God: A Life Preserver?
Luke 12:13-21
“You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you.” vs. 20
Winning The Lottery
Start by having a lottery ticket and showing it to the congregation. Explain that I am not much of a gambler, though every once in a great while I might by a lottery ticket. Claudia sometimes gets on me if I do because she feels it such a waste of money but I use the line; “You can’t win if you don’t play.” Well, for today’s sermon, I bought two tickets (one for each service) and I am going to scratch it off but to see if I win. By the way, I made a decision that they are for the church and whatever the prize the winnings go to the church. (That makes it more spiritual, right?) J
Big sigh! Oh well. It was exciting right? Ever wonder what happens to those people who do win? Here are some nightmares from them.
Lottery Nightmares & Curses
William “Bud” Post won $16.2 million in the Pennsylvania lottery in 1988 but now lives on his $450.00 a month Social Security check after relatives, and an ex-girlfriend tormented him until he invested and shared his millions with them.
Jack Whittaker won $314.9 million dollar in the 2002 Powerball but was sued by an Atlantic City casino in 2004 for allegedly writing bad checks from a closed bank account in West Virginia.
Evelyn Adams, who won the $5.4 million dollar New Jersey lottery not just once, but twice in 1985 and again in 1986 gambled most of it away, and is broke today.
Janite Lee won $18 million in the 1993 Missouri lottery, but was overly generous by giving the money away to a variety of causes leading to her filing bankruptcy just eight years after her stroke of good fortune hit.
Billie Bob Harrell Jr. hit the $37 million dollar Texas jackpot in 1997 only to end his own life less than two years later when he realized that all he wanted was his marriage more than the money, but that it was too late to fix the strained marriage. Why was it strained? His spending habits spiraled out of control, and his wife only wanted a normal life which was anything but.
Juan Rodriguez had been thrown out by his wife Iris prior to purchasing a winning New York lottery ticket worth $149 million. She reconciled with him for two weeks, then filed for a divorce taking half of his winnings with her.
To some people what they have is enough and they really don’t want more. And to some, there is a constant striving for more, even if they are not sure why they want or need more. Is there a balance or is there a proper way to understand how we should handle our “things”? Let’s look at a passage of Scripture where Jesus talks about that very thing and it’s found in Luke 12:13-21. If you are able, please stand as we read God’s Word.
Read passage – Luke 12:13-21
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” 16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ 18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
The Arbiter
God established back in the book of Leviticus that Levites or Rabbi’s, the one’s working in the temple, were to be the ones to settle the disputes in their community. This was in a sense their court system. Jesus has done so much in the community and his teaching have been so meaningful to those who have listened that this young man comes up to him in a crowd and treats him with the authority of a Rabbi by asking him to be an arbiter in a problem, he is having with his family about his inheritance. Jesus refuses to be drawn into this dispute and choose sides. He realizes this man probably just wants to use him as leverage with his relatives. Don’t think this guy is any different today. People are still arguing and bickering over things like this. This is whole concept of things and possessions is so important that Jesus talks about money and wealth more than any other subject, even salvation.
Ex. According to Legal Zoom.com here are the top 5 reasons for divorce.
5. Sexual incompatibility
4. Marital Financial issues
3. Physical, psychological or emotional abuse
2. Communication breakdown in relationships
1. Marriage Infidelity: top reasons for divorce
Note finances make into the top five. This is just an example of part of the impact that finances have on our lives.
The Meaning Behind The Meaning
Instead of answering this man, he raises a question about greed and its detrimental effects on relationships and on people’s lives in general. He says in verse 20:
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! “ vs. 20
Jesus answer is pretty harsh. He comes across really strong when he speaks God’s word s “You fool.” The parable Jesus tells is about greed but the real meaning behind the story is about our attitude toward wealth and how foolish man is when it comes to dealing with his wealth.. The guy in the story is a not a bad guy, he is just a farmer who has had a great year and he needs to make some decisions on storing his crop, the real issue comes when he looks ahead and loses focus about what his wealth will do for “him.” Within a matter of moments he has become becomes somewhat arrogant in thinking that he has achieved all this on his own and that he can sit back and have the “easy life.” No more work, no more worries, no more responsibility for anyone else; all he has to do is take care of himself. God sees the mans response to his new found wealth and notes that his reaction to it is without wisdom and self-destructive.
I did a little research and found the BBC Reports what some people who win the lottery do with their new found wealth:
47% of people that when it big in the state lotteries use a large portion of their money to buy a house and help family and friends.
59% quit their job and eventually 89% leave their job
30% buy a hot tub
A Fool And His Wealth
So what is the proper way to act? What are the right responses? These are some that are given to us within the text. What is a fool’s response and how should we act if we want to act with wisdom? Notice that his response reflects a lot about his outlook on life.
-How He Treats His Community
First, notice how he treats his community. Solomon said in Proverbs 28:8:
“Whoever increases wealth by taking interest or profit from the poor amasses it for another…” Prov. 28:8
Sometimes when we amass wealth, we don’t get to experience the benefits of it. We may see people who enjoy their wealth and it’s not that when we die the minute we attain wealth, even if it’s in a shady way, but many people attain their wealth at the expense of others, i.e. swindling, cheating, conniving, etc.
Ex. The growing trend of internet scams and schemes. Show copy of a spam email I received and the donation they want to make for our church From January 1, 2008 – December 31, 2008, the IC3 website received 275,284 complaint submissions. Those are the ones that reported it.
People are willing to abuse and use others to further their own cause and build their own bank accounts. This passage warns us about that, verse 15:
“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” vs. 15
This man in the parable didn’t care about those in his community or those around him. His wealth warped his thinking to focus only on himself.
Ex. Bernie Madoff Ponzi Scheme – Bernard Lawrence “Bernie” Madoff is an American former stockbroker, investment advisor, financier and white collar criminal. He is the former non-executive chairman of the NASDAQ stock market, and the admitted operator of a Ponzi scheme that is considered to be the largest financial fraud in U.S. history. In March 2009, Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 federal felonies and admitted to turning his wealth management business into a massive Ponzi scheme that defrauded thousands of investors of billions of dollars. Madoff said he began the Ponzi scheme in the early 1990s. However, federal investigators believe the fraud began as early as the 1970s, and those charged with recovering the missing money believe the investment operation may never have been legitimate.The amount missing from client accounts, including fabricated gains, was almost $65 billion.The court-appointed trustee estimated actual losses to investors of $18 billion. On June 29, 2009, he was sentenced to 150 years in prison, the maximum allowed.
-How He Treat Himself
A second example of the foolish man’s thinking was how he treated himself. Remember what we learned in verse 16:
“And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest.” vs. 16
This fool began taking credit for something he didn’t do. He plated the crop, he watered it, but in reality, it was God who was the provider of the crop but he take s credit for it. Note: I am not taking anything away from good farmers and those who do their job well.
Ex. The two tomato plants in my yard and their differing yield of tomatoes.
Now listen to his words from verse 19:
“And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years.’” vs. 19
If you go back and look in verses 17-19 this man uses the term “I” and “me” over 10 times. It is all about himself. One of the ways we fool ourselves is to think of ourselves more highly than we should. Really what we are doing is lying to ourselves thinking that we did it and we inflate our own importance. We really hurt ourselves. We can do ourselves a lot of good by keeping our own worth and image in its proper perspective. Paul says in 2 Cor. 8:7:
“But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.”
2 Cor. 8:7
Paul says we can excel in a lot of things but not to forget that we are part of a bigger community, a bigger picture, and giving back to our community is an important part of who we are and can be.
-How He Treats God
Finally, notice how he treats God, verse 29:
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’” vs. 20
This fool, in his planning and scheming, ignores and forgets God. What I mean by this is that his possessions become his God. It’s all about the things he has. Now before you get too critical of him, we can do the same thing. This fool puts his hope and trust in the possessions and not in God. What do we put our hope and trust in? Our job, our homes, our cars, our bank accounts, etc. We can put our trust in our things and ignore God. In 1 Tim. 6:17 it says:
“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” 1 Tim. 6:17
When it comes down to it, our faith is measured in how much trust we put in God. It’s not something we can measure but it’s definitely there. God provides and blesses us with things and we in turn begin to trust the things more than the one who gave them to us.
Is God A Life Preserver?
Here is the analogy I will leave you with today and I will state it in the form of a question; Is God your life preserver? You know what a life preserver is. We see them on boats and by the ocean and pools. They are something we rely on when we find ourselves sinking. The fool in our story today used God as a life preserver. He had God in his life but his trust and worth was caught up in his possessions. He wanted a God to reach out to when everything else didn’t work. He wanted a God to rescue him when everything else failed. This story ends with an interesting statement, verse 21:
“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” vs. 21
Notice the phrase “rich in God.” When we use God as a life preserver, we miss out on the rich life we can have in God. We find this richness in God when we let his love define us. It take us trusting God with the things we have and that we have the things we need based on Him. We don’t have more because he has given us what we need. Let me explain through a quick story.
One day a rich entrepreneur was walking along a dock and was disturbed to find a fisherman sitting lazily beside his boat. “Why aren’t you out there fishing?” he asked. “Because I’ve caught enough fish for today,” said the fisherman. “Why don’t you catch more fish than you need?’ the rich man asked.
“What would I do with them?” “You could earn more money,” came the impatient reply, “and buy a better boat so you could go deeper and catch more fish. You could purchase nylon nets, catch even more fish, and make more money. Soon you’d have a fleet of boats and be rich like me.” The fisherman asked, “Then what would I do?” “You could sit down and enjoy life,” said the industrialist. “What do you think I’m doing now?” the fisherman replied.
God has blessed us and given us a great deal. Do you trust him that it is enough? Do you keep your possessions in the proper perspective? Are you pursuing a richness in things or a richness in God? Is God your life preserver or your provider and Father?
