"He then told them, 'Watch out and be on guard against all greed, because one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions.'" Luke 12:15
An individual came to Jesus and asked Him to settle an inheritance dispute. Jesus takes this opportunity to address a topic for more vital than splitting an inheritance. It may be helpful to see His lesson being delivered in an iterative structure of:
A statement of truth
An illustration of the Truth
An aligning of the hearers reality to the taught truth
The Statement of Truth
Jesus is going to illustrate His first truth with a parable. Keep in mind, the word "parable" has the connotation of "casting alongside". Think about two bowling lanes side-by-side; one lane the truth is bowled down, and the parallel lane beside it a story is cast. It runs along beside the truth in order to aid in understanding and application. It's an illustration of the truth. Here, we have Jesus laying out a truth summed up in "One's life is not in the abundance of his possessions."; and parallel to it, he casts a parable:
The Illustration
“A rich man’s land was very productive. He thought to himself, ‘What should I do, since I don’t have anywhere to store my crops? I will do this,’ he said. ‘I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones and store all my grain and my goods there. Then I’ll say to myself, “You have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.”’
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared—whose will they be?’
“That’s how it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
(Luke 12:16-21)
It's interesting how he begins it, "the rich man's land was very productive". He doesn't commend the rich man for his hard labor, for being wise about the correct use of pesticides or crop rotation. He doesn't talk about how he utilized his labor force in such a way to maximize the planting/watering time per acreage. While all the effort the rich man put into his land, and I'm sure he did as soil was tilled, crops were planted, watered, and harvested; Jesus subtly reminds us that unless The LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. The cursed ground yielded fruit to the man's labors, and not just a little, because God has blessed him. This man did the natural thing and started thinking of where he's going to put all his goods. He must have been plenty rich because someone who needed to be frugal would just make additions to their existing barns (yes, he already had multiple barns), but he has enough coin to tear down his existing barns and build newer, bigger barns (again, plural). Build this and then retire. That was his plan, to kick back and enjoy life.
Then God, there very One who has blessed this man with riches, calls him a fool and informs him that this night would be his last, that he would have to give an account for his life on this present earth and all his barns, blueprints for his bigger barns, his stored goods as well as his newly acquired goods would all go to someone else. He's asked rhetorically, "Whose will they be?" The point made to the rich man - NOT YOURS!
The Aligning with Reality
Jesus is gracious enough to bookend the parable with a reiteration of the truth he started with by reminding us that everyone is a fool who stores up treasure on earth and is not rich toward God. It may not seem like a restatement at first, but it is and more. The greatest teacher to ever live is unpacking this lesson for us, yet in such a way that it draws us to interact with truth, instead of just sit and be told rules. He is inviting us into more clarity and deeper understanding. At first, "life is more than the abundance of possessions" can sound like a call to a form of asceticism. Riches were often seen as an outward sign of God's blessing; like with Abraham or Job. Jesus says life is more than that and tells of a rich man with lots of things. However, Jesus isn't condemning being rich, but being rich in the wrong thing. The man, and all like him, are fools because they invested in the wrong thing.
A Deeper Dive
The Statement of Truth
Then, Jesus turns to his disciples and begins to dive even further into the lesson. The original statement, prior to the parable that was just heard, "One's life is not in the abundance of his possessions." He peels back another layer as he tells his disciples "Therefore I tell you, don't worry about your life…For life is more than food and the body more than clothing". He directly links it to the truth/illustration combo he just told by saying "Therefore" or "Because of what I just said…" as well as a restatement of the second half of his admonition in verse 15:
Luke 12:15b "because one's life is not in the abundance of his possessions."
Luke 12:23 "For life is more than food and the body more than clothing."
Jesus tells us to be on guard against all greed, drives the admonition home with a story of a greedy rich man, and now He is unpacking for us the motive behind this rich man's greed - trust in riches. We still have the echos of the rich man's self-congratulations ringing in our minds, "You have many goods stored up for many years, take it easy… enjoy life." On it's heels we can, even more clearly hear God's judgment of "You fool!" reverberating. Knowing precisely how to bring these points to the forefront, The Master Teacher begins his next lesson with another truth/illustration combo; but this time, instead of a parable, he draws from the creation around us - Birds and flowers.
The Illustration - Consider The Ravens
"Consider the ravens: They don’t sow or reap; they don’t have a storeroom or a barn; yet God feeds them." The first illustration Jesus draws on from creation is the raven. A bird who doesn't work for it's food or stockpile for difficult times. This animal is dependent on its Creator to feed it. Perhaps the disciples, and anyone else in earshot, would have also thought (as they considered the dependent raven) of an account they were even more familiar with than you or I recorded in I Kings 17:2-6. The raven is the very bird that brought food to Elijah twice a day for a period of time. These non-working, non-stockpiling, God-dependent birds gave to the prophet of God. Not only was there no worry for their daily food, but they provided for others from what was provided for them. Nothing says, "I'm not worried" like giving your meal away when you don't know where your next one is going to be.
The Pivot to Man
Jesus then pivots on His first illustration from the created order moving from the bird to the one who was created to rule the birds; In considering the ravens, we are driven to consider ourselves. He asks two questions:
Question 1: "Aren’t you worth much more than the birds?" The first 3 chapters of Genesis make it clear that God has a special interest and love for mankind as He created us in His image and placed us as head over the created order. If God provides for these birds, will He not also care for the ones who bear his likeness?
Question 2: "Can any of you add one moment to his lifespan by worrying?" Then he poses a second introspective question to us while at the same time drawing out a point made in His earlier parable. The rich man told himself "you have many goods stored up for many years… enjoy life." but that very night was his last. Nothing he did could add to his life. He prepared for tomorrow, but was not able to obtain tomorrow.He had saved to enjoy his future, but couldn't add one moment beyond what he was granted by The Giver and Sustainer of Life. Jesus, well aware that He had already given us the answer in the parable of the rich man, and knowing we have already reached the obvious conclusion to his question, agrees with our mental answer, "If then you're not able to do even a little thing…"
The Alignment to Reality
This point shouldn't be just passed over either. Jesus is pressing home the foolishness of worrying over provisions and possessions. He started with greed, amassing these things in preparation for the future, exposing it as a form of idolatry in that we are attempting to guarantee our security and ease of life for tomorrow instead of total dependence on the loving Creator for what we need. He has been dropping hints all along about how we have things upside down. In his parable, he ended with the contrast of being rich for one's self verses being rich toward God. It's easy to see this as more or less a challenge to re-align our priorities; but with this statement saying that adding length to one's lifespan is a little thing begins to show it's more than just a re-prioritization. It is an easy thing for the Creator of all things, the Being Who is very Life Himself, to give life to the things He has created. He brought all things into existence by divine fiat. Without a sweat, just by thinking of all the complexities of the various life systems (neurological, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, reproductive, digestive,etc) of the raven, He created it. While we are over here fretting about how we're going to be sure we have food for tomorrow, Jesus reminds us that we can't even ensure we have a tomorrow. What is impossible for us, is easy for Him so "...why worry about the rest?" He continues to turn our upside-down thinking right-side-up as He takes us to the next example from nature.
The Illustration - Consider How The Wildflowers Grow
“Consider how the wildflowers grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these." Jesus makes the point that God takes thought to adorn the wild growing flowers with color, symmetry, and beauty. So beautiful that artists are inspired to capture it in a painting. More beautiful that Israels' King at the nation's historical peak. This thing of inspirational beauty is fleeting. We are told that our own life is as a vapor. That our existence on this earth is a blip compared to the Eternality of God. When we look at the lifespan of a wildflower, it is as a vapor to us; imagine what it looks like to The One that sees our 80 years as a vapor. To God, the lifespan of a flower is nothing, and God is well aware that it is going to be burned; yet He has caringly designed and clothed this short lived flower with amazing detailed beauty.
The Pivot to Man
Jesus has established a pattern, and follows it again by pivoting from the natural example to the one He created to till the ground and tend the flowers - mankind, and asks the question:
Question: "If that’s how God clothes the grass, which is in the field today and is thrown into the furnace tomorrow, how much more will he do for you — you of little faith?" If God does all this for a fleeting flower, how much more will he take care of the crowning achievement of His creation?! Should the God Who is such love pour so much thought and glory into an impermanent flower and not take more care in providing for the ones who are created to be His image-bearers? We are so lacking trust in God. We are quick to attempt to find our security in our own ability to obtain provisions while presuming on a future we can't guarantee ourselves, when we should be dependent on the all-loving, Creator and Sustainer of all things. Not only can He effortlessly provide us with what we need, His very nature assures us that He will. We have no reason not to trust Him.
The Alignment to Reality
"For the Gentile world eagerly seeks all these things, and your Father knows that you need them." The world continues to be turned right-side-up in Jesus' teaching as he works to further align our perspective with His. When he started this lesson, the initial application appeared to be more of a realignment of priorities - don't store up treasure for yourself, rather be rich toward God. This could be misunderstood as a call to some type of asceticism had Jesus ended there (and oftentimes, unfortunately, we end the sermon here), but he carries us further as He drills deeper to the heart of the truth He wants us to grasp. As He continues to teach we begin to see that the realignment of priorities is something more; uncertain exactly what, we can feel the ground shifting under us a bit as he invites us to challenge what/who we find our security in. Now he is about to make the primary point, summarizing everything He has said, bringing us to the tightly packed truth that, like an acorn contains the entire tree, so this lesson can take root in our hearts and grow. He is shifting the earth of our hearts to prepare us for this seed to be firmly planted. The bridge between where we've been and where we are going, the summary of His second truth/illustration combo and the opening of the final part of the lesson is this - those without God (the Gentiles) live this shortsighted life of being wrapped up in things; but your Father knows what you need. Your Father has more for you, than merely the here and now. Let's cross the bridge with Him to the place He has been working to bring us as hearers this entire time..
The Final Application
"But seek his kingdom, and these things will be provided for you. Don’t be afraid, little flock, because your Father delights to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Make money-bags for yourselves that won’t grow old, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
The Gentiles are consumed with merely surviving. They have traded the eternal for the temporal; not just in what they value, but also in the source of their security. They have short changed themselves in every way. They value the finite-things, to find security in the finite-this present world, and depend on it's being supplied by the finite-their own efforts. We are told to seek something greater, something eternal - God's kingdom. We are promised that when we seek the higher goal, the lesser things will be provided without need for our concern for them. And lest we wonder if the kingdom can be attained, Jesus endearingly reminds all kingdom seekers that their Father is also the Good Shepherd Who eagerly desires to give His "little flock" the kingdom. This kingdom seeking is lived out by selling our things to provide for the poor. Jesus tells us that living unlike the Gentiles who crave things isn't asceticism, but quite the opposite. We are to make money-bags that don't wear out. We are to stockpile goods in barns and banks that won't grow old, wear out, or depreciate. Jesus declares that it is the Gentiles who are actually the ascetics (thought unwittingly so) as they are denying themselves true riches and true pleasure. Riches aren't evil, having them isn't evil; trusting in them is evil, trusting in the provision of them in anything other than God is evil.
All of this is vital, because of the inescapable truth, "Where your treasure is, there you heart will be also." There is this interwoven truth that we put our valuables (time, money, effort) where our heart is and our heart increasingly is tied to where we put our valuables (time, money, and effort). We invest in what we love and our love grows for what we invest in.
Points Revisited:
Your life is far more than the things you possess.
God knows you need things to live, can easily provide them for you, and with much less effort than you spend trying to get them.
More-so, because of His loving provision for lesser creatures, you have no reason not to trust Him.
Along with His character, God also promises to provide for our needs (with no effort to obtain on our part) if we live unlike the godless by seeking His kingdom first. This seeking is displayed by showing our total dependence on Him as we freely give away possessions knowing we are investing in the new creation.
When our hearts long to be with God, we will invest in His kingdom. As we invest in his kingdom, the more our hearts will long to be with God.
"Money is dirt." - Deitrich Bonhoeffer
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot
"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." - Jesus
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