Sunday: The Rich Fool
Read Luke 12:16-21. What’s the relevant message to us here? What strong rebuke did the Lord give to the foolish man, and what should that say to us regarding our attitude toward what we own?
Though the message is broader than this, one could argue that this was a story Jesus told about what not to do in retirement. Accordingly, if a person is quitting work to spend his accumulated assets on himself, he should beware and take this story to heart.
Image © Standard Publishing from GoodSalt.com
The problem is not with working hard or getting wealth, particularly as one gets older and, perhaps, even richer. The problem is with the attitude toward it. His words — “take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry” (Luke 12:19, NKJV) — express the real issue here.
“This man’s aims were no higher than those of the beasts that perish. He lived as if there were no God, no heaven, no future life; as if everything he possessed were his own, and he owed nothing to God or man.” — Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, Pages 257, 258.
If, during this stage of life, we think only of ourselves and ignore the needs of others and the cause of God, we are following the example of the rich fool. There was no indication in Jesus’ parable that the rich man was lazy or dishonest. The problem was in how he spent what God had entrusted to him. Because we don’t know the day of our death, we should always be ready for it by living to carry out God’s will instead of pursuing a life of selfishness.
The general picture given in the Bible is that a person works and remains productive as long as he or she is able. In fact, it is interesting to note that the authors of the great prophetic books of Daniel and the Revelation were, many believe, both in their 80s when they completed their work. This was at a time when the average age at death was about 50 years. Ellen G. White published some of her best-known and best-loved books, such as The Desire of Ages, after about age 70. Age, then, as long as we are healthy, should not mean that we stop being productive and, to whatever extent possible, doing some good.
Jesus counseled those waiting for His Second Coming not just to watch but to continue working as well (Matthew 24:44-46).
| At any age and with any amount of money, how can we avoid falling into the trap that the man did here? Ask yourself, “What am I living for?” |
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Our State government runs a community grants scheme. Local organizations can apply for grants of up to $20,000 for projects that benefit the community. In fact our local U3A had apparently applied for such a grant about 8 years ago and received 16 computers for teaching older folk to become technically competent. The current U3A has a short memory about these things, so when applications were called for the 2023 round of grants, their brains went into overdrive thinking what they could do with $20,000. The suggestion was made that we could get some computers to help the older folk learn about computers. But, hang on a minute! I spoiled the conversation by pointing out that we already had 16 computers sitting unused and taking up space in someone's home. And I also pointed out that the current computing course expected students to bring their own computers to class.
The issue is that the temptation to put in an application for grant money had to be more than just getting $20,000. It has to be thought about and given a purpose.
The accumulation of wealth, power, social status, and so on should not be ends in themselves. And all too often we hear business organisations, listing in their mission statements that their primary goal is to make money for their shareholders when they should perhaps be listing their responsibility to the community. (Recent examples include pharmaceutical companies upping the price of life-saving drugs simply because they can.)
The story of the rich fool is an invitation for us to examine our own motives. There is nothing wrong with being rich if you use your richness to help others. There is nothing wrong with being powerful and having a high social standing, provided you use that position to help the needy and bring encouragement to those who feel disenfranchised by society.
In the meantime, I have to work out what to do with 16 8-year-old computers that won't run any current software, before the person who has them stored in his house gives them to me.
Today's lesson reflects an important truth. 'Living to give' is not just something we do some of the time in our life. Rather, it is life itself - or more precisely, it is the only 'type' of life that actually works. This is why 'living to give' is central to life and living within God's Kingdom - even for God Himself (John 3:16).
Do you desire that your life be about 'living to give' in order to benefit others? If so, Matthew 6:33-34 is God's promise to/for you in the face of fear and anxiety about providing for your present and future needs.
Every single living creature has a purpose in life. What meaning do I have for mine? Actually, do I ever think about whether I really have a meaningful life? Or things just keep passing by and I just grab what I think is worthy?
We all live according to our own beliefs. Are these connecting ourselves with others? Or disconnecting? Who are the ones we are connecting with? What about those we are disconnecting from?
I think I'm going through some changes. And sometimes, the thought about this makes me feel a little awkward. But I have a hope, that if my beliefs (or purpose) have brought me so far, they'll continue to guide me through my journey. Then while I change to get better (which is what I hope for) I also hope to deliver the good news of love around.
Some wind is definitely blowing, and I just have to trust and follow.
I feel your pain with 16 computer to get rid of. I was principal of a small school where a local business “donated” over a 100 cpu boxes and about 40 monitors although almost all of them didn’t work. It was expensive to get rid of them. Maybe you could load Linux on your computers which would give an office suite to whoever received them. Then donate them to families that maybe don’t have good running computer.
The EGWhite quote worries me.Would she have written the same if the rich man had said he would eat drink and merrily seek to help those in need? It is surely possible to be generous with our time and wealth and be happy. Thus the rich man’s problem was selfishness. If true one needs to practice unselfishness from youth as it difficult to change habits.
Who wants to be burdened with the responsibility to maintain ‘riches’? If Jesus considers building more barns to hold all the ‘increase’ a foolish act in light of not knowing when one needs to leave it all behind, this can also translate to today’s living. Amassing wealth – or just having more than what is needful to be living comfortably – is this a worthy goal for one's life? It depends!
Ellen White’s quote puts truth into a nutshell: “Because we don’t know the day of our death, we should always be ready for it by living to carry out God’s will instead of pursuing a life of selfishness.” Desiring wisdom about how to engage in life when young will bare its fruit when old. With the deminishing share of time, energy and funds spend on securing the family’s well-being, we are free to spend more of it doing for others.
I enjoy my ‘being older’, as it increases my flexibility when supporting others. Whiles using my family's resources frugally, this did not mean that we did not have ‘anything’ to share, its that sharing love and good-will towards others can be engaged in more generously now. But then, everyone's experience in one's older years is different. Building bigger 'barns' can mean bigger burdens when the focuse is only to benefit oneself, but it can also mean to have more goods to distribute and to do so joyfully and generously.
Today's lesson is an egregious example of the gulf between official church perception, and the reality of most older members. Because of members' systematic benevolence, most church employees have reliable employment, and continue to receive adequate support and care during retirement. This is a not unreasonable reward for service, but they appear rich compared to the reality of millions of members.
Worldwide, most church members will never have the luxury of guaranteed employment and a retirement income. Millions have to deal with the reality of “if you can't work, you won't eat”, particularly if they have no children to support them. Even in first world countries, many retired, sick or incapacitated church members struggle, and have to make desperate choices, such as to pay for heating, or medical bills, or even to find enough for transport to the doctor.
When Jesus was on earth, the people who came to him were poor and lame and downtrodden. He understood their needs, and spoke their language. Today's lesson is a reminder of how, during years of plenty, a gulf has arisen between our church and the people Jesus came to save. We no longer understand, or can even imagine, their reality.
We need to get out more, or our entire church will become irrelevant.
Great observation. I could not agree with you more. The church gets a lot of money from us, but my husband never saw the value in saving for retirement. He has been an elder, deacon, lawn mower, and all kinds of helping around the church. He is now 70 years old, still working, and when he can no longer work, I guarantee, the church will not help us out.
I think it is important that we have productive activities at any age, including retirement. However, to suggest there is no Biblical precedent for retirement is inaccurate. The Levites were expected to retire at 50, though they could help out in the sanctuary to a certain extent (see Numbers 8:24-26). We see other examples of people in the Bible slowing down (kings sharing the throne with sons, David in his latter years etc). I also can't imagine that older men were expected to go to war. In the New Testament, the fact that widows over 60 were cared for by the church suggests that there was a retirement of sorts there as well.
Seniors can contribute a lot, both to the church and society. My church's head elder is retired and able to function almost as a second pastor. But for all of us, we slow down, physically and, hopefully to a lesser degree, mentally. Ideally that is accounted for. It is sad to see a senior having to work because finances do not allow retirement. That isn't really the best situation.