People in our day are preoccupied with bigness. When I go to a certain fast-food restaurant and place an order, the clerk immediately asks me: Do you want to biggie size that?

There’s a mall called the Mall of America, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is large enough to hold 32 727 airplanes, and has four Gap stores and a full-sized amusement park. It welcomes over 40 million visitors a year, which is more than Disney World, Graceland and the Grand Canyon combined. Big.

Mall of America used to claim to be the largest mall on earth – until the West Edmonton Mall in Alberta, Canada was built – the biggest man-made structure on earth – the largest entertainment and shopping center anywhere. It has 800 stores, a theme park and a water park. You can golf, explore sea life and, of course, ice skate. Bring your pet along, and place him or her in Doggie Daycare. (They thought of everything.) Big.

In our Scripture today we will learn about big – and bigger.
The Scripture is Luke 12:13-21. (READ the entire Scripture.)

Some of Jesus’ teachings are hard to understand. You have to ponder and think deeply to figure out the meaning. Not so with this one! The main point is perfectly clear.

Beware of greed.

Greed – one of the seven deadly sins, as listed by Pope Gregory the Great at the end of the sixth century.
Greed – the desire for just a little more – and then more – and more and more.
Let’s look at this Scripture carefully, with minds open to all that God wants to say to us today.

Verse 13. Someone in the crowd said to him (Jesus), “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

Exactly what lies behind this appeal, we do not know. But there was disagreement and conflict between two brothers. That much is just like our world today. Every Sunday in church there could be told stories of conflict and alienation between friends or family members.

Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.

It was customary in those days for a person with a dispute to go to a well-known rabbi for mediation.

Verse 14. Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?”

Jesus would have been well qualified to settle the dispute – more qualified than anyone else on the face of the earth. But he stays focused on his main mission – to announce the good news of the kingdom of God and to prepare to die as a sacrifice for our sins. So he will not enter into arbitration with this man and his brother.

Verse 15. Then he (Jesus) said to them…

We assume that “them” refers to the crowd – which is mentioned in verse 1 of this chapter: A crowd of many thousands had gathered. However, G. Campbell Morgan gives his opinion that “them” refers to the man who asked the question and his brother. (Studies in the Four Gospels, p. 153)

Morgan assumes that both men were standing there when the issue was raised by the one brother. That would certainly have brought electricity to the air at that moment.

Verse 15 continues. Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against allkinds of greed…” All kinds of greed.

Here we learn that greed is subtle. It shows up in clever disguises – not only in obvious ways, but also in unexpected ways and places. It shows up not only in others, but also in…you…or me.

The biblical teaching on money has several aspects to it.

One part of that teaching says that there is a dark side to money. It is not a neutral commodity. It has a power that is demonic in character. It takes on the nature of a god. It can weaken or destroy your relationship with the true God. So the Bible gives many warnings about the evil that money can do.

Back to verse 15. Be on your guard about against all kinds of greed…

A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. This statement by Jesus flies in the face of our culture – even our church culture.

In our culture a malls with hundreds of stores is described as a great opportunity, not as a sinful distraction to the wellbeing of the soul.

Abundance of possessions. Richard Foster, a Quaker writer and renewal leader, says that an important thing for North American Christians to do is to look at the global picture and stop denying that we are wealthy.

If you own a car, you are in the world’s upper class.

If you own a home, you are richer than 95 percent of all the people on this planet.

If you own a book, you are wealthy. If you have a library of several books, you are extremely wealthy.

This is not intended to make you feel guilty; it is intended to help us have an accurate assessment on our real situation in the global scene.

Foster observes: “It is only as we admit our wealth and quit trying to run from it that we are in a position to conquer it and use it for God’s good purposes.” (Money, Sex andPower, p. 33)

C. S. Lewis said to the church: “You and I have need of the strongest spell that can be found to wake us up from the evil enchantment of worldliness.” (From The Weight ofGlory)

Some of us have so many possessions that we rent storage space somewhere to keep our extra stuff. It is a known fact that the United States has sunk two feet under the weight of all the storage units that are full of our extra things.

So to every modern person who has more stuff than he knows what to do with, Jesus says, “Wake up! Your life does not consist in having a lot of things.”

Well then, what does life consist of?

Well, as I understand the Bible, the answer to that question is this: Life consists of relationships and choices – a right relationship with God and others, and a right use of the gifts God has given.

We will return to this idea in a few minutes.

The story in Luke 12 continues.

Verses 16-19. 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.” ‘

So far the man sounds just like the average Brethren in Christ laborer or business or professional person who has worked for 45 years and has a reasonable retirement package.

So far the man sounds like an illustration straight from John Maxwell’s seminars. Raise the lid. Set higher goals for yourself. Develop your ability to go to a new level of success.

But let’s look at the story again. What is the obvious feature about the man’s pep talk to himself? It is his use of personal pronouns: I, my, and myself. There’s more “I” in this man’s speech than in any other parable Jesus told.

The rich man’s attitude is this.

It’s all about me!

William Barclay, Bible scholar from England, says: “The man’s whole attitude was the reverse of Christianity.” (The Gospel of Luke, p. 168)

When the man asked, “What am I to do with all my increase?” it never entered his mind to give any of it away. It’s all about me – which is a fatal philosophy, as we shall see.

In the man’s comments we meet up with an important word: BIGGER.

I began this message by referring to the word “big” – and now we meet the word again, this time in its comparative form. Bigger. Bigger crops mean bigger barns. If big is good, bigger is better.

All of which leads to an important question: Is it wrong to build a bigger house or barn?

We hope not, because if it is wrong, then many (maybe most) of the people in this room are in deep trouble with God.

And as I understand the Bible, the answer to this question is: maybe yes, maybe no. So much depends on the attitude of the heart. What about the attitude of this man’s heart?

Verse 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?’

So here we learn about the inner life of this man. He had a BIG problem: He left God out of his life. He was totally self-sufficient.

He should have remembered Deuteronomy Chapter 8, which says:

When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God…remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth… (v. 10, 11 and 18.)

So God has a word for this man.

You fool! You have left God out of your thinking. You have lived for this life only instead of living in light of eternity. So your life is over, as of this very night.

Perhaps you have seen this bumper sticker: He who dies with the most toys wins. Well, it’s not true. If you must put something on your bumper, I would suggest this as a revised version of that sticker: He who dies with the most toys still dies and takes no toys with him. A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

Randy Alcorn, in his book The Treasure Principle points out that we will part with our money. The only question is when? (P. 49)

You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead.

We come now to the closing line of Jesus’ parable.

Verse 21. “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

This is how it will be with anyone, not just this particular farmer.

Do you remember the main point of this Scripture? It appeared back in verse 15: Beware of greed! And here we learn an important thing about greed.

Greed is no small thing. It has serious consequences – deadly consequences – eternal consequences. Greed brings God’s judgment. This is how it will be for anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.

Rich toward God – let’s think about what that phrase might mean.

First of all, it involves a whole new idea of ownership. It means seeing everything I “own” as being on loan from God himself – and seeing myself as accountable to God for how I manage his gifts and resources.

As Randy Alcorn says; “We don’t own the store. We just work here!” (The TreasurePrinciple, p. 74)

The man in the parable made no attempt to ask God what he should do with his life or his newly acquired wealth. In contrast to that, the God-honoring person seeks God’s will for all of life’s decisions, including decisions about money. Seeking God’s direction in all my decisions.

It is a natural to want to get good things for yourself. But Jesus calls us to a new and higher way of living – to live for others – to find joy in giving. To be rich toward God means that I care more about giving than getting.

To quote Randy Alcorn again, he offers this principle to live by: “God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving.” (The Treasure Principle, p. 73)

Jesus calls us to seek first the kingdom of God. No one claims that that is an easy thing to do! There are so many competing interests. But if I call out to God, he can work a deep inner change in me, so that I will care more about the kingdom of God than about increasing my own material possessions. These are the things it means to be rich toward God.

Martin Luther said: “I have held many things in my hands and have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.”

We have been seeing that the Bible warns about the dark side of money and wealth. But that is not the only word in the Bible on these subjects.

The Bible also teaches that there is another side to money – a light or good side.

Money, or wealth, is also regarded as a blessing from God, as we saw in the verses from Deuteronomy. Money can be used to bless other people and, even more startling, can be a means of enhancing our relationship with God!

So let’s think about the opposite of greed. What would you say is the opposite of greed?

Here’s one answer.

Contentment. The Apostle Paul lived a life of contentment, as he describes in Philippians 4:12. I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. (The Message)

Contentment. G. K. Chesterton said: “There are two ways to get enough: One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less.” If that attitude spreads, it will kill the advertising industry!

Anthony Mello, a priest from India, tells this story. A rich industrialist from the North India was horrified to find a southern fisherman lying leisurely beside his boat.

“Why aren’t you fishing?” asked the industrialist.

“Because I’ve caught enough fish for the day,” said the fisherman.

“Why don’t you catch some more?”

What would I do with them?”

You could earn more money,” said the industrialist. “With that you could fix a motor on your boat, go into deeper waters and catch more fish. Then you would make enough to buy nylon nets. These would bring you more fish and more money. Soon you would have enough money to own two boats…maybe even a fleet of boats. Then you would be a rich man like me.”

“What would I do then?”

“Then you could really enjoy life.”

And the fisherman said/ “What do you think I am doing right now?”

(Told by Earl Martin in Basic Trek: Venture Into A World of Enough, Herald Press, 2002.)

Contentment – the opposite of greed. Here is another opposite of greed.

Generosity. Finding delight in giving your money away to bless others, help the poor and help spread the gospel.

Giving is a spiritual activity, even a part of spiritual warfare. Gordon Cosby, founder of the Church of the Saviour in Washington, D. C., has said that “to give away money is to win a victory over the dark powers that oppress us.”

(Quoted by Richard Foster in Money, Sex and Power, p. 36.)

Generosity. Mark, a Kentucky attorney, gives away half of his income each year.

(The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn, p. 31)

How much do you give away? And with what attitude?

You do not have to go on living in the grip of greed. You can live in contentment and generosity.

Here again is the philosophy of the man in this parable. It’s all about me – a deadly philosophy – his case, deadly literally.

But let’s look at his philosophy with different eyes. Is there anything that can be redeemed out of this philosophy? – any way of looking at it in a positive way? I think there is.

Stewardship is a matter of managing all of life under the lordship of Christ.

So, in the highest level of meaning, “It’s about me” means that it’s up to me to manage my life and my resources for God. No one else can do it for me. I am directly responsible for the choices I make.

Stewardship is all about my accountability to God. I can manage my life for self and things – and miss out on everything that is really worthwhile. Or I can manage my life for God and his kingdom purposes – and find joy and fulfillment that will last forever.

It’s up to me. It’s up to you. What are you doing with your life?

As you walk through life, you will find many things clamoring for your attention and your money. Greed may shout at you in obvious ways…

…through the increase of your wealth…or as you walk through the malls of Canada…or the malls of USA. Or it may whisper to you in more subtle ways.

But because of the Spirit of Christ living in you, you don’t have to live for things. You can live for the kingdom of God, which is eternal.

So how are we going to respond to the messages we have found in the parable of the rich fool? Here are two questions to guide your thinking.

What is God saying to me about greed? “Beware of greed” is his warning to everyone. But this is also a personal question, and only you can answer it for you. I am sure that if you ask this question sincerely, God will have something to say to you.

And the second question is this: What steps can I take to be rich in God’s sight?

I suggested four things that this might mean, and there may be other things that God will say to you.

Because you live in middle class North America, you have some tremendous opportunities to bless other people with your wealth. God gets personal when he speaks to us, so don’t be surprised if he tells you some very specific and definite things to do with your money, your things and your life.

Ask him to make you rich in his sight, rich in the things that really matter in the kingdom of God.

Let us pray:

God, we thank you for all the blessings you have poured out upon us – spiritual blessings in Christ, and blessings in material abundance. Open our eyes so that we will not be deceived by greed and the abundance of things we possess. Help us to live as responsible managers, knowing that some day soon we will give an account to you for the choices we have made about life and our abilities and our money and possessions. Help us to love you and your eternal kingdom more than the things of this life, which will soon pass away. Jesus, Lamb of God, you alone are worthy to receive power and wealth, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and praise, forever! Amen.

WELCOME

It's About Me (Week 4)

A Stewardship Development Tool

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It's About Me
(Week 4)