Luke 12:13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Rabbi, tell my brother to share with me the property we inherited.” 14 But Yeshua answered him, “My friend, who appointed me judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 Then to the people he said, “Be careful to guard against all forms of greed, because even if someone is rich, his life does not consist in what he owns.” 16 And he gave them this illustration: “There was a man whose land was very productive. 17 He debated with himself, ‘What should I do? I haven’t enough room for all my crops.’ 18 Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and I’ll store all my wheat and other goods there. 19 Then I’ll say to myself, “You’re a lucky man! You have a big supply of goods laid up that will last many years. Start taking it easy! Eat! Drink! Enjoy yourself!”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night you will die! And the things you prepared — whose will they be?’ 21 That’s how it is with anyone who stores up wealth for himself without being rich toward God.”
But Yeshua answered him, “My friend, who appointed me judge or arbitrator over you?”
An offense between brothers and the Messiah said that presiding over their dispute was not His job.
But then He makes an abrupt turn to get at the heart of what this man was really asking:
“Rabbi, I am willing to destroy the relationship with my brother over an earthly inheritance.
Tell me I’m right and tell him he’s wrong.”
He then gave the man a warning instead of a judgment:
“Be careful to guard against all forms of greed, because even if someone is rich,
his life does not consist in what he owns.”
While we understand the concept of greed and being rich in this world, we have no clue what it means in the Kingdom of God. So we get a parable. Let’s break down the elements piece by piece
This man had clearly done his job in the miracle process by planting seed and watching over it. He had done his job so well even that the land was considered “productive”. It’s clear he was a hard worker, an educated worker, and a competent worker. Day in and day out he was checking his list and marking things off. Diligence. That’s a virtue, right?
Instead of seeking God, he sought himself. It says he “debated” with himself about the matter. So he must have either been teetering between ways he could handle his wealth or what to do about his wealth. Either way, Abba was out of the conversation.
After this self-debate, he decided he would double-down and grow his own Kingdom instead of using his bountiful harvest for the Kingdom of God. We’d never do anything like that, right?
“You’re a lucky man! You have a big supply of goods laid up that will last many years. Start taking it easy! Eat! Drink! Enjoy yourself!”
What does this sound like? I think it sounds like just about everyone in the world today. There is even an entire marketing and business model that feeds this very thing: investing and retirement.
You have been convinced that it is up to you to grow your resources and put away as much as possible so that you will one day be able to “Start taking it easy! Eat! Drink! Enjoy yourself!”.
WE are responsible for taking care of ourselves. Besides, if we don’t do it on our own behalf, who will? The government? Your children? “Not me,” you say, “the government is unreliable and my kids…well…I’m not sure I can trust them…uh, I mean, I don’t want to put that burden on them.”
Relying on the government is never a good idea. Fickle people and policies provide no solid source of revenue in your old age so we’ll scrap this one as an option.
But your children? Those are the ones that you should be able to count on. Had we brought them up to be selfless and taught them the ways of the Kingdom, we would know they would be there when we needed them. But we didn’t do our job so now it’s up to us.
Notice we never ask Abba whether He would be able to look after us. We like to parade around and tell people how much we count on Him for everything but at the end of the day we really don’t believe it, do we?
So we go to work, ensuring we have what we need.
Your time is coming and none of that wealth will do you a bit of good.
“And the things you prepared — whose will they be?”
“Well, if that happens to me, I guess my kids will be in a very good position. Afterall, I’m leaving an inheritance and that’s noble, right?”
Perhaps. But what does that do to your kids? Remember, you never taught them the ways of the Kingdom. So now they will live the exact same life as you. All of their trust will be in the inheritance and they will still have no need of God. Like father, like son, they say. There is no reason to assume they will miraculously self-correct and repent when there is no need to rely on Abba.
All you’ve done is push your ways down one more generation.
Are you greedy?
Do you look at your harvest and say to yourself, “Wow, I need a bigger barn!”
Do you look at what you’ve amassed and say to yourself, “Boy, I’m a lucky person”?
Be very careful here because this is more subtle than you think.
What should this man have done with all that Abba blessed him with?
Do you think Abba grew this man’s seed just so he could have more?
Did Abba give it to him so he could just relax and take it easy?
Or was this the “talent” that was given to him?
If so, on the surface it seems he put it in the ground and brought back a multiplication. BUT…he never returned it back to his Master. Instead, he decided to keep it for himself.
How wicked could you be? This harvest was never meant for him. Stealing from your Master is far worse than putting your talent in the ground -- and that man was deemed to be wicked.
Death is coming. And your own storehouses will be of no use to you. What’s worse, this “blessing” you’re leaving your kids will destroy them.
The good news, I guess, is that at least your kids will be ungrateful and burn through the inheritance quickly. So maybe your grandkids will live in a place of needing to depend on Abba.
Silver lining, right?