A Message Based on Luke 12:13-21 - Fool No More

Below is a copy and podcast of the message I preached in Sligo Presbyterian Church on Sunday, July 31. 

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Now, since we finished our series on the “I AM” statements found in the Gospel of John last week and since next Sunday I’ll be helping my daughter move into her new apartment in Morgantown, I thought it would be foolish to start a new series today, something we’ll do in a couple of weeks. And so, last Saturday, I decided to do something I bet I haven’t done in about four, maybe five years. I checked out what gospel passage had been assigned to this particular Sunday, which just happens to be the tenth Sunday after Pentecost. And there it was: The Parable of the Rich Fool. Now this is the passage, as written by the Evangelist Luke:

A man in a crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to give me my share of what our father left us when he died.”

Jesus answered, “Who gave me the right to settle arguments between you and your brother?”

Then he said to the crowd, “Don’t be greedy! Owning a lot of things won’t make your life safe.”

So Jesus told them this story:

A rich man’s farm produced a big crop, and he said to himself, “What can I do? I don’t have a place large enough to store everything.”

Later, he said, “Now I know what I’ll do. I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones, where I can store all my grain and other goods. Then I’ll say to myself, ‘You have stored up enough good things to last for years to come. Live it up! Eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.’”

But God said to him, “You fool! Tonight you will die. Then who will get what you have stored up?”

“This is what happens to people who store up everything for themselves, but are poor in the sight of God.” [Luke 12:13-21, CEV] 

Now this is what Luke wrote, a parable about a rich fool. But I think we’d all agree that you sure don’t have to be rich in order to act foolish. As a matter of fact, I think you could probably say that foolishness is the great equalizer. I mean, it’s just something we all end up dealing with whether we want to or not. Of course, to be fair, most of our foolishness is really no big deal. But every now-and-then, man, it leads to a situation we might remember for years. Let me give you an example.

Back when I was in high school, I was involved in a lot of speaking competitions. And even though I was nothing to write home about, I did O.K., especially when compared to my classmates. Of course, I went to a really small school. Anyway, back when I was about sixteen, I signed up to compete in The Eastern Virginia Regional Veterans of Foreign Wars Original Speech competition. Sounds pretty impressive, right? Man, they had flyers and everything. Well, as I remember, all the speeches were to be given on the same evening, I think it was either a Wednesday or Thursday, over at the VFW Hall. And so I went. And when I got there, original speech in hand, they took me into sort of a waiting room, and there was one other girl, about my age, sitting on a sofa, drinking a Tab. Well, let’s just say there’s a good reason why folks have always called me “the late Ed Rudiger,” and so I asked an old guy with the VFW hat where the other speakers were. And of course he said, with a straight face, there were no other speakers, just this girl with a Tab and me. In other words, at The Eastern Virginia Regional Veterans of Foreign Wars Original Speech competition, there were only two competitors. Now she gave her speech first, and then I gave mine. And I’ve got to tell you, I nailed it. And after about ten minutes to tabulate the scores, we got the results. And even though I don’t like to brag, I came in second. Let’s say it was a humbling experience, but foolish, not yet.

The foolishness came the next day. You see, I was the only one in my tiny, little school who knew there were only two people competing at The Eastern Virginia Regional Veterans of Foreign Wars Original Speech competition, and so, given the gravitas of the name and flyer, I kind of made a big deal about coming in second. I did it with my classmates, which was bad enough, but I also did it with my teachers. And as a result, I became a big man on campus, but again remember, I went to a really small school with a really small campus.  And I may have gotten away with it, if the principal hadn’t scheduled a school assembly so that I could receive my VFW award for coming in second place and if, as he gave me this sort of medal, another old guy in the VFW hat hadn’t announced that only two people were in the competition, and I came in second. He got a huge laugh. And so did I, for weeks and weeks and weeks. I still bear the scars. And looking back, well I now recognize that it was really, and I mean really foolish of me to brag about a contest in which I was both the best of the worst and the worst of the best.

Of course, I wish I could say that was the last time I acted like a fool, but that’s not true. Just ask either my wife or daughter. As a matter of fact, being foolish from time to time, I think that may be something we all share. I mean, in spite of our best efforts, I think we all do a lot of things that are foolish. And sadly, some of them have consequences a lot more damaging and lasting than being laughed at during and after a school assembly. And so, for the next ten minutes or so, we’re going to consider how we might be less foolish. And to do that, we’ll use this passage we read from Luke and consider two things we can do that just might move us toward being a fool no more. 

For example, first, I think we can take a big step away from foolishness by questioning some of the assumptions we make, in other words, by taking a good, hard look at some of the stuff we assume. And if you’re wondering what “assume” means when you break it down, just ask Shelly. But before I say anything else, I want you to notice that I said that we should question some the assumptions we make rather than that we should stop making them, because not only would that be impossible, man, it would be downright stupid. Good night nurse, our whole lives are grounded on making  assumptions. I mean, if I’m driving in Pittsburgh, I assume that drivers will wait for the light to turn green before entering the intersection. And if I stop paying West Penn Power, I assume that they’re going to cut off my electricity. And if I’m in a speech contest with only two competitors, I assume that I’m not going to come in third, right?You see, we’re constantly making assumptions. But just because we make them, doesn’t mean that all assumptions are created equal. I mean, some are reasonable, you know, based on reality, while some others are, well, not so much.

And I think we see that in the passage we read a minute ago. As a matter of fact, I think we’ve got two examples of assumptions that really should have been questioned. I mean, we’ve got “a man in a crowd [who] said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to give me my share of what our father left us when he died.’” [Luke 12:13, CEV] Now that’s what he asked; therefore, he must have assumed that Jesus would be willing to step in and to settle this family dispute, an assumption that was proven wrong when Jesus “...answered, ‘Who gave me the right to settle arguments between you and your brother?’” [Luke 12:14, CEV] You see, this was an assumption that should have been questioned. But he’s not the only one mentioned in this passage. We’ve also got the rich guy in the parable itself, the one God called a fool. Of course, that wasn’t a judgement on his skill as a farmer. Without question, he was successful. I mean, Jesus started the story by saying, “A rich man’s farm produced a big crop...” [Luke 12:16b, CEV] But it was right here where the rich man made a couple of questionable assumptions, you know, like assuming that his crops really belonged to him and could be used anyway he wanted and assuming that he’d be around to enjoy all the stuff he planned to accumulate. You see, in this passage, we’ve got two people who made some pretty definite assumptions, and guess what, they were both wrong. As a matter of fact, in a very real way, their assumptions actually distorted the reality they faced.

And I’ll tell you, it can do the same to us. And for that reason, I think it’s really important for us to be willing and ready to question some of the assumptions that we make, especially those that involve situations we may never have experienced and beliefs that frankly don’t make sense. It’s like I’ve heard Judge Judy Sheindlin, you know, Judge Judy on TV, it’s like I’ve heard her say hundreds of times over the years, “If it doesn’t make sense, it’s usually not true.” And if an assumption doesn’t make sense, it’s probably not true either. But let’s get real, we’re not going to know which ones do and which ones don’t unless we’ve got the wisdom and the courage to question at least some of them. You see, for me, we need to question some of the assumptions we make, and this is the first thing we can do if we’re serious about being a fool no more.

And second, after asking questions, I believe we also need to rethink some of the priorities we set. In other words, even though the conclusions we’ve drawn and the plans we’ve developed may be solidly grounded in the assumptions we’ve made, those plans and priorities ain’t worth a bucket of spit if what we’ve assumed is wrong.

And just like it was with assumptions, I think we’ve got two great examples of this in the passage we just read. You see, because the guy who triggered the parable assumed that Jesus would intervene and settle his brother’s hash, he prioritized asking Jesus for help. Now I want y’all just to think about how remarkable this was. I mean, Jesus had been healing folks and casting out demons. He’d walked on the water and fed five thousand. And he’d been teaching the crowds using parables, a Greek word that literally means “riddle.” My gosh, considering all the stuff he could have asked Jesus, this guy settled on, “Teacher, tell my brother to give me my share of what our father left us when he died.” [Luke 12:13b, CEV] That was his priority based on his assumption. But of course, what he did fades in comparison to what happened in the parable. I mean, since the rich man assumed that those crops belonged to him and him alone, “...he said to himself, ‘What can I do? I don’t have a place large enough to store everything.’ Later, he said, Now I know what I’ll do. I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones, where I can store all my grain and other goods.’” [Luke 12:17-18, CEV] Makes sense, right? And then, with his priorities set, he came up with some very clear and definite expectations as he looked into the future. I mean, with all his blessings carefully stored and invested, the rich fool came to this conclusion: “Then I’ll say to myself, ‘You have stored up enough good things to last for years to come. Live it up! Eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.’” [Luke 12:19, CEV] Now that’s what he said. And so, based on their questionable assumptions, both men set some pretty messed up priorities, priorities that lead to some pretty unfortunate conclusions. And this was something the rich man must have realized when “...God said to him, ‘You fool! Tonight you will die. Then who will get what you have stored up?’” [Luke 12:20, CEV] and the greedy brother must have understood when Jesus said to him, “This is what happens to people who store up everything for themselves, but are poor in the sight of God.” [Luke 12:21, CEV] Now this is what happened to them, all because they set some pretty bogus priorities.

But I’ll tell you, it doesn’t have to happen to us. You see, just like I said about questioning some of the  assumptions that we make, we can decide to rethink some of the priorities that we set. And you know, it’s right here where I think, as Christians, we have a real advantage over folks outside the faith, and I’ll tell you why. Despite what we might assume and despite what those assumptions might lead us to prioritize, man, we already have what should be our highest priority. And we sure as heck don’t need to know all about inheritance law or property rights in order to understand exactly what it is, do we? Just listen to what the Evangelist Luke wrote:

An expert in the Law of Moses stood up and asked Jesus a question to see what he would say. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to have eternal life?”

Jesus answered, “What is written in the Scriptures? How do you understand them?”

The man replied, “The Scriptures say, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.’ They also say, ‘Love your neighbors as much as you love yourself.’ ”

Jesus said, “You have given the right answer. If you do this, you will have eternal life.” [Luke 10:25-28, CEV]

You see, right here is our priority, and it’s really clear and it’s really simple: to love God and to love neighbor. And I’ll tell you, this is what we can use to rethink the priorities we set for ourselves. And for me, this is the second thing we can do if we’re serious about being a fool no more.

Of course, having said all this, there’s no question in my mind that people will continue to do things that are foolish. And I’ll tell you, if I ever need reminding that this includes me, I can always pull out the medal I received at that school assembly for coming in second in The Eastern Virginia Regional Veterans of Foreign Wars Original Speech competition. If foolishness were a disease, I think we’re all infected and masks won’t help. But even though that may just be a fact of life, I believe the story of a greedy brother and the parable of a rich fool can help us reduce its effects. You see, in light of their examples, I believe we can become less foolish in our thoughts and actions by questioning some of the assumptions we make and rethinking some of the priorities we set. And even if it doesn’t result in lives free from all foolishness, I do believe it’ll move us closer to the place where we’ll be fools no more.