AN UNPREACHED SERMON (196)
Photo of Torshavn, Faroes.
From time to time all of us bump into people we haven’t seen for ages. People we went to school with, former work colleagues or one-time neighbours. In the course of chatting, the conversation usually gets round to others that we both know. “How is so-and-so getting on these days?” More often than not they say something like, “O he’s very well, he’s got...” and then proceed to rhyme off a list of things the possession of which is meant to be an accurate gauge of their well-being. Everything is calculated and assessed in terms of material progress and financial success. It makes for interesting conversation.
But Jesus said very forcibly that a person’s life does not consist in the abundance of things people possess. Life, says Jesus, is more than having things. There are other values of much greater importance and to illustrate this He told a parable (Luke 12:13-21) to show “how it is with the people who amass wealth for themselves and remain paupers in the sight of God” (v13 NEB). Two things stand out about this wealthy farmer in the story.
HE WAS A CLEVER FOOL.
Usually described as the parable of the rich fool, some would say he had more money than sense. The story is all about a rich man, but it is told in response to a poor man who felt deprived of his rightful property (v13).
The Bible never condemns wealth outright; being rich is a neutral condition. It is how we use or misuse our money that matters. We measure things by consulting our bank balance and viewing our possessions, God does it by analysing the hold they have on our hearts. Prosperity is not necessarily a sign of sinfulness, nor poverty a sign of righteousness.
Why then do I call this man a clever fool? For two reasons.
His money was acquired lawfully.
There is no hint of him being a corrupt businessman, a cheat or a con man. He made his pile by legitimate means; a normal, hard-working farmer. It wasn’t his fault that “the ground brought forth plentifully” (v16). He just struck it rich.
His money was invested wisely.
The parable impresses us with the man’s shrewdness. He is thoughtful businessman and able farmer, acquiring what he had by hard work, good agriculture and sound management. His was an expanding concern and he realised that change was needed if turnover was to increase at its present rate.
Making plans for future growth, he began to build bigger and presumably better. He is to be commended for having such a clear aim and strategic goals. There is much we can learn from him, and none of this is condemned by Jesus in the parable.
HOWEVER, HE WAS A STUPID FOOL.
Here is the real point and thrust in the parable. Having drawn a very vivid picture of the man which the hearers would have warmed to, Jesus proceeds to outline a number of major flaws in the farmer’s character, thinking and actions.
He forgot God.
In all his strategic planning, he left God out of the picture. God was not in his calculations. From beginning to end it is a case of “What I will do” and being proud of his own achievements. “This is what I will do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there will I store all my grain and my goods” (v18).
He was totally caught up in himself and his own plans. There was a basic self-centredness in all his clever schemes. God had no place in his thinking, his plans and his business. It is a trap that even God’s people can fall into if they are not careful. “They all too soon forgot His works; they did not wait for His plans to develop, but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness...and He gave them their heart’s desire, but sent leanness to their souls” (106:13-15).
He forgot eternity.
Yes, he prepared ahead, but not far enough. It never entered his head that there is a day when all our plans will be scrutinised and measured according to different standards. He didn’t remember he had brought nothing into this world and he certainly wouldn’t be taking anything out of it. Imagine his friends in conversation at his graveside and one asking, “How much did he leave?” The laconic reply would have to be “All of it!”
The foolish farmer is characteristic of so many. Preparation is made for school, career, development, marriage, family, holidays, retirement; for everything except meeting God (Amos 4:12).
He forgot the uncertainty of life.
The way Jesus told this story must have been gripping. “I will say, many years” (v19), but “God said, “This night” (v20).
In another party of the Bible, we are told to call no one a fool (Mt 5:22); so, when God calls a man a fool we need to sit up and take notice. He says you are a fool if you confuse your body with your soul, mistake time for eternity and exalt self but neglect God.
If amassing wealth in this life is our only goal and obsessing over the false security of earthly prosperity is how we gauge things, then we are fools. If we cannot see beyond the horizons of our own possessions, that also makes us blind fools. In the rat race of modern living, it is all too easy to be drawn into covetousness. It shouts at us from every billboard, internet ad and TV programme. Obsessive preoccupation with what you have now, and how you can have more, places you in a very dangerous position. “Even wise men die; the self- confident fool and the stupid alike perish and leave their wealth to others. Their inward thought is that their houses will continue forever and their dwelling places to all generations. They call their lands their own and after their own names. But man with all his honour and pomp does not remain; he is like the beasts that perish” (Psalm 49:10-12).
Whatever else you are, don’t be a fool! Those who face eternity with only money in their hands, face it with nothing at all. It is the height of stupidity to plan and live your life as if this is all there is.
Says the farmer, “Many years, many years!”
“You fool” says God, “Tonight, tonight”.
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