Luke 12:13-21 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
“Bigger Barns”
Build on the Rock Summer Series 11 August 12, 2018
Sometimes a building needs to be rebuilt. Not too far from my house, in an area where I drive perhaps not frequently but regularly, there used to stand a McDonalds restaurant. I don’t really remember the exact time frame, but a few months ago the old building was completely demolished. And the last time I drove by, a new structure was up in the same general place as the old. I don’t consider myself an expert on McDonalds, but I assume that when it is finished the new restaurant will look nice for those who drive by. It will probably have all the latest McDonalds technology that helps a restaurant run efficiently and do business in the best way that they know how. What had become old and worn and outdated was taken down and replaced. It doesn’t surprise us or shock us when these things happen. There are simply times when old buildings get replaced. No doubt those who run the McDonalds carefully considered their options and the various possibilities before ultimately deciding to tear down one building and replace it with a new one. If we don’t carefully take to heart the lesson that is intended by Jesus in today’s Gospel, we might think that tearing down some old barns and building newer, bigger, better barns, might simply be something that happens from time to time. Sometimes old buildings are replaced by new. That march of progress and its effects on buildings is not the message at the heart of today’s Gospel. What is at the heart of today’s Gospel is the message that Jesus announces, “Be on your guard against greed.” And he uses a story about the tearing down of old barns and the building of bigger barns to illustrate his point. As Jesus was teaching, he had a large crowd gathered around him. When he was done with one lesson and before moving on to another, someone called out: “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” All we know about the man who called out was that he said this. We don’t know the dispute with his brother other than this man thought he had at least some portion of an inheritance coming his way. Maybe he thought that a figure as significant and important as Jesus with the large crowd gathered around him might persuade his brother to do what he was asking. But Jesus wasn’t interested in that. He did not come to the world to be a legal judge or to decide inheritance questions. Instead, Jesus had things to teach the people that were much more important. He used the occasion of this man’s request to warn the people about being greedy. He said, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” And then he told a story. Once upon a time there was a rich man. I know that’s not exactly how its worded in Luke’s Gospel, but Jesus was telling a story in order to teach a lesson. It was a story about a rich man. What do you think of when you hear about a rich man? Maybe that he must have something going for him that he was able to accumulate or keep wealth? Maybe that he had earned a level of respect? Maybe you look with a little bit of jealousy or envy at him? Well, this rich man was about to get richer. His fields, Jesus says, yielded an abundant harvest. Now, a rich man getting richer doesn’t sound like too much of a problem for the rich man. But this man looked at his abundance as a problem. It was fine that his ground had yielded so many crops, but now he had nowhere to put them. So he made a plan. He would tear down the barns that he had, the ones that had now become too old and too small, and he would build new bigger barns in their place. And then he could enjoy life because he would have plenty of grain stored up to last for years. But God calls this man what he had proven to be: a fool. Just when he thought he had the foolproof plan for enjoying his life, eat, drink, and be merry, God knew that he would die that very same night. He would enjoy none of that incredible harvest, he would no longer be able to use any of his amassed wealth, and he would not be able to build his bigger barns. And Jesus concludes his story with this warning: “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”