The Foolish Farmer
Luke 12:13-21
August 25, 2019
Well, it’s been a while since we were in Luke’s gospel.
My records show it was June 30th when we last studied here.
• No doubt with mission trips and youth camp and school commissioning it has taken a while to get back to this wonderful gospel account.
• But this morning we return to this book study that we actually began over 2 years ago.
• You might also like to know that 12:13 is the middle verse of the book of Luke, so we’re halfway there.
I am eager to get back to it, and I hope that you are as well.
We actually started this segment in Luke’s gospel back at the end of June.
It is a sermon preached by Jesus.
The sermon begins in Luke 12:1 and ends in Luke 13:9 and it is primarily a sermon for Jesus’ disciples.
And it is a sermon that seems more than anything
To have been a reactionary one by our Lord.
Now, I don’t mean to insinuate that our Lord was just shooting from the hip,
In His sovereign prerogative He certainly covered what He intended to cover.
Only, what you see here is that the layout is one where
Jesus is more so addressing what is going on around Him
And even questions that are being asked.
It gives the feel really of how we might imagine a street preacher, merely addressing the issues that are going on around him.
And last time we looked at this chapter I told you that you can break this sermon down into the 4 major events that seemed to prompt the sermon.
The first we saw last time:
INSPIRED BY A GROWING CROWD
We read in verse 1 that “Under these circumstances, after so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all…”
And so you see that as Jesus and the disciples were together a crowd started to grow.
• We aren’t told why they came, with the exception of the man we meet today who wanted a judgment from Jesus.
• We might suppose they came for the same reasons other crowds came which was to receive healing or food from Jesus.
But as the crowd arises, Jesus takes the opportunity
To address His disciples in regard to ministering to a crowd.
And to them He gave 3 very important pieces of advice.
1) DON’T FAKE PIETY (1-3)
• The Pharisees loved the crowd and loved recognition and so they were often prone to put on a show of religious piety in order to impress the crowds.
• Jesus called it hypocrisy and warned the disciples against it reminding them that everything will one day be revealed, including the motives of their hearts.
• Don’t let a crowd cause you to be phony.
2) DON’T FEAR PERSECUTION (4-7)
• A crowd can have a tremendous influence over a preacher of the gospel, especially if the preacher fears his words might not be popular.
• Jesus warned His disciples that their message should not change just because there is a threat of persecution from a mob.
• They should not be afraid of those who can kill the body, but rather they were to fear Him who after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell
3) DON’T FRET REJECTION (8-12)
• Sometimes a crowd can cause you to stray from the truth out of fear, but sometimes a crowd can cause you to alter the message out of a desire for results.
• Jesus has made it clear that the requirement for salvation was to submit to the message of the Holy Spirit, and ultimately to confess Jesus before men.
• That is to be the requirement we hold men to. And that requirement doesn’t change even if it means losing the crowd.
And so you can see that what Jesus had to say
Was actually inspired by a growing crowd.
Well this morning we move to the second part of the sermon,
Which seems to immediately jump to A NEW TOPIC.
And that is because Jesus gets interrupted.
So this morning we move to the second point of Jesus sermon.
This portion of the sermon is:
INSPIRED BY A GREEDY REQUEST
We read in verse 13
“Someone in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”
We don’t know why the whole crowd approached Jesus,
But we do know why this man came.
He wanted to come before this Rabbi (“Teacher”)
And get a ruling judgment regarding his legal situation.
Of course you notice, he WASN’T asking for Jesus’ opinion on the matter,
He already knows the judgment he wants.
He merely wants Jesus to enforce his own judgment.
“tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”
• This man hasn’t come for salvation.
• He hasn’t come even for healing or food.
• He has come because he has a family squabble and he wants Jesus to give
him the authority to win it.
He had obviously grown impatient with the preaching of Jesus
Because the second Jesus takes a breath,
This man interrupts inflicts his own agenda on the situation.
He obviously hadn’t listened to a thing Jesus had been saying regarding confessing Christ or enduring opposition or blasphemy of the Spirit.
This man had one thing on his mind and it was that Jesus
Settle this dispute with his brother regarding the family inheritance.
And so this man’s outburst
Will now direct the sermon of Jesus into a new direction.
Jesus will actually address him in our passage this morning,
But ultimately this question inspires the next 27 verses of the sermon.
12:13 through 12:40 is all given in response to this man’s greedy request.
And so, we now get to learn what Jesus has to say about money.
And I don’t mind telling you, it is ONE OF HIS FAVORITE SUBJECTS.
In fact the Bible even insinuates that you can
Discern a man’s salvation by how much he loves money.
Remember Zaccheus? (we’ll see him chapter 19)
Luke 19:8-9 “Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.”
Jesus saw his willingness to give his possessions away
As in indication of genuine salvation.
On the flip side, remember the Rich Young Ruler? (we’ll see him in chapter 18)
Luke 18:22-23 “When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.”
Jesus saw his unwillingness to part with his possessions
As an indication of a man who had rejected salvation.
So clearly when dealing with the topic of wealth,
It is important to us what Jesus has to say about it.
SO, THIS MAN COMES as part of the giant crowd
To stand before Jesus in hopes that Jesus will command his brother
To share the family inheritance.
And Jesus immediately responds to him
(14) “But He said to him, “Man, who appointed Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?”
What you get there amounts to a rebuke from Jesus.
• It WAS NOT that Jesus couldn’t have answered.
• It IS NOT that Jesus would have been out of place to answer.
Some of you will remember the church at Corinth and how some members were dragging other members to court.
Paul rebuked them for having such disputes in front of non-believers and he said:
1 Corinthians 6:5-6 “I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you one wise man who will be able to decide between his brethren, but brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers?”
Paul told the Corinthians that if they had disputes they should be handling them internally and not airing their dirty laundry before the world.
So clearly Jesus, even apart from being the Son of God,
Had plenty of authority and jurisdiction to act as a judge in this matter.
The reason for Jesus stern response to the man
Is because Jesus had no interest in such matters.
He was in effect responding in frustration as if to say,
“Seriously you think My chief concern in this world is to make sure you get all the money you think you deserve?”
• Take that up with someone else.
• Leave Me alone with it.
“who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?”
And to that can we just state the obvious?
Jesus chief concern is not that you get all the money you think you deserve.
Leon Morris said, “He came to bring men to God, not to bring property to men.”
cited in: (MacArthur, John [The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Luke 11-17; Moody Publishers; Chicago, IL; 2013] pg. 132)
That rebuke alone should be sufficient
To clearly slam the door on every prosperity preacher who proclaims that
The purpose of the Son of Man is to make people rich.
Jesus was NOT INTERESTED IN making sure this man
Got all the money or property he thought he deserved.
However, since Jesus is interested in saving men from sin,
Jesus was more than eager to address the sin of this man’s heart.
And so that is what He does.
(15) “Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”
This man is likely now wanting to slink away into the crowd unnoticed
• Because not only has Jesus rebuked him,
• But now Jesus is using him before the crowd as “exhibit A” for the type of
greed that must be avoided.
You’ll notice that Jesus isn’t just addressing this man.
Luke says, “Then He said to them…”
Jesus took this man’s question,
And is now using him as the chief example
For preaching a sermon to the entire crowd about greed.
And since it is not a flattering sermon, it is safe to say that
This man should have gone away sufficiently rebuked, shamed,
AND DESPERATE FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF GOD.
And so let’s take some time this morning and listen
To what Jesus had to say in regard to this man’s greedy request.
JESUS BEGINS WITH A WARNING
• “Beware”, He says
• And “be on your guard”, He says
Two distinct commands there regarding greed.
“Beware” indicates that there is a danger that you need to be enlightened to.
“be on your guard” indicates that once you are aware of the danger that you should take steps to protect yourself from it.
If you are unware of the danger, then you need to be made aware.
If you are aware, then you need to protect yourself from it.
THAT MAKES SENSE.
So let’s talk about that for a moment.
Jesus said to “Beware” of “greed”.
Did you realize that greed is a dangerous threat that you face?
Did you realize that it is something that Jesus would warn you to look out for?
WHY?
Perhaps the best place to start is with another statement from Jesus.
(One that we will see later)
Luke 12:34 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Greed or love of money is dangerous
Because it so easily captivates your heart.
Please understand what Jesus taught.
Your treasure does not follow your heart, your heart follows your treasure.
And so AT THE VERY ROOT of the issue we are talking about
Something that has the propensity to captivate your very heart.
Anytime we deal with something that potent, or with that kind of potential
It is worth paying attention to.
Beyond that, THE WARNINGS OF JESUS REGARDING WEALTH
In Luke’s gospel alone are staggering.
Consider what we already studied:
Luke 6:24-26 “But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full. “Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.”
• That’s a remarkable warning from the Lord.
• Those who are finding their satisfaction in this world have indicated that they have chosen this world over the next.
That is certainly what we see occurring with the rich man in hades:
Luke 16:19-25 “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. “And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. “Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. “In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. “And he cried out and said, ‘ Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.”
Or consider what is yet to come in Luke’s gospel:
Luke 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
• There we learn that it is not possible to love God and love money at the same time.
The Apostle John went so far as to say:
1 John 2:15 “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
That is a serious charge.
Or of course that Rich Young Ruler:
Luke 18:22-25 “When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. And Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! “For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Do you understand then why loving money is so dangerous?
Jesus said that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
That alone should tell you how big a threat greed is to your very soul.
AND LET’S BE CLEAR THERE FOR SURE.
Money is not the problem. Money is neither good nor evil.
BUT LOVING MONEY IS CERTAINLY EVIL.
In fact, greed is considered by God to be idolatry.
Colossians 3:5 “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.”
And it is idolatry of such a potent nature
That it can actually captivate the heart of a man
And even lead him away from the faith.
1 Timothy 6:9-10 “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
Do we need to talk about Achan who was so captivated by the spoils of Jericho that he defied the Lord’s command and hid some in his tent and ended up getting his entire family stoned to death?
Do we need to talk about Balaam who was a prophet for profit and was even willing to set a stumbling block before the people of God for money and was killed as a result?
Do we need to talk about Gehazi, that servant of Elijah who would lie to Naaman and receive pay for the services of God and thus be struck with leprosy?
Do we need to talk about Ananias and Sapphira who were struck dead by God for lying to the Holy Spirit regarding the money they withheld from their sale of land?
Do we need to talk about Judas who for 30 pieces of silver denied the Lord and ended up not only dead but in eternal hell for his greed?
When Paul tells Timothy that “some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs”
He’s not joking around.
That is why Paul goes on to tell Timothy
1 Timothy 6:11 “But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.”
You need to understand that greed is a serious threat
To your heart, to your faith, and even to your eternity.
It is no wonder Jesus said to “Beware”
Our country seems well aware of the danger of DRUGS or of the danger of GUNS or of the danger of OBESITY or of the danger of BULLYING.
Jesus says you’d better be aware of the danger of greed.
It will pull your heart away from God and lead you to hell.
That’s a serious warning.
And because greed is such a dangerous threat Jesus goes on to say that YOU SHOULD TAKE STEPS to protect yourself from it.
“be on your guard”
• We already read that Paul told Timothy to “flee from these things”
Listen to Jesus here
Luke 12:33-34 “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Since it is true that your heart follows your treasure
Jesus indicates that one of the best ways to protect your heart
Is to invest your treasure in heaven instead of earth.
In fact Jesus says you should begin to liquidate your earthly treasure and invest it in eternity so that your heart moves from this life to the next.
That is a practical step to guarding yourself from greed.
In other words, GIVE!
Listen to Paul again:
1 Timothy 6:17-19 “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.”
• If you are rich (and everyone in America is…just let me take you to Malawi)
• Then you need to make sure you are protecting yourself from greed.
HOW?
• Well, don’t be conceited (that is to think that you are more important than the poor)
• Don’t fix your hope on riches (It takes less and a second for your 401K to disappear)
• Instead, do good, be generous, be ready to share what you have, store up a treasure in heaven.
It would be utterly foolish to allow greed and love of money
To captivate your heart and send you to hell.
Matthew 16:26 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
JUST LET THAT SINK IN.
So Jesus says “Beware” of the danger of greed.
And “be on your guard”
But notice He also said to “be on your guard against every form of greed”
Sometimes we think greed is a sin that is limited to the wealthy.
But do you realize that a poor man can be every bit as greedy as a rich man?
Let me ask you, who is Jesus rebuking here?
The man who asked the question.
Was he the one with the inheritance or the one who merely wanted it?
He didn’t have it, he wanted it.
I’m sure that man would accuse his brother of being greedy
For not sharing the inheritance.
JESUS REVEALS THAT THIS MAN IS ALSO GREEDY,
IT’S JUST A DIFFERENT FORM OF GREED.
Some people express their greed through hoarding their wealth.
Some people express their greed through coveting wealth.
You don’t have to be rich to be greedy.
And Jesus says you had better watch out for greed in every form.
Why?
“for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”
Incidentally, the word for “life” there is NOT BIOS which speaks of biological life.
The word is ZOE which speaks of meaningful or purposeful life as in eternal life.
That is to say that it is absolutely foolish
To predominantly concern yourself with wealth or possessions
Because they have absolutely no bearing on eternal life
Or even meaningful life.
And how I wish people would grab ahold of this one.
It has become an epidemic.
• You’ve got a whole generation of people coming out of college greedy for the wealth of the people they call “The 1%”. (as if sharing their wealth had anything to do with happiness)
• But it’s no wonder because from the time kids hit high school they are pulled aside to start thinking about college because you have to go to college to get a good job to make good money to have a fulfilling life.
THAT IS A HUGE LIE BEING PROPOGATED BY THE WORLD
Money has absolutely no bearing on living a meaningful life
Or purposeful life and it certainly has no power to gain eternal life
• Jesus was so poor that He had to borrow money from a fish to pay the tax in his own temple. He admitted to being homeless.
• Peter and John told the cripple that they didn’t have any money to give him.
Would we really assume these men missed out on living life to the full?
And so you can see why Jesus is giving such a strong warning here.
• Chasing money…
• Loving money…
• Being preoccupied with money…
It will only pull your heart away from God and lead you to destruction,
And it will never bring about a fulfilled and satisfied life.
I wish I could stand Pastor Felix in front of you this morning.
• He’s the pastor from Mozambique that we met in Malawi.
• That man had to borrow a bicycle and ride it 70 miles (probably with a woman
on the back of it) just to come attend our church conference.
• He’s got nothing…nothing but the biggest smile you ever saw.
He’s got a joy and a satisfaction that poverty can’t steal,
There’s plenty of rich people in America who aren’t half as fulfilled as him.
“Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”
Well that’s the warning.
Then Jesus gives an ILLUSTRATION to drive His point home.
(16-20) “And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. “And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: 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 many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”‘ “But God said to him, ‘ You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’”
Consider this illustration for a moment because it is so potent.
Here we have a man and we see some things about his life.
HIS SUCCESS – (16) “The land of a rich man was very productive”
• He was already rich and now he’s got a bumper crop on top of it.
• He would do good to ask who made his crop productive, but he doesn’t seem to care to give credit to God for that.
HIS STRESS – (17) “What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?”
If you think that having money eliminates stress and greed you are wrong.
Greed is a heart problem, not a money problem.
This man has more than he knows what to do with
And now he is stressing over how to keep it all.
Well we know how Jesus would answer.
• Jesus would tell him to give it to the poor and find true satisfaction.
• Jesus would tell him to use it to store up treasure in heaven.
But that’s not what this man does.
HIS SOLUTION – (18) “This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.”
His solution is to figure out a way to keep it all for himself.
And you’ll notice, he thinks that it will FINALLY GIVE HIM
THE PEACE AND COMFORT AND SECURITY HE LONGS FOR.
He was already rich, but he thinks this extra will finally do it.
HIS SUPPOSITION – (19) “And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”
If you think that’s true, you are naïve.
I promise you that will not be enough for this man to rest.
Beyond that, it is clear idolatry because he has fixed his hope on riches.
His full barns and not God are the reason he will smile at the future.
That is idolatry!
If your retirement fund is the reason you have hope for the future
Then the idolatry of greed has already toppled you.
HIS SLIPUP (20) “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’”
Wow! Talk about a massive miscalculation!
It reminds us of the foolish man James spoke of.
James 4:13-16 “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.”
How foolish to think that wealth is going to bring you
Any kind of prolonged satisfaction.
You don’t even know if you’re going to be alive tomorrow.
Here we have a rich man, with all the wealth he could ever imagine,
Finally thinking it will pay off, and he never gets to enjoy it.
Instead, on that very night he dies, and spends eternity in hell.
In an instant he went eternally bankrupt.
How foolish is that!
• To spend his whole life cramming everything he could into some barn.
• And when that barn was full, he went for bigger barns.
What satisfaction or enjoyment did it give him?
• He spent all that time working that field
• He spent all that time tearing down a barn.
• He then built a new barn.
• He shoveled all that grain in there.
• And the first night he tried to lay down and enjoy it…death.
And to that Jesus said:
(21) “So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
And by the way what Jesus means there is: FOOLISH
“[Foolish] is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
That’s the answer to this man who wants a piece of the inheritance…
• That’s the sermon this crowd heard as a result…
• That’s the warning from Jesus we had better heed as well…
Friend, you need to know that greed is a dangerous threat, (and probably more so in America than any other place on earth.)
• We are bombarded 24/7 with advertising which has one goal and that is to make you dissatisfied.
• As I mentioned young people are brainwashed to get a high paying job and to get security.
• As adults we’re told to make sure and save for the future.
• A new generation in our country is crying for some form of socialism where everything is free and someone else will pay off their debts.
• Those with money are fighting back insisting they pay it themselves.
And both call the other side greedy.
It’s not hard to see that greed is ripping our country apart.
Well that’s what greed does.
It destroys everything.
Proverbs 30:15 “The leech has two daughters, “Give,” “Give.”
• Don’t make it your life’s ambition to acquire wealth, make it your ambition to store up eternal wealth.
• And if you are rich, don’t die with more wealth on earth than you have in heaven; that is a foolish way to go.
Instead protect yourself from greed.
Be a giver and thus transfer your treasure to heaven
And Jesus said your heart will certainly follow.
AND LET ME ALSO SAY THIS.
Scripture provides us with TWO OPTIONS regarding how to respond to this message from Jesus.
One was a rich man we simply call “The Rich Young Ruler” he chose wealth over Christ and went away sad.
The other is a tax collector we call “Zaccheus” he chose Christ and gave his wealth away.
If greed has already toppled you and you don’t know what to do.
If you feel the conviction of God in your life.
• Run to Jesus for forgiveness.
• Trust in Him and be clothed in His righteousness.
• Let this life go that you might gain His.
Let go of the phony life to grab that which is life indeed.
1 Timothy 6:17-19 “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.”
