“Watch out! Be on your guard
against all kinds of greed;
a man’s life does not consist in
the abundance of his possessions.”

I saw a bumper sticker which read, “The person with the most toys, wins.”  Is that a fair definition of the good life?

I want you to picture in your mind what would your dream life consist of?

What kind of house would you be living in? What kind of car would you be driving?  If you had to work, what kind of job would you be doing?  For anyone who buys lottery tickets this shouldn’t be very hard to do.

Do you think you would be happy in this dream life?

How would that life be better than the life that you are living right now?

Would the warning in this morning's gospel story apply to your dream life,

“Watch out! Be on your guard
against all kinds of greed;
a man’s life does not consist in
the abundance of his possessions.”

Personally I am glad Luke chose to include this story in the gospel he wrote about Jesus.  I am glad because the issues of inheritance and saving and investing for the future are very real issues.

How many families have be torn apart, how many wills have been contested, how many times has a loved one gone before a judge or a lawyer making the same request as the one brother who went to Jesus?  The answer is countless times.

The petitioner, in the gospel, was not asking Jesus to be an arbitrator.  He was ordering Jesus to carry out his wishes.  Whether you think the person was right or wrong depends on whose glasses you are looking at the story with. If you are wearing the glasses of the brother who has the inheritance you will say he is wrong BUT if you are wearing the glasses of brother who wants some of the inheritance you will think he is right.

Some people say Jesus responded by showing indifference to legal justice.  The truth is that Jesus was not showing indifference.  Jesus chose to judge a greater issue, the heart of the petitioner.  The truth Jesus is proclaiming is that there is greater gain than getting an inheritance and a greater loss than losing it.

“Watch out! Be on your guard
against all kinds of greed;
a man’s life does not consist in
the abundance of his possessions.”

Jesus expounds on this truth by offering the parable of the rich man.

In the rich man we can see signs of Old Testament Israel and we can see signs of today’s culture.  The signs I refer to are the refusal to see what God has done and the lack of interest to thank Him.

If you look at this parable through worldly glasses you are apt not to see anything wrong with what the rich man did.  As a matter of fact it is a problem today that many people  wish they had more money, more possessions than they know what to do with.

While most people would say they are not being faced with the rich man’s problem of having too much, we are however faced with the question, “What shall I do with the money, the possessions I do have?

We answer the question in a similar way.  We buy bigger homes.  We buy better cars, computers.  We save for our children’s college education.  We put money in CDs, in IRAs.  We invest for the future.  We plan for retirement. Basically we prepare for life before death.

Is it possible Jesus would say the same thing to us that he said to the rich man?

“You fool!”

Why would Jesus make such a comment?

Why, because we DID NOT prepare for life after death.  We accumulated wealth only to enrich self.  Therefore we will enter eternal life empty handed.

“The fallen world does not honor God. Millions call themselves by His name and pay some token of respect to Him, but a simple test will show how little God is really honored among them.  Let the average man be put to the proof on the question of who or what is above and his true position will be exposed.

Let him be forced into making a choice between God or money, God or men, God and personal ambition, God and self, God and human love.  God will take second place every time.  However man may protest, the proof is in the choices he makes day after day through out his life.”  A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

“Watch out! Be on your guard
against all kinds of greed;
a man’s life does not consist in
the abundance of his possessions.”

If abundant life for you will be the product of more consumption you are no different than the petitioner and the rich man.  If you think winning the lottery will be the answer to all your dreams, if you think more possessions will bring happiness just look at the disastrous stories of movie stars, athletes, and past lottery winners.  They clearly reveal the truth that the good life is not about possessions it is all about a living relationship with God and doing His work.

The general principle behind Jesus’ parable is that the one who treasures up for self is not gathering for God.  Along with this general principle come two warnings.

1. The desire for material things will prove insatiable.

2. Dreams of abundant life will never be achieved through accumulation of surpluses.

When you stand before God at life’s end, what will be God’s response to you.  With a broken heart will He say,

“You fool!”

or will he say,

“Well done, good and faithful servant.”

You and I determine what that response will be, by the decisions we make today with regards to how we will spend our life.

Amen