MANY TEACHINGS OF JESUS #31--- PHYSICAL RICHES?

 Physical Riches

The Teachings of Jesus

THE RICH FOOL by Pastor Monico G. Muffley There is a danger in having too much. Wealth has a high demand on one's time and energy to obtain it - and to maintain it as well. The end is found in wealth taking up one's total attention to reproduce it. It is so powerful that the influence it holds on a person can end up occupying one's entire focus and time and even potentially lead up to the person's love being directed toward the pleasure given by one's possessions. This includes one's wealth beginning to compete with God for the person's heart and affection, immobilizing this person from doing the mission he or she was called by Jesus to do.  We would do well to learn the lesson of the Rich Fool. The story can be found in Luke 12:13-20. Then one from the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." But He said to him, "Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?" Luke 12:13,14 The first thing we notice is that there is someone in the crowd of disciples asking Jesus to help him work a problem out; someone just looking for a little justice; an everyday person with needs. And who better could solve his problem than Jesus? But Jesus' response was not as one would expect: Take heed, and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. Luke 12:15 What?! Where's the justice?! If someone, even a brother, is taking advantage of you, shouldn't something be done about it? Fair is fair, is it not? But God sees life in a way most of us do not. As in His other parables, Jesus has something to teach here. In this parable, Jesus creatively develops a story of an extreme case to warn against a real danger in the normal day-to-day life. He uses this opportunity to teach the crowd before Him an important moral lesson. Then He spoke a parable to them, saying, "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. Luke 12:16 In the parable this "certain rich man" appears - Jesus' classic way of speaking of nobody in particular. It could be any rich person; could be Donald Trump; could be Bill Gates. Who the man is does not matter. What does matter is what the rich man represents. "And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?' 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. 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.'" Luke 12:17-19 In Jesus' typical, hyperbolic, storytelling fashion, the circumstance of this rich man is one of extreme overabundance. He is doing so well it is necessary to keep building bigger and better. We also see that this rich man is a shrewd business man. His intentions are probably of one of hoarding for his own gain. This is like a petroleum company that uses a time of national crisis to price gouge. But what might seem like a great business opportunity is damaging to and upsets the wellbeing of others. The people will curse him who withholds grain, but blessing will be on the head of him who sells it (Proverbs 11:26). The Bernie Madoffs of society take advantage of and profit from others for their self-promotion. Likewise, the man in Jesus' parable is only thinking of himself. Again we see that this rich man has only himself in mind as we see Jesus describing: And he thought within himself... He has no one - no son, no servant, no manager - to discuss these matters with. He holds this "dialogue" within himself. The man thinks to himself: "What shall I do since I have no room to store my crops?", "I will do this. I will pull down my barns... I will store all crops, and my goods", "And I will say to my soul..." His attitude is: "Me, me, me, me, me"; a man who is entirely full of himself. He even talks out loud to himself: "Soul, you... take your ease..." Jesus has him saying "soul" - with the meaning of "self" - to emphasize that the rich man is all alone. No heir, not even a slave like Abraham's Eliezer of Damascus (Genesis 15:1-3), to pass his inheritance on to. 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?" Luke 12:20 No one would like to be called a fool, much less by God. This kind of fool, ?onui (aphron), is not the moronic type of fool. Rather this type of fool holds no regard for the living God of the universe. It is the type of fool found in Psalm 14:1 and Psalm 53:1 - "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" He is called a fool because he is unaware that even his very self ("soul") belongs to God. He is called a fool because the things he possesses, the very ones he thought he had provided, will not be passed on to anyone he would desire to have them. The rich man in Jesus' parable is like the one in Ecclesiastes 6:2 who has everything but is not able to enjoy it. As Adam Clarke comments, "A man to whom God hath given riches - A man may possess much earthly goods, and yet enjoy nothing of them. Possession and fruition are not necessarily joined together; and this is also among the vanities of life. It is worthy of remark, that it belongs to God as much to give the power to enjoy as it does to give the earthly blessings." 3 In this way Jesus responded to the everyday, run-of-the-mill person in the crowd who wanted his fair share. And Jesus wrapped up by saying, "So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." Jesus was telling the person in the crowd not to be a fool. In contrast, he told the crowd of disciples: Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing... (Luke 12:22, 23ff). .......... From "Acts" magazine - July/August 2011 - a publication of the  General Council of the Churches of God (Seventh Day), Meridian, Idaho, USA. 1 Pastor Monico Muffley is the Pastor of the Church of God (Seventh) Day in Meridian, ID. 2 All scripture references are from the NKJV unless otherwise noted.  3 Clarke's Commentary on the Bible, "Ecclesiastes 6:2" .......... NOTE: PHYSICAL RICHES, GOODS AND MONEY, ARE NOT EVIL OR SIN PER SE. PEOPLE LIKE ABRAHAM AND JOB WERE PHYSICALLY RICH. IT IS WHAT YOU DO WITH WHAT YOU'VE GOT THAT IS THE KEY. SOMETIMES I PERSONALLY WISH I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS OR MORE IN THE BANK - THE HELP I COULD GIVE TO OTHERS WOULD BE GREAT, AS WELL AS SPREADING THE GOSPEL, YET TODAY WE ARE BLESSED BEYOND WORDS REALLY, IN HOW FREELY ON THE INTERNET AND YOUTUBE WE ARE GIVEN THE TIME AND SPACE TO PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL.  BEING PHYSICALLY RICH IS WONDERFUL IF YOU USE THOSE PHYSICAL RICHES TO SERVE AND HELP YOUR FELLOW MAN. IF YOU ARE RICH AND DO NOT USE THOSE RICHES AS GOD WOULD HAVE YOU, OR YOU GET CAUGHT UP IN THE SELFISH POWER OF THOSE RICHES, NOT IMPOSSIBLE. MATTHEW 19 AND THE RICH YOUNG MAN COMES TO MIND. READ IT - MATTHEW 19:16-26. ONE FINE EXAMPLE I REMEMBER FROM ABOUT 15 YEARS AGO. THIS OLDER MAN IN VANCOUVER, B.C. SOLD SOME LAND, FOUND HIMSELF WITH 20 MILLION DOLLARS. HE WAS ALREADY WELL OFF. HE DID NOT NEED THE MONEY. HIS 5 CHILDREN WERE WELL OFF AND DOING JUST FINE. HE CALLED THEM ALL AND ASKED THEM IF IT WAS FINE WITH THEM THAT HE GAVE AWAY 98% OF THIS 20 MILLION DOLLARS. THEY ALL SAID "GO AHEAD DAD, HAVE FUN GIVING IT AWAY." HE DID NOT GIVE IT AWAY CARELESSLY, BUT HE CHOSE THE CHARITIES AND PEOPLE HE WOULD GIVE IT TO WISELY. ONE LADY RAN A SAFE HOUSE FOR ABUSED WOMEN AND MOTHERS AND CHILDREN. THE CANADIAN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WAS GOING TO CUT OFF MONEY TO HER, HENCE HER HOUSE FOR SUCH WOMEN AND CHILDREN WOULD HAVE TO CLOSE DOWN. THIS MAN WITH ANOTHER WOMAN WENT TO SEE THIS LADY. SHE WAS ASKED WHAT SHE NEEDED, THE LADY SAID "WELL THIS...." THE MAN NODDED, MEANING SHE WOULD HAVE IT. WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED SHE WAS ASKED, "WELL THIS...." THE MAN NODDED, MEANING SHE WOULD HAVE IT. THE MAN'S LADY FRIEND ASKED AGAIN WHAT THIS LADY NEEDED. NOW THE LADY WAS SHAKING HER HEAD AND SAID, THINKING THIS WAS ALL A JOKE, "WELL EVERYTHING TO RUN THIS HOUSE AND KEEP IT OPEN." THE MAN NODDED, SHE WOULD HAVE IT ALL. THE LADY NOW REALIZING THIS WAS NO JOKE, BURST OUT CRYING. MY NOW THAT IS THE WONDERFUL POWER OF BEING PHYSICALLY RICH AND SERVING YOUR FELLOW MAN. SO YOU WHO ARE BLESSED TO BE PHYSICALLY RICH THEN DO AS JESUS SAID.....GIVE TO THE POOR AND THOSE IN TRUE NEED. THE APOSTLE DISCIPLES AT JERUSALEM WHEN PAUL WAS WITH THEM, COULD NOT ADD ANYTHING THAT PAUL WAS NOT DOING IN HIS MINISTRY. THEY JUST SAID, "ONLY THAT WE SHOULD REMEMBER THE POOR" AND PAUL WENT ON TO SAY..."THE SAME WHICH I WAS ALSO FORWARD TO DO" [GAL. 2: 10].  Keith Hunt