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July 31, 2016: Pentecost + 11
Luke 12:13-21: Rich Toward God
Choral Call to Worship –Glorify Thy Name, #29 (Verse 1)
Opening Hymn –Great is Thy Faithfulness, #43
A few weeks ago my sister and her family came to visit. It was on a weekend, so they joined us for worship, and since this was their first time here, we gave them a tour. We were in my office and my sister noticed the view from my office window consisted primarily of the old cemetery. She asked me how I felt about staring at tombstones all day. I explained to her how I wasn’t quite sure what I thought about it first, but eventually I decided it was a good thing (the ghosts, on the other hand, I can do without. Especially the one who is enamored with the auto-flush feature on the toilet.) I told her it was a good thing because it helps me keep things in perspective.
What I mean by that is this: Churches, and pastors, have an enormous amount of pressure on them to keep things relevant, to do and say things that have to do with people’s lives now. We all have things we deal with on a day-to-day basis, trouble at work, conflict in relationships, finances. People want to know that God can offer them guidance in those kinds of situations, that the Scriptures have something to say to those kinds of things. And they should, because those things are important.
But equally important, if not more so, are matters that concern eternity. But we forget that, especially in our society. We have talked before about how our society tries to deny the reality of death, and to put it off as long as possible. Yet death is as real as life. I need to remember that. Working in an environment where I am constantly reminded of death and eternity, helps me, to keep things in perspective. This is a good thing.
But it occurs to me that we all need to be reminded of death and eternity. We all need help keeping things in perspective, being mindful of eternity as we go about living our day to day lives. This is because they way we live our lives will have an eternal impact. This is true of many areas of our lives, but one that is often overlooked, or not discussed, because it can make us uncomfortable, is our finances. That is what Jesus was addressing in the passage we read this morning.
Jesus and his disciples were continuing on their way toward Jerusalem when someone in the crowd approached Jesus with a request to correct a perceived injustice. We’ve seen this kind of thing before, when Martha asked Jesus to rebuke Mary for not helping with the household duties. This time it had to do with the rules regarding inheritance.
It was standard practice that when a man died his property would be divided among his sons, with the first-born son receiving a double portion. We can assume this was the younger son approaching Jesus, asking him to rectify this situation and divide the inheritance equally. Like Martha, he fully expected Jesus to take his side. We would too. It really doesn’t seem fair to reward something like birth order. But Jesus doesn’t take his side. Again, as with Martha, he rebukes the person making the request. He knows the man’s request for justice is really a cover-up for his greed. He goes on to tell a parable to describe what greed looks like and why it is such a problem.
It’s a story about a wealthy landowner who was blessed with an abundant crop one year. With the blessing came a problem. He had nowhere to store his excess harvest. His grain bins were not large enough, so he decided to tear them down and build bigger ones to accommodate it all. All this abundance would allow him to live the life of leisure he had always dreamed of. He wouldn’t have to work. He wouldn’t have to worry. He could rest, relax, basically do anything he wanted.
Then suddenly God speaks. He called the man a fool. Hetold the man that his life would come to an end that very night. All of his plans for the future would come to nothing. All his wealth would no longer belong to him, but to someone else, maybe not even of his choosing.
We know he has done something wrong, or God would not have called him a fool, but what he has done is not immediately apparent. On the surface this was just a regular, honest, hardworking guy who made a good living. Then one year God blessed him and he did really well. So well, in fact, that it looked like he would be able to retire and do the things he always wanted to do. This is the kind of scenario I think most of us are hoping for. Then out of nowhere he finds out he is going to die, and somebody else is going to get all his stuff.
It’s a sad story, but not really that unique. Some people would tell you the same fate awaits us all. You have heard the saying, “You can’t take it with you.” There are plenty of people who have tried. Or the lesser known saying that is like it, “He who dies with the most toys still dies.” They both speak to the reality that we can work and work our whole lives, and acquire great wealth and tons of stuff, but when we die, we lose every single bit of it. What sad, meaningless lives we lead.
But it doesn’t have to be this way, so long as we can avoid the sin of greed.
A technical definition for greed is that it is an inordinate desire to acquire or possess more than one needs. Basically greed is always wanting more, or never feeling like you have enough. In this context it applies to wealth, but it can also apply to other things.
Greed is more of a temptation for the wealthy than the poor. The poor don’t even have what they need, so can’t begin to desire what they don’t need. You may not consider yourself wealthy, so you don’t think you will ever struggle with the issue of greed, butwe are all rich, in comparison to most of the world. If you make more than $34,000 a year, you are in the top 1% of the world, in terms of income. If you make $11,000 a year, you are still in the top 10%.
My point is, we are all wealthy in the sense that we all have more than we need. And how we handle the extra is the issue here, whether it’s excess income in general, or if, like the man in the parable, we find ourselves on the receiving end of some windfall, an inheritance, a gift, a bonus, a raise, a $50 bill someone left on the ground, that was actually a $50 bill, and not a tract. Have you seen those? Nothing says Jesus loves you like a fake $50 bill. What would you do? Would eternity factor in to your decision?
This parable teaches us what not to do. When the rich man learned of his abundant harvest, his first thought was for himself, specifically acquiring more for himself. He didn’t think of thanking God for his blessing, rewarding his workers for the role they played, or of the farmer next door who planted too late or too early and had a terrible crop that year. He first and only thought about what to do with all his newfound wealth was to do something for himself.
This points toward selfishness being a motive. But we can speculate what some others might have been.
It’s possible the man believed this decision would offer him security. It is so easy to fall into the trap of believing enough money will allow us to buy our way out of every situation and free us from all anxiety and fear about the future. But this parable reminds us there are things beyond our control, circumstances where all the money in the world is of no value to us, that God has the final say in the path our lives will take.
It’s also possible the man believed this decision would bring him joy. He clearly felt his wealth would enable him to live the good life. The best food, the finest wine, and whatever else his heart desired. Those things might make him happy for a while, but joy is not for sale. It is a free gift that comes from living in relationship with our creator.
All these things were likely factors, but the man’s first mistake was a failure to recognize that everything we have belongs to God. We are merely stewards of what he has entrusted to us. Every financial decision should be made in respect to this fundamental truth.
Now would be a good time to remind ourselves of the definition for stewardship that Pete and Joey shared with us earlier in the service: Managing God’s blessings, God’s way, for God’s glory.
This points us to what we should do. Instead of being greedy, or rich toward ourselves, we need to be generous, and rich toward God and others. It’s only when we live generously that our lives can have meaning beyond ourselves, and we can avoid the kind of meaningless existence that we discussed a few moments ago.
We can certainly be rich toward God and others by giving financially. There are all kinds of opportunities to do this. The Dollar Club that we will be starting next Sunday is a small way, but I believe it will have a significant impact on people’s lives. And it will be a great way to teach our children to live generously. There are other opportunities here in the church and in the community.
We can also be rich toward God and others by giving generously of our time and our talents. Those are also valuable resources that God has entrusted to us that we can keep to ourselves or share with others. We have needs in our church and community where you can be of service. I consider it a huge part of my job as a pastor to help individuals find their place of ministry, and equip them if necessary.
If you are looking for some motivation to give generously to God and others, look no further than God himself, and remember how generous He has been toward you.
As Paul reminds us in Romans, “He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? (Romans 8:32)
You know the saying, “You can’t take it with you,” is not entirely true. There are some things we can take with us. There are some investments we can make that offer the promise of an eternal return. There is work we can do for which we will receive eternal rewards. The rich man’s life ended sadly, but ours doesn’t have to, so long as we are rich toward God.
I remember the story of Jim Elliot. He was a missionary who felt a special calling to preach the Gospel to the remote Auca tribe inEcuador, a group with a reputation for violence toward outsiders. Jim and five others felt the risk was worth taking. Sadly, they were killed. Jim was only 28 years old. An explanation for Jim’s decision to go to the tribe in spite of the potential for harm can be found in these words he once wrote, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
This morning I want you to ask yourself…
How much of your resourceshave you invested in yourself?
How much of your resources have you invested in eternity?
In a moment Judy and Emily are going to play something. As they do, as our response to the Word this morning, consider those question and prayerfully ask God to identify one way you can be rich toward him this week, to be generous in Jesus’ name. Whatever it costs you, it will be worth it.
Closing Hymn–God, Will Take Care of You, #47