Amy C Walters

The Parable of the Rich Fool | Luke 12:13-21

Greed can be hard to recognize in ourselves. When a man tells Jesus to make his brother share an inheritance, Jesus tells a parable about a rich man who wanted even more. Both the rich man in the parable and the man with the question make the same mistake–thinking that wealth and things can satisfy.

A man’s request to Jesus to make his brother share an inheritance with him seems reasonable. Jesus, instead of commanding they share, tells a parable about someone who already had so much but still wanted more. 

I think we can all agree that greed is a bad thing. Nobody wants to be known as greedy. No one wants to think of themselves as greedy.

But I also think that greed is something that’s really hard to recognize in ourselves, just like pride. It’s a whole lot easier to see it in someone else than to recognize the symptoms of it in our own hearts. That’s why we need to take stories like this seriously, and not just project them on to somebody else, but to say, what is Jesus saying about my own heart?

The man in the crowd who calls out to Jesus seems to have a reasonable request. “Tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” If you or I were the judge in this issue, we would probably rule in his favor, saying that the inheritance needs to be split. 

Jesus though chooses not to judge between them on this matter. Instead, he’s got a warning for them. A double warning, actually: “Watch out, be on your guard.” 

These warnings aren’t just aimed at the brother who kept all of the inheritance. It says that “he said to them.” So Jesus’ warnings about greed aren’t just for those who have it all. It’s also for those who want to have it all. 

Notice, too, that the warning is against “all kinds of greed.” Greed does not just come in one form. We think of it as the desire for money and for possessions. But greed can be about other things as well.

In the previous chapter, in Luke 11:37-52, Jesus speaks some stern words to the Pharisees. Among other things he calls them greedy. They tithe on mint and dill, the herbs of their garden, and yet they have no concern for the poor.

Jesus also says that they are greedy for honor, that they seek positions of honor and recognition from others. They are greedy for attention and for their reputation.

The experts of the law who are also there say, “Jesus, you’re insulting us with this too.” And Jesus just piles more on. He says to the experts that you are greedy for knowledge. You keep working to build up more knowledge, but you only use this to burden other people with. You keep them out of the kingdom because you’re not pointing them toward the free grace and mercy of God. Greed comes in many forms. 

Greed is not just a problem of the rich either. We noted that Jesus gives this warning to both brothers, the one who has nothing and the one who has kept the full inheritance. And you also have Jesus sharing a parable about a man who has way more than enough in answer to this man who feels like he doesn’t have enough. 

Dan Doriani, a theologian, points out that both men–the one in the parable and the one with the question–make the same mistake. And Jesus shows us what that mistake is in his next statement: “Life does not consist in the abundance of our possessions.” Life is more than what you have or what you want to have. 

Both of these men, the rich man in the parable and the man who wants the inheritance, think that if I just had this, then I’m all set. If I just have all of these crops in my big barns, I’m all set. If I just have my share of the inheritance, then I’m all set. I’ll be happy. It’ll be enough. 

But the problem with our idea of “enough” is that it tends to grow. Look at the parable. We’re told that this man is rich. Even before this good crop comes in, he is already wealthy. He’s got barns full of stuff. That’s why he has no room for his new crops because his barns are already full of what he has. 

So is he content and satisfied with what he has in his barns? No, he tears those down and builds bigger ones. His idea of what is enough grows when he gets more. He is never satisfied. He is forever pursuing the moving target of “enough.” 

There’s a famous story about a journalist who interviewed John D. Rockefeller, who was the first American billionaire. The journalist asked him, “How much money is enough?” Rockefeller’s famous response was, “Just a little bit more.” 

Countless psychology studies will tell you that we are hardwired to want more.

You think of the storage and organization industry. Why, when we look at houses, we want closets with lots of storage space. Why there are storage units filled with all of the stuff that we can’t even fit into our homes. We need more room for the more stuff that we’re constantly accumulating.

And in case you think it’s not a problem that touches you, consider if you’ve ever said or thought, “If I just had (blank), then I would be happy.” 

Personally, I have come under so much conviction while writing this story because I think that all the time. I have some pairs of shoes that are wearing out, and so I think, oh, if I just get this pair of shoes to replace those, then it’ll be enough. I’ve been in my house for just a little bit over a year, and there’s always more projects that I’m wanting to do because if I just paint this bathroom, then I’ll be content with my house. Or if I just add this piece of furniture or this lamp over here, then I’ll be happy with my house and I’ll be content and it’ll be enough. But it never is. 

It’s never just one thing. It’s this and this and this. Our hearts are about “and.” 

That’s why Jesus gives a double warning. “Watch out, be on your guard.” The command to be on your guard is not a one-time thing. It’s a state of being. It’s an ongoing battle against the desire for more. It’s almost like if we let our guard down, it’s going to creep in to us and start to direct our thoughts and our ideas. 

This idea of needing more even impacts our theology, our understanding of God. When we make life a pursuit of possessions, we turn God into someone who is just here to give us what we think we need. We turn him into a divine Santa Claus who just is looking for us to be nice, then he’ll give us all of the toys on our list. That’s not what God is here for. 

Our key truth for today is that we need to guard against greed. 

Even though we would know that life is more than our possessions, the desire for more so easily creeps into our hearts. We have marketing messages coming at us all day, every day telling us, if you just had this, then you would look amazing. If you just do this with your family, then you will all be happy and have everything you need. If you just decorate your house this way, then it’s going to look like a magazine. If you just have more, then you’ll be happy. 

Or you think about the American dream that tells us that we can have everything we want. And yet that dream is a constantly a moving target. I want to have the perfect job that satisfies me and makes me happy and gives me all the money that I want, pays really well, but doesn’t demand too much time. But then I also want to retire early so I don’t have to do that job I love anymore and I can do whatever I want. 

The American dream is just this hedonistic creed that’s repackaged. The rich man in the parable even says it: “eat, drink, and be merry.” That’s what hedonists pursue, that I’m just going to live for my own happiness. And the American dream is a thinly veiled disguise for it. 

Let’s think back to our previous story about Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet. Jesus said that “Mary has chosen the good portion, and it will not be taken away from her.” We talked about how it pointed back to Psalm 16 that said, God is my portion. I am satisfied in God. That won’t be taken away from her. 

This rich man who had pulled together everything that he wanted, all these things that he accumulated for himself, and God said, I’m going to take your life from you. And the man didn’t get to enjoy any of those things that he had accumulated because he lost his life.

When we pursue God most of all, and when we decide that he is enough, that can never be taken away from us. But to make God our one and only greatest pursuit, we have to guard against greed.