What Need Have I?

Psalm 49: 1 - 12

Luke 12: 13 – 21

August 3, 2025

Jesus is on the move. The Transfiguration has occurred – most likely on Mount Hermon. Jesus has traveled through Samaria on his way south for the final time, on his way south to Jerusalem and the events of Holy Week.

Jesus has sent 72 followers on ahead, going out two by two, preaching the gospel and these early evangelists have returned – with joy the text says – reporting a powerful movement of the Holy Spirit in their proclamation.

The parable of the Good Samaritan has been taught. Jesus has encountered Mary and Martha. Jesus continues to teach powerfully to crowds that included the professionally religious of his day. We come to Chapter 12, and we are told that there are thousands gathered around Jesus. Thousands listening. Thousands captivated by the gospel message of Jesus.

But not all. Not all are there to hear the spiritual wisdom of Jesus. Our text opens saying that someone in the crowd has a different set of concerns on his mind. Jesus is talking about the professionally religious, about hypocrisy, abut himself as the Son of Man and in the midst of all of this spiritual talk someone in the crowd yells out, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”

What? Talking about coming out of left field. Jesus is talking abut primary issues of faithfulness and someone in the crowd says – essentially – “okay, enough of that faith talk, let’s get back to me.” We have all been there, haven’t we? Been there in the midst of important conversations when some self-absorbed individual wants to ignore what you are actually talking about and make the conversation about them.

To be completely fair, rabbis of the first century were often asked to mediate civil disputes. So it is not that the question is inappropriate. It is just an issue of timing. A timing that reflectswhat the questioner is really concerned about: Not the spiritual teaching of Jesus but instead his material problems.

It is clear that Jesus gets this. The first-born son received double the amount of any other brothers in the family. He may have received double, but he also received double the responsibilities. Out of his extra share he became responsible for his mother, any unmarried sisters, and for the maintenance of the majority of the estate.

Clearly two brothers are in dispute. The older brother does not want to divide the estate to give his younger brother his due portion. But notice, Jessus never solves the problem. Instead,Jesus gives his two warnings. “Take care” and “Be on your guard.” This first warning is one of caution. In Aramaic this phrase “take care” means look out, don’t miss, or be sure to be sensitive to what is in front of you. “Be on guard” is a military term. Be prepared to defend yourself against something that may steal your life away.

Be careful to guard against a self-centeredness that elevates greed to the level of idolatry. It seems like we have two conversations going on, don’t we? Jesus is talking about things of eternal significance, but this fellow wants to talk about his problems, material problems, a stubborn older brother who won’t divide the estate and deliver his inheritance.

Jesus tried to take his questioner back to what is really important. Jesus shares a parable about a rich man whose hard work has produced a great problem. His land has been so fruitful, his crops are so abundant that his existing storage cannot contain his riches.

What a great problem! Is this not every farmer’s dream? He has obviously worked incredibly hard and is now enjoying a tremendous return on the investment of his hard work. Folks, the issue is NOT that he was successful. The issue is not that he is rich and enjoying a bumper crop. The issue is found in verses 17, 18, and 19.

Again, back to the text. “What should I do,” this hard working and successful farmer asks himself. “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.” Of course he will. He would be foolish, and perhaps even unfaithful, to let his abundance rot in the fields. “And I will say to my soul, “‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’”

The issue is not that he is rich and successful. The issue is not that he has an abundance of crops and needs to build bigger barns. The issue is the self-centeredness of his deliberations. What should I do? I will do this. I will say to my soul. My crops. My grain. My goods. Do you see the pattern here? 11 personal pronouns – six times he says “I” and five times it is “me.”

The same self-centeredness that our story open with – a self-centeredness that moved the questioner of Jesus to hijack the conversation and make the discussion all about him – that same self-centeredness moves the rich man of our parable to make his problem AND solution all about him.

Nowhere does he ask himself, “What about my stewardship responsibilities to the Temple?” Nowhere does he ask, “Do I have any responsibility to my workers or members of my village?” Nowhere does he recognize that he has been blessed with bumper crops and perhaps he has a responsibility – a spiritual responsibility – to share his blessings with others.

No. His deliberations lead him to the conclusion that bigger barns, larger storage, will allow him to relax, eat, drink, and be merry. His conclusion, like his deliberations, is all about him. He makes three fundamental mistakes. It is not about his success. It is not about his money – I know a number ofincredibly affluent individuals who use their resources in spectacularly faithful ways.

No. His greed leads to a self-centeredness, to a self-absorption that condemns him in 3 ultimately fatal ways. He gets labeled a fool not because he is rich, not because he is successful. He gets labeled a fool, not because he is wise in the ways of farming and land management. He gets labeled a fool because his thought process makes no room for God, no thoughtfulnessover what God might require, no concern that there might be a spiritual answer to his material problem of overflowing abundance. Our rich farmer is a fool because he embraces or expresses no spiritual wisdom.

First, our rich farmer makes the mistake of forgetting that eternity follows this mortal life. He makes the mistake of forgetting that decisions in this lifetime may have eternal consequences. Forgetting that there is a God in heaven and you are NOT that God leads to a disastrous self-absorption that separates you from God in this life and the next.

Second, our rich farmer forgets that there is a fundamental difference between the body and the soul. As John Calvin reminds us, as Martin Luther spoke to, there is a place in our bodies – our souls – that only God can fill. No amount of success; no amount of riches; no amount of accumulated material goods can fill our souls.

I know, and I am sure you do as well, plenty of affluent people who have made the mistake of thinking that the accumulation of material goods will fill that empty place that is their soul. They are trying to pound a square material peg into a round spiritual hole. They will never be at peace – not as a defining faith offers peace. It is also why I have met the incredibly poor that live with a peace that some rich folks only dream of. The soul does not eat, drink, and be merry – at least not in material things.

The final mistake of our foolish farmer is the mistake of a stolen identity. His deliberations – 11 expressions of what he thinks is best – reflects who, or what is really sovereign in his life, and it is not God.

Friends, do we really understand that there is more to our existence than the decades that we spend on this earth? Does our behavior, our deliberations, the things that we pursue reflect a wisdom that understands that while we need a certain level of material resources to live, we also need to feed, to nourish, to fill our souls with the things of God. Who – or what - issovereign, truly sovereign, in your life and shaping your everyday decisions?

Psalm 53 reminds us that it is only the fool who says in their heart that there is no God. May our lives, and our decisions, reflect a spiritual wisdom that places life in its proper order. It is then that we become rich towards God – loving and serving graciously as God has loved and served us. Amen.