Slices
Prepare
Jesus states forcibly that where our heart is, there also is our treasure (Matthew 6:21; Luke 12:34). As uncomfortable as it may seem, let’s ask ourselves what truly gives us energy, hope and security in this life.
Bible passage
The Parable of the Rich Fool
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
Explore
At the time of writing, two stories about money are making the headlines. Both are about billionaires. One is about a young woman who is about to join that exclusive club but is a few hundred million dollars short. Thus, her friends are crowdfunding to help her reach her goal. The other is about an extremely wealthy man who feels that he is being demeaned when others call him a billionaire. He feels he is worth more than this. Two situations where the money is never enough.
Jesus here tells a story of an extremely wealthy man, but its application is for everyone. We would call this landowner a hoarder: someone who amasses his wealth because it comforts him to do so. And then the crisis of mortality strikes, and his money is of no help. Is the parable anti-wealth? Is it about death as a kind of punishment? The scholar Klyne R Snodgrass says that it’s ‘a brief but poignant demonstration that life is not about plans for our own security and that satisfaction from possessions is an illusion’.
Respond
Let’s go back to where we started and whatever we identified as our security in the Prepare section. Ask God for the grace to trust him with everything and for everything.
Deeper Bible study
‘Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.’1
Few words of Jesus are more difficult for today’s disciples to hear than these. After all, we live in a world that is dedicated to the precise opposite of what Jesus says here. We are conditioned to believe that our life does indeed consist in the abundance of the things we possess. This is the age of the upgrade, the search for more, bigger and better things. Yet there is a problem: we actually do need to consume. We do need food, clothes, shelter, education, culture and much else. We do need to make reasonable provision for the future, to be a minimal burden on others. How do we avoid the legitimate need to consume becoming the culture of consumerism?
Jesus’ parable of the rich fool is triggered by someone in the crowd trying to get Jesus to arbitrate over an inheritance. Jesus declines. Perhaps the person has a legitimate case, but Jesus discerns a greedy attitude and will not collude. It prompts him to point out the foolishness of putting our trust in the search for security through possessions. Moreover, he points out that this can even be a kind of poverty. Life is precarious; nothing is guaranteed. Being ‘rich towards God’ is what counts (v 21). This is the God who reckons every human being to be worth more than many sparrows and who does not forget us but knows the hairs on our heads (vs 6,7). This God can be trusted with our anxieties and can provide all that we need – and more. This is the Father who knows how to give good gifts.2 What more do we need than a loving Father to whom the whole earth belongs?
Jesus’ words lead us to take stock of our attachment to things. How much do we really need? How can we be truly rich?
Take some moments to express gratitude to God. Surrender everything.
1 Col 3:1 2 Luke 11:11–13
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Isaiah 61,62; Hebrews 12
More about Scripture Union
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Pray for Scripture Union
Each day on the new-look Word Live, you'll have the chance to pray for the wider work of Scripture Union. Here’s today’s prayer:
Pray for schools workers Tricia and Johanna of SU local mission partner Watford Schools Trust as they deliver lessons in line with the new Herts RE syllabus. This term they are looking at creation and harvest in Year 1 and taking harvest assemblies.
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