THE THING ABOUT WEALTH

HE HAD SUCH BIG PLANS FOR ALL OF HIS MONEY . . . BUT SOMEONE ELSE, BIGGER THAN HIM, HAD OTHER,

The police are doing their best to teach
these bums the rules of the city, but
the bums are too dumb to learn!  (Don't
tell me they been to college!)

MUCH BIGGER PLANS . . . .

         As I write this the movement called “Occupy Wall Street” still goes on.  And it occurred to me right now that in the midst of this multifaceted protest, we are missing a grand opportunity to discuss politely and rationally a very important question.  It is the question, “where does wealth come from?  How do people get wealthy?”  Most of the people who are out there camping out and beating drums appear to be against very wealthy people, such as have ample funds to invest at places like Wall Street where the New York Stock Exchange sits.  But these same people curiously do not appear to be interested in hearing some very real and serious answers to that question.  Indeed they do not appear to be interested in learning very much truth at all!

The bible actually answers that question in broad strokes and in smaller details.  The short, big answer is, "All wealth comes directly or indirectly from God Himself.  AND (the corollary) All ability to earn wealth, or take a little and transform it into a lot also comes from God.

God says as much in Deuteronomy chapter 8:11-18 (where the ability to produce wealth is said to come from God).  Also Jesus in his parable of the ten talents refers to the power of industrious individuals to be given only a little, and then be able to generate a lot more by spending, investing, etc.  Jesus understood God's gift to humans, made in the likeness of His Father, to be productive with what they have.
There are also the "detail stories" like the one before us from Luke chapter 12.  There Jesus speaks (not at all for the last time) about wealth that is tied up with personal property.
Quite often, now, as in Jesus’ day, wealth is inherited.  One family member received an estate or purchased one at some time in the past, or worked hard to save the money or resources to trade for an estate or farm of some sort.  Then, the estate, over time began to increase in value.  And when the owner died, he passed it on to his children or other nearest relative. 

But go back to the beginning of it all:  where did that landed property come from originally?  Often in the ancient world, the King of the country owned all of the property.  And as a reward to a faithful noble, prince, or general, the King would apportion a section of land to that faithful noble.  Then the noble would pass it down through his family.


In ancient Israel, wealth in property came about in a different way.  For the first time in history,

Israel's occupation of ancient Canaan
represents the first time in history
God intervened to give ordinary citizens
the right of private property.

Israel was given both permission and orders by God to wipe out the wicked Canaanites and to occupy that land, take possession of it, and then divide it up among all of the families in all of the tribes of Israel.  Some of those new land owners were good stewards and good farmers, and their property grew in value, as their agricultural produce increased, and as their flocks and their herds did well.  And those people created their own wealth from the land which was God’s gift to them.  And they generated wealth primarily through all facets of agriculture, but also through mining copper and iron (as the book of Deuteronomy tells us). 

That Bible story of ancient Israel answers the question “where does wealth come from” in two ways:  it comes to us when it is given as a gift by someone else more powerful  than us; and it can come to those who work hard to make the most of what they have been given.  But above all, first and foremost, God is the giver of wealth!  He gives it to people, and He expects them to use it to honor Him.  Wealth, money, -- it all comes from God.

The story in Luke’s Gospel is founded upon this fundamental truth.  A man in the crowd recognizes Jesus’ authority.  So he comes to Jesus and demands that Jesus order his brother to divide the property with him.  It is the same kind of request the prodigal son makes in the story that Jesus tells over in chapter 15 of this book.  So this man comes to Jesus and he demands:  “Tell my brother to divide the inheritance between him and me.  (And to do it right now!)” 
They had property.   Property was and is a very good thing to have.  But it was held jointly; this brother wanted it to be divided – perhaps so that he could sell his half and turn it into cash.  That’s possible.

It is possible to be rich, and be a blithering
moral idiot.  Just look at Georgie Porgy "Sour
Puss" "Sore (at) us".  The dastard!

Jesus, as he often does in the presence of human disputes, admonishes the quarrelsome man, and uses this as an opportunity to teach the entire crowd something about what to do with what we have.  And that is why He teaches what many  have come to call the parable of the rich fool.

It’s another story of Jesus with a very bad ending for the main character.  After the man has a successful harvest on his very fruitful land, he decides to tear down his existing barns, build bigger barns for his increased crops; then have a life of parties and enjoy himself for years to come.

That’s when the bad news comes.  God speaks to his very soul as follows: 
20 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?’  Note what God did not say:  He did not say that the man was going to hell for all eternity.  Luke has a term for hell, and he doesn’t use it here.  Jesus merely indicates the man is going to die suddenly, and he won’t be able to keep his plans to enjoy his wealth all by himself.

I want to tell you something personal about this story and others like it.  Whenever I find one like this, in which a main character ends up getting the bad news, I always feel an impulse to re-write the story.  To rewrite it so that it has a different, happier ending. 

The guy had plenty of money.
But he would not decide to
share it on his own.
And boom!!

        So in re-writing the parable, mine would go something like this:  a certain rich man had a field which was very productive.  In fact it was more productive at harvest time than he had expected.  He made enough grain and fruit off of it, to meet all of his expenses, pay all of his bills, pay for seed for the next growing season, and pay all of his workers.  But the harvest was so successful that he even had a surplus of crops – more than he could sell at the present.  He thought about this as he looked at the size of his existing barn.  Thinking things over he said, “You know I could build another barn or a bigger barn, and store the extra grain there.  But I really don’t need the extra grain.  So instead, I think I will just give it away.  I’m going to donate it to the local soup kitchen and food pantry.  And they can turn it into bread to serve many other people for a long time to come.  Yes.  Yes!  That is what I will do!”  And Jesus commended that man for his freely chosen act of generosity.

And that’s how I would make this story end.  And I bet you would too, if you were given the same assignment.  If I gave you the assignment that said, “Rewrite this story so that the rich man comes out good in the end”, you would know what to do.  That’s because deep down, we all know what Jesus means by the last phrase he uses in this story:  “being rich toward God.”  We know what that means.  Let me read again that ending,

21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

We know exactly what it means to be rich toward God!  To spell it out, richness toward God, or wealth with respect to God means, that when I know good and well God has given me enough to take care of me, I take what’s left, and I freely share it with those whom I know can use it.  I don’t do that because another human being is threatening me or forcing me.  I do it because I love pleasing God!”


That, my friends, is being rich toward God.  And we know that also because of another real story about a rich man in Luke’s Gospel.  (Remember:  this rich man appeared in a story; this

Both Jesus and Luke, the Gospel writer,
knew it was possible to be wealthy
and also generous in positive
and productive ways.

later story in Luke has a real life rich man wanting to meet Jesus.)  That’s the famous story of the short guy named Zacchaeus.  You remember Zacchaeus – that wee, little man . . . .  Zacchaeus was wealthy.  And after Jesus decided to spend the day with him, Zacchaeus voluntarily decided to give half of his wealth to the poor, and then to pay off anybody whom he had cheated four times over.

That guy was, or he became RICH TOWARD GOD!

But there’s something unspoken here that needs in our time to be shouted out loud.  It is the fact that the rich man in Luke chapter 12 had a chance to be generous by his own free will, and he blew it.  He decided on his own to go in the opposite direction, and hoard his money for himself.  But Zacchaeus met with Jesus one day, talked with him, and then just decided on his own after that meeting to be generous.  And Jesus says at the end of that story, “. . . today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.”  Do you see what’s happening there?  Do you see what Jesus is affirming?  It’s generosity!  Generosity practiced under a human’s free will is part and parcel of what it means to be RICH TOWARD GOD!


Think about it:  generosity comes from the heart, as it must come.  You cannot force someone to be generous!  If you do, you have robbed the word of its meaning.  I say that as God’s Word in great contrast to what some of our nation’s own leaders are saying:  “the rich haven’t been generous enough to help us create jobs.  Therefore we are going to tax them even more, and

"Demon Krauts" believe the power to
tax is necessary in order to force
wealthy people to be generous
in the ways the government
dictates.  This is very, very evil!!

force them to do what they ought to do of their own free will.  We are not encouraging them to be generous on their own.  Oh, No.  Instead we must tax them; because if we tax them, then we can control where that money goes, and not them!”
These are terrible, devilish, twisted arguments.

No, today Christians learn from Luke 12, and indeed his entire Gospel that being rich toward God means to share freely and of my own volition what I have with others, once I know that God has met my needs.  (REPEAT).

And that raises a closing question:  how do I know when my own needs have been met? . . . .  You know it by creating a budget and with the help of your Savior Jesus Christ, sticking to that budget.  (Hand out).
Now this isn’t perfect.  It wasn’t lowered from heaven.  But if you don’t start with something like this, you’ll never know when God has actually met your basic present needs; and you won’t know precisely when in your life to start practicing the kind of generosity that makes you rich toward God.

And the reason I’m sharing these hand-outs from Adam Hamilton and Dave Ramsey with you today is because your life story isn’t over.  Do you see how we re-wrote the story of the other rich man in the Bible.  I have news for you:  your story isn’t over yet.  I think perhaps all of us here have some re-writing to do.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

BIBLE TEXT FOR YOU TO READ, USE, AND LOVE!

Luke 12:
13 Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
14 But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” 15 And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness,[b] for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.
17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’
18 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.
19 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.”’
20 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?’
21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

LBC