"Bigger Isn't Always Better"

(Luke 12:13-21)

INTRODUCTION:

God called St. Peter into the head office of Heaven one day and told him that they needed to get a count of everyone who would be coming to Heaven in the next 100 years so they could make sure they had enough room. God instructed St. Peter to go down to earth and make a door to door canvas, sort of a census so they could really know the numbers. St. Peter took off to earth. After only one day on the job, it was obvious that this job was just too big to be handled by St. Peter alone. So, St. Peter went back to God and explained the situation to Him. And then St. Peter suggested that they write a letter to everyone who would be coming to heaven in the next hundred years and do a census that way. God thought it was a good idea so they cranked up the Pearly Gate Printing Press, printed and mailed a letter to everyone who would be going to heaven in the next hundred years. You know what it said? YOU MEAN YOU DIDN'T GET YOURS?

I couldn't resist. That's such a good story. And the reason it's such a good story is that we've all thought about heaven and eternal life. And if we're honest with ourselves, we'd like to think that we're going, that we have a place prepared just for us as Jesus said in John 14. Unfortunately, according this parable, that may not be the case.

I. DECISIONS:

A. This is one of those tough parables, the kind it would be easy to avoid or overlook because of the challenge and confrontation inherent in it. But it's also one which hollers to be heard. If you look at the placement of this passage, we see Jesus preaching and teaching about eternal issues when out of nowhere this guy jumps up and derails Jesus' train of thought.

It was sort of like sitting in on an adult version of a children's sermon. This nowhere man hadn't heard a word Jesus had said. All he knew was that Jesus spoke with authority and maybe he could convince Jesus to use that authority to settle a family squabble. This nowhere man was so consumed by his problem that he blurted out in a whiny, petulant voice: "Tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me. He won't give me my share."

He sounded like a second or third grader saying: "I'm telling!"

And as a result of that interruption, Jesus tells this too close to home, uncomfortable and challenging parable. It's a parable about choices. It's a parable about lifestyle. It's a parable that parks on our doorstep and won't leave us alone until we confront it.

B. You ought to watch the children when they come into my office. You see I have a sucker jar in there and they know they can get one if their Mom or Dad says it's ok. But you ought to watch them trying to decide what flavor of sucker to take. Some of them know what they want and they dig for it right away. Others reach in slowly. Pondering and contemplating. They look long and hard because they know how much they like the red ones and the yellow ones. They know how much they like the green ones and the brown ones. There aren't many who don't like cherry and lemon or apple and root beer. But all the other flavors in the jar make it hard to choose sometimes. Because there's peach and butterscotch and cream soda and raspberry and watermelon and then there's the mysterious purple question mark. You gamble when you take that one. Because it's a surprise. But eventually they all choose.

We all have to make choices. For these young children, the decision concerns what flavor of sucker to take. Thirteen year olds must consider image and the "right" friends. Twenty year old has to ponder careers and courses to take to reach that career. Thirty and forty year olds have to consider time management, family concerns and where to go on vacation.

Every decade, every new developmental period, every new day we're faced with decisions. Decisions of suckers and life-support systems; decisions of clothes to wear and cars to buy; decisions of life and death and every stage in between. You began this day with a decision. You decided to get out of bed. You decided what clothes to wear, what to eat for breakfast, to come to Church. You even decided where to sit.

Most of the decisions we make are trivial. Sometimes we don't think they are, but in the great scheme of things, most of the decisions we make ARE fairly trivial. What WE have for breakfast isn't going to influence world peace. Whether we wear the red tie or the gray one isn't going to effect the economy. But there ARE decisions which are very, very important and they shape our lives. They declare our priorities. They proclaim our values and our viewpoint toward life.

II. THE STORY:

A. And that's the point of this parable of the rich fool told to the nowhere man who wanted Jesus to tell his brother to quit being so stingy and share the family inheritance. At times, the Church has read this parable and said that Jesus doesn't want us to prepare for tomorrow. It's been used to put down the wealthy and accumulation of money. I don't really think it's any of those.

I think that the key to the whole meaning of this lesson and the parable is found in Luke 12:15. Jesus said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." Only after saying this, did Jesus tell the parable of the rich fool.

The parable of the man who was interested in bigger barns, bigger cars, bigger houses, fancier clothes, bigger bank accounts and had little concern for his spiritual well being; was told to show this brother who wanted his share of the inheritance, that money isn't everything. Material possessions aren't everything. There's nothing intrinsically wrong or bad about bigger. But Jesus makes the point that bigger isn't always better. Especially if you've left your spiritual life and your most important relationships hanging out in the cold. Bigger isn't always better.

Not too long ago it wasn't uncommon to see the bumper sticker, "He who dies with the most toys wins." It spoke of our rampant materialism. Our so called need to buy more and more stuff. But I know there's hope because I remember seeing a bumper sticker on another car that read: "He who dies with the most toys . . . is dead!" B. I think this confrontation between Jesus and the nowhere man and the telling of this parable of the wealthy farmer asks us to examine the priorities and decisions of our lives. Are you happy with the decisions that have brought you to this point in your life? Do you feel that you are fulfilling God's purpose for you? Are you letting the love of Christ guide your life and shine through your life?

Those are tough questions. A number of years ago I read about a man who answered those questions in his life. He had the bigger house, the bigger car, the bigger bank account, the bigger job. He spent a great deal of time at the office with the demands of his large school and the promises of even larger responsibilities. Frank could have easily risen to an even more prestigious and high paying administrative position.

But Frank came to the conclusion that he had another priority in his life. There were three young children around his supper table every night. Unfortunately, Frank rarely made it home for supper and most of the time was gone before the children were up for breakfast.

One morning he realized that the childhood of his three children was rapidly disappearing. Frank decided that the success and the prestige of his job were robbing him of something very important. At the end of the school year, Frank asked to be transferred to another job in the school district. He took a cut in pay and a cut in responsibilities.

Nearly everybody around him thought he was crazy. They all wanted to know what was wrong. They wanted to know why he would intentionally ask for a demotion. But the truth was that Frank had very carefully weighed all the options. And he decided that his life needed to be reevaluated and his children and family and faith needed to be moved up on his priority list. Frank made a life changing decision that goes against the grain of our success oriented culture. But it was a decision that Frank could very happily live with. He could sleep at night. He took more seriously his involvement in the life of his children and in his faith relationship. That decision wasn't easy. But he remembered the important things in life.

CONCLUSION:

That's what this parable is about. Jesus wasn't telling us that possessions and riches are evil. He was challenging us to look at what gets the most attention in our life. This parable asks us to look our lives. Have we lived our faith? Have we shared Christ's love freely? Have we set our priorities to be consistent with our faith?

While challenging us with this parable, Jesus also opens his arms on the cross to embrace us. Jesus invites us to dine at this table to share in a meal of forgiveness and reconciliation. Jesus invites us to be reborn at the table of forgiveness and be fed by the hand of grace. And having been fed, Jesus asks us simply to live that new life to the best of our ability, calling upon God for the strength and guidance of God's Holy Spirit.