Reflection on Luke 12:13-21

 

Luke 12:13-21

13 Someone in the crowd said to [Jesus,] “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” 16 Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17 And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 18 Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

Reflection 

You just heard what God said to this man who stored up his wealth by building bigger barns and sheds.  “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have…whose will they be?” (Luke 12:20).  Every time I hear Jesus’ parable of the rich man, I think of the cartoon that shows an old man talking to his son, pointing into a storage unit, crammed full of old stuff, proudly saying, “One day, this will all be yours.”  He son’s face reveals a stunned silence. 

The cartoon is only funny, because the reality it shows is not.  I think of a woman whose mother died a few years ago, and she was burdened with the task of clearing out her mother’s home.  It had years and years of stuff.  It was a huge task.  Now, I understand that some families’ answer is simply to bring a huge dumpster, a lot of helping hands, and have it done during a long weekend.  But, this woman’s mother was very rich and purchased items off of a certain television shopping network that she watched daily.  The daughter found rooms and rooms full of brand new named brand clothing, jewelry, and appliances; all still in their packaging.  None of it was ever used.  It seemed so foolish.  Why buy rooms full of things that you will never use?  It took the daughter years to sell and give away all the items.  The money she made from the sales in no way offset the huge burden it placed on her life.  This hording of stuff was plain foolishness.

“You Fool.”

That is what God calls the rich man who similarly stored up his wealth and possessions so that he could finally, “relax, eat, drink, be merry,” but was visited by the grim reaper the very next day (Luke 12:19).  The man was a fool.  He was stupid.  He was an idiot.  The man did not even follow the advice in Ecclesiastes who tells us in 8:15 to “eat, drink, and be merry.” We do those little celebratory things while we struggle, so that we can experience God’s provision.  This man is a fool; saving up the gifts until the end.

By the way, the use of the word “fool” in the Bible is very interesting. It both describes the man’s moral failures, and it serves as a hyperlink that takes us to another part of the Bible.  Just as the word “snake” in a biblical story makes us jump back and look at the Garden of Eden story, the word “fool” makes us jump back and look at wisdom literature such as those words from Ecclesiastes, but most importantly, the words of Proverbs.

And, what exactly does a book of wisdom such as Proverbs say about wealth?

“Do not wear yourself out to get rich;

    be wise enough to [stop].
 When your eyes light upon [wealth], it is gone,
    for suddenly it takes wings to itself,
    flying like an eagle toward [the skies]” (Proverbs 23:4-5).

Jesus agrees.  You can save up wealth, but tomorrow either you or it can be gone.  Wisdom tells you that wealth does not stick around, so stop wearing yourself out trying to get it.  I think of the parent, who goes away and works and works to give all of these good things to the children, and then the flood comes or the fire arrives and it is gone, and only when it is too late does the person realize that their children are also gone, being fully grown.  All have taken wing and flown away.  They missed it all to get wealth and stuff.  Do not be foolish.

There is also this little gem:

“Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit,
    but righteousness delivers from death” (Proverbs 10:2).

I hope you already know that ruining relationships and doing evil things to others does not profit.  What I want you to see is how, in this proverb, “treasures” are pitted against “righteousness” or “right relationships.”  Wisdom teaches us that good relationships are far superior to treasures.  In other words, things do not give life!  Good relationships give life!  I do not know about you, but the older I become and the more birthdays that arrive, for a gift I just want an experience with someone I love rather than a thing.  The thing is something dead.  An experience with someone gives so much life.  And, if this is true with other people, how much more will it be true with God?  How many people would give up a life’s worth of stuff just so that they could finally walk and talk with our living God?  To desire having stuff rather close relationships is pure foolishness.

It is foolishness.  How many times have relationships been threatened over who gets the stuff after the funeral?  What is more important?  Having Mom’s quilt or having the love of your sister?  But, people choose the foolish all the time.  Jesus has a better goal in life than getting the quilt or the violin or the cabin.  And, that goal is hinted at in this one last proverb that I am going to share.  I need to tell you that this proverb really lands with me as I think about wealth and foolishness. 

“Those who trust in their riches will wither,

    but the righteous will flourish like green leaves” (Proverbs 11:28).

This one really lands with me, because I can feel that it is true.  I feel no life within me when I am focused on my stuff.  I do not know about you, but when I am focused on things or forced to spend too much time with stuff, be it my phone or a tool or a toy of some sort, I just start to feel kind of dead inside.  I feel too wrapped up in myself.  I feel too detached from those around me and from God.  There is no life to be found in that stuff.  “Those who trust in their riches will wither.”  That feeling of death in my soul when I am wrapped up in myself and my stuff is so real.  Do you ever feel that?  But, when my relationship with others around me, especially with God, is really good, that makes my life feel so much greener; like it is thriving, and growing, and good.

This is the sort of green, thriving life that Jesus wants for that guy in the crowd who shouts, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me” (Luke 12:13).  That man is concerned about stuff.  And, maybe rightly so.  The older brother is supposed to distribute part of the family inheritance with his siblings.  So, legally and probably morally, the man is right to be upset.  But, listen to what Jesus has to say:

“Friend…Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15).

There is that word: “abundance.”  Wisdom would teach us that life does not thrive because of an abundance of stuff.  Rather, wisdom teaches us that life thrives with an abundance of “righteousness” or “right relationships.”  Life thrives and grows when we realize that God’s gift of good relationships with God and those around us is the actual thing that makes life good.

Have you ever noticed how wrapped up in himself that rich guy is in Jesus’ parable?  Jesus says that the rich man “thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’  Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull 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’” (Luke 12:17-19).

It is like you can actually feel in your own soul the moisture of this man’s soul getting sucked dry as he stands there and talks to himself.  “So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God” (Luke 12:21).

You know what?  We do not have to be so dry.  We do not have to only have ourselves to talk to.  We do not have to be so lonely.  We do not need to have our soul sucked dry worrying about stuff.  We are “rich toward God,” because we have a Lord who comes and steps in between us and our stuff…us and our wealth…and says things like:

“Friend” (Luke 12:14).

“Take care” (Luke 12:15).

“Do not worry about your life” (Luke 12:22).

“Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!” (Luke 12:24).

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  Sell your possessions and give alms…” (Luke 12:32-33).

Jesus’ wisdom shines on us with this flash of insight: We are valuable to God; so much so that God gives us a kingdom.  We do not need to buy it and store it.  We do not need to buy and store our happiness.  We do not need to create for ourselves a kingdom where we can “eat, drink, and be merry.” We already have that kingdom. 

God has already given it to us, as a gift.  We do not need to create lives that are all about possessions, because we already have a life given to us in which we are a precious possession.  We have a life in which the creator of the universe cares for our every need; in which the Lord stretches out his hands on a cross and gathers us close.  We have a savior who would die for us on that cross...who did die for us on that cross so that we might have that kingdom.  You cannot purchase that sort of righteousness.  You cannot purchase that sort of good relationship.  But, you can look up from your stuff, look up from your phones and toys, look up from your own concerns and your own souls and see the one who loves you and gives you life, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

And, when God stands in front of us and says, “One day, this will all be yours” we can actually put on a genuine smile, because God’s storage bin is full of love and true life, and God’s storage bin needs no sorting.