The Foolish Rich Man

St Timothy Presbyterian Church in Toronto: Sermons

Scripture Passage

Luke 12:13-21

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Sermon Script

The Fool

Jesus called the rich man a fool. Why was he foolish? He didn't call him a bad man or an evil man, but a foolish man. His land produced abundantly. He worked hard. He did not cheat anyone. He did not exploit others to do so. He was a person that many of us would respect. When the land produced more than his barns could store, he did what any prudent investor would do. He tore down the old barns and built up bigger ones. Then he wanted to relax and enjoy life. Didn't he deserve to enjoy the fruits of his labour? Some of you are nearing retirement, and you're making sure that there is indeed enough stored up to enjoy for many years to come. I don't think there's anything foolish in that.

It is not the fact that he was rich, or the fact that he wanted to enjoy the wealth he had accumulated that made him foolish. Working hard, being successful, and wanting to enjoy the fruits of those labours is not foolish. Many of you have had to work very hard to support yourself and your families. It is not an easy thing to do. Jesus was pointing to something deeper. What made the rich man foolish was that he thought enjoying his accumulated wealth was the ultimate measure of life. That there was nothing more to life than that.

Isn't that what many people believe about life? Make money. Relax, eat, drink and be merry. Yes, money enables us to do that. And it is an amazing thing to do this. Human beings need to relax. We need to enjoy food and drink with friends and family. That's what summer picnics, holiday gatherings and barbeques are all about. This is the kind of fellowship we missed so dearly when things were locked down during the peak of the pandemic, and those are times we hope to never go back to.

The Great Folly

The man was not foolish because he enjoyed the good life that money brought him. He was foolish because he believed that his money made other problems go away. Money certainly makes many things in life easier. It can solve many problems and make things go more smoothly. You'll be able to do more things for your body and health. You'll be able to have a better house. Better education. More access to things that will enhance your skills and abilities. If you have enough money, you should be very thankful and feel blessed. But money cannot solve all of life's problems. Money will improve your outer circumstances, but it cannot improve the matters of your soul – your inner being. That was the great folly of the rich man. This is what he says:

Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry. (Luke 12:19)

He is telling his soul to relax because of the wealth he had stored up. What folly! The soul is the seat of the person. It is the innermost being of the person. He was foolish because he was equating his outer circumstances with his inner person. His wealth somehow made him an expert in the soul. That shows spiritual arrogance.

We may say that money can't buy happiness. But our actions prove otherwise. We believe that if we have an abundance of money, then we shouldn't complain about anything else. That we should be thankful. That all should be well. It's as though having money should make our souls well. Money has replaced God as the healer of our souls. Money has replaced God as the destination the soul strives for.

Sick Souls

We sing the song: As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after you. But in reality, this world has made our souls long after the things that money can buy. No wonder our souls are sick! Our souls have been going after the wrong thing. We've been feeding our souls the wrong medicine. The body needs the food that money can buy, but our souls need God and the spiritual things that flow from God. Money can make our lives much easier and more comfortable, but it can never give rest for our souls. So yes, it is good to enjoy our abundance, but let us never fool ourselves into thinking that it will give rest for our souls. St. Augustine wrote this:

You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You. (St. Augustine)

Only God can bring us rest for our souls. A famous hymn starts like this:

When peace like a river attendeth my way

When sorrows like sea billows roll

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say

It is well, it is well with my soul

What prompted the writer to write these powerful words? This hymn was written by Horatio Spatford. He had been a successful lawyer and businessman in Chicago. But tragedy and trauma hit his life. His four-year old son died. Then the great Chicago Fire of 1871 ruined him financially. Things only got worse with an economic downturn two years later. He sent the rest of his family ahead to England to be with family while he stayed behind to deal with his failing business matters. En route, the ship sunk, and all four of his daughters died, leaving only his wife as the remaining survivor of his family. Broke, broken, faced with tragedy and loss, he wrote it is well with my soul . It was only God who made his soul well. What a powerful testimony to the one who makes our souls well.

Souls Unattended

The rich man was foolish because he equated the fullness of his life with the fullness of his bank account. He didn't understand the depths of the human heart. Our hearts are complex. This is why spiritual life is so mysterious, so deep, so fascinating. We can never boil down the state of our souls to the state of our finances. In the finance world especially, you are literally judged by the numbers you produce and the compensation you receive. But our souls can never be reduced to a bottom line. We don't know who we are because we've allowed ourselves to be defined by the visible metrics of our money and possessions. You are a complex individual with a unique history, experiences, personality and talents. No one can replicate who you are. And God said that this is good. God does not reduce us to a number on a balance sheet. We are God's precious creation. Don't be foolish like the rich man who equated his life with his wealth.

The second reason the rich man was foolish is because it was all about him. Take a look at what he says:

What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?' Then he said, I will do this: I will pull 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.' (Luke 12:17-19)

It is all I and my . In other words, the sole purpose of his wealth was to enjoy it for himself. There is something funny that money does to us. If we are not careful, money makes us more self-indulgent and selfish. It becomes easy to keep enjoying the good things money can afford. Life becomes a busy race of spending and enjoying that money. It gets easier and easier to be comfortable with the lifestyle that money affords and not think of others. It separates you from those who don't have money, because they can't afford the kind of life you can. Your social circles change to those of similar means. The life that money brings makes us forget about those in need. The busier we get with enjoying the life that money allows, it becomes easier to leave our souls unattended.

The Path to Blessing

Jesus provides a warning in this passage:

Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed (Luke 12:15)

If we are not careful, money can make us very selfish. We have to always be on guard to see what effect money is having on us.

Wealth and abundance are blessings. God looks favourably upon blessings. When God called Abraham to be the father of a chosen people, he begins with a promise to bless him. God said this to Abraham:

I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. (Genesis 12:2-3)

God did bless Abraham tremendously. He became a very rich man. But the purpose of blessing is not to hoard it selfishly. Blessings are meant to be shared. Not only did Abraham become rich; wherever he went, others around him did well too.

God wants to bless our lives. God wants our lives to be abundant. But God also wants to bless others through our abundance, and to bless us through the abundance of others. We are meant to live in circles of mutual blessing. The path to blessing is not through our greed. Greed generates energy, but it is not an energy that blesses others. Greed makes us feel like we never have enough. Greed is full of fear and keeps us small. Greed makes us selfish. Sharing and giving bring great blessings. The path to blessing is knowing that God provides all that I need, and therefore feeling free to share with and give to others what God has provided.

Giving and Sharing

God gives us what we need, and often more than that. We should be thankful for having what we need. Any more than that should be shared with others. Instead of greed, pray to God for your daily bread. Give thanks each day for what God has provided for you that day. The Israelites in the wilderness had no food or water. There was no land to grow food. So they learned to rely completely on God. God sent them manna each morning. Each morning, they gathered only what they needed for that day. Anything beyond that would rot. We should take and use only what we need. Anything beyond that is meant to be shared.

In sharing with others, a community is formed. A community is only formed through giving and sharing. That is the real secret to any community. It can never be formed by those who only take. The early church in Acts was formed through giving and sharing. The earliest followers sold all that they had and gave for the common good. Barnabas was a wealthy man. He sold his plot of land and laid it at the feet of the disciples. That was how the church was born. This church was born through the sacrificial giving of our oldest members in the Korean-Service Ministry. With the modest incomes they made from their small businesses and hard labour, they gave willingly and sacrificially so that we can enjoy this wonderful community. The secret of giving and sharing is that you receive so much more in return. Giving and sharing create connection with others. Giving and sharing give true contentment to the soul. The rich man did not see this, and this is why he was foolish.

Giving and sharing means the giving and sharing of both our money and our time. The early followers shared all their possessions AND prayed together day and night. The members of the Korean immigrant church gave both their money AND time to build up the church.

Soul, It Is Well

In this day and age, money and time are so tight. There never seems to be enough of either. The demands on our time and our wallets is incessant and unending. We are unable to invest the giving and sharing that create community, that give the real joy to our souls. We need to examine regularly how we are spending both. This examination must be part of our daily spiritual practice.

When people find out about how I became a pastor, the first reaction is bewilderment, followed by the question: do you ever miss what you did? Underlying that is what were you thinking? I usually just provide the short answer of nope, not at all. But here's my more complete response. Have I had to make many changes? Yes. Deb still gets stressed when we have to pay our monthly bills. She gets stressed any time I have to preach a sermon, asking if I enjoy what I do. But we have enough. God provides our daily bread. And with the enough we have, I am able to live a life rich in relationships, community and serving others. This past week, we took our summer camp kids and youth to Koreatown. We sat at Christie Pits and watched the kids play and the youth splashing about the wading pool. Hearing their laughter, watching them play so freely, watching the counsellors have fun with the kids and be free – it all brought such joy to me. I almost literally said: soul, it is well. I wouldn't have been able to experience this joy if I was working at a desk in an office like in my previous life. I've had the privilege of being present when someone is suffering. I've shared the joys of happy moments in people's lives. I've listened to the deepest matters of the heart. I've witnessed people change and grow. When I think of all this, I wonder who is the truly blessed one? I feel like the most blessed person in the world, because I get to experience these real things of life on a full-time basis. I receive this blessing because of the community: you have called me to serve this community, and you give of your resources so that people like me can focus fully on the work of serving this community. Sometimes I feel guilty because I feel like I am the most blessed person in this community. I am here to serve, but I feel like I have received the most. I have discovered the secret to real joy in life.

Jesus told this parable:

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and reburied; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (Matthew 13:44)

I have found this treasure that comes from God and the community. To me, this is worth more than all the money in the world. In losing any privileges of my former life, I have found the greatest treasure in the world. Not all of you can do the same thing as me, but there is still a treasure waiting for you that is a unique treasure for you. Have you found this treasure in your life? Seek and keep on seeking. Ask and keep on asking. Knock and keep on knocking. God is faithful. God will lead you to this treasure. Your soul is precious to God. God wants to fill your soul and bless you.

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