The Parable of the Rich Fool - Luke 12:13-21

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[Luke 12:13-21] Someone in the crowd said to [Jesus], “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

The Parable of the Rich Fool

In a well-crafted story, what the writer puts at the beginning will often show up again at the end. The conclusion comes around full circle. If the story began with a flashback to an event on grandpa’s farm in rural Kansas, then the end of the story will probably relate back to that event.

I.

God’s Ten Commandments are well-crafted. What God commands at the end – “You shall not covet – is related to what God commanded at the beginning – “You shall have no other gods” [Exodus 20:1-17]. The commandments come around full circle.

First, you are not to make or worship any false gods or idols. A man crafts a piece of wood or stone or gold into a statue with his own hands – paints a picture with his own brush – and then prays to it and trusts in it. You shall not do this. You shall worship only the God who really is God, who made heaven and earth.

Lastly, you, His people, are to be on guard. Be careful that you don’t let the goods, the people, the social status, or the money which your neighbor has become the thing which your heart desires. “You shall not covet.” 

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.” “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife (nor your neighbor’s husband) – nor their household – nor their money – nor anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” [Colossians 3:5].

Coveting breaks the first commandment – because to covet something is to set your hopes for happiness on it or your trust for security – and then this coveting leads to breaking the other commandments as your flesh seeks to get what your heart has put its trust in.

Anything – and especially money – can become a god, as it captures the fear, love, or trust of your heart, which God alone should have.

II.

In our Gospel today, our Lord Jesus Christ encounters a man who has made the family inheritance from his parents the god of his heart. “Lord, tell my brother to split the inheritance with me.”

Jesus responds, “Man, who made Me a judge or arbitrator over you?” – “Man’s concern for his fair share is not what I came for – but instead”, “Be on your guard against all covetousness (which is idolatry), for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

Our Lord then tells a parable about a rich man whose land produced abundantly, so much so that his barns could not hold it all. When the man thought to himself about it, he said, “What shall I do? I’ll do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’”

                But God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” “So is the one”, Jesus says, “who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

The man in the parable – called the Rich Fool – put his hope and trust in the abundance of his goods – the grain he stored and the money it would supply were the god of his heart. With much stored up, he could relax. Be at peace. So he thought.

But, that very night, the man died. The God who is God called him to account for what he did in life with all that God had entrusted to him. “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” [Hebrews 9:27].

The rich fool had done what you would perhaps be praised for by others – stored up much relaxation and abundance for himself – but which is not pleasing to God. He was not rich toward God and his neighbor. When the man thought, “What shall I do?”, he did not think of God’s house or his neighbor’s needs.

Jesus said, “Whatever you do for the least of these my brothers, you do to Me” – “And whatever you do not do for them, you have not done for Me” [Matthew 25:31-46]. To be rich toward our neighbor’s need is to be rich toward the Lord. And, “Everyone to whom much is given, of him much will be required.” [Luke 12:48; 2 Corinthians 8:14].

III.

“A person’s life does not consist in the abundance of their possessions.” It is neither right nor wrong to be rich or poor. God did give the man in the parable an abundance. What matters is what you do with what you have.

When my heart is wrong and money and possessions become my god, I handle my money and possessions as an owner. I own them, and I decide how to make myself most happy with them. Maybe I spend. Maybe I keep. Maybe I give. But it’s for me.

            When my heart is right and God is my God, I do not count myself as the owner of what I have but as the manager. God is the owner, and He has entrusted to me a certain amount. I’m to manage what I’m entrusted with according to the Owner’s will and goals. What is pleasing to Him.

            What is pleasing to Him is that I do focus on my family – and also that I seek to help my neighbor in his or her needs. What I have more of in life is for my neighbor who is in need. God is the owner of it all. This is how He desires to distribute His goods.  

What your neighbor needs most is the Word of the Gospel and the love of Christ. Supporting your church with your earthly treasure, big or little – both now and in whatever inheritance you might pass on – supplies for your neighbor the preaching of the Gospel which gives the Father’s grace, the thing most needed.

And participating in the ministry of your church, in some way, giving the treasure of your abilities, talents, and time that God has given you – this also, or even more so, is rich toward God and toward your neighbor and brings the Word of the Gospel to others.

IV.

Most importantly, be confident of this: That you have been made rich with the true riches, “the things that are above” [Colossians 3:1] – and have received redemption, the forgiveness of your sins [Colossians 1:14] – including those sins of coveting and idolatry – because Jesus, who became perfect Man, has been rich toward God and His neighbor for your salvation.

Jesus, the true Rich Man of heaven, the Son of God, was made poor for your sake – “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich” [2 Corinthians 8:9].

Jesus paid it all on the cross. He gave His life, shed His blood, and suffered God’s wrath for your sins, for your sake. Jesus paid all you owed for your wrongs by His innocent suffering and death. He gave His all to do all that was needed for your salvation and forgiveness. And He succeeded. By His poverty, He has given you the riches of heaven.

Let us have no other God. Since Jesus is our God and Lord, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and has given His all on the cross for us, let’s put our hope and trust in Him alone and not covet the temporary riches of this world. Have only as your god the true God who is your Savior. Amen.