going to be in the new barns. But the rich man was not going to be there. So what are the issues that we see here that are important for us today? Why was this man called a fool? 1. He was Godless fool. He reveled in the blessings of God, but did not give Him the honor that was due Him. In Psalm 14 David said, "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.'" While the rich fool did not express that in so many words, his actions and attitudes were clear. 2. He was a rich fool, or as one writer put it, a poor rich man. Think Laodicea. Thinking he was rich and increased with goods, having need of nothing, but not knowing his true condition. He set his heart on his goods. He set his value on his goods. He worshipped his goods, not his God. He was rich toward himself, not towards his God. 3. He was a self centered fool. As we examine the rich fools conversation with himself, we find in 3 verses six "I's" five "my's", and four "I will's". My fruit, my barns, my corn, my goods, my SOUL. Note that he calls himself his own. He ignored the fact that we all belong to another, our creator, for his will and his purpose. 4. He was an ambitious fool. Now ambition properly placed is admirable. But that is not the case here. His plan was not to help anyone else. It was not so that he could feed his poor neighbors, or help them survive a famine. NO! The reasons that he wanted to expand his operation were to: a. Provide himself security. b. Provide for a leisurely life. b. Provide for fleshly gratification. 5. Because of this he was a doomed fool. He did not have many years. He only had a few hours. His end was near. Death was knocking on the door. This is the second parable that we have looked at where a rich man had to leave all of his goods behind in death. Paradoxically, the greatest foolishness that was exhibited was that in preparing for a mortal life, he totally ignored a spiritual life. In his zeal to provide for a life that could end at any minute, he missed a life that would have been eternal. Jesus concludes the parable with "the moral of the story." And illustrations of how to live and how not to live. 21 "So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." Now He turns to the task of giving practical applications to the disciples. 22 Then He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. 23 "Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. 24 "Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? 25 "And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 26 "If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? 27 "Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 "If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? 29 "And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. 30 "For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. 31 "But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. 32 "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 "Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. 34 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 35 "Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; What does this have to say to Christians living on the edge of eternity? It almost scares me when I look into the parable, because I see glimpses of the fool in my mirror. Perhaps if you are honest you do, also. So I ask myself and you a number of questions. How much faith do we have that God really will supply all of our needs? How much effort do we spend in preparing for that which cannot really be prepared for? How much of our energy is spent on amassing things that are just going to burn at the Second Coming? How much do we worship the god of the consumer society that tells us that buying and buying and buying is a good thing, without even considering whether or not we need what we are buying? How concerned are we with the conditions of those around us who have much less than we do? How much of our time and effort is spend on the things of eternity? How self centered are we as individuals and as a church? If we have any ambition is it for God's kingdom or for our own little corner of the world? I repeat the call of Jesus at the end of His sermon. Luke 12:31 "But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. 32 "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 "Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. 34 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 35 "Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; 36 "and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Brothers and Sisters, our Lord appeals to us that we lighten up and be ready for the trip. No matter how big we build our barns, not a board of that building will make a bridge to the kingdom. No matter how much grain we store up, not one grain of wheat is going to Heaven in our pockets. Today, as I look in the mirror, I want to ask my Lord, Teach me to live a life ready for your coming. Is that your desire, too?