That’s Outrageous

By

Reverend Litton J. Logan

August 5, 2007

SCRIPTURES:

¹³Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” ¹⁴But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵And 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.” ¹⁶Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. ¹⁷And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ ¹⁸Then 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. ¹⁹And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ ²⁰But 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?’ ²¹So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.” Luke 12:13-23 (RSV)

The Message: New Testament

Luke 12:13--21 (TMNT)
Someone out of the crowd said, “Teacher, order my brother to give me a fair share of the family inheritance.”

He replied, “Mister, what makes you think it’s any of my business to be a judge or mediator for you?”

Speaking to the people, he went on, “Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.”

Then he told them this story: “The farm of a certain rich man produced a terrific crop. He talked to himself: ‘What can I do? My barn isn’t big enough for this harvest.’ Then he said, ‘Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll gather in all my grain and goods, and I’ll say to myself, “Self, you’ve done well! You’ve got it made and can now retire. Take it easy and have the time of your life!”’

“Just then God showed up and said, ‘Fool! Tonight you die. And your barn full of goods—who gets it?’

“That’s what happens when you fill your barn with Self and not with God.”

SERMON:

Luke more than any Gospel writer talks about money or wealth. The people in Luke’s church are poor—the real poor, not the poor in spirit of Matthew. These folks are down to praying for daily bread to keep body and soul together. However, Luke warns his church that they must not be so preoccupied with acquiring the necessities of life or avoiding persecutions for their Christian faith that they compromise their relationship to God. To this end, Luke will give us a series of stories that address materialism vs. true kingdom ethics and spirituality along with the consequences of compromising one’s faith.

Please, let me make one point very clear—the scriptures we’ve heard this morning were not written just to the poor people in Luke’s church but to some in Luke’s church who may have had some resources. Having said that let me reiterate that these scriptures are written to the church.

Today we see a man coming to Jesus asking Jesus to assist him in receiving a portion of his father’s inheritance. Since Judaism did not formally recognize such concepts as civil law, criminal law, or religious laws it was not uncommon for people to go to a rabbi, an expert in all aspects of Jewish life, to ask for his interpretation on various issues as well as to serve as an arbitrator in disputes.

In the case today, we may safely assume that the man that approaches Jesus is not the eldest son of his deceased father. This is because the Jewish laws of primogenitary and inheritance are clear--the eldest son would assume the leadership of the family and thus control the family property. However, there are a few exceptions to the laws of primogenitary and inheritance in our Bible that are significant. Evidently, the elder brother isn’t sharing with his younger brother as the younger brother thinks he should for whatever reasons.

Let’s get the picture. Here Jesus is preaching and teaching about the kingdom of God and true kingdom citizenship and this guy comes up to Jesus with this issue of petty materialism. Jesus responds to the man, I imagine, in a rather irritated manner, “Mister, what makes you think it’s any of my business to be a judge or mediator for you?” Jesus then turns back to the crowd and says, “Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life—by implication true life--is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.” The least bit of greed would have gotten Luke’s audience’s attention because they didn’t have much and the natural tendency would have been for each individual to hoard what little they had against the uncertainties of tomorrow as well as to become obsessive about acquiring daily necessities. This story may have also been meant to prick the conscience of other members of Luke’s church who had resources they were hoarding or not sharing.

Have you ever had people try to extort Christian charity from you by making you feel guilty for being prosperous? I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard these scriptures from Luke used to manipulate Christian’s into charitable giving upon fear of meeting their Maker in death and being judged a greedy capitalist.

I think this kind of religious extortion is outrageous!

Please let us look at this story again. I believe the truths of these scriptures are as plain as the nose on our faces, if one is looking for the truth.

First, this rich man in Jesus’ story would have been understood to be an absentee landlord and resented by his sharecroppers. The “Have-nots” always resent the “Haves”. “Have-nots” and “Haves” are terms of relative deprivation. It seems that people in the lower rungs of any socio-economic structure aspire to reach the next rung and resent those two rungs above them. Secondly, rich people the world over are subjects of suspicion and envy.

Having said that, I cannot find where the subject rich man in Jesus’ parable violated any of the Mosaic statutes or legislation concerning the treatment of his sharecroppers or the Old Testament laws on charity.

In Judaism, charity was a requirement placed on men of means to provide for those in want or need. Said another way, God claimed a portion of one’s prosperity for the poor. God claimed a certain portion of the produce of the land for the fatherless, the widows, the Levite, and the stranger. (Deut. 15:10, 11)

Furthermore, there is no indication that this man denied the poor access to his fields for their share, whether the forgotten sheave, the corners of the field, or the gleanings. There is no indication that this man cheated or took unfair advantage of his sharecroppers. The man had a bumper harvest. The man in our story did nothing morally or legally wrong; however, he is not innocent.

I might also point out that the poor Jesus and Luke are talking about are the truly poor. What we might call the working poor. These are not the shiftless, lazy, or social dropouts who live by taking advantage of the graciousness and charity of others. These are people whose lot-in-life, their socio-economic status--was determined by accidents of birth, mishaps, or diseases.

Nevertheless, the point of these scriptures are only tangentially related to charity, the poor, the orphan, the stranger in the land, the Levite, or the impoverish widow. The point of this story is simply this--the man’s prideful arrogance. This man was guilty of a spiritual felony—he was a fool. This is the crux of the matter. Jesus speaks of a wealthy man that has been corrupted, has become foolish, possessed by folly, because of his wealth and his illusions of self-sufficiency. Scripture has a lot to say about the fool; however, in our story today, the rich man is a fool because he has allowed his wealth to delude him in to thinking that he has years in which to enjoy a hedonistic life style—eat, drink, and be merry..

This man is definitely not concerned with anyone but himself. He wasn’t even mindful of the ultimate source of all of life’s blessings--God. Already wealthy with his existing barns, it never dawns on this man that possibly his bumper harvest could be used to bless others. Nope, it was all about him--Self, you’ve done well! You’ve got it made and can now retire. Take it easy and have the time of your life!”’

This man in essence forgets about God and God’s will in his plans for his future. In our parable, God speaks to the man and tells him that this night his life, the same life he had been so pleased with and looking forward to enjoying, would be demanded of him. In death, what good would all his wealth be as he stands before God where the only thing that counts is a person’s richness toward God?

This fellow in Jesus parable forgot that he was a finite, contingent creature, who had no guarantees of tomorrow. As an arrogant, prideful man, he forgot his need to be rich toward God given the uncertainties of life and death. He foolishly neglected to lay up heavenly treasures where neither rust nor moth corrupt.

In the final analysis, one’s relationship to God is ultimately and eternally important. It’s all we get to take with us into death. Jesus makes the point, and I think it is Luke’s point also, that a person’s top priority in life should be their relationship to God, not an obsession with amassing wealth or even being overly concerned about securing the necessities of today—our daily bread if you will—if the pursuits of such things causes us to compromise our relationship to God. (Better to die poor of starvation and enter the kingdom of God than to die rich and full and not.)

Food, safety, creature comforts, and a reasonable degree of surplus are all important things--don’t get me wrong. The responsible person provides for themselves and their families. We are not talking about responsible acquisition of the material needs of life. These scriptures are speaking to the obsessive acquisition and hoarding of the material things of life that may give one a sense of self-sufficiency independent of God and a denial of the dynamics of one’s final state of existence.

We can’t take it with us, shrouds don’t have pockets, but a rich and loving relationship with God goes with us into eternity. Being rich toward God is more than throwing money at the poor or financially supporting God’s work. It is far, far more than works righteousness. Being rich toward God means, we willing open our hearts and minds to respond to the Holy Spirit’s work in us and to adopt a Christ-like posture in life. A posture marked by kindness, compassion, care, mercy, charity, and responsible love toward our fellow human being. To do such things in a loving response to God’s claim on our lives is to be rich toward God.

This morning let us give thanks to our parents, teachers, and others who have helped or are helping us acquire the skills to earn a good living, acquire creature comforts, good homes, safety, health care, and financial surplus against the uncertainties of tomorrow and the needs of today. However, let us not be so foolish as to be overly concerned with, possessed by, acquiring such things because friends we cannot take it with us. However, we will cross from this life to the next in God’s grace and love. The ultimate question of our lives then becomes how rich will we be then?