Key Verse: "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?"
Luke 12:20
This parable is seen very differently depending on your
social status. If you are poor, you may be tempted to give a cheer because God
punished the rich man for being greedy and selfish. If you are more affluent,
you may be tempted to think that God is being unfair. After all, the man planted the field, he
obviously took good care of it, why doesn't he deserve to enjoy the fruits of
his labor? In both views, we see the truth of Paul's statement: "For the
love of money is a root of all kinds of evil." (1
Timothy 6:10)
Who are you, poor man, to delight in the suffering of your
fellow man because he has been more fortunate than you in this life? Your delight is evil in God's eyes. Have you
not been told to "mourn with those who mourn?" (Romans
12:15B)
You who are blessed financially, why do you withhold from
those in need? How do you know that your blessing is for you alone? Have you
ever considered that you have been blessed to be a blessing to others? To
withhold from those who are in need, is that not also evil?
This parable is evidently Jesus’ way of responding to both
types of people. The complainer that led to this parable, is like the poor man
who believes that he has been cheated by his brother. He believes that Jesus
will be on his side because, surely, Jesus can see that he has been treated
unfairly by his brother. However, if the brother happens to be the oldest, then
he isn't being unfair at all. In Jewish law, the oldest brother would receive
half of the inheritance, along with the headaches, and the rest would be
divided among the other siblings. While this brother may have received the
correct amount, so it wasn't really unfair, he could still share, especially if
he knew that the one who was complaining was in need.
The issues here are really greed, and planning for a future
that may never be. Both men are being greedy in their own way. The poor man is
coveting what the other man has. The rich man is planning on how to be lazy in an unbiblical kind of rest, hording, rather than sharing
and trusting God to supply again, if there is a future.
They are both sacrificing relationship for the sake of money.
Over and over in scripture, God calls us to be generous with what we have, to
build others up for the sake of relationship. Conversely, over and over, God
calls us to be content with what we have so as to not damage the relationships
that we already enjoy. In both cases, we behave badly when we do not keep our
future end in view.
James says it well: "Why you do not even know what will
happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little
while and then vanishes." (James 4:14-15) We have only a moment, in god's
time, to do what we can for Him. We can only affect those with whom we foster
relationships. Chasing after money, by either hording or coveting, is a
distraction from what we were put here to do. Job said: "Naked I came from
my mother's womb, and naked I will depart." (Job
1:21) So it is with us. All you can take with you are those you have led to
Christ. What is earthly gain in comparison to that?
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