BEYOND WORDS – THE PARABLE OF THE RICH FOOL

Scott Bullman 

Luke 12:13-21 

13Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” 16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ 21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
“Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good…he came to make dead people alive.” – Skip Heitzig

15 And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

“Take care and be on guard against all covetousness!!”

Gen 4:7 (NLT) – “Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”

“Never judge your self-worth by your net-worth” – Rick Warren

THE PARABLE

16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully,

The issue is not how much stuff you have…but does your stuff have you.

“The Christian life is not a vow to poverty…but it is a vow to generosity.”
– Nick Floyd.

You make a living by what you get, you make a life by what you give.

“God doesn’t bless us to raise our standard of living, he blesses us to raise our standard of giving” – Dr. Jerry Falwell

17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’
18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

• It’s not a BARN ISSUE…it’s a HEART ISSUE.
• Good stewardship is now turning to GREED.

GREED

Chuck Swindoll identifies 5 Types of Greed
1. MONEY
2. THINGS
3. FAME – an inordinate desire to be known, to be seen, to be recognized in public, to be influential and powerful.
4. PLEASURE – satisfying one’s sensual desires.
5. SECRET GREED – where we entertain excessive and inordinate desires for the good things in life because of another’s achievement.

And it leaves us wanting more and more.

• When asked how much it will take to make you happy, Howard Hughes, one of the wealthiest and most influential men of his day, said “Just a little more.”

The Pursuit for More is…

• Exhausting

Most people give up their health in the first half of their life to get money. And the second half of their life they spend all of their money to try and get their health back.
Proverbs 23:4 (NLT) – “Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to know when to quit.”

• Expensive

Ecc. 5:11 (NLT) – “The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers!”

We think we don’t make enough. The problem is we want too much.

“A lot of the things we think are needs are actually just GREEDS. God promises to supply all our NEEDS…not our GREEDS.” – Rick Warren

• Explosive

Proverbs 15:27 (NLT) – “Greed brings grief to the whole family…”

o 1 Tim 6:9 (NLT) – “People who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.”

• Endless

We are addicted to upgrades.

o You can buy happiness…for a short period of time.

Ecc. 5:10 (ESV) – “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.”

19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’

“Greed is an unquenchable desire for more that comes from discontentment. Being content with what you have releases you from the bondage of greed. Contentment frees you up to enjoy what God has given you.” – Chuck Swindoll

1 Timothy 6:6-8 (NKJV) – “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.”

Philippians 4:12 (NIV) – “I have learned the SECRET of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

The Secret to Contentment – (Rick Warren)

1. Stop comparing yourself to others
• DESIRE is not wrong…UNCONTROLLED DESIRE is.
• DON’T COVET – Comparing always leads to coveting.

2. Enjoy what you have
• God wants you to enjoy life.
Ecc. 5:19 (NLT) – “It is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God.”

3. Focus on what will last forever

The rich fool totally lost sight of…

• The Brevity of Life
19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”

• His Own Mortality
20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you,

• You can’t take it with you.
“…and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’

Two things that will last forever:

1. The Word of God

2. People
“Matthew 6:19-20 (NKJV) – “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

• The rich fool laid up treasure for himself, trading GOD for GOLD…and as a result, lost his soul.

• Mark 8:36 (NKJV) – “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?”

• You may have a lot to live on…but do you have a lot to live for?

This parable is about money…but really, it’s not about money at all.

This story is not about inheritance…but in reality, it’s all about inheritance.
2 Corinthians 8:9 (NIV) “ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”