Luke 12:13-21 - How to Be Rich

This parable is setup with a man interrupting Jesus’ talk with disciples before a crowd of thousands of people. This man was brings Jesus a dispute with hopes that He will make things right. If He is to be the next King of Israel, we need to see how well He judges between each other.

In response to this man and, possibly his brother, Jesus tells them

Luke 12:15 ESV

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.”

This message is clear. Life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. If you want life, you have to look in a different direction.

The world looks to possessions for life. There is no life there. If we are tempted to think that we will find life there, we are Dead wrong.

Then, some of us get it. Some of us get the easy life and we think it’s not enough.

The Parable

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.”

Luke 13:16–21 ESV

And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him. He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.” And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”

Luke 12:16–21 ESV

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.”

Murphy Strikes Again!

Luke 13:16-2

Can you see yourself in this parable? Honestly, this was by far the most depressing parable to me for a long time. Here, Jesus tells us that the scenario everyone in the world is looking for is going to send you to hell.

Can you see yourself in this parable? Honestly, this was by far the most depressing parable to me for a long time. Here, Jesus tells us that the exact scenario that everyone in the world is looking for is going to send you to hell.

This scenario is not retirement. :)

It is a wealthy retirement that is empty of some very important attributes. Many of you are done with your physical labor and are enjoying retirement. Some of you will never retire. I hate to inform you, but it doesn’t matter which scenario you are in you can be just as foolish as this man.

The point of this parable is obvious. A man chose to put His focus on earthly wealth and fortune than on the God who provided it. It is truly a “Golden Egg” story.

Life is in the hand of the creator, yet those who enjoy those blessings pay Him no honor for them, or they pay lip service without truly honoring Him with their lives.

We give gifts to those whom we love. We are considerate and kind and listen to them. We want to do things that will make them feel appreciated and glorify them if they do something above and beyond for us.

Why not God?

Are His blessings not tangible? Are we unclear about what He wants?

This man was covetously and greedily laying up treasure for himself and was not rich toward God.

Transition: What does it look like to be rich toward God?

Being Rich Toward God?

But doesn’t God want us to be happy?

Ecclesiastes 8:15 ESV

And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.

No. God doesn’t command joy. He doesn’t say that one’s life should be spent focusing solely on the good things in life which Solomon found to be the work of his hands and his family. These are good things and there is nothing wrong with joy in them, but that’s not why we are here!

1 Corinthians 15:32 ESV

What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

1 Cor 5:

We don’t die! We have much more to look forward to after this life.

1 Corinthians 1:1 ESV

Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,

If you are struggling with the fact that you have more money than you think you deserve, read James again. And again.

James 4:13–17 ESV

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

13-1

1Cor5:32

God knows your time on earth. You don’t. Having money and having things is just another attempt at controlling the things that are out of your control. I want to call what this man with the bumper crop has what it really is. False Security.

James 5:1–6 ESV

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

Nothing you can do will make these things last any longer than their allotted time. Time will kill and separate us from all things that we possess on this earth.

So, We must… Give up on this stuff!

Risk Stuff for True Security

Risk is a funny word.

“Defined as any action that exposes a person to the possibility of loss or injury.

You might lose money, faith, or you life.

You might lose other peoples money, faith or life.

Some would say a wise loving person would take no risk. It’s not good to take risks. It’s not loving. Wise and loving people take no risk right?

Maybe. Maybe Not.

What if the circumstances were such that not to take a risk would result in harm or loss?

What if the circumstances were such that a successful risk would mean benefit to many people and failure to risk would mean harm to many people.

Why is there such a thing as risk? Risk exists because ignorance exists. If there were no ignorance, risk would be impossible. God doesn’t risk anything because He knows how things will end. “ - J. Piper

Our ignorance means that we ought not be boastful or arrogant!

You don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. So, everything you do is being done with some level of risk and uncertainty.

We have to take risks that could result in great gain for us and those we love based on the wisdom we receive from God because that same wisdom from God tells us that not taking that risk will result in harm.

If we are unwilling to take the risk because we feel some level of security, we are sadly mistaken.

We will lose everything that really matters. We must trust God instead of ourselves, risking it all in order to LIVE.

Joab and Abishai against Syrians and Ammonites.

2 Samuel 10:9–13 ESV

When Joab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and in the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians. The rest of his men he put in the charge of Abishai his brother, and he arrayed them against the Ammonites. And he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come and help you. Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him.” So Joab and the people who were with him drew near to battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him.

2 sam 10:9-

You don’t know what will happen sometimes, but may the Lord do what seems good to Him!

This man should have given up his blessings to supply the need of those who lack.

King Ahasuerus

Esther before King Ahasuerus

We see people in scriptures make decisions to risk it all in order to save those who are in great need.

Esther 4:15–16 ESV

Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”

Esther

This is what we must do for those who are in need. If we don’t risk our comfort to save their souls, what are we doing here?!?!

Then, we see people who risk it all in order to glorify God.

Shadrack, Meshak, Abednego before Nebuchadnezzar.

Daniel 3:16–18 ESV

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

It is better to glorify God than to lose that relationship. Risk your comforts. Risk your FALSE Security for God’s glory. He says to proclaim it on the housetops. Proclaim it!

Don’t be like the spies!

Numbers 13:31 ESV

Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.”

Numbers 14:3–4 ESV

Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

They wanted to go back to Egypt!

Caleb and Joshua told them as I’m telling you now. There is no fear of anything in this world. The fear has to be of God. Take the risk with what you are blessed with. Use it to glorify God.

“Let the Lord do what seems best to Him”

“If I perish, I perish”

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