Don't Waste Your Life - Luke 12:13-21

James H. Cosentino II

Parables: Jesus the Storyteller • Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

Luke 12:13–21

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Introduction

Read Luke 12:13-21

Luke 12:13–21 (ESV)

Someone in the crowd said to him, “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 toward God.”

I want to begin by saying “congratulations!” to all of our graduates. We have quite a few of you graduating and we celebrate with you on your accomplishments.

Each of you are going to be headed in different directions for the next stage and chapter in your lives. Some of you might be staying here to either find a job or pursue a higher degree. Some may be heading off to another university to continue to expand your education. Others yet may be moving somewhere else to begin your careers and the life that God has given to you.

Whatever your plans are, I want to say that we as a church love you and are excited for whatever God has in store for you. We pray that you will be successful and experience all God’s many blessings for you.

I also want you to keep this question ever in the forefront of your lives and as you make you plans going forward. That question is, “What is the purpose for which God has put me here?” It is a question you need to answer. But it is also a question that all the rest of us need to answer as we continue on the paths God has placed us on, whether we are 18 or 98 or anywhere in between.

I want to encourage you to pursue the desires God has placed on your hearts and to follow the plans that you have, but never lose sight of answering this important question. We are here, not really for our own plans, but for the purpose that God has created us for.

In his book, “Don’t Waste Your Life,” John Piper recounts a story he remembers from his childhood. Piper’s father was an evangelist and he and his family would travel along with his father to hear him preach. He would boldly preach the gospel calling for people to repent from their sins and to submit their lives to Jesus as Lord and Savior.

His father shared the story of a man who was converted in his old age. The church prayed for this man. He was always resistant to the gospel that was shared with him. However, he came to one of the services where Piper’s father was preaching. He heard the gospel and responded to the gospel in faith and repentance. He experienced salvation in that moment, even as an older man who was near the end of his life. It was a time of joy and celebration for him and the church. However, this older man had tears streaming down his face as he exclaimed, “I’ve wasted it! I’ve wasted it!” He found salvation in Christ, but oh how he wished he could have responded sooner and spent his life on things that really mattered instead of on his own plans.

“What is God’s purpose for your life?” Whether we are a follower of Jesus right now or not, If we lose sight of the answer to this question, we run the danger of getting to the end of our lives and crying out “I’ve wasted my life.” Jesus’ words in this next parable we are going to examine is going to be words of warning and encouragement to live for what matters and to not waste our lives on what doesn’t.

Guard Your Heart Against False Riches

Looking at the context of this next parable, we see that someone comes to Jesus asking Him to help mediate the distribution of a family’s inheritance among the sons.

We see this man’s focus is on what can I get and what do I deserve when it comes to earthly treasures. For this man, the purpose of life is to acquire as much as possible for his own pleasure and comfort.

How many families and siblings have been divided because of the greed and covetousness? We see the destructive nature of living solely for earthly gains and treasures. This does not mean that they do not deserve those things, but it does show that their hearts are thinking more of themselves rather than of anyone else.

So Jesus answers this man, first by saying that He is not a judge over these legal affairs. But then He gives this man a warning about covetousness and about the purpose of life.

Do not Covet - 10th Commandment

Covetousness is listed as the final commandment in the 10 commandments to stay away from.

What is Covetousness?

Covetousness has been defined as the “insatiable desire for worldly gain.”

It is, in essence, idolatry as we are looking for pleasure and satisfaction from worldly possessions that only God can truly provide. Instead of trusting in God to provide for us, we begin to look for those things to be provided to us by our possessions.

God is not Against wealth and prosperity in themselves.

Before we go any further, let me say that Jesus is not saying that wealth and possessions are inherently wrong.

Again, the law even recognizes that each person has a right to the possessions they own. The eighth commandment to not steal is a recognition that we are not to take something that belongs to someone else.

if God does bless you and makes you rich beyond your wildest dreams, to be the next bill gates or Elon musk, that’s awesome and you should thank God for His blessings over you. And I hope you might remember me when you get to that point :)

And this is not a polemic against working hard and providing for yourself and your family

Also, Jesus is not saying that we should not work hard to provide for ourselves and for our families.

The fact that you have made it this far to earn your degree is a good thing as it is a step to work and to fulfill the calling God has placed in your life to earn a living. Even from the beginning, God designed Adam and Eve to work in the garden. Work itself is not a bad thing, it is a God-given gift as we use our strength and energy to receive God’s provision in our lives.

But the question is, what are we working for?

Jesus tells us the story of this man who was working for himself. He had his crops and they were doing well. So well in fact that he couldn’t store all of his crops in the barns that he already had. So we see that he already had a good bit stored up for any future needs.

Now he’s got more than he knows to do with. So what’s his decision? Tear down his current barns so he can build bigger ones so he can have a bigger “savings” account and he won’t have to worry about anything.

This man was not just working to provide. He was working to earn himself a life of ease and pleasure. He was building his own kingdom for his own glory and honor. And Jesus calls him a fool for building up something he couldn’t keep!

Christ is telling us not to work for and set our hearts on false earthly riches.

So Christ is not saying not to work. He is saying we need to be careful of what we are working for!

The foolish man was working towards false riches. He set his heart on the wrong kind of riches.

What makes these riches false?

We falsely believe these riches will give us all we want

First, the man thought these riches were all he would ever want.

Luke 12:19 (ESV)

And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’

Somehow he thought joy, fulfillment, satisfaction could all be found in what he had and in what he could obtain.

However, he forgot that true joy, satisfaction and fulfillment is something that is only found in the presence of the Lord.

Psalm 16:11 (ESV)

You make known to me the path of life;

in your presence there is fullness of joy;

at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

We can work for that bigger house, that newer car, the most beautiful and extravagant wedding day, all that money can buy, but the joy that these things provide will last only for a moment and pass away.

Do not live for joys that are there one moment only to leave you wanting more. That’s the lie of covetousness. You think if you can have what you want, then you will be happy. But the idea of insatiable desire is that it can never be satisfied.

We use these riches solely for ourselves

Second, this man ended up living only for himself. He went to go build himself bigger barns so he could spend his wealth upon himself.

He never thought, “I’ve got enough. Maybe there’s someone else around me that could be blessed by God’s grace through me.”

These treasures are false because we become blind to the people and the world around us. Life was never meant to be lived in isolation from others.

We forget that these riches are temporary

Finally, these riches are false because we forget they are temporary! There is only so long we get in this life before its gone and we don’t know when the end is. I could hope that I have another 40 years on earth, but I’m not guaranteed that I have tomorrow. The same is true for all of us.

Living for these treasures makes you think they are always going to be there for you and they will not be. Do not live for something that is temporary only to sacrifice what is eternal!

The idea that Jesus is getting at here is that there are eternal treasures we can be working towards. But if we are so focused on these temporary treasures, we are going to miss out on the eternal.

Shai Linne, a Christian Hip-Hop artist, in a song entitled “False Teachers” once wrote, “If you are living your best life now, you are headed for hell.”

See, if this life in the here and now is the best you will get, then heaven is not what you are aiming for, because we know that heaven and life in the presence of Christ is so much better than this life.

What are you going to work for?

Be Rich Towards God

Jesus shares how foolish it is to not be rich towards God. How do we become rich towards God?

Seek to build your riches in heaven

If we read a little further down, we see that Jesus begins to teach on worry and anxiety and how God will provide for his children. After encouraging his disciples to not worry, but instead to seek first His kingdom, He goes on to tell them this:

Luke 12:32–33 (ESV)

“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 moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

So how do we provide ourselves with moneybags that do not grow old with a treasure in heave that does not fail?

Make Christ Your Treasure

First, we need to examine where our heart is. What does our heart long for? What does it crave? What does it worship and love?

Deuteronomy 6:5 (ESV)

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

We are commanded to love God with our entire being! Instead of treasuring the things of this world, we need to learn to treasure Christ. If there’s nothing else you hear from this sermon, please hear this! You have been saved and bought and delivered by the blood of Christ to give you a new heart that seeks to love Him and treasure Him.

As you go into this next stage and chapter of life, seek to develop a heart of love for Jesus above all things.

Spend time in God’s Word and prayer

Which means we need to learn to spend time in God’s Word.

As you spend time in God’s Word, be sure to look at it for what it is. While it is a book that contains history, instructions, poetry and wisdom, know that the Bible is more than these things. The Bible is a book about who God is.

So when you spend time with Scripture, the first question you need to ask is “What does this tell me about God?” If we are to grow in our love for Christ, we must see how He is being revealed to us in this book.

Spend time with God’s people

Second, we must spend time with God’s people! If we are to grow to love Christ, we must grow to love God’s people, the church.

Wherever you go, do not neglect the gathering of God’s people together. We are so glad that during this time of your lives you have chosen to be a part of this local family.

But if you are moving to a new place, make it a priority to find a local church in which you can join and grow in your love for Christ with other people. Those believers will help you grow in your love for Christ.

And do not just attend. Find a way that you can get in and serve alongside them. Our love for Christ grows as we serve others.

Use your profession to make Christ known

Luke 12:8–12 ESV

“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Looking at the passage right before Jesus tells this parable, he gives us encouragement about our testimony about Him. If we truly love Christ, we will gladly and boldly tell others about Him.

So another way that we can be rich towards God is to see that our jobs and careers are not just about making a living for ourselves, it is about a ministry that God has called us to.

Sometimes we think that only those who are called pastors are the ones God calls to ministry. But if you are a follower of Christ, He has called you to ministry as well. It may not be a vocational ministry where you are being paid to work in a church. But whatever job God is calling you to and whatever neighborhood God is putting you in to live is the ministry that He has given to you. Learn to see your profession as the ministry God has called you to to bring honor and glory to His name.

Live a life of generosity

Wherever you are, support the ministry of your local church

Finally, live a life of generosity. As God blesses you and provides for you in your calling, see your financial resources as more than just a way to take care of your own needs, but as a way for God to use you as a blessing to others.

The first place to begin with generosity is with how you support the local church. Through Scripture, it calls us as His people to give of our tithes and offerings. This is an act where we return a portion of what God has given to us to demonstrate our trust in His care and provision for our lives.

And as you are able, seek to give to those who have need

Next, as you are able, find ways to use God’s blessings in your life to bless others.

In Acts chapter 2 and even towards the end of Acts 4, we see that many people within the church were finding ways to support those who had need. Those who were extremely blessed freely sold and gave what they had for the benefit of those who had need. This did not mean that everyone sold everything or that everyone even sold something.

Sometimes you will be the one who may need to accept the gracious help from others within the church. And sometimes God may bless you so richly that God will use you to meet the needs of others.

Practice the spiritual gift of hospitality

There can be many ways in which we can use God’s blessings in our lives to build heavenly riches, but one last one that we will focus on today is the gift of hospitality. Scripture talks about the importance of this gift as we display the gospel as we open up our homes and lives to those around us.

Hospitality is the act of welcoming and inviting others into your life. It is seeking to use your time and your resources, such as your home or food, to serve and minister to others.

We get to display God’s love for us as we open our hearts to others through the gift of hospitality.

Conclusion

In summary, we must see that all that we have and own comes from the hand of God and it is a blessing not to terminate upon ourselves, but to be shared with others that God brings into our lives.

And in so doing, we are using the temporary gifts God has given to us, the gifts that we will not be able to hold on to, in order to store up treasure for ourselves in heaven.

The treasure that we are building up is a treasure that we will never lose and a treasure that cannot be compared to anything else. The treasure that will be more valuable than anything else is to hear the words of Jesus spoken to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

I pray that when we all come to the end we will not cry out, I’ve wasted my life. Let us live for the only true treasure that can truly satisfy our hearts, Jesus Himself!

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