Remember these are only notes, so please don’t expect good grammar, good sentence structure and correct spelling! (Remember too that British spelling is not the same as American spelling.)

LUKE 12:4-34.  PARABLE OF RICH FOOL - DANGERS OF MATERIALISM.

Luke 12:15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

Card with food for thought:

“In 1923, a very important meeting was held at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago.  Attending this meeting were nine of the world’s most successful financiers.  Those present were:  The president of the largest independent steel company; the president of the largest utility company; the president of the largest gas company;  the president of the New York Stock Exchange; a member of the president’s cabinet;  head of the world’s greatest monopoly; president of the Bank of International Settlements. They were  men who had found the secret of “making money.”  Twenty-five years later let’s see where these men are:

The president of the largest independent steel company  Charles Schwab  died bankrupt and lived on borrowed money for five years before his death; the president of the largest utility company  Samuel Insull  died a fugitive from justice and penniless in a foreign land; the president of the largest gas company  Howard Hospson  is now deranged; the greatest wheat speculator  Arthur Cutten  died abroad  insolvent; the president of the New York Stock Exchange  Richard Whitney  was recently released from Sing Sing prison; the member of the president’s cabinet  Albert Fall  and the president of the Bank of International Settlements  Leon Fraser  both commited suicide.” (Quotation taken from Bible Illustrator).

The comment on card:

“All of these men learned well the art of making money but not one of them learned how to live.”

Harry Emerson Fosdick, ‘The Hope of the World’, p. 43:

‘The deepest hell that some of us could ever fall into would be to have everything to live with, and nothing to live for.’  

Voltaire said

“In regard to God there are many religions”  ‘in regard to money everyone has the same religion want more and more’

Millionaire wants another million.

Communist, capitalist, unionist, nationalist,  socialist, fascist, - more money.

What wins the election?

which party can make us better off.

Spiritual issues get left in second or third place.

Irony: if we neglect spiritual values, our country's economy and wealth will one day collapse.

Jesus tells us to be on our guard against the spirit of acquisitiveness.

•           it is v. Dangerous,

•           it dehumanises,

•           costs our peace of mind,

•           and most serious of all, it will lead to the eternal loss of our soul in hell.

So 3 pieces of advice.

1. 4-12. Don’t be intimidated by threats to your material existence.

          be more concerned about your eternal destiny.

2. Don’t look for security in your material possessions but in your inheritance in heaven.

3. Don’t be anxious about your material needs.

So:1. Don’t be intimidated, by the threats of men.

4 “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 but I will show you whom you should fear: fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.

Materialism affects my attitude to myself.

It tells us that all there is of me is this body of flesh and bone.

So: Death is simply chemical decomposition.

So: The worst thing that can happen to me is death.

So: I should be afraid of people who can kill me - and if necessary give up my faith.

Jesus is saying - this is wrong, there is a fate worse than death - hell.

So now the promise:  

Do not be afraid!

6 are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7 indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

So Jesus counterbalances warning with assurance.

Without turning us into puppets God is doing his best

-          using both warning and assurance -

-          to prepare us for heaven using all means he can.

The love of God  and  the wrath of God brought together on cross where Jesus died for sinners such as all of us.

                   ultimately that is the only hope for any of us.

Starts like this:      

13 someone in the crowd said to him, “teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 Jesus replied, “man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 then he said to them, “watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

Jesus had been talking about matters of eternity and this man simply wanted to change the subject to his own dispute about inheritance.

Money can cause great family trouble when someone dies!

Here is a man who cares much more about the division of the family estate, than about the eternal welfare of his own soul.

So Jesus tells this parable:

16 and he told them this parable: “the ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 he thought to himself, ‘what shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ 18 “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. 19 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.” ‘ 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?’ 21 “this is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

He saved up for his retirement.

Good pension scheme.

          nothing wrong with that - most of us who           are working have a pension scheme.

2 mistakes.

1. My possessions, soul, life.

He thought his life belonged to him and he owed no-one anything.

Someone has said, there are only two kinds of people:

1. Those who are out to make a better place for themselves in the world and

2  Those who are out to make the world a better place for others.

Our lives are only entrusted to us

And

One day our souls must return to their real owner

2. Too complacent about future.

how does he know he has many years?

We’re all confronted with deadlines! 

Essays and projects to be handed in. Thesis to be written.

Bills must be paid, licenses renewed, tax returns filed 

          - the list goes on and on.

One deadline we all face is of supreme importance, however.  - and that is the deadline spoken of in this parable.

Then we know that the only treasure worth having is treasure in heaven.

Robert Marshall, Storm from the East, (Genghis Khan) p. 61:

‘Genghis Khan, on his deathbed, was wrapped in blankets and shivering before a small fire. He was in a rage, saying: “my descendants will wear gold, they will eat the choicest meats, they will ride the finest horses, they will hold in their arms the most beautiful women, and they will forget to whom they owe it all.”

3.   Don’t be anxious about your material needs.

22 then Jesus said to his disciples: “therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23 life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24 consider the ravens: they do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!

27 “consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28 if that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, o you of little faith!

He is not saying all worry is sinful.

          It is not sinful to worry about the welfare of others.

When a mother is anxious about her child who is ill

                   - that is not a sin.

If you are afraid of heights or spiders or a mouse, that may be a little silly, but it isn’t a sin.

Sinful worry is:

Selfish worry that comes from materialistic view of life - that is what is wrong.

Don’t worry about your own health and wealth.

If you worry,

          worry about the right things.

Many worry about wearing clothes -   enormous amount of money spent on finery.

                   this diminishes humanity:

‘life is more than clothes and food.’

Jesus does not mean that we should not work for our living .....

A super spiritual raven who thought he did not need to look for food, would quickly starve.

Worrying is also futile.

25 who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 26 since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

When people feel depressed - What do they often do?

          Instead of turning to God they go out and spend more.

So

Make sure your life is focused around spiritual realities.

31 but seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. 32 “do not be afraid, little flock, for your father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (niv)

Seek his kingdom.

Your father is pleased to give you the kingdom.

Give to the needy.

Imagine - like Job - everything is stripped from you.

Stock market crash.

Lose car, video.

What one thing would you keep if you could?

          That is your treasure.

Get your priorities right.

          His promise is that you won’t be the looser.

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