Luke 12:13-21
Grace to you and peace...
Intro:On the night of November 16, 1930, Mrs. Henrietta Garrett, a lonely 81-year-old widow, died in her home in Philadelphia and, unwillingly, started the most fantastic case of inheritance litigation in history.
She had failed to leave a will, or no will was found, to her $17,000,000 estate; a mystery left unsolved. She had expertly handled her financial affairs since the death of her husband in 1895 and, therefore, she must have realized that, without a will, her fortune would become involved in many legal battles. Although Mrs. Garret had, at the time of her death, only one known relative, a second cousin, and less than a dozen friends, attempts to prove relationship to her and to claim a part or all her estate have since been made by more than 26,000 persons from 47 states and 29 foreign countries, represented by more than 3,000 lawyers.
In their frantic efforts, these alleged relatives committed perjury, faked family records, changed their own names, altered data in church Bibles and concocted absurd tales of illegitimacy. As a result, twelve were fined, ten received jail sentences, two committed suicide and three were murdered.
At this time, I couldn’t find any articles that reported that the battle over the estate was ever settled, but it serves to illustrate what Jesus is talking about today when He says, “Be on guard against all covetousness”.
I. We become covetous when our love and trust in our possessions takes the place of God.
This unidentified man, who said to Jesus, “tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me” must not have ever been taught the 9thCommandment. If he had, you can’t imagine that he would have tried such a simple scheme in order to take his brother’s inheritance. Furthermore, he should have known that it’s not right to invoke the name of Christ in an attempt to simply appear right in trying to take it.
He is apparently the brother that, according to law, has received the “short end of the straw”. The elder brother would inherit the estate and he (and any sisters he may have) would be dependent on their eldest sibling for much of their material security for the rest of their lives. But even still...even though he seems to be left without anything...he is also the person that best fits the description of the “rich man” in Jesus’ parable. He fits this description, not because he has the inheritance, but because, like the rich man, he seems to think that his life consists in the abundance of his possessions.
And here we find the real point behind this pericope that we’ve been given to read: Both poor and rich can be covetous because both poor and rich are prone to place their hope in the abundance of their possessions. Both poor and rich can dream and scheme to make themselves prepared and both poor and rich can be prone to lay up treasures for themselves, while all along, failing to be rich towards God.
WHETHER YOU ARE RICH OR POOR IN THIS LIFE, YOUR TRUE RICHES ARE TO BE FOUND IN CHRIST
II. Most of us are probably very familiar with this “rich man” in Jesus’ parable.
He’s had a relatively successful life and the things that he has invested his time and energy into have at least met, if not exceeded his expectations. In his case, as a farmer, the land produced plentifully, and he found himself eventually needing bigger barns to store all his “stuff”. And while, in our economy today, there’s a lot fewer farmers, it would seem that it doesn’t matter what industry you’re in because if you look at all the success of the “U-store-it” industry, this is a pretty common problem for a lot of people today. Where am I going to store all my “stuff”? Not only do we need a bigger house. We need a second garage to put the “toys” and even another place to store the RV.
And while we all seem to have benefited materially in our day and age from the accessibility of cheap goods and services, that’s not the problem. The problem that this man has is that he starts to say to himself, “I think I’m good”. “I think it’s safe now to retire”. “I’ve got enough in the barn (or enough in the bank) and at last, I think can just eat, drink and be merry!”. “I think I can trust what I’ve prepared”. The problem is: He trusts in the quantity and the sufficiency of his “stuff”! He trusts in what he has prepared, and what’s going to happen if God says to him what he says to this “rich man” in this parable: “Fool! This night your soul is required of you”? The problem is not simply, “What’s going to happen to all this stuff?”. The real problem is, “What’s going to happen to this man who is not “rich” towards God”? What’s going to happen is that he is going to be condemned if he does not repent – and that’s a problem.
III. That’s why it’s important to see that the answer to this problem is to be found in what God has prepared.
The simple gospel message today is not to be found in either this man’s riches or in his own preparations – any more than it can be found in your own riches or your own preparations. Instead, the gospel is to be found in the “riches of God in Christ Jesus” towards sinners – people like this rich man; people like this man that’s breaking the 9thCommandment; people like you and me; and together with the riches of God in Christ Jesus, the gospel is to be found in “the things that “God has prepared for those who love Him”.
The bible describes the riches of God in Christ with such terms as “tolerance”, “patience” and a “kindness that leads you to repentance”. It speaks of the “Truth of God”, the “Wisdom of God”, the “Life of God”, the “Love of God”, the “Forgiveness of sins”, the “knowledge of the mystery of His will”, the “sealing of the Holy Spirit” and the “guarantee of our inheritance”. All of these are described as “boundless” spiritual riches with eternal benefits that point to that sum of good that God has prepared for us...a sum that’s far beyond what any eye has seen or ear has heard or mind has imagined.
This doesn’t mean that all wanting, desiring and ambition are sinful. In fact, the catechism quotes Psalm 107 to encourage us to seek God’s blessings of food, shelter, good jobs, health, success and so on for ourselves and our family. Elsewhere, Jesus Himself says, “Your Father knows you need these things”.
But then He says, “But seek first the Kingdom of God, and everything else will be added to you”. So, what it means is that our trust in and desire for these things is not to take the place of the Lord our God. They are simply provisions to get us to what He’s prepared.
Conclusion: So, remember today that the answer to your struggles with the 9thCommandment are to be found in the 1stCommandment which tells you to “fear, love and trust in God above all things”. A person’s life does not consist in the abundance of their possessions. You’ve been redeemed from that way of life by the blood of the Lamb of God that now, whether you are rich or poor in this life, you might simply live out your life, trusting in His riches towards you.
Ponder these riches. Let them be what constitutes your life and your eye will soon see and your ears will soon hear what your mind could never have imagined, when you hear that final upward call in Christ Jesus, your Savior. Amen.
And now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding, guard and keep....