Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Luke 12:13-21
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  August 25, 2019

Turn of the century author, Ambrose Bierce said, “Money is the chief god of America’s leading religion.” Do you think he was right? Others would argue that the driving force in our country is not freedom, but greed. Are they right? When someone asks about your self-worth, are they concerned about your self-esteem and your contribution to society or are they asking how much money you’re worth? Would you agree that humanly speaking, our primary pursuits are one, security and two, pleasure? And wouldn’t you also agree that what most people believe solves fulfills those two pursuits is lots of money? 

In our lesson today from Luke chapter 12, believe it or not, we’re not going to talk about money. Money is part of what’s going on here, but that’s not what Jesus is concerned about. He’s concerned about the meaning of life. He’s concerned about the heart, about how we view this life, because it directly impacts the life to come. This is not a stewardship issue. This isn’t a money issue. This is a heart issue. This is a trust issue. And just like we want to invest our time and our talents wisely, today we ask the Holy Spirit to help us invest our heart and our trust wisely. We ask him today to help us Invest Wisely in True Riches.

As we find Jesus today, we find him surrounded by a crowd of many thousands. During this entire chapter, Jesus is addressing the people’s fears, anxiety, and security. Right before our lesson, Jesus has just spoken words of great comfort to the crowd about how important they are in God’s eyes.  Jesus will go on in the verses following to remind them again how important they are and not to worry because God will provide for them. But sandwiched right in between those two sections of comfort are some words of warning; very stark and powerful words. “Someone from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But Jesus said to him, “Man, who appointed me to be a judge or an arbitrator over you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out and be on guard against all greed, because a man’s life is not measured by how many possessions he has.”

It wasn’t uncommon for people to address a respected Rabbi to settle a dispute concerning the law.  The Rabbi’s were known to be experts on the law. But Jesus saw that there was a larger problem looming than a divided inheritance.  Jesus saw a heart issue. Jesus saw the greed that filled this man’s heart and really every single heart, and so that’s the problem that he addresses.

What is greed?  In the Greek, the word used for greed comes from the word for more.  It has the sense of someone saying, More, More, More.  That’s what the man wanted.  He wanted more, more, more. The question is why? Why is it that we always want more, more, more? That’s the question that Jesus wants us to answer as we listen to his parable. “The land of a certain rich man produced very well. He was thinking to himself, ‘What will I do, because I do not have   anywhere to store my crops?’ He said, ‘This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and goods. And I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry.”’ 

What’s the problem here? Doesn’t this sound all very reasonable? Doesn’t it sound somewhat idyllic? Isn’t it what many of us are doing to…working hard, saving up for retirement, for those golden years? Don’t we in some ways wish we could be like this man? Haven’t we  sung with Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof, “If I were a rich man…” Don’t we think like Tevye, when told that money is the world’s curse, he said, “May the Lord smite me with it and may I never recover.”? The problem is not the man saving for the future. In fact, that’s a wonderful use of God’s gifts. The problem isn’t investing that money in his business. Solomon says in proverbs, “He who gathers money little by little makes it grow.” The problem is not with enjoying the pleasures of this life. Solomon again said in our First Lesson, “There is nothing better for a man than to eat and to drink and to find joy in his work. This too, I saw, is from God’s hand.” 

The man’s problem in this parable is that he had invested foolishly. All of his security, the solution to his fears and anxiety, in short, all of his trust was invested in his money and his possession rather than in God. Exactly the opposite to what Paul tells us in our Second Lesson when he says, “Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.” This man had his heart, his trust squarely set on earthly things, not on things from above. He never perceived that what he had was a gift from God. Yet, notice how Jesus describes it. “The land of a certain rich man produced very well.” The land produced well, not the rich man. That land would have produced nothing without the blessing of God in sending rain and giving sunshine. 

Think about it, how much control do we really have over our own life? Despite the impact that we perceive, the choices that we make, how much control do we really have? Even what we think is most intimately ours–our very own soul–is only on loan from God and can be demanded at any time. This rich man certainly thought he was in control. His trust was in himself and in his wealth.  “He was thinking to himself, ‘What will I do, because I do not have anywhere to store my crops?’ He said, ‘This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and goods. And I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry.”’ Look how self-centered he is! How many times does that word “I” or “my” appear? How does God respond? But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your soul will be demanded from you. Now who will get what you have prepared?’ That is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” 

This is the problem that Jesus is dealing with, both with his original hearers and with us. This is one of life’s greatest questions, “Where am I putting my trust?” “Money can help you to get medicines but not health. Money can help you to get soft pillows, but not sound sleep. Money can help you to get material comforts, but not eternal bliss. Money can help you to get ornaments, but not beauty. Money will help you to get an electric earphone, but not natural hearing. Attain the supreme wealth, wisdom, and you will have everything.” Sounds like somebody who gets it, right? Those words were spoken by Benjamin Franklin. While Franklin believed in good morals, he wasn’t what we would call a confessional Christian. Yet, even he realized that trust in things was misplaced. And we saw that in more recent history too. In the roaring 20’s many Americans became quite rich as the stock market rose to unprecedented heights. But all of that came to an end on one nightmarish October Monday, 1929. On that day the Stock Market crashed setting of the Great Depression, and many investment bankers and stockbrokers lost everything they had. The sidewalks on Wall Street were spotted with blood as newly impoverished businessmen jumped out of their office windows to their death. Those people jumped for religious reasons. Their god had failed them in their hour of need. They thought their money would always be with them, that it would always protect them and defend them. Only after it was gone did they realize, much to their despair, that their pursuit of worldly riches as a meaningless endeavor, like chasing after the wind. If your god is yourself, if your god is money, you too will soon realize that your god will fail you.

But there is a God that will not fail us. God has given us true riches in his Son and in his Word and Sacraments. These riches are spiritual riches that do not fade or decay.  These are riches that never ever fail us. God sent his Son Jesus to free us from our debt to sin and to make us rich with the blessings of his righteousness. God has made us rich by giving us the water of life, his word, and by giving us his Son as we eat his body and drink his blood in the Lord’s Supper. God has made us rich by dwelling in us through the Holy Spirit and strengthening our faith every time we are in contact with his Word. We are rich toward God because we he has made us rich. Because of his promises, because of his gifts in Word and Sacrament, we can always depend on our God! Our security is not found in something temporal or temporary. Our trust is placed in the timeless eternal promises of our Savior. Jesus promises blessings on those who gather around his Word.  He promises to be with us as we worship and as we study. He promises to give us whatever we ask in his name and according to his will. Jesus promises that he is preparing a place for us in heaven. Not a conditional place but a place guaranteed by his death and resurrection.  

Put your trust in your Savior. Find your security in his Word. Invest Wisely in True Riches and you will achieve the supreme wealth and wisdom that Christ has won for us. You will have everything! Amen.