There was a man who had been recognized as good in business. He had a business plan that allowed for productive labor, and he actively planned to make a profit. At the end of the year, he had actually made more profit than he had planned for. He needed to decide what to do with the surplus. He chose to use it to secure his future. He used financial instruments to assure that he would be able to take it easy and have fun. This extra income would allow him to do some things outside his vocation, and he would have plenty to retire on even in hard times.  His neighbors esteemed him as shrewd and blessed. He was invited to be on bank boards, church boards, and country club committees. BUT God had a different evaluation. 

Fool, this night your soul will be required of you.

Luke 12:20 (ESV)

This is another story to indicate that the kingdom of God is upside down from the culture of our world. Those interested in living to please God might want to know why this man—who would be honored in our neighborhood—would be considered a fool by God.

Let me summarize the story. Someone in the crowd asked Jesus to settle a financial dispute between him and his brother regarding an inheritance. Jesus refused to be drawn into the discussion. He addressed the real problem as covetousness, and exposed the lie that causes it: “Man’s life does not consist of the abundance of his possessions.” He then told them the story of the “fool.” After the story he addressed the disciples and taught them the kingdom perspective on clothes, food, and security (provision and protection). It is worth reading thoughtfully again (Luke 12:22-34).

As we apply this text to our own times we can easily see that the pressure we feel when our economy is threatened, reveals some misconceptions regarding possessions. For many their hopes have been shattered. The American dream has turned into a nightmare. Stress is causing physical, emotional and relational crises. Even before the economic downturn, it was estimated that stress cost American business over 85 billion dollars per year. We are being forced to face the question: Are we believing the lie? 

It is so easy to believe. The culture of this world has swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. We can so easily began to trust money and the things if affords to give us our identity, security and significance. There are some clear indications of imbibing of this elixir. 

The first is constant conflict over possessions. The story starts off with brothers fighting over inheritance. When a significant portion of our time is spent fighting for our rightful possession of things, we display a fruit of covetousness. I remember one funeral I was officiating where the family was still fighting over where to sit. Some of the nephews and cousins had not spoken to each other in years. When we finally discovered the original offense, it was over a particular kitchen utensil. Two sisters disputed the ownership and the bitterness affected hundreds in the family who only knew they were supposed to despise their cousins. They didn’t know why. 

The second fruit of the lie is seen in reducing Jesus to a financial savior. Too often today the “prosperity gospel” message instructs people to build their faith in God’s intention to give them more possessions without changing them. When God’s blessings are limited to—or even focused on—physical comfort and financial excess, something is wrong. Only in a culture where possessions are valued more than transformation can such a message be revered. When possessions become a source of trust, God, in mercy, will remove them rather than increase them. 

A third fruit of the lie is the misunderstanding of surplus. God has promised to meet the needs of his children. He often gives them more than they need. Some see this as reward for being good, shrewd, or faithful. It is a test! What we do when we have more than we actually need, will expose our true value system. If we use it for our own pleasure and security, we are busted. If we reveal a heart to invest in the eternal purpose of God by extending the heavenly kind of love he exposed in the gospel, we get to move on to the next grade. The most dangerous money we shall ever see is that for which we have no God-given vision. Provision without vision will drown the immature in They are vulnerable to every scheme that comes along seeking to capture the unsuspecting. So what is one supposed to do if they end up with more than they actually need and yet they have no God-given vision? Join one or some who have the vision and be a team player. God gives some of the team members the grace to collect the resources while others are given the vision to strategically apply the gospel to society. It is sad to observe men and women who have a calling to administer the gospel spending their time and energy trying to raise money while men and women who easily create more wealth than they need trying to find a way to create personal ministry. 

A forth fruit is the misjudgment of personal value. Worry, anxiety, fretting, all reveal a belief that we are not as valuable to God as the birds and the flowers. Talk about poor self-esteem! Anyone with a semblance of intelligence can see that birds don’t worry. They are not taking medication to prevent stress. They don’t build barns for their security. We do. The question Jesus asks is “are you of not of greater value than they?” Flowers don’t have spinning wheels and shopping lists. Are we not more valuable to God’s purpose than they? We are his sons. We were redeemed at the price of his Son. What is wrong with us? God is more interested in our being supplied than we could ever be. What keeps us in isolation trying to meet our own needs?

Another fruit: We misrepresent the Father. We act like fatherless children. As we run around the neighborhood of society with worry and fear begging for handouts from the worldly rich, we are giving our Father a bad reputation. True sons who know they are sons are aware of their father’s resources and of his intention to give it to them. Our focus is on extending the order (kingdom) of our Father. We are not responsible for the supplies. We are responsible for using them correctly as we invade the other orders (kingdoms) of this world. We can’t be pulled down into the mire of concerns that occupy he sons of this world. We represent a kingdom that is superior and that will ultimately replace all the kingdoms built on lies. 

So, what is the truth? It is: Life is about relating to and representing our Father to every sphere of creation. “Seek the kingdom!” It means that we are to spend and be spent on discovering and developing the order of God on earth. 

 Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Luke 12:32-34 (ESV)

Truth is that our Father is delighted to “give” us the kingdom. Since it is a gift, we are to give. In doing so, we provide our own moneybags in the bank in heaven. It is a secure investment. No greedy bankers or unprincipled Wall Street firms can get to it. Our Father does not need the resources in order to prove to his contemporaries that he is successful. He has them for the express purpose of giving them to his sons who are intentional in extending his kingdom. 

Truth is that we can transfer the fragile temporary possessions of this world into eternal riches. It is not how much we have now. It is all about how we handle whatever we have now. 

Truth is that we are more valuable than the birds and flowers. We should be as free. 

Truth is that we cannot continue to put our money in the banks of earth and our hearts in the bank of heaven. We cannot trust two sources for our wellbeing. 

Maybe the issue we need to address is that we don’t believe we are sons of the Father. Why? Are we still sporting the fatherless dynamic of the sons of Adam? We are no longer estranged from our Father. We are not living outside the gates of the Garden wanting to get back in. We are not under probation. We are fully reconciled to God by the sacrifice of Jesus. We are as fully sons of God as Jesus is. We are not stepsons or tolerated orphans. He is delighted to give us his inheritance. It is time to repent of the stifling concepts of fatherlessness. God has done something transformational and we are the transformed. We can change our minds about our essential relationship by owning the responsibility, believing the truth and trusting him to make it real in our daily lives. Any other response is FOOLISH.