GUARD AGAINST GREED
August 20. 2006 - PENTECOST 11 - Luke 12:13-21
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Dear Friends in Christ and Saints in the Lord:
The very first thing we want to remember this morning is that God is not unhappy with those who are wealthy. Having lots of money is not a sin. To be wealthy and rich does not oppose any of God’s laws. In fact for the believer we realize this can be a great blessing if it would be according to God’s will to make someone wealthy. Our text reminds us as also do all of our lessons that fit together today. We are reminded that our trust and confidence is not in ourselves, our riches or our wealth but in God who provides. Again, wealth and prosperity is not a sin and is not wrong. God does not dwell upon it. But over and over again, Scripture warns everyone, because of our sinful nature, to be careful. God says to guard against all kinds of greed. We know those words from Timothy: "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs" (1 Timothy 6:9). There is the warning: Guard against the love of money, not money, but the love of money, against all kinds of greed. This is what is told us this morning in our text. Our theme will be:
GUARD AGAINST GREED.
I. Too many trust only in earthly riches.
II. We will want to be rich toward God.
I. TOO MANY TRUST ONLY IN EARTHLY RICHES
Let’s start with the parable that Jesus taught. Jesus wanted that parable to stay in the minds of these people and in our minds, reminding us how easy it is to get caught up putting trust in earthly possessions. A parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. Notice the change here. "And Jesus told them this parable: ’The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, "What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops?’" Jesus, of course, chose his words very carefully. The Gospel writer Luke puts them down very carefully. The original has it in that proper order, very carefully. In verse 16: The ground produced a good crop. We understand that God blessed the ground and the good crop for this rich man. In verse 17: The rich man thinks to himself: "What should I do with my crop?" He did not see the good crop produced by the ground as a blessing that God had provided. Instead, the rich man thought to himself selfishly, "Look what I have done. Look at the crop I brought in and what shall I do?" Jesus was indicating the thoughts of this man and how he was tainted by the temptations of possessions.
The rest of the parable is familiar: "Then he said, ’This is what I will do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.’" So he was so proud that he was not just going to add on, but tear down the old and build anew. After all, in his eyes he was successful, as he thought and imagined. So that was what he was planning to do. Even though he had already forgotten that it was the ground that God blessed with a good crop. He was stuck on himself and had lots of plans for himself and says: "And I’ll say to myself (The original has, "I’ll say to my soul"), ’You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’" So with that one good crop the ground had produced he thought would provide him for many years. There was nothing to do but take life easy, eat, drink and be merry. That was his plan. The plans of men are not always God’s plan. The plan of this man, to put trust and confidence in his earthly possessions, was certainly not what God wanted for him or for anyone.
We come near the end of this parable: "But God said to him, ’You fool! (Strong language. The Lord says in other places to not call anyone a fool or you will be in danger of judgment.) Jesus uses that word here, because the rich man is indeed in danger of judgment. This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’" The man wanted to build bigger barns, bigger storage for himself and his crops and his goods. He doesn’t get that far. All of his plans come to nothing. Someone else will now get all of that that he cherished and treasured in his heart so much. Too many trust only in earthly riches.
Is it better or worse today? Do you think people trust more or less in their riches today than they did back then? It is hard to say. We might say probably a little bit more today. We are overcome with commercials, promotions and advertising that say, "To be happy, we have to be wealthy. To be successful we have to have lots of money and be rich with lots of possessions." Time and again the ranking always comes out. The successful men are the ones that are at the top of the billions and billions of dollars they have -- according to the world. It becomes easy for us to fall into that same trap. It is hard. The things that we can see, feel and touch that appeal to us. It is hard for us to just be content with food and clothing. We want food, clothing, housing, and vehicles and more, much, much more. Soon have so much stuff we have to build bigger, better garages, barns, whatever. Earthly possessions become an easy snare for Satan to use to trap us. In Ecclesiastes: "Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless" (Ecclesiastes 5:10). We have heard it said the rich get richer. Why is that? Because if they had a billion dollar, they feel that they need three billion dollars or more. Sometimes that happens to us: "If we have just a little bit more, we would be happy, just a little bit more to pay the bills and sit back, eat, drink and be merry. The Lord says to us today that when God gives you the ability to sit back each day, everyday, be satisfied with the labor of your hands. This too is a blessing of God. He says he will occupy you with the gladness of your heart everyday, not at just one good harvest.
Back to guarding against greed, each one of us knows how difficult that is. What are we going to do with all the stuff we gather together and store? Not much. We come into this world without anything, and we leave without anything. At times our hearts can become too attached to those things of the world. The Lord warns every one of us to guard against greed. Yet, as we look around us, we realize the world is in love with the things of this world. Jesus asks: "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mark 8:36,37). Sadly, there are many who exchanged their souls for little or nothing.
This is an age-old problem. We see earthly greed early in the Old Testament. Esau sold his birthright (for a mess of pottage in the KJV), for a pot of stew. He gave up his inheritance for very little. So the Lord says to us we can become very easily like this rich man. God blesses and blesses us. We might easily forget and say to ourselves, "Look what my hands have done. Look what I have accomplished in this world." Then the Lord says, "But in the end who gets it all?" In Psalm 39: "Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it. But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you" (Psalm 39:6,7).
We come to our second part where Jesus says to guard against greed. In order to guard against greed we will want to be rich toward God.
II. WE WILL WANT TO BE RICH TOWARD GOD
Jesus spoke this parable because a question was raised. In chapter 11 and12 of Luke, we will find lots of red letters if you have a red-letter edition showing which words are the words of Jesus. He speaks these words of encouragement, advice and warning. In chapter 12, verse 13: "Someone in the crowd said to him, ’Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.’" Jesus had just finished teaching about the angels of God and the blessings of heaven. Then someone says, "By the way, Jesus, my brother won’t give me my inheritance. What was that person thinking of? Earthly things.
"Jesus replied, ’Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?’" When Jesus says "man," that, too, is another address that says, "Listen. Weren’t you paying attention?" Jesus said he was not the judge or an arbiter (divider) of the inheritance. Why not? Because the law from the Old Testament was very clear: There are two brothers. The first brother got two-thirds and the second brother got one-third. If there are more, the oldest always got twice of everyone else. Jesus didn’t have to decide that. They could go to the leaders of the church for an easy division decision.
"Then Jesus said to them, ’Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed." All kinds of greed, not just those who want to seek more for themselves. But here is someone who thought he deserved more. He wanted his inheritance, because he deserved it. Did he? Does anybody deserve an inheritance? Yes we could say, according to the law. Jesus said, "But I am not concerned with that. I am not the judge or divider of an earthly inheritance." Jesus continues, "A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Then Jesus reveals the truth of this teaching with the parable. In this way the people would understand what he meant by saying, "Watch out! Don’t let the abundance of possessions drag you down and drag you away from God."
As we get to the end of this parable, Jesus says to the rich many, "Your life is demanded from you. Who will get what you have prepared for yourself?" "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." What a beautiful statement Jesus makes: to be rich toward God.
God gives us our day-by-day life and labors that we might provide for our family. God gives us our day-by-day living so that we can grow in our faith and become rich toward God. How are we going to do that? An easy way to become rich toward God would be to keep those Lessons that we had today and read them over and over again. We know the story of the Israelites who were slaves in Egypt. They were forced to build bricks with straw and then without straw provided for them. The Israelites had to gather their own straw and still make the same amount of bricks. Yet, when the Lord delivered them, they grumbled and complained. Still, the Lord gave them bread. What is it? It is manna as in the original (Exodus 16:2-15).
When Jesus fed the five thousand and they wanted more bread, Jesus said, "I am the Bread of Life." In the Gospel Lesson today (John 6:24-35) the people still demanded proof from the Bread King, Jesus. Jesus says, "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:20,21). The treasure in heaven is eternal life. If we knew there was a treasure buried out in the backyard, we would find out where it is and dig it up. Our treasure is in heaven. Dig it up! Mine God’s Word for yourselves. Then you will indeed become rich toward God.
There are more people in this world who care little or maybe not even at all about being rich toward God. They want to be rich toward themselves. They want to be rich toward their own future so that they can sit back, eat, drink and be merry. It is all by God’s grace that we understand God’s richness towards us. Only by his love and mercy are we given an understanding that when we are not rich toward God, we are truly, really poor in spirit. Listen to Paul who had everything. Paul had been a Pharisee of Pharisees and was a very well to do person. Yet, what does he say in Philippians? "What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ" (Philippians 3:8). Paul had already gained Christ, but he wanted to become rich toward God. Paul counted everything else a loss to the surpassing greatness of just knowing Christ. Without Christ, we have nothing. We were lost and condemned creatures, but with Christ we have everything. That is being rich toward God.
We could spend a lifetime of Biblical learning to be rich toward God. Then we are blessed with joy and understanding of God’s blessings upon blessings – both earthly but also especially spiritual. When we open up that package of bread we bought at the store (we don’t have to make our own bread), remember Jesus is the Bread of Life. When we turn on the tap, we can remember Jesus is the Water of Life. That is a blessing to understand that these are gifts of God.
Not only that, we are rich toward God when we are rich toward our fellowman, generous to them. More and more, we live in a world that is selfish and stingy. Because of that earthly attitude, many are not very helpful or kind. We know and believe though Jesus was rich, for our sakes he became poor so that we might become rich. Therefore it becomes all the more important for us as believers who understand God’s richness and goodness to show that richness toward others. We might not always get to confess our Christian faith. People are not always anxious to hear, but they are observant. In our acts of kindness and mercy and generosity they can see the light of Christ. Paul wrote in Corinthians: "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously" (2 Corinthians 9:6). As we sow our Christian love, the people around us reap the generosity of God simply because you and I are able to appreciate and enjoy and show and share God’s abundant generosity.
Guard against all kinds of greed. This can be difficult in our society and especially in our nation. God, in spite of all wickedness that goes on and all the sinfulness, still blesses God’s people. Thankfully, you and I as God’s people are able to recognize the hand of God’s blessings that he has shown to us each and every day. Jesus says guard against all kinds of greed. We have seen what greed has done to the people in the world around us. Greed can very easily grab a person’s soul and have them wander from the faith and pierce themselves through with many griefs. The best way to do guard against greed is to be rich toward God. We look towards God and put our faith and confidence in him. We can store up for ourselves those treasures in heaven. When Jesus returns on the Last Day we realize another blessing: God has come for us.
We rejoice with Isaiah and praise God saying: "’Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.’ With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation" (Isaiah 12:2,3). This is Jesus. This is the Lord our God who is the Bread of Life and our Water of Life. This is the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer who is also our only Way of Life. Knowing all of this, by God’s grace, we begin to spend a lifetime of guarding against greed by being rich toward God and. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
Sunday radio broadcast @ 9:05am on KQNK 106.7FM or 1530AM + www.kqnk.com
Pentecost 11 readings: EXODUS 16:2-15; EPHESIANS 4:17-24; JOHN 6:24-35
