Passage: Luke 12:13-31
Preacher: Rev. Joel Beyer
Series: Lectionary Series C
Category: Stewardship
Summary:
He gave up everything, even His life for you. Because He loves fools like you and fools like me. And because He did, we now get all that is His. We get not the good life, but the RICH LIFE. We get forgiveness of our debt of sin. God remembers it no more. We get security knowing that no matter what happens to our livelihood in this life, nothing can take away the riches of ETERNAL LIFE.
Detail:
Today we’re talking about everyone’s favorite subject to talk about in church, and especially to be preached at about in church: money. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather Jesus not talk about money, but we can’t avoid it. He does. In fact, the Bible talks about money more than any other subject, and Jesus has money as the subject of more parables than any other topic. Why? Because money is what makes the world go around. Jesus recognized that money is an important thing, even a God given gift, so that we can live and provide for our families, but He also was quick to point out its inherent danger as well.
In Luke 12, Jesus isn’t even trying to teach about money, when someone from the crowd finds an opening and makes his way to Jesus. He has a financial dispute between himself and his brother in which, most likely, his older brother won’t share with him his portion of their inheritance. And since the custom was to bring these kinds of disputes to a religious leader or a rabbi, who better than Jesus? But catch what Jesus says in Luke 12:14-15 — “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.” Jesus refuses to get in the middle of the dispute. Why? It’s not because it’s not a legitimate concern, but it’s because Jesus has a greater message to deliver. Jesus is concerned not as much with how much money you have, or how much you make, or how much you spend, or how much you owe or are owed as much as he is concerned with your heart.
Here’s what I know about my heart: I struggle with not being content with what I have. Like the man in the text, I always want more. Today’s an appropriate text and topic for me because I turned 30 years old yesterday. And as part of that milestone, I completely threw my back out doing yard work. I mean, people told me it’s all downhill at 30, but I didn’t expect it to be that quick! I got to thinking 30 is a big birthday; I should really buy something nice for myself. The only problem is that the gifts that I like are usually way more money than I have saved up. For example, my family is going on a camping trip at the end of August to Redwood State Park in northern California. Sounds fun right? Except it’s for 10 days, and we’re doing it in a tent. And so I thought, what better gift to get for my 30th Birthday than a new RV? That’s obviously an impulse buy, so that’s out. So I settled for something that feeds my coffee addiction: an espresso machine. Here’s my point, I’m usually not content with what I have. I always want more, the latest, the greatest, the biggest, and the best. It gives me anxiety when I can’t have it. I have a hard time being content and trusting God that what he’s given me is enough.
I don’t think I’m alone. No matter what situation you’re in, I can probably guess you’d like more: more comfort, more leisure, more security. It’s the American way. It’s the good life. But here’s the problem: The good life can easily become a god. That’s why Jesus said in Matthew 19:24 that it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When the things of this world become the things you love most, you will be consumed by them. When you love money, you use people to get the things you want. When you love money, you’ll never be content, The love of money drives you away from trusting God and living his way and instead, draws you deeper into yourself.
Jesus wanted to illustrate this point to the man by telling a parable. The rich fool in Jesus’ parable had placed all his energy in securing for himself a the good life. He finally had enough, a big house, a nice car, a stacked 401K. He had everything planned out. Now life was all about him. 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.” He had spent his life stressing about and striving for the good life, and yet in the end, it was for nothing. There was nothing to show, except maybe for his children fighting over it.
So let me ask you the same question I ask myself: How are you doing with that? How are you doing with being rich toward God? If God looked at your bank account history over the past 30 years, what would he see? I don’t know about you, but I’d rather he not look. Because while some generosity, and relationship building and spreading the Gospel are there, they're few and far between my own selfish pursuits. God knows my heart and he knows yours, and just like the rich fool, our death could come any day. I’m 30 now. I’m an old man!
Here’s the good news: that’s why Jesus came. He knows how foolish we are. He knew this god of money would be too much for us to overcome, and so He overcame it for us. Jesus was the richest man in the world, in fact, as God Himself, he created this world. He owns this world and everything in it. When He came into this world, He could have had anything he wanted. He could have riches and fame and leisure and luxury, but so that you because of your sin and foolishness, wouldn’t be left out, Instead, He became poor. On this earth, Jesus had no home. He had no possessions. The only thing left in his death was his clothes which the soldiers tore off him and cast lots for. Jesus gave up the riches of heaven to die instead of keeping everything for himself. He gave up everything, even His life for you. Because he loves fools like you and fools like me. And because He did, we now get all that is His. We get not the good life, but the RICH LIFE. We get forgiveness of our debt of sin. God remembers it no more. We get security knowing that no matter what happens to our livelihood in this life, nothing can take away the riches of ETERNAL LIFE. We get the certainty that though Death is coming, because you and I belong to Christ, that’s okay! In our death, we don’t have to give our inheritance away, we receive it from God! We’ve got a mansion waiting for us. Jesus has secured it. In fact, in Jesus presence, there will be no need for money because we’ll have everything we could ever want. There will be cappuccinos flowing from the sky.
But in the meantime, the struggle continues. God continues to call us to trust in Him to provide, to see His hand in the good times and the bad, and to live not simply to achieve the good life for ourselves, but to bring a rich life others, to invest in what really matters: the relationships that He’s given us. I truly believe that had the brothers the Gospel reading today would not have had any problem dividing the inheritance had they been more concerned about each other than their own cut. The same is true for us. The problems in our relationships would be a lot less devastating if we were concerned more with each other’s hearts. I want to encourage you to take time this week to examine your hearts, examine your habits, to be content, to pursue kind of good life that material wealth can support but cannot produce, and look for ways, big or small to be rich toward God whether that be in His church, in our community, or in your own home.
God cares about your money because he cares about your heart. And no matter how rich or poor you feel, no matter what you have or don’t, His desire is for you to be content now. To know and trust that as he’s done until today, that He will see you through to the day Jesus returns. So enjoy God’s gifts! Give thanks for them. Use them to bless others. I’m not going to feel guilty for getting my espresso machine, but instead I’m going to thank God for it, and who knows, maybe I’ll get to use to it bless other people. They’ll at least be blessed simply because I’ve had my coffee fix for the day. When those times of striving and stressing about what you have or don’t come, may you be drawn you back to the truth that in Christ Jesus you are already incredibly rich. You have something money can’t buy. You have victory over death. May you find joy, not in pursuing the good life, but in giving yourself for others as Jesus in His joy gave up His life for you. Amen.
