“The Parable of Mr. Bling-Bling”
(Luke 12:13-21)
Series: Show Me The Money
Todd A. Linn, 1-8-06 (1 of 2)
- · I invite you to open your Bibles to Luke, Chapter 12.
This morning, I am bringing you the first message of just a two-part series entitled “Show Me The Money.” Now some may say, “Why are you preaching on money? Is there some kind of problem? Is the church short on funds?” No. In fact we finished last year exceeding our 1.2 million dollar budget by over $18,000. We’re in good financial shape. “Well, why preach on money, then? Doesn’t just prove the old saying that ‘all the church cares about is my money?’”
Let me say first of all that this is not the first time I have preached on money. As we have studied biblical books together, I have preached on money every single time it was in the text before us. But I do believe the Lord has led me to place special emphasis upon managing our money as we begin a new year. Christians should view money as an important topic of study because it was an important topic to our Lord.
One out of every six verses in the New Testament talks about money or possessions. Did you know that? One out of every six verses talks about money. Jesus talks more about money than He does about faith, heaven, hell, or prayer. In fact 30% of the parables of Jesus deal with money or possessions. So you see, then, that since money was an important topic to our Lord Jesus, then money ought to be an important topic of study for every follower of Jesus.
- · I invite you to stand in honor of the reading of the word of God.
13 Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
14 But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?”
15 And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.
17 “And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’
18 “So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.
19 ‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ‘
20 “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’
21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
- · Pray.
Introduction:
Jesus never provided a title for this parable. Most translators call it the “Parable of the Rich Fool.” But I’ve decided to give the parable a contemporary title: “The Parable of Mr. Bling-Bling.” Usage of the word “Bling-Bling” has become increasingly popular over the past ten years, especially in America. In fact, I read the other day that the word has even been accepted into the prestigious and time-honored Oxford English Dictionary. “Bling-Bling.” Originally a term that referred to expensive jewelry and other accoutrements, it now refers to “an entire lifestyle built around excessive spending and ostentation.”—source: Wikipedia.
Someone who has a lot of stuff and doesn’t mind telling you and showing you all that stuff is a person who has the “bling-bling.” The man in this parable is a man like that. His life was built around money and possessions. And Jesus tells this story so that you and I on this very Sunday here at First Baptist might learn some of the dangers associated with money. Let’s learn these lessons together. First lesson from Mr. Bling-Bling:
- I. Don’t Let Money Drive You (13-15)
Don’t be driven by the accumulation of money and possessions. This parable is actually an interruption. Jesus had been teaching about the importance of confessing the name of Christ before others when He is suddenly interrupted by a man who doesn’t seem to have been listening to the sermon. Just as I can be up here preaching about something and your mind may wander, so Jesus was preaching about commitment and there was a man in the crowd who was thinking only of cash. He interrupts Jesus. “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
I wonder if others were embarrassed by this man’s statement out of left field. His words suggest that he was a man driven by the accumulation of money and possessions. He was so obsessed with these things that he wasn’t even listening to Jesus’ sermon. Rather, he looks for a moment of silence so that he can make his selfish demand. He was driven by money. He was obsessed with it. He was constantly thinking of it.
Apparently the man’s father left an inheritance and this man couldn’t get his mind off of it. He wanted his share and he wanted it now. Jesus interprets the man’s problem as a problem of covetousness. He can tell this man is driven by wealth. It consumes his thinking. That is precisely why Jesus makes the statement in verse 15, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
Jesus says don’t be driven by money. The word “covetousness” means to be driven by stuff, to desire more stuff than the stuff you have. It means to cast your eye upon something and to be driven by the acquiring of that something until you possess it.
I read where James Merritt was telling about an older woman who moved into a retirement home. And she began to stare at this one particular man who had been in that retirement home for years. She would go to breakfast and sit right across the table from him and just stare at him. She would go to lunch and sit across the table and stare at him. She would go to dinner and do the same thing. If he went out to the front porch to rock, she would go out and sit in the rocker next to him and just stare at him. After she did that for about four days he said, “Lady, why do you keep staring at me?” She said, “You look just like my fourth husband.” He said, “How many husbands have you had.” She said, “Three.”—(James Merritt sermon on this passage).
This man was like that. He was driven by the accumulation of stuff. You and I must take heed and beware of covetousness. Don’t let your money drive you. Our lives do not consist in the abundance of the things we possess. Job said we came naked into this world and that’s the way we’re going to leave. When we die will not take a single possession with us. First lesson: Don’t let money drive you. Lesson number two:
- II. Don’t Let Money Deceive You (16-19)
Don’t be deceived by money and possessions. Jesus says, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” And then he illustrates that point by telling the story of Mr. Bling-Bling.
16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.
17 “And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’
18 “So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.
19 ‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ‘
This man was deceived by his money and possessions. His first problem was that he thought it was he who had acquired all of this stuff. I mean, in verses 17 to 19, the man uses the personal pronoun referring to himself no less than eleven times! “What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?” He thought this stuff was his!
But Jesus says in verse 16, “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.” It doesn’t say that the man created his wealth. His wealth was given to him by God who caused the man’s ground to yield plentifully. To quote Job again, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.”
Don’t let money deceive you. Whatever you have comes from God. He is the owner of our stuff. We are merely managers of what He gives. Let me say that again, “God is the owner of our stuff. We are merely managers of what He gives.”
That’s why God says in Malachi chapter 3, “Will a man rob God? You have robbed Me in tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me.” That’s God’s way of saying, “Don’t be deceived. You did not create this money you have. I have given it to you and therefore I expect you to return to me the first portion of it, the first ten percent. That’s what a tithe is. It is the first 10% of whatever comes into our possession.
God says in Malachi 3:10, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse.” In the Old Testament, the storehouse was the temple. In the New Testament, the storehouse is the church. “Bring all the tithes—the first 10% of everything that comes into your possession—bring it into the storehouse.” God says if we fail to do this we are guilty of robbing God because the tithe belongs to Him. That’s why the Bible does not say, “Give” the tithe. You don’t “give” it. It belongs to God. You “bring” it. You “return” it to Him. And God goes so far to say that if we fail to return to God what is His, we are “cursed with a curse.” Why? Because we have robbed God of what is rightfully His. Tithing is a way of acknowledging God owns it all.
God has given us everything we have. Everything we have belongs to Him; 100%. We’re just managing it. God says, “Bring Me the first 10% of what you receive.” That’s the minimum we are to bring back to God. Malachi teaches if we decide not to bring the 10% back to God, then the 100% is cursed. But if we bring the 10% to Him, the 90% we keep is blessed. So you choose to live either with 90% of your income blessed or 100% of your income cursed.
Does someone here have a $100 bill? If you have a $100 bill will you bring it up? Obviously this isn’t his. I gave it to him before the service and said, “When I ask for a $100 bill, bring it up.” (return to seat). Now, he brought it up quickly, didn’t he? Why did he bring it up so quickly? Because it wasn’t his. If I asked him to bring up his $100 bill, he probably wouldn’t have been so fast. But he brought it up quickly because it’s mine.
God gives us everything we have; 100%. It’s all His and He gives to us. Then He says, “I want you to bring me back 10%.” When God says, “Bring Me back that 10%, that tithe,” how do you respond? Do you return it quickly? Or do you hold onto it tightly? Alright, this is for real: If someone has a $10 bill, will you bring it up here? A $10 bill. Just bring it up. Anyone? Okay, here’s a $10 bill. (Stay up here). I’ll make you a bargain. I’ll trade you this $100 bill for your $10 bill. Pretty good deal, right?
Let’s imagine this $100 bill represents all of the blessings God has for your life. God says, “I want to give you all these blessings. In return, I want you to bring back to me the first 10%. That’s a pretty good deal, isn’t it? I trade you that $100 and you bring back to me just the $10. See, God could have said, “Here’s the $100. You give Me $90 and you live on the $10. But He doesn’t. God says, “Just return to me the $10, and you keep the $90.” Okay, that’s yours now. You came right up here so you get this. And here’s your $10 back. Do you know what to do with that $10 bill? That’s the first 10% of your $100. Return it to the Lord the next time in the offering. Imagine if each of us tithed. Imagine if every single person in our church tithed. Imagine if each of us had 90% blessed instead of 100% cursed—(idea from sermon by Nelson Searcy and Kerrick Thomas , The Journey Church, http://www.journeyipod.com/).
Mr. Bling-Bling let money and possessions deceive him. He thought it was he who created his wealth. But all that he had was given to him by God. Friend, all that you have is given you by God. He owns all your stuff. You are a manager of His stuff. He gives it all. He owns it all. He asks that you and I return to Him that first 10% and the remaining 90% will be blessed.
The man in this parable let money and possessions deceive him. Not only did he think his stuff was his own, but he lives as though he and his stuff are going to last forever. When he runs out of room to store his stuff, he builds his investment portfolio by building bigger barns to store all of his possessions. He says in verse 19, “I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.’” He is deceived. He thinks he is going to be around a long, long, time.
This man failed to realize that not only did God own the man’s stuff, but God also owned the man’s soul. And this leads to the final point of application. Don’t let money drive you. Don’t let money deceive you. Thirdly:
- III. Don’t Let Money Destroy You (20-21)
This man thought he had many years left. He just kept storing up his goods, hoarding all his wealth, planning to live the easy life for many years.
20 “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’
21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
Your soul will be “required” of you. That word “required” is a commercial term, a banking term. It means “to call in a loan.” See, even our lives are “on loan” from God. He is the owner of our stuff and He is the owner of our souls.
This man, Mr. Bling-Bling, laid up treasure for himself, but he was “not rich toward God.” Consequently, he let money drive him, he let money deceive him, and, one night when God called in the loan of this man’s soul, we see that he let money destroy him. And for this reason God calls him a “fool.”
Haddon Robinson helps us imagine this man in the 21st Century.
You can imagine the rich man sitting at this desk one evening, and across the desk is the town architect. They have sprawled out in front of them the blueprints, and the rich man says to the architect, “Now listen. There’s a time when I had the best farm in this whole community. Then I had the best farm in the entire Jordan Valley. And I want to have a model farm that they’ll know throughout all of Israel.” The two men work and plan into the night, and eventually the rich man’s wife comes in. She urges him to come to bed and then kisses him good night, but the two men go on until the clock strikes eleven. Finally the architect says, “I’ve been out almost every night this week, and I’ve just got to get home. I’ll take these plans and work them over.” He rolls them up and goes to the door, and the rich man sees him out.
He bolts the door, but the adrenaline is flowing and he can’t sleep, so he goes back to his desk, takes out his pen, and continues his plans. He’s still making his plans when he’s startled by a knock at the door. He’s about to open it, but he discovers to his astonishment that there’s a presence already in the room. The rich man says, “Who are you?” The presence says, “I’m Death.” The rich man says, “Death? What do you want?” Death says, “I’ve come for you.” The rich man says, “No! I mean, there’s been some mistake. You did not tell me you were coming.” Death says, “Oh, yes, I’ve told you. I just don’t think you were listening. I told you when I took that young man down the street a few months ago. I told you when I took your partner a year ago. I told you every time you opened the newspaper and saw an obituary column. I told you every time you saw a cemetery. Hah! I’ve told you. But whether you heard or not — ten, nine, eight, seven, . . .”
The rich man says, “Wait! Look, we can make a bargain. You can have half of everything I have collected. You can have half of my barns, half of my money, half of my farm. Just let me live.” Death says, “What do I have to do with that? Six, five, four,. . .” The rich man says, “Wait! You can have it all. It’s yours, take it. Let me start again at my beginnings. I’m just not ready for you.” Death with a grin waves his hand, and the rich man is counted out of the picture.
That man prepared for all contingencies but ignored life’s only inevitability. Next morning his wife comes down and finds her husband slumped across the desk. She tries to waken him and discovers he’s dead. A day later all the people in the community gather, and they have the eulogy and talk about him as a model to the community. They talk about his success and his contributions — after all, he has built the biggest barns in the community. Then they take him out to the cemetery. Over his grave they put a large stone. On that stone is a word from the Bible, something from the poets, and a statement that he was noble, successful, visionary, and progressive. Then the crowd goes home.
That night the angel of God walked through that cemetery, and over all they had engraved in the stone, he wrote one solitary word: FOOL.—(Sermon on this text).
- · Stand for prayer. (Heads bowed and eyes closed)
Here’s a simple question. Silently answer it with honesty: What are you living for? Are you living for stuff, possessions, a life of ease? Are you caught up with the accumulation of material things—money, cars, jewelry, boats, vacations—is that what drives you? Are you guilty of laying up treasures for yourself and are not rich toward God? If so, talk to God this morning right where you are. Just be honest with Him. Ask for His forgiveness. Take a moment and do that.
Here’s another question. Do you tithe? Do you regularly bring back to God the very best, the first 10% of what He has given you? If not, talk to God now. Tell Him you are sorry for robbing Him of what is His. Tell Him you would rather live on 90% blessed than 100% cursed. Tell Him you will begin tithing next week.
You know, God gave His very best to us. John 3:16 says, “God so loved us that He gave. He gave His very best. He gave to us the precious Lord Jesus Christ.” Some of you have never received God’s best as your personal Lord and Savior. You’ve not received Jesus Christ into your life. This morning, come to Jesus and be saved.
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