SAINT LUKE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF WATERTOWN
Sermon
delivered by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz
Pentecost 11
August 16th and 19th, 2001 Luke 12:13-21
Someone in the crowd said to
him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus replied,
“Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to
them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life
does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them this
parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to
himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said,
‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and
there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have
plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be
merry.”’ “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?’
“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not
rich toward God.”
People of God—rescued from the
flaming lake of fire in hell by the innocent blood of the very Lamb of God:
It was just about Christmas time—in a
small town in Michigan—back in the year 1913. The little town was a mining
town—a copper mining town. The copper miners were on strike. They would not
work—they would not mine copper until somebody paid them more money—a lot more
money! Well, the people who paid the miners were not about to pay them
more—because the more they paid—the less they would have for themselves. And so
the owners of the mine were bound and determined to make the miners get back to
work! They would stop at nothing—to break this strike. And so it was—the miners
were having a Christmas celebration with their children when the strike
breakers barred the doors so they could not be opened. Then they sounded a fire
alarm. There was no fire—no actual flames—no actual smoke—no real fire at all!
Just the terrible sound of the fire alarm. The people inside—the people locked
inside were in such a panic—pushing and shoving their way against the locked
doors that people were actually crushed—crushed and pressed so tight against
the doors that they could not breathe. People died—children died—73 children
perished in a desperate attempt to escape flames that did not even exist!
Today—in God’s house we are
concerned about flames—not make believe—not pretend—but the very fires of hell
itself. There is escape from those flames through the blood of Jesus of
Nazareth—the Son of Man and the Son of God. In him alone we have forgiveness
for all our sins. In him alone we have the strength to live lives that glorify
God. Today the Lord Jesus warns us:
Guard Against Greed!
Since June 17th we have been reading
through the Gospel of the physician named Luke. Last Sunday we read how Jesus’
disciples asked him to teach them how to pray. Remember? Father, hallowed be
your name. Your kingdom come! Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our
sins… As Jesus’ public ministry increased—the battle lines grew ever
sharper between good and evil—between the Savior and Satan—the ruler of the
kingdom of the air—the ruler of nothingness—the lord of the flies—the inventor
of lies—the murderer from the beginning. Between last Sunday’s reading and
today’s—Jesus drove out a demon that would not speak. When Jesus made—ordered
and forced that demon out—the demon’s victim could speak again. It was a
miracle. But some people who saw this miracle said, “By Beelzebub, the
prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” Others tested him by asking for a
sign from heaven!” Jesus knew their thoughts—Jesus knew what they were
thinking. He told them this didn’t make any sense. A kingdom—a house divided
against itself cannot stand! Why would the devil help drive out demons? Jesus
warned them against spiritual emptiness. If an evil spirit comes out of a
person—it goes looking for a new home. If the person who has been set free from
the devil does not have his heart and life filled with the Gospel—with Jesus’
forgiving love—then that heart is like a house swept and clean and just looking
for somebody to move in. That first demon will bring seven more demons—move
back in—and in the end that person will be in even more horrible danger! Jesus
spoke words of fierce woe and warning to the Pharisees and the teachers of the
law. Jesus told them, “You Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish,
but inside you are full of greed and wickedness! The
Pharisees brought offerings 10% of their salt and pepper and sugar—their catsup
and mustard and pickles and onions—but you neglect justice and the love of
God! Chapter 12—the chapter we are concentrating on today says, “Meanwhile,
when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one
another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples… Jesus warned them, “I
tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after
that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who,
after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell
you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is
forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t
be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows…
Jesus was talking about life and death issues—about
eternal life and eternal death—about heaven and eternal destruction in hell—when
someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the
inheritance with me.” Forget about eternal concerns—here was somebody who
wanted his fair share of the things and stuff that used to belong to his father
who was now dead. Make my brother give me my stuff—my what? My money, my food,
my cloth, my antique furniture? It’s mine! It belongs to me now! Give it to me!
Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Man!
Man, oh man—did Jesus come to be the People’s
Court—small claims court—settling estates—deciding who gets the sofa and who
gets the car and who gets the china and who gets the silverware? Then Jesus said to them, “Watch out! Be
on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the
abundance of his possessions.”
Greed—is a hunger, a desire, a continual lust for more and
more! Greed is never satisfied! It’s nice to have 50c when you are thirsty so
you can buy a soda. But if you had 99c you could buy a two litre bottle—and
that’s surely more than a stupid can of soda. If you have $2.99 you could buy
one of those boxes—a whole brick of soda. That would be great—especially if you
didn’t have to share it with anyone—if you could have it all to your self! What
would really neat—would be if you could have your own refrigerator—a whole
refrigerator—for just beverages. You know what would be even better than that—a
tapper—a spigot that pokes right through the refrigerator door—so you don’t
even have to open it—just pull the lever and the soda comes out—into a chilled
mug. That would be really nice—and all I have is a lousy can of soda! It’s the
same with everything. A hamburger is really nice—but not as nice as a
cheeseburger—a double cheeseburger—that isn’t as nice as a sirloin steak—which
isn’t as tender as a ribeye—that’s not quite as big as a whole prime rib. And
what’s a prime rib without a baked potato? What do you mean no sour cream and
those little green things all chopped on top? Prime rib and baked potato is
wonderful! What’s for dessert? We could go through this with everything from
sneakers to jeans to cars to houses to vacations. There is a cold dark damp and
dirty part of our heart that is greedy—always always wanting more and more and
bigger and better. Greed is the opposite of contentment—of joyful thankfulness
that counts all of God’s wondrous blessings!
“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of
greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Life is not about how much stuff you have—how
many toys you own—how much stuff has a little tag with your name on it! It’s
easy to say that—and agree with that—sitting here in church. How about out in
the real world? There has been a murder spree in Baltimore. Did you know that?
March, April, May, June—three people killed—five more in the hospital. Did you
know that? Probably not—because the people killed or almost beaten to death
were homeless people. They call it bum stomping! Three teenagers would go out
and rob a homeless man—take the practically nothing he had—then punch and pound
the cookies out of him and leave him for dead. Often the victims did die. Who
cared? One pretty rich girl in Washington is missing and everybody is on the
lookout. Eight people get stomped to death—and you probably didn’t even hear
about it. Well people—nice comfortable middle class people from the safe
suburbs may not know—but the Son of God knows and cares. He cares a lot! Jesus
said a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.
Remember what did Jesus have in his pockets when they crucified him? Not a
penny! Then Jesus died for we who have more than one car—more than one TV and
more than one VCR—and more than one pair of shoes or clothes.
Jesus told a parable—a teaching story. The ground
of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall
I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do.
I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my
grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things
laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” But God said
to him, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you.” Take
life easy. There is nothing wrong with great earthly success. Nothing wrong
with having drinks with little umbrellas relaxing on the beach. But there is
something horrible and soul destructive when our time of grace becomes nothing
more than a time for sinful self-indulgence. God’s precious gifts of health and
time and money are to be used first and especially to glorify him and share the
Gospel. Not one of us knows how much time God has given us. God calls us to
faithfulness—living for him!
This is how it will be with anyone who stores up
things for himself but is not rich toward God. Jesus lived for us—died on
the cross for us—and washed away all our sins. That means we are forgiven—and
heirs of eternal life. There is nothing left over for us to do to be saved.
That’s the precious and powerful comfort of the unconditional Gospel. So don’t
be scared—but be careful! Be very careful! Down in Florida there is a kind of
park and zoo where they have tigers. One of the tiger cages needed to be
repaired. A worker named Vincent—my age—was trying to repair the cage. I’m sure
Vincent thought—I can do this! I can repair this cage. That big kitten is not
going to have me for lunch! But it did! The tiger got Vincent—and I don’t mean
just gave his some nasty scratches. Vincent is dead. The tiger is dead, now,
too—but too late to save Vincent! What threatens you and me is the lion who
comes roaring out of the filthy stinking pit of hell. There is safety and
sanctuary in Jesus and Jesus alone. Only Jesus can keep us safe from
destructive temptations to selfishness and faith and family destroying greed.
This is how it will be with
anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God. Jesus
lived for us—died on the cross for us—and washed away all our sins. Every
Sunday—every sermon—we long to hear that simple sweet good news. Jesus died on
the cross so we can go home to Heaven—no matter what sins we have committed.
There is a man named Alfred who pleaded guilty—who admitted he got drunk—and
crashing into a Mommy who had a baby in her tummy—that was going to be born in
just a few days! This man named Alfred killed them both! If you were the
judge—what would you do to Alfred? The earthly judge has sentenced Alfred to go
to the grave of the mommy he killed and put roses on her grave on the 18th
of every month—the anniversary of the day he killed her for the next 4 ½ years!
That means 54 times he will have to go to a flower store—and buy a hand full of
roses—then drive to the cemetery—to walk to her grave—where the soil has been
dug up—and grass seed sprinkled—to place those roses there. After 4 ½ years I
don’t think the 18th of any month will come and go—without Alfred
feeling like he should go to Britt Brandt’s grave to put still more flowers
there. I hope and pray that even though he may not ever feel forgiven. Even
though he might never forgive himself—that Alfred would know Jesus has forgiven
Alfred. Jesus died for Alfred and this sin that must haunt him. Jesus died to
wash that sin away forever and for good. Jesus died for Alfred and Jesus died
for me. Jesus died for you, too! Whatever we have been—how ever greedy we might
have been—Jesus died so we are all rich towards God. Amen!
To
God alone all glory!