"Foolishness and Faithfulness" - Luke 12:13 - 21
A sermon by Kelley Connelly
Luke 12:13-21, “Foolishness and Faithfulness”
In our Gospel Lesson this morning,‘The Parable of the Rich Fool’, we meet Jesus just as he is starting to gain a lot of followers. His ministry is becoming highly influential. Crowds are surrounding Him and hanging on His every Word. While traveling to Jerusalem, Jesus gave his followers some very important teaching regarding discipleship. The topic in today’s text specifically deals with covetousness and greed; the notion that wealth can secure prosperity or a good life.
This parable introduces us to an anonymous character referred to as “the rich fool”. A rich farmer who has no friends, no community of belonging, an egocentric character who is probably one of our primary examples of narcissism in the Gospels. He symbolizes isolation, alienation, wealth and ....greed. Here, in true parable fashion, Jesus utilizes a simple story to illustrate a profound lesson in moral and just behavior. So while our lesson is simple and straightforward, it’s not without its own complexities and challenges. I invite you now to open yourselves to the Word of God and consider what God is saying to the church in this story.
Luke 12:13-21: The Parable of the Rich Fool (NRSV)
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 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.” 16 Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17 And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 18 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. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you haveprepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our Lord shall stand forever. Amen.
I’m wondering, what do you think of when you hear the word ‘fool’? (PHOTO SHOWN HERE!) Do you think of someone wealthy? Someone who is happy with their life? Do you think of someone we can learn from? In our lesson today we meet the main character, the greedy farmer, who is a wealthy man that has a fertile field and an abundance of crops. But, he didn’t have room to store the harvest. So what was his solution? He built bigger barns to keep it all, so much so that he would be able to live in ease and comfort his whole life. The farmer does not imagine a world beyond himself or even –a world with God. He fails to realize that his wealth could actually be a blessing for others!
The author is not illustrating a very positive picture here. The farmer’s inner dialogue is flooded with ego-filled thoughts. In this brief parable alone there are eleven first person pronouns used! An insufferable lack of awareness towards others is happening; there is no acknowledgement towards the hired workers on the farm or his brother, he gives no thought to anyone in the community! He even passively glosses over God!
The rich fool thought that he had a storage crisis, but what he really had was a spiritual crisis. He failed to see God in his very midst! He lived his life as if God did not exist and allowed his life to revolve around himself. (PAUSE) Now, there are some gaps in his story-perhaps he went to church. He may even have given some of his money to the church. For all we know he could be a somewhat decent guy! But his life, his priorities, and his actions did not reflect that he lived a life of devoted faithfulness to God and neighbor. When he was faced with abundance, his first thought was to hoard, rather than to share. And it was a deadly mistake.
It’s interesting that the farmer seeks Jesus out for financial consultation. At this time most people viewed Jesus as a Jewish Rabbi and back then it was normal for rabbis to settle any number of disputes between persons. They were considered to be mediators and often looked to for words of wisdom. Commentator William Barclay notes, “It was not uncommon for people in Palestine to take their unsettled disputes to respected Rabbis; but Jesus refused to be mixed up in anyone’s disputes about money.” While the man does address Jesus as teacher, he does not request instruction. Instead, he commands what he wants. He wants to take advantage of Jesus’ moral authority—and tries to use Jesus’ authority to gain power over his brother.
Can you imagine? Approaching the soon to be messiah-the living entity of God’s love and saying “tell my brother to give me that money.” This scene kind of reminds me of when I was a young girl and sitting down for a meal with my parents and younger sister. If our plates did not look IDENTICAL, one of us would raise our voice and say ‘but Mommmm! She got more than I did!’, the parents in the room and on the screen certainly know the kind of situations I’m referencing. (PAUSE) We are inherently greedy. Greed is a very human experience. From a very young age we learn the word ‘more’ and become hyper focused on the idea–more food, more play time, more time to sleep, more clothing, more money, more work, more relationships. More things in our own barn. (PAUSE) It’s quite timely that this passage appears in the lectionary at the peak of inflation. The rise of gas prices and inflation are a result of greed and unfaithful stewardship. Companies are jacking up prices more than necessary to gain an unethical profit. Companies and political leaders are acting just as the rich fool did–concerned with earthly life, and no concern for our poor neighbors or the afterlife. Our leaders are acting as FOOLS, rather than allies.
In the final verse of the text Jesus makes a surprising suggestion-to be ‘rich towards God’. What does it mean to be “rich towards God”? The author has already mapped this out for us. First, it means being thankful to God for our blessings. Second, it must mean stewardship-returning a portion to God. Thirdly, it must mean generosity towards our neighbors whom Jesus has charged to love —and to our enemy, whom Jesus has also charged us to love, earlier in this Gospel. We saw this message lived out during our “Shining God’s light campaign”, creating opportunities for church members to empower various groups and organizations with our wealth.
Now thinking about this as an individual, can get a little complicated. Let me be quick to say that I recognize that I am speaking from a point of privilege. Many are dealing with real life stressors-money to put food on the table, money to save, money to pay the mortgage, our lack of time, lack of energy, or our jobs-these are real life issues we’re dealing with! But God isn’t dismissing our worries and anxieties-God is urging us to refocus. God knows our struggles and worries and this message is a reminder that true security rests in God alone. It’s an invitation into a safe haven of Christian nurture. This text is about making time and space for God–identifying who and what is truly God in our lives. It’s about aligning ourselves and our passions toward God and our neighbor, and ultimately toward God’s mission.
We are well aware that greed is a corruptive force of sin-it is the moral antithesis of generosity. Throughout this message we’ve asked ourselves: “Is greed getting in the way of my giving myself to God and God’s Kingdom?” “Is greed getting in the way of my love for God and my neighbor?” Keep in mind it’s not that God doesn’t want us to save for retirement or future needs such as putting our kids through college. It’s not that God doesn’t want us to “eat, drink and be merry” and enjoy our lives or things that we have worked hard for. This lesson is reminding us that Jesus’ calling in our lives is not about settling disputes, it’s about teaching us how and where to find true security in God– identifying where our TRUE SECURITY lies. It’s about making time and space for God–identifying who and what is truly God in our lives. It’s about aligning ourselves and our passions toward God and our neighbor, and ultimately toward God’s mission.
God is reminding us that greed is a very human feeling. And more so, God is also calling us to align our lives toward God and neighbor. I’d like to offer a personal story as an illustration of this. At the start of their marriage my sister and her husband would plan what they called ‘fill your love tank weekend’. The concept was simple; one partner got to choose an activity that they would normally do on their own time and the other partner would join them in this activity. My brother in law would normally choose a hike or an outdoor activity, and my sister would opt for a yoga class, or something indoors. But they had one rule during these activities, no complaints or pushback would be tolerated or allowed from either spouse. Because this was a practice in listening, sharing, growing together, and embodying selfless love.
I think that we can understand ‘the barn’ in this story as our love tank. Or even-God’s love tank. Are we filling our barns with what we want or what God wants? Are we listening to the needs of others or are we building bigger and better things for ourselves? The barn is a symbol for our whole selves, our very being. We are invited to recommit our lives to God’s service, to freely receive God’s love and freely give back to others. We are invited to learn from one another, to model the ways of true selflessness, so that we may be stewards of deep and loving faithfulness. As we think about how to move forward into a new week I am reminded of Proverbs 11:24-25...“Some give freely yet grow all the richer; others withhold what is due and only suffer want. A generous person will be enriched, and one who gives water will get water.”
Let us pray.
Oh God, we know that we have acted greedy at times. We know that we worry, when worries and fears are unnecessary. We too can be guilty of foolishness. But God we are captured by your grace and stand in awe of your ability to love each ounce of us-greed and all. We pray that we will continue to walk in your ways, to share your light and love with others, so that we can be better disciples. Guide us oh God, show us the way to true faithfulness. We are ready. Amen.