“Be On Your Guard Against All Kinds Of Greed!”

Sermon on Luke 12:13-21

Text: Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21 “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

There are many things in the world that warn you of impending danger. Think of all of the road signs that tell you of impending curves, merging traffic, etc. At a railroad crossing, there are flashing lights and cross bars. When storms approach, the television and radio stations tell of watches and warnings. In nature, the rattlesnake lets you know that you are getting too close with the rattles on its tail. The Bible is also full of warnings for us. It tells of potential dangers to our faith. It warns us of problems here on the earth and their effect on our eternity. Today, as we focus on a story that Jesus told, we look at one such warning. As Jesus said in verse 15, “BE ON YOUR GUARD AGAINST ALL KINDS OF GREED.” He tells us why. 1. It Leads To A False View Of Life. 2. It Leads To A Fool’s Death.

The occasion that prompted Jesus to give this warning was a man calling to him from the crowd. “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” The man knew that Jesus was a respected person in the community. Therefore, he called on Jesus to see if he would use his influence to make his brother give him his share of the inheritance.

After Jesus told the crowd that this was not the reason he had come to the earth, he used the occasion to tell the crowd, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” What does Jesus mean by this?

To help us understand, Jesus told a story. He said in verses 16-18, “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.” Here was a man who was blessed with a bumper crop. He had such a large harvest that he did not have room enough for all of his grain. So, he came up with a plan. He would tear down his old barns and build bigger ones.

Note that the rich man was not doing anything wrong at this time. He needed a place to store his harvest. After all, God wants us to take care of the things that he gives us. They are gifts from him and we want to be careful not to waste them. We are to take care of the blessings that God gives us.

Where this man got into trouble was in his way at looking at the rest of his life. We read in verse 19, “I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’” As the rich man was considering what to do with his harvest, he felt sure that he had enough stored away for many years. He dreamed about his life in the future. He was sure that he could take it easy. His possessions would guarantee him a life of luxury, ease and pleasure.

What a false and shallow view of life! Is that all there is to life? “Eat, drink and be merry!” It might be a tempting idea, maybe even one we would like to try for awhile. I believe, though, that most of us would soon grow tired of it.

This sort of attitude shows where the man put his trust. He felt that, with his barns full to bursting with grain and other goods, he was set for life. There are many who feel the same way today. If the bank account looks good, or the crop looks good, there is nothing to worry about. The Bible tells us in Psalm 62:10, “Though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them.” Why this warning? What would happen if those riches were gone, and you had placed your trust in them? Your source of strength and trust would be gone. Think of how many people have ended their own lives over the centuries because their wealth was suddenly taken from them. It is just as foolish to put your trust in wealth as it is anything else here on this earth, whether it is strength or health or whatever. They can be gone and then what happens?

The man showed a trust and a greed for his possessions. Before we go any further, we need to talk about possessions. Many possessions are not, in and of themselves, bad. Indeed, they are a gift from God. As the psalmist reminds us in Psalm 145:15&16, “The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.” Rather, what we are speaking of is the desire to have more and more. We are talking about the trust in them. As Paul wrote to Timothy in his first epistle, “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” The love of money, that is greed, may lead us to lie, cheat, steal or do whatever we can to get things. This sort of attitude shows that we are not satisfied with what God has given us. Greed leads to a false view of life. It puts a priority on things that should be further down the list. Greed gets things all turned around.

Jesus continues the story of the rich man in verses 20&21, “God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” The rich man was very proud of himself. He thought that he had everything all figured out. God, however, had a different opinion of him. God called him a “fool.” While he was so carefully laying out his plans, he forgot someone. He forgot God.

God said, “This very night your life will be demanded from you.” That night on which all of these plans were being so carefully made would be his day of reckoning. It was time to settle accounts. God had set that night as the limit of his life. All of the preparations he had made for this life were useless. God asks, “Who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” All the riches he had stored up for himself would be enjoyed by someone else. All of his wealth was gone and would be of no benefit to him.

All of this rich man’s wealth would be gone, enjoyed by others. What is worse, since these were the only riches the young man was concerned with, his death left him an absolute beggar. While he might have been wealthy according to the world’s standards, he was absolutely poor when it came to God.

This fact could also be said of us, if we were to try to get into heaven on our own. If we were try to pay our way into heaven, there is absolutely no amount of money we could collect to get in. The only way that we can get into heaven is to live a perfect life in every aspect of life, from the thoughts in our hearts to the words of our mouths to the things that we do. If that perfection is ever missing in any way, if we have ever found ourselves discontent with our lot in life, we could not get into heaven. This would lead to the fool’s death, namely an eternity in hell.

If we were to stand before the gates of heaven, we could not get in because we are spiritually penniless. Yet, Jesus Christ came to us and invites us to come in, because he has already paid the price for us. He paid the way by living according to his Father’s will. When on the cross, as he suffered and died, he said, “It is finished.” The Greek word there has the idea of a debt being paid on full. Then Jesus, after we were brought to faith, gives us these riches. While we might not be as wealthy as others are in the eyes of the world, yet in God’s eyes, we have great wealth, wealth without equal, wealth without end. We are truly wealthy. Because we do not want to lose what truly makes us rich, we do not want to get so involved in the things of this world. The things and affairs of this world have their proper place, but they dare never become more precious to us than our heavenly treasures. Greed can lead to a fool’s death.

We are by nature sinful, and that includes being greedy. We want to have more and more. It is only after we are brought to faith that we can be truly content with what God has given us. Because we are still sinful and are surrounded by temptations, we may find ourselves at times with greedy thoughts. Jesus has paid for this sin too. Now, as we strive to thank him for all that he has done for us, we listen to Jesus as he urges us, “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Greed leads to a false, warped view of life and it can lead to a fool’s death. By God’s grace, we have become truly rich and, with his help, we will be content with what we have been blessed with. God help us to this end. Amen.