The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

August 05, 2007

Preached at Providence Lutheran Church, Holland, O.

by Pastor Dennis R. King

"Who is the Fool!"

Luke 12:13-21

The Grace and Mercy of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, be with You All. Amen

Many people asked questions of Jesus. Some of those questions were sincere, some were challenging, some were related and some were not as Jesus taught about God’s Kingdom. In our text for this morning we find a man who is concerned about his own personal affairs asking Jesus a question. “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” Jesus has no rightful authority in this situation since the Jews had rightful judges for disputes about property. So He answered, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” But Jesus being the great and wise teacher that He is does not just let this man’s question drop. Instead he uses this as an opportunity to warn those in the multitude against “all kinds of greed” that is the desire to have and to hold earthly possessions for oneself. Jesus does this by telling the parable of the “Fool.”

“The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself. ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” Then he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

Let me share with you some thoughts I have uncovered regarding this parable. Let us begin by remembering that Jesus said that we should never call another person a fool. That is a judgment which God has reserved for Himself. We can however learn from the characteristics of the rich man in the parable whom God calls a fool so that we might avoid similar condemnation.

The foolishness of the farmer in Jesus’ parable was revealed, first in the fact that he did not recognize the potential value of his assets. He had at least three very valuable assets: a fertile farm, the ability to cultivate it profitably, and “much goods.” In these three assets resided great potential for blessing his whole community as well as himself as long as he shared the fruits of his property and his skills with people of his community. In the past this wise use of his assets had blessed his community and made him a rich man. As long as he shared his surplus with the rest of the world it made him wealthy. It was not necessary for him to give his crops away, for when he sold them he provided food for the community and money for his treasury.

But he was on the verge of making a very poor decision. He was about to retire his assets. He was going to discontinue production, let his property and his skills lay idle, and hoard his goods for himself, thus depriving his community of food and causing his own income to cease. He failed to recognize that an idle field deteriorates through disuse, that idle machinery rusts, that idle muscles become weak, and that “an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.” So it is with our spiritual assets, our time, our talents, and our treasures. When we put them to use in God’s kingdom, our community is blessed and we are blessed. But when we hoard our assets and take our properties and skills out of production, our neighbors are deprived of their blessing and we are deprived of the reward for their use. Our souls become shriveled like an apple dried on a shelf. Poor, foolish, rich farmer! He did not recognize the potential value of his assets. Do we?

The foolishness of the farmer was also revealed in the fact that he had a “closed mind.” He was not open to suggestions. He had all the answers. He did not need anyone to tell him how to run his business. Couldn’t everyone see he was “independently wealthy?” Nevertheless he had a problem that needed to be solved. A problem most of us would like to face – the problem of surpluses and what to do with them. “What should I do?” He said, “For I have no place to store my crops.” (But note - to whom he addressed his question – to himself!) Apparently it did not occur to him that he should consult with his partner on such an important decision.

His partner – that is his silent Partner – God the creator – the one who furnished the capital for this joint venture and who had provided the land, the nutrients in the soil, the sunshine, the rain, the right temperature, the right length of growing season, and the life in the seeds that caused them to sprout and grow into a bountiful harvest. The farmer and God had built quite a good business together. They were rich! But, alas, the farmer made all his decisions alone; he did not consult God, his silent Partner; he was bent on “doing his own thing,” giving no thought to seeking the approval of God. “Such a man,” God says, “is a fool.” We do well to avoid this great folly by seeking divine guidance in all life’s decisions, great and small.

Note that the farmer’s foolishness was also revealed in the fact that he squandered the one great opportunity of his lifetime to make a lasting contribution to the Kingdom of God. His was an opportunity seldom enjoyed by the vast masses of low-income families. He could have decided to erect a memorial in honor of God: a cathedral, a school, a hospital, or a museum. Instead he decided to build barns. He could have decided to underwrite the expenses of a dozen missionaries or the distribution of thousands of scriptures. Or he could have decided to alleviate the misery and sufferings of the thousands of poverty-stricken and hungry people of his community. Here was the “opportunity of a lifetime” to establish a lasting memorial in honor of his Silent Partner. Together they had accumulated such a large fortune that it was far in excess of his own personal needs. It was in fact so large there was no place to store it. Obsessed as he was with material things and his own welfare, it apparently did not occur to him that he might share it with God. His assets exceeded his recorded liabilities, but there was an unrecorded indebtedness that exceeded any amount of assets he had accumulated, it was the equity of God, his partner in that undistributed income of their joint venture.

Here was his one great opportunity to recognize his indebtedness to God and to distribute some of his riches through the Kingdom of God as a lasting memorial of his gratitude. But, foolish man that he was, his heart was set on mundane things, he was obsessed with riches, ease, merriment, and self. He had no gratitude for God’s role in his success. He was goods-centered, not God-centered. He was self-centered, not soul-centered. Eleven times in the six verses of the parable his self-centeredness was revealed by his use of the first person, singular: six times “I” and five times “my.” This poor rich man was so obsessed with his own personal importance that he missed the greatest opportunity he would ever have to be “rich toward God.”

In our affluent society we are apt to forget that the Lord’s condemnation rests upon the man “that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” “Such a man,” God says, “is a foolish man.” It is a folly we should each endeavor to avoid.

The foolish farmer also lacked wisdom. His lack of wisdom was revealed in the manner in which he regarded his soul. Wheat, barley, corn, and beans make very good foodstuff for the body, but they provide no nourishment for the soul. It is fruitless to try to feed one’s soul on bran flakes as it is to attempt to feed one’s cow on the twenty-third Psalm or the Sermon on the Mount. The foolish farmer presumed that he could satisfy the longings of his soul with eating, drinking, ease, and pleasure. He failed to recognize that in the soul of every human being there is a “God-shaped vacuum” which can be filled only by God himself. He had not learned the truth of the scriptures that “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedth out of the mouth of God.” (Deut. 8:3 & Matt. 4:4) Happy is the person who can say with the psalmist: “Thou has put gladness in my heart more than in the time their corn and wine increased. I will both lay me down in peace and sleep, for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.” (Psalm 4:7-8) The soul’s “happiness” and “security” are found only in God, not in “goods.” It is a foolish person who seeks to satisfy his soul with “things.”

Finally, the poor, rich farmer’s “folly of all follies” was revealed in his failure to make any preparations for life after death. This rich man had a very poor concept of how he should attend to the welfare of his soul. His provisions were limited to “this life” only, none for the “life to come.” His preparation was entirely for the “here and now” with none for the “hereafter,” all for “time,” and none for “eternity.” It was his greatest folly. He had made no preparation to meet God when “his soul should be required of him.”

This story is told of a certain nobleman living during the Middle Ages whose vassals included a jester, referred to in those days as a “fool.” One day the nobleman presented the jester with a staff, charging him to keep it until he should meet any person who was a greater fool than himself. A few years later the nobleman fell sick and was approaching death. Among those called to his bedside was the jester to whom the master said, “I shall be leaving you in a short while.” “And where are you going?” asked the Jester. “Into another world,” replied his Lordship. “And will you return within a month?” “No.” “Within a year?” “No.” “Then when will you be returning?” The Jester probed. And what provisions have you made for where you are going?” “None at all,” replied the nobleman. “None at all,” exclaimed the jester. “Here then, take my staff, for with all my folly I am not guilty of any folly such as this.” Indeed there is no folly greater than the failure to make preparations for life beyond the grave.

In summary in the parable of the fool Jesus teaches us not to be a fool. For the fool did not recognize what he had. He did not seek the approval of God. He laid up treasures only for himself. He disregarded the care of his soul and he made no preparations for life after death. These are not characteristics of the Kingdom of God. Jesus wants us to remain free from our own foolishness and that of the world’s. May our prayer always be, “Faithful Father free us from the fool’s folly forever. Amen.