Luke 12:13-21
I. Intro
I. Intro
As
a parent, “Mom, tell her to share with me!” is a request I know well. Sharing
with one’s siblings is not something children like to do. In fact sharing is
not something that comes naturally to any us. It is our first inclination to
want everything to ourselves.
One
of the first concepts young children learn is the concept of ownership, which
is usually expressed in the succinct, and emphatically spoken, “Mine!” Learning to share is a skill which must be
taught and continually cultivated throughout our lives. Our first instinct is
to hold tightly to all that we believe we deserve, to secure and guard
everything is ours. It is hard for us to share what we believe to be rightfully
ours with anyone, and for whatever reason it is so much harder to share within
family.
So
when this man comes to Jesus asking Jesus to mediate this dispute with his
brother over the family inheritance, I can imagine that he has a legitimate
complaint. Perhaps his brother should
share with him. Apparently the older brother has inherited all of the family
inheritance with nothing being allotted to the younger brother. Although, culturally,
it would not necessarily be the proper thing, by custom, by law, or by
expectation for the older to brother to share the inheritance with the younger,
we would like to think that a good and kind older brother would. We can
empathize with the younger brother’s want for fair share in the family
inheritance, especially if the older brother is choosing to keep it all for
himself and not divide it up between them.
It
would seem that sharing in this manner would be something that is right up
Jesus’ alley of teaching. But Jesus does not choose to use this opportunity to
teach a lesson on sharing. Perhaps if the brother was there and was the one who
had come to him, “Jesus tell my brother that he has no right demanding me to
split the family inheritance with him,”
Jesus may have had something different to say. But since it is the
younger brother coming to Jesus demanding his brother share, we get the lesson
we have before us this morning. “Take care and be on your guard against all
kinds of greed.” We can only assume that it is one kind of greed when you are
the older brother refusing to divide the family inheritance with your brother,
but it is another kind of greed when you are the younger brother requiring your
brother to share, when by rights, by law and by custom it is not required or
expected of him.
II.
What this is not about
A. There
may have been a different parable if this had been the elder brother asking
Jesus to get his little brother off his back but the parable we have is this
one the one to the little brother.
B. Most
of us like the idea of a Jesus teaching about somebody else to share
1.
share with us
2.
share because they are greedy
3.
share because they have too much
C. The
teaching about not wanting what is not yours, about not requiring somebody else
to share with you is a little harder to swallow
1.
We like the teaching that is directed at
somebody else
2.
We like the lesson that works things out so
we are on top
3.
The teaching that shows us our own greed is
a little harder to take
4.
So Jesus teaches us that there are all
kinds of greed, some that are easier to spot than others.
D. What
this teaching is not about
1.
Not speaking out against wanting to make a
livable wage
2.
Not speaking out against desiring proper
health care so you can afford the medical needs for you and your family
3.
This is not speaking out against the desire
to create a system where the poor are not getting poorer as (and even because)
the rich are getting richer
4.
Jesus is not chastising this brother for
wanting or desiring justice in the face of injustice
5.
Jesus is warning about a greed that finds
its roots in the depths of our souls and is much harder to sniff out than that
the more easily spotted kind of greed that hoards everything for ourselves and
turns us all into Tokien-esk dragons such as Smaug in Hobbit sitting on top of
our treasures working hard to guard what is valuable to us from all those who
might try to sneak and take it from us.
6.
No the greed Jesus is teaching about in the
parable he tells in this passage is a kind that is much harder to spot.
7.
This is why understanding the parable Jesus
tells next is so important.
III.
The Parable
A. Bumper
crop – surplus of grain
1.
Not just on his field but on all the fields
2.
Not only does he have a surplus of grain, but everyone does – drives down the
price of grain
3.
So instead of selling the grain now, he
builds bigger barns
4.
He can now sell it when there is less grain
all around and will fetch a better price
5.
He sits back and says to his soul, “Soul,
I can now sit back relax, eat, drink and be merry”
B. The
problem
1.
The problem is not with the wisdom of
saving the grain
2.
The problem is not with building the barns
to hold the grain
3.
The problem is that he is finding, rest,
security, fulfillment for his soul in the stuff he has acquired
4.
The problem is in how this man is thinking
about the things he has.
5.
The problem is not with having bank
accounts, investment accounts, retirements accounts, TVs, couches and things in
our houses, the problem is when we begin to think having these are the things
is what really matters, that we can find rest, fulfillment, and security in
these things
6.
The problem is not even in wanting certain
things
i. A
certain amount in our savings or retirement account
ii. A nice house
iii. A reliable car
iv. Or
anything else you may be working or saving for at any point in your life
7.
The problem comes when you are relying on
those things to give rest for your soul, when you are expecting them to make
you feel safe or secure or even for them to give you “joy”
8.
That is a fleeting joy anyway – if this man
had had any time to actually sit back for any length of time, he would have
discovered what we often discover, which is this feeling of safety, security,
peace, joy he is feeling, is fleeting – it does not take all that long for our
souls to become restless and hungry once again when them is being fed on stuff
and things
9.
Our souls will not never be satisfied with
stuff, no matter how much we have . . .ever
10.
Stuff is just not food for the soul.
IV.
What does the parable say to us?
A. What
it is not about
1.
Your retirement fund, your savings account,
working to come to a place where you are no longer overwhelmed with debt
B. Find
“rest, peace, security” for your Soul in stuff, in things
1.
This man is not simply content in being
wise, in being smart enough to not sell his grain now, perhaps at a loss to
himself, but instead saving it, and selling it when it will catch a good price
2.
He is not content in his well thought out
retirement plan that will allow him to live in his later years
3.
He is finding peace, security, and rest for
SOUL
4.
This man is finding his “eternal security”
in the stuff he has set away in his barns – as Nazarenes we don’t believe in
eternal security of any kind (haha)
C. Finding
rest for your soul in Kingdom things
1.
Being rich toward God
2.
Investing in what will actually give you
peace, security, rest, for our “soul”
3.
We cannot feed our soul with stuff, what
can we feed it? What is soul food?
4.
Feeding our soul with “soul food” is how we
“become rich toward God” as Jesus puts it
5.
How to be rich toward God?
a.
Prayer
b.
Bible reading
c.
Doing the things Jesus calls us to do
i. Reaching
into the world around us, our community with the love of Jesus
ii. Giving
to the poor
iii. Loving
our neighbor, and the stranger
iv. Living
lives that reflect God’s justice in this world
v. Sharing
what we have not only with our brother but with those around us who are in need
vi. THESE
are the things that make us rich toward God
d. Living
the way God calls for us to live, here, now today – storing up treasures in
Heaven – and finding peace, security, rest in those things
e.
When we feed our soul these things is will
be satisfied
D. What
does Jesus teach us about “stuff”?
a.
Jesus tells us to invest in the stuff that
matters, the things of God.
b.
And to not rely on the stuff that does not.
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