And he told them this parable: “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. 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.” ‘ “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?’ “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:16-21
When God blesses you with more, what is your first thought? That depends on your personality. For the spender, when the blessing is material (that is $$$), his first tendency is to invest it in himself without much thought as to the purpose or potential of such a fund. For the dreamer, the money was spent before she got it. She has a very developed “if only” list detailing the things she will buy when the money comes in. In that person’s life, as quickly as the income came in, it goes out. The saver feels that a more practical response is appropriate so she puts the money in a secure place in case she needs it in the future…her future. The entrepreneur, with all his business saavy, knows that the right thing is to reinvest it in the business.
The farmer in this story was very entrepreneurial. When this year’s harvest produced a bumper crop, he knew exactly what to do. He sold the crop, took the money and invested it back in the business. Anyone reading this story would have applauded the farmer for his prudent decision. Bigger barns would ensure room for this ever expanding enterprise of the wise farmer.
But as Jesus makes commentary on the story, he has two words to describe this kind of thinking– “You fool”. It seems really harsh to call this man a fool. After all, his story resembles a huge piece of the American dream – hard work plus wise investment leading to significant success.
However Jesus does not say that the foolishness of the man was not in the reinvestment back into the business. His foolishness was not with the first question “What shall I do?” His problem began with his first assumption “I have no place to store my crops.” My crops. And the delusion goes on. “My barns…My grain… My goods…” The foolishness of the farmer was to never realize that none of what he had was his. What he thought he owned was really just on loan. It all belonged to God.
Wrong assumptions always lead to wrong questions, which lead to wrong conclusions. Because it all belonged to God, perhaps the farmer should have asked a manager question rather than a owner question. Owners ask, “What should I do with my stuff?” Managers, on the other hand, ask a different question, “What does the owner want me to do with His stuff?” The distinction matters to God and therefore should matter to us.
After all, the Bible says we are not permanent residents in this place…we are aliens (1 Peter 1:1) and strangers (Heb. 11:13) who are just passing through. The Bible says that our life in this world is a mist (James 4:14)…like the grasses of the field that are here today and gone tomorrow (1 Peter 1:24). We are tenants that are here for a moment and then we go on to our permanent place in heaven (John 14:1). As such, we should not lean deeply in the comforts and riches of this world (1 John 2:15-17). Instead, Jesus encourages us to be “rich toward God”.
To be rich toward God means to put God and his Kingdom first in our lives (Mt. 6:33-34). To the person who does such things, God promises his attention (Mt. 6:4), his faithfulness (Phil. 4:19, 2 Cor. 9:8-11) and his blessing, both in this life and the life to come (Mk. 10:29-31, 1 Tim. 4:8).
God ends the discussion with a question for the person who stores up for themselves but is not rich toward God- “Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” In case you were wondering, the answer is: someone else.
Generosity Challenge (Day 18) – Figure out a way to sell something you own (garage sale, e-bay, craigslist) and give the proceeds to charity.
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