Then Jesus told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself., ‘Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!” But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.” (Luke 12.13-21)
As we have seen and will continue to see, one of the principal themes throughout the Gospel of Luke is that of Jesus’ concern for the poor. It is often put in contrast with his cautioning people about the danger of having many possessions. For Luke, the poor includes not only those with limited material goods, but also those who are ostracized or treated badly by society.
We are given early notice of this spotlight on the poor at the start of his gospel when he has Mary explain to her cousin Elizabeth that God “has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness” and that “he has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly,” and “the hungry he has filled with good things, while the rich he has sent away empty.” With those opening verses, we can expect to see the fulfillment of these words in the words and works of Jesus of Nazareth.
It is in keeping with this same emphasis that the birth of Jesus as told by Luke is witnessed by poor shepherds in the fields, not by magi from the East bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh as Matthew tells the story. Similarly, in Luke’s version of the beatitudes, Jesus says, “Blessed are you who are poor,” whereas Matthew has Jesus say, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” a clear differentiation in content and in caste.
Only Luke shares the story of the rich man and Lazarus, one of the most famous of Jesus’ parables, a cautionary tale if there ever was one, presenting the destiny of the selfish rich as one of eternal torment while the poor, epitomized in the beggar Lazarus, can expect to find comfort near the throne of the Most High God.
So it should come as no surprise that we find another parable particular to Luke in today’s reading that emphasizes the same message of the danger of many possessions. It is often referred to as the parable of the rich fool, the title coming from God’s chastisement of the rich man in the story, calling him “you foolish one.” It fits smoothly into the storyline that Luke develops in his gospel where the rich find their reward on earth and where the poor find their reward in heaven.
In a matter of a few verses, the story encapsulates the threat that having many possessions poses to the wealthy and postulates the errant thinking of the rich who believe that their material goods will provide safe harbor for them. I would like to look at several key points in the story, each one offering us both insight and foresight, urging us not to be blinded by the allure of wealth.
As we look at the start of the story, we are told that the rich man had a bountiful harvest. So, he is already rich and more riches have come his way. Given his bounty, what does he decide to do? His first thought is to keep it all for himself. His problem, as he sees it, is that he doesn’t have enough space to store the crop, so the only solution is to tear down his barns in order to build bigger ones.
That single verse allows us to see into the thinking of the rich man who is fueled by greed. He is not satisfied with what he already has, but wants bigger and better. Failing to see that he already has more than enough, he only wants more. And he takes action to see that he is able to have more, going so far as to tear down a perfectly good barn in order to have a larger space in which to store his bounty.
That attitude of the rich man puts before us the question of when is enough enough. I remember a lawyer who began his college course on ethics and the law with a similar question to his students. He asked them, “When is enough money enough?” In many ways, it is the most critical question for a culture such as our own in which having more is the motif of life for so many.
When having more is the quest of life, then we are left to decide if and when we ever have enough. Is there a certain dollar amount in our minds that will mean we are satisfied, or will we never be satisfied regardless of how much we have, our want for more as limitless as the rich man in the gospel whose answer is bigger barns, not sharing his surplus with others who have less?
A second point in the story is the man’s attitude towards the future. He wants a life for himself where he can enjoy every pleasure. We hear him say to himself, “I have so many good things stored up for many years, so rest, eat, drink, be merry.” Apparently, for him, this is the good life. It was a popular saying, found in two different Hebrew scriptures, the Book of Ecclesiastes and the Book of the Prophet Isaiah.
It also reflected the mindset of the Epicurean philosophers of Greece who maintained that pleasure is the ultimate good and primary goal of life. Given that position, one’s own happiness and satisfaction become the guideposts of life, directing and motivating an individual to choose these destinations over others that would not bring the same satisfactions.
Obviously, life goals such as these end up being very self-centered, one’s own pleasures the ruling force in one’s life, little to no consideration given to the needs and wants of others. The parable of the rich man who dines on sumptuous meals while Lazarus sits starving at the man’s doorstep epitomizes this same selfish attitude, the rich man growing fat on good foods while Lazarus’ body weakens and withers away from lack of nourishment.
Here in the parable of the rich fool, we see another point that Jesus consistently makes and that is the transitoriness of all material things. It is the voice of the Most High God who makes the point most clearly, saying to the rich fool, “This night your life will be demanded of you, and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?”
The answer to the question posed by God is an easy one. All the material goods that the rich fool has accumulated over the years will not follow him to the other side of death, but instead will be dispersed and disappear in other people’s hands. To believe otherwise is as foolish as the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs that were filled with gold and jewels and other possessions as if they might be of some use to the dead pharaoh, now a mummy encased in a stone box.
It is often said that there are no moving vans in a funeral procession, an indisputable truism. However big our barns and however full our treasure chests, none of it follows us into eternity. Far wiser was Job who acknowledged that “naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked I will return there.” Even the fancy duds that we wear in our caskets will deteriorate and disintegrate as surely as our bodies do.
All of which brings us to the next point in the story, found at the end when Jesus says, “Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.” As we can see, there are two parts in the phrase, each in opposition to the other. The first part presents the selfish person who has built storehouses and has filled storage units with material goods, piled high to the ceilings, proof of what mattered to the person.
The second part topples this heap of accumulated wealth by stating that none of it matters to God. One can be filthy rich in the eyes of the world, winning the favor of men, but it does not guarantee the same favor from God who believes other things are far more important than a barn filled with grain. Our gold rolexes and our diamond rings may impress the people around us, but won’t mean a thing to the Most High God.
What matters to God is the opposite of storing up treasure for ourselves. Although the story does not spell out in detail what matters to God, the fact that Jesus tells the story should give us unquestionable assurance of those things important to the God of the heavens. They are found in the words and in the works of Jesus whose life presents a clear picture of the priorities of God.
Looking at Jesus’ days on earth, it is safe to say that care and concern for others is at the top of the list. We find him reaching out and helping others in whatever way he could, more often than not at a sacrifice to himself. He offered the servant as a model for his followers, urging them to serve others as he had served others. He went so far as to argue that love of others was equal to love of God and there could not be one without the other.
So, if we want to know what matters to God, then we need look no further than Jesus’ words to lay down our lives for others, connoting actions that put the well-being of others ahead of our own well-being, shifting our focus from ourselves to the person in front of us, requiring us to share what we have with those who have less or little. Instead of building bigger barns, we build up people, giving them a chance for a fuller life.
When all is said and done, perhaps the most important phrase in the whole story is found in the shocking words spoken by God to the rich man. “You fool,” he says to him. Then as now, the word fool is a pejorative term, implying that the person called by that name has acted unwisely or without intelligence. Apparently, according to God’s measure of a man, the rich man was exactly that–a fool. Why? Because he spent his life on foolish pursuits, seeking more wealth, bigger barns, and a sumptuous table.
Not a single time did the rich man seem to show a bit of concern for someone other than himself. Everything he did was for himself and for his own betterment, blind to the well-being and welfare of others around him. Nothing else mattered but his own happiness and securing those things in life that would ensure his contentment.
As a result of his misplaced priorities and his willful blindness, God calls him a fool. Luke puts the word fool in Jesus’ mouth on only three occasions in his gospel. In Luke 11.40, Jesus calls the Pharisees fools for the same reason that he did the rich man, the Pharisees also proving their misplaced priorities by their actions. The third time is at the end of the gospel when the Risen Lord chides the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, telling them that they are foolish because they are slow of heart to believe in the resurrection.
In each instance, it is a painful admonition, an indictment of how far off base a person has gotten. It is never a good thing to be called a fool by Jesus. As we listen to the rich man being called a fool by him, we may want to brace ourselves, particularly if our priorities also are out of whack, deciding here and now to change our ways because if there is one thing we don’t want to hear from the Most High God at the end of our lives, it is the words “you fool!”
–Jeremy Myers
Sunday Brunch 