Living Large in Temporary Housing

Living Large in Temporary Housing

“Living Large in Temporary Housing”

(Luke 12:13-21)

Series: Certainty in Uncertain Times

Rev. Todd a. Linn, PhD

Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson

  • Take your Bibles and open to Luke, chapter 12. (page 701).

 

While you’re finding that, let me remind you that every Christian needs two groups: a big group and a small group.  Every Christian should be involved in weekly worship—corporate worship, as we are doing right now—and weekly Sunday school; big group and small group.  If you need help finding a Sunday school class, ask someone or check out the many classes available by visiting our website at fbchenderson.org and clicking on Sunday school.  Every Christian needs to be involved in a big group and small group.

 

Henderson’s First Baptist Church is a missional church.  We fulfill the missional mandate of our Lord Jesus in Acts 1:8 to advance the gospel from our community, commonwealth, country, and continents.  This week and next week present missional opportunities for Henderson’s First to advance the gospel in our country.  Students in our Wired Student Ministry (6th-8th graders) going to Indianapolis, Indiana this week to minister at The Pointe Community Church, a new church in the greater Indy area.  You will want to follow the team on our missional blog link at our church website.  Next week, a team is leaving for Boston, Massachusetts, and ministering at Redemption Hill Church in Medford.  And again, follow the blog updates at fbchenderson.org.  Tonight, we will have several baptisms at the beginning of our evening service.  It’s always a joy to gather with our church family in the evening service, celebrating the ordinance of baptism, a beautiful picture of the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and the new believer’s death to the old life, and the raising of a new life through the power of the Gospel.

 

Have you found Luke 12?  We are looking this morning at a parable recorded only in Luke’s Gospel and while it’s found only in Luke it is a very well-known parable.  Probably most of us have heard of what has come to be known as “The Parable of the Rich Fool.”  It is one of our Lord’s parables on the matter of possessions.  Did you know that Jesus talks more about money than He does about faith, heaven, hell, or prayer?  Did you know that about one out of every ten verses in the New Testament talks about money or possessions?  Why do you think that is?  Could it be that the things that concerned people 2,000 years ago are the same things that concern us today?  Let’s listen to our Lord in Luke 12.

 

  • Stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.

 

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:

 

While Jesus never provided a title for this parable, most translators call it the “Parable of the Rich Fool.”  The man was a fool because while he was very wealthy, he had laid up treasure for himself, but he was poor toward God and so he died spiritually bankrupt, he died lost.  He had lived for this world only, a temporary world—not unlike many of us are tempted to live.  We may even title the parable “Living Large in Temporary Housing,” but this parable is not for the rich only.

 

Jesus says in verse 15, “Beware of covetousness,” the 10th Commandment—Thou shalt not covet—and covetousness strikes not only the “haves,” but the “have-nots.”  The original Greek actually says, “Beware of all covetousness,” or “all kinds,” or “every kind of covetousness.”  Covetousness takes many forms and strikes all kinds of people.

 

You can resent the prosperity of your neighbor.  You can be rich or poor and covet another person’s job, family, or popularity.  You can covet another person’s stuff, joy, health, vacation, fitness, or even another person’s role in the church.  Yet, I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone come up to me and say, “You know, pastor, I continually struggle with coveting.  What should I do?!”

 

Michele met a lady who was very well-to-do and this lady was a Christian.  She had lots of nice things and dressed nicely.  And this lady was talking about some dress or coat that she just had to have.  She said, “I just had to buy it so that I wouldn’t covet!”  That’s an interesting way to look at it, isn’t it?  Not quite biblical, but interesting nonetheless.

 

In Colossians 3:5, the Apostle Paul refers to coveting as idolatry.  He says, “Put to death…covetousness, which is idolatry.”  Why does Paul call covetousness idolatry?  Because when we covet we worship stuff and stuff isn’t God.  So when we covet we commit idolatry.

 

Now it’s interesting to note the context here.  Remember from last time—the opening verses of chapter 12—that Jesus has been talking about a number of things, including the providence of God.  He has been teaching that God cares more for His children than He does the tiny sparrows.  He’ll give you what you need and He’ll give you the very words to say if you’re every arrested for your Christian faith.  So there’s this guy in the crowd who hears this and he interrupts Jesus’ teaching.  Verse 13:

 

13 Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

 

It’s as though this guy hasn’t even been listening to what Jesus is saying.  Those of you who teach know what this is like, whether you are preaching or teaching the Word or teaching in some other context.  You can pour your heart out in the proclamation of the Gospel and someone will come up afterwards and say, “Well, what do you think about the ball game tonight?”  It happened to Jesus.  He’s been preaching about confessing Him before others and standing fast for the Gospel and this guy apparently pushes his way up to the front and bellows, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

 

Proverbs 23:7 says, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”  It seems all this guy has been thinking about is wealth.  Jesus has been preaching about commitment and this man in the crowd can think only of cash.  He interrupts Jesus.  “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”  So Jesus takes this occasion to teach about wealth and possessions.  His first point is:

 

  1. I. Don’t be Driven by Wealth (13-15)

 

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.”

 

I wonder if others were embarrassed by this man’s statement out of left field.  The man’s words suggest that he was a man driven by wealth.  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 wealth, obsessed with possessions, constantly thinking of stuff.   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.

 

Pastors and lawyers both can share stories of seeing the division of an inheritance divide a family.  Here are brothers and sisters ostensibly close to one another, but when the mother or father passes away, there is squabbling and fighting and division.  Why?  Because of covetousness and the error of thinking one’s life consists in the abundance of things he possesses.

 

Jesus says in the latter part of verse 15, “One’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”  Is that true?  Do our lives reflect that truth?  Do our jobs reflect that life is not really about wealth and possessions?  Do our desires for promotion, worldly success, and our “power lunches” reflect that our lives do not consist in the abundance of the things we possess?  Or is the opposite true?  Jesus wants us to understand that real joy does not come from the abundance of things.

 

Someone (Ligon Duncan) said, “When we are willing to part with heavenly blessings in order to obtain earthly ones it shows us something about the desires of our hearts.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “A man is what he thinks about all day long.”  Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

Don’t be driven by wealth.  Number two:

 

  1. II. Don’t be Deceived by Wealth (16-19)

 

Don’t be deceived by money and possessions.  Jesus illustrates that one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.  He illustrates this truth by telling a story.

 

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 be deceived by wealth.  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 (Malachi 3:8-9).”  That’s God’s way of saying, “Don’t be deceived.  You did not create this wealth 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; something to think about.

 

The man in this parable is deceived by his wealth.  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 be driven by wealth; don’t be deceived by wealth, thirdly:

 

  1. III. Don’t be Destroyed by Wealth (20-21)

 

You can protect and multiply your investments, but you can’t protect and lengthen you life.  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.  He was “living large,” but he failed to understand that he was living large in “temporary housing.”

 

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 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.—(Obtained from sermon on this text).

  • Stand for prayer.

 

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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