Deo Gloria
Sermon for August 3, 2025
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: Luke 12:13-21
Theme: Be on Guard Against Greed!
Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray my fishing boat to keep. I pray my stocks are on the rise, and that my analyst was wise; that all the wine I sip is white, and that my hot tub’s watertight; that the game of golf won’t get too tough, that my coffee beans are fresh enough. I pray my Apple iPhone still works, that my career won’t lose its perks. My microwave won’t radiate, my condo won’t depreciate. I pray my health club doesn’t close, and that my money market grows. If I go broke before I wake, I pray my Porsche they won’t take. And this I ask for my own sake. Amen.
There’s no denying that we Americans have been blessed with a lot of things. The danger is that we become obsessed with them, that all we can think about is enjoying our things and getting even more things and that we lose sight of what’s really important. Jesus warns us about that sin and the danger it presents in the story we have before us this morning: the Parable of the Rich Fool. The lesson he wants to impress on us is this: to be on guard against greed!
Jesus was teaching a large crowd of people—“many thousands”(v. 1) Luke tells us. He was teaching them about discipleship and what it means to be one of his disciples. It means, for example, that God has to come first in your life, that you fear him and love him more than anyone else. It means not being afraid to confess him before others. It means having the comfort and assurance that God knows everything about you, even how many hairs you have on your head. I’m not exactly sure what happened next. Maybe Jesus paused for questions. Or maybe he just paused to give people a chance to reflect on what he had been saying, to let it really sink in. Whatever the case, a man interrupted Jesus’ lesson with a request: “Teacher,” he said, “tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me”(v. 13).
Obviously the guy was upset. He was angry. He probably hadn’t heard a thing Jesus had been saying. All he could think about was how his brother was cheating him out of his share of the inheritance. According to the law back in those days if there were two brothers, the older brother was supposed to get two-thirds of the inheritance and the younger brother one-third. My guess is that in this case the older brother had just decided to keep it all for himself. So the guy had good reason to be upset. He had a legitimate complaint.
But why bring something like to Jesus? There were courts back then. There were local judges and other local authorities who could hear a complaint like that and decide it. He didn’t have to bring something like that to Jesus. That was the point of Jesus’ first response: “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?”(v. 14)
But Jesus didn’t stop there. Like any good teacher, Jesus used the occasion to teach this man and everyone else a lesson, an important lesson about greed and about what’s really important in life. Speaking once again to the entire crowd, he said, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed”(v. 15). The word Jesus uses here for greed literally means “a desire to have more.” “A desire to have more”…. The problem usually isn’t that you and I don’t have something, is it, that we have to do without? The problem is that we want more. We already have several Barbies to play with and several sets of clothes for them to wear; but that isn’t enough. We want more. We already have at least a dozen video games to play; but that isn’t enough. We want more. We already have a car to drive or a truck to drive; but that isn’t enough. We want a newer one, a fancier one, a sportier one. We already have a comfortable home to live in, but we want more. We want a bigger home, one with a three-car garage and a pool out back. We already have an outfit to wear to the party, a whole closet full of outfits; but that isn’t enough. We want more. It’s so easy to get caught up in that, that insatiable desire for more: more money, more toys, more cars, more clothes—more, more, more—as if that’s what life is all about.
Jesus reminds us that it isn’t. “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions”(v. 15). Let me repeat that: “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” In other words, it really doesn’t matter how much money you make. That’s not the important thing. Likewise it really doesn’t matter what kind of car you drive. That’s not the important thing. It doesn’t matter how many Barbies you have or video games you have or pairs of shoes you have or snowmobiles you have or how big your house is or what kind of clothes you wear. None of those things really matter. That’s not what life is all about.
And yet, how many times haven’t we fallen into that kind of thinking? How many times haven’t we measured our own success or our own importance by how much money we make? How many times haven’t we rated ourselves and compared ourselves to others based on what kind of house we live in or what kind of car we drive or what kind of clothes we wear? How many times haven’t we looked at what our friends have or our neighbors have and then become dissatisfied with what we have because they had more. We need a new car, because they have a new car. We need a bigger house, because they have a bigger house. We need new clothes, because they have new clothes. We need a new eBike, because they have a new eBike. We need a new big-screen TV because they have a new big-screen TV. That’s what greed does. It makes us unhappy. It makes us dissatisfied, because we never have enough. May God forgive us for such foolish thinking! May God forgive us for our not being satisfied with the abundant blessings he has already given us and our always wanting more! May he forgive us for the sake of Jesus Christ our Savior! Be on guard against greed!
The other danger in greed, in fact the most serious danger, is that it focuses our hearts and minds on material things and takes them off what really is important in life: our soul and our relationship with God. Jesus illustrates this point by telling a little story. Once there was a rich man whose land produced a good crop. His corn came in at 200 bushels an acre. His wheat produced roughly 60 bushels an acre. But then he had a little problem. His barns weren’t big enough. “What am I going to do?” he thought. “I have no place to store my crops.” But then an idea came to him. “I know what I’ll do: I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I’ll store all my grain and my goods. 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’”(vv. 18+19)
First let’s clear up some common misconceptions. There is nothing in this story to indicate that this guy was a scoundrel, that he had acquired his wealth by cheating other people out of theirs. Every indication is that this guy was an honest, hard-working man and had acquired his wealth honestly and fairly. Secondly, it should be pointed out that Jesus is not condemning wealth in this story. He does not criticize the man for being wealthy or possessing wealth. What Jesus is condemning is the wrong attitude toward wealth, an attitude that makes having wealth and enjoying wealth the most important thing in life, when it isn’t.
You see, the rich man in this story had forgotten a few things. He had forgotten, for instance, that all his money and all his goods and all his crops were gifts from God. Where was his gratitude? Where was his thankfulness? Where was his thanking God for all his blessings and his giving back to God, honoring God with his wealth? They were noticeably absent.
Another thing this man had forgotten about was his neighbor and about helping his neighbor. Why did he have to build bigger barns? He was already rich. Did he really need more? Why couldn’t he share the wealth God had given him with others, share the extra with his neighbors, especially with the poor and needy? Here was a wonderful opportunity for him to show his love and concern for others by helping those in need, especially since he had so much more than he needed. But no, instead of sharing with others and helping others, he had to build bigger barns so he could keep it all for himself. Again, that’s what greed does. It makes us think that it’s all mine. Mine, mine, mine. It’s mine to have, mine to use, mine to enjoy. It’s all mine. But that isn’t what God tells us in his Word. God tells us that none of it is mine. It’s all his and he just gives it to us for a while to use and manage for him. And one of the ways he wants us to use our money and possessions, especially when we have more than we need, is to help our neighbor, to help the poor and needy.
The third thing this rich man had forgotten about was time, the uncertainty of time. He thought he had lots of time yet, thought he was going to live for many, many years and could enjoy his riches and his possessions for many years to come. Only he didn’t. He didn’t have many more years to live. In fact, he didn’t even have one more day to live. That very night he died. That very night he had to stand before God and be judged. And he wasn’t ready. All his money and all his crops and all his riches meant nothing in the eyes of God. He had stored up for himself for this life, but he wasn’t rich toward God.
So how about you? What is your attitude toward money and things? Are you content with what you have? Or are you always looking, always working, always striving for more? Do you recognize that everything you have is a gift from God? Are you thankful to God? Do you give back generously to God? Or do you keep as much as you can for yourself? What about when it comes to helping your neighbor? Are you willing to share with others and help others, especially those in need? And what about your soul and your relationship with God? If today would be the last day of your life and you were to die tonight, would you be ready to stand before God and be judged? Or would you be caught unprepared as this rich man was?
If we’re honest, you and I have to admit that we have been rather foolish at times too, that we have looked at money and things as the most important things in life, that we haven’t always been satisfied with what we have, that we too have gotten caught up in that never-ending quest for more, that we haven’t always been thankful to God, that we’ve been rather stingy at times in giving back to God and in sharing what we have with others. And just like the rich man in this story we too have bought into that notion that we’ll always have more time. “I’m young. I still have a good many years ahead of me. I don’t have to be ready for eternity.”
Thank God we have a Savior, a Savior who paid the penalty for such foolish thinking on our part, a Savior who gave his life on the cross to pay for all of our sins, including our sins of greed and selfishness! And thank God we have a Savior who has made us rich as well, truly rich and wealthy, a Savior who has provided us with the eternal riches of forgiveness, life and salvation so that we can stand before God on the day we die as his holy, precious, forgiven children. Thank God for our Savior Jesus!
For his sake, let’s strive to keep the right attitude toward money and possessions. There’s certainly nothing wrong with them. They are gifts from God, good gifts we are free to use and enjoy, gifts we are to use to serve God and honor God and to help our neighbor. But the thing we always have to be careful of is not allowing our money and our things to become more important than they are. Having things and getting things is not the most important thing in life. So watch out! Be on guard against greed! Amen.