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Luke 12: 13-21
Someone in the crowd said to Jesus. "Teacher tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." But he said to him. "Friend. who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?" 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." Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he 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.' 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?' So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God." |
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The Parable of the Rich Fool
Noreen Suriner, August 4, 2019
Noreen Suriner, August 4, 2019
The story wouldn't read the same if Jesus had said, "The land of a poor man produced abundantly ..."
From the get go we know that the principle character in the parable is one who already has enough money. He's rich to begin with. So, unconsciously, when we hear these words we make a negative connection between wealth and
righteousness. We falsely assume that the rich man is destined to be judged harshly, not because of his actions, but simply because he is rich.
And this brings up the first of several myths about money this parable exposes.
1. The first and most common myth is that money is the root of all evil. Well, isn't that what the Bible says?
Actually, no. The Bible doesn't say, "Money is the root of all evil." It says, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil." (1 Timothy 6:10). And there's a big difference.
To put it this way: It's no sin to be rich, for it's not wealth that's our downfall, but greed. And this is precisely the direction the parable is taking us: The wealthy landowner had a bumper crop, but instead of saying, "This is more
than I need. How can I share my good fortune with others?" he said to himself, "What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?"
2. In defense of the rich man, we ought to be fair and point out another myth about money, and that is that, somehow, wealth can be objectively defined... as in making a list of who, exactly, are the rich and who are the poor. The
fact is, wealth is a relative thing. There are always people richer then you and people poorer.
3. Another popular myth about money is that money is the secret to happiness. It's not. Some of the most miserable people are extremely wealthy; some of the happiest are poor. But as the cliché goes, "I would much rather be rich
and miserable then poor and miserable"
4. And another myth about money is that money is related to intelligence. Wrong! Some of the hardest working people are paid minimum wages. In the parable, the rich man's bumper crop was not due to his superior farming skills. It was dumb luck.
5. Another myth about money is that the amount of money you have is directly related to how hard you work. Sadly, this is not necessarily so. I believe in hard work, I'd say money and hard work are distant relatives, at best.
6. The same can be said of the myth, that money is directly related to honesty. Some people say, jealously, that if you have a lot of money you must have been doing something dishonest. That's not necessarily true. Some of the
wealthiest people are impeccably honest.
7. One of the saddest myths about money is this: Some day you'll have all you need. Don't count on it. For the most part, you can always use more.
And this is where the element of greed comes in, for the irony is, the more you have, the more you need; or at least the more you think you need.
What we used to think of as wants, we now think of as needs, and what we used to call luxuries we now consider to be necessities.
In his book, Faith Quakes, Leonard Sweet reminds us that we not be too quick to judge, for the twist of the parable is this: Jesus' listeners would've been quick to agree with the rich man. That he was wise to sock away the windfall. After all, if small barns are good, then bigger barns are better. Isn't that the way we think? Wouldn't we have done the same thing? It's a vicious cycle.
The question is, where does it end?
In the parable, it ends in a word of judgment: "You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared-whose will they be?" For one thing, the rich man in the parable was selfish. He wanted it all for himself. He was greedy. The more he had, the more he wanted. But, what led to his demise was that, in surrounding himself with the things of this world, he insulated himself from others. As a result, his life was filled to the brim, but he starved to death because, in becoming independent and self-sufficient, he cut himself off from God.
In the words of Harry Emerson Fosdick, we're "rich in things and poor in soul."
What's the answer? The answer is to get back to basics and re-establish our priorities. In a word, to put God first: again and again.
We need to follow the Great Commandment, to "...love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind."(Matthew 22:37-39) It's as simple as that: "...seek first God's Kingdom. and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well."(Matthew 6:33)
Think of what you have as a blessing from God and use it to glorify God and serve the common good.
From the get go we know that the principle character in the parable is one who already has enough money. He's rich to begin with. So, unconsciously, when we hear these words we make a negative connection between wealth and
righteousness. We falsely assume that the rich man is destined to be judged harshly, not because of his actions, but simply because he is rich.
And this brings up the first of several myths about money this parable exposes.
1. The first and most common myth is that money is the root of all evil. Well, isn't that what the Bible says?
Actually, no. The Bible doesn't say, "Money is the root of all evil." It says, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil." (1 Timothy 6:10). And there's a big difference.
To put it this way: It's no sin to be rich, for it's not wealth that's our downfall, but greed. And this is precisely the direction the parable is taking us: The wealthy landowner had a bumper crop, but instead of saying, "This is more
than I need. How can I share my good fortune with others?" he said to himself, "What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?"
2. In defense of the rich man, we ought to be fair and point out another myth about money, and that is that, somehow, wealth can be objectively defined... as in making a list of who, exactly, are the rich and who are the poor. The
fact is, wealth is a relative thing. There are always people richer then you and people poorer.
3. Another popular myth about money is that money is the secret to happiness. It's not. Some of the most miserable people are extremely wealthy; some of the happiest are poor. But as the cliché goes, "I would much rather be rich
and miserable then poor and miserable"
4. And another myth about money is that money is related to intelligence. Wrong! Some of the hardest working people are paid minimum wages. In the parable, the rich man's bumper crop was not due to his superior farming skills. It was dumb luck.
5. Another myth about money is that the amount of money you have is directly related to how hard you work. Sadly, this is not necessarily so. I believe in hard work, I'd say money and hard work are distant relatives, at best.
6. The same can be said of the myth, that money is directly related to honesty. Some people say, jealously, that if you have a lot of money you must have been doing something dishonest. That's not necessarily true. Some of the
wealthiest people are impeccably honest.
7. One of the saddest myths about money is this: Some day you'll have all you need. Don't count on it. For the most part, you can always use more.
And this is where the element of greed comes in, for the irony is, the more you have, the more you need; or at least the more you think you need.
What we used to think of as wants, we now think of as needs, and what we used to call luxuries we now consider to be necessities.
In his book, Faith Quakes, Leonard Sweet reminds us that we not be too quick to judge, for the twist of the parable is this: Jesus' listeners would've been quick to agree with the rich man. That he was wise to sock away the windfall. After all, if small barns are good, then bigger barns are better. Isn't that the way we think? Wouldn't we have done the same thing? It's a vicious cycle.
The question is, where does it end?
In the parable, it ends in a word of judgment: "You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared-whose will they be?" For one thing, the rich man in the parable was selfish. He wanted it all for himself. He was greedy. The more he had, the more he wanted. But, what led to his demise was that, in surrounding himself with the things of this world, he insulated himself from others. As a result, his life was filled to the brim, but he starved to death because, in becoming independent and self-sufficient, he cut himself off from God.
In the words of Harry Emerson Fosdick, we're "rich in things and poor in soul."
What's the answer? The answer is to get back to basics and re-establish our priorities. In a word, to put God first: again and again.
We need to follow the Great Commandment, to "...love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind."(Matthew 22:37-39) It's as simple as that: "...seek first God's Kingdom. and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well."(Matthew 6:33)
Think of what you have as a blessing from God and use it to glorify God and serve the common good.
