Redeemer Lutheran Church

Dear Friends in Christ Jesus,

Today’s text begins with Jesus speaking to a large crowd, warning them about the pride of the Pharisees and the danger of denying Him and rejecting His salvation. Suddenly someone from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

We are almost embarrassed by the man and his petition. It simply is not an important enough question to ask. “Lord, thank You for great Your discussion on the eternal consequences and rewards of confessing You, but I need You to go tell my brother to divide our inheritance so that I can get my portion. And do it now.”

But He [Jesus] said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” Jesus gives the man a stern refusal. Our Lord’s Incarnation at Bethlehem, Baptism in the Jordan River, Temptation in the Wilderness, and Work among the people was to proclaim, bring about, and fulfill the Good News of eternal life, gracious salvation, and forgiveness of sin. He neither had nor sought the secular office of an arbitrator. His Call was a mission to bring the Good News of God’s love for the world by giving His Only-Begotten Son in the manger and on the cross.

And so, we might expect Jesus to dismiss the man whose mind was occupied with an inheritance of a perishable treasure from this temporary world, or to grab the man by the shoulders and shake some sense into him, or, at the very least, simply to neglect the man’s request. So, in view of the weighty, eternal issues just addressed and the petty, temporary claim on an earthly inheritance, we are somewhat surprised when Jesus speaks to those within His hearing. He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

Jesus did not send him away. He answered him. The man and his appeal, as well as the underlying sin of the man, were important enough to answer … important enough for the Holy Spirit to include in the Word of God … important enough for this text to be included in the assigned readings for this day … important enough for you and me to hear and consider its implications and applications.
Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”‘ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

As you no doubt know, often the days of hard-working people do not end until the sun has set. In that mystical time between sunset and night … that evening of life … a hard-worker will get ready for bed and prepare for that little slice of death called sleep. Now if you are like me, when you are in bed and all ready for the unconscious state of mind to commence, your mind is usually fully occupied and you do some thinking about the activities of the day and say a few silent prayers. At such times, thoughts and prayers tend to mingle together as sleep slowly conquers. And at such times, as well as at all times, the Lord God listens in on all thoughts and hears every prayer.

Well, how can we rephrase it? I came across this retelling of the story this week. It goes like this: once upon a time, in the land of cockleburr and Canadian thistle, a rich man had finished his work for the day and had just climbed into bed. Now, he was a rich man … but not because he had gained his wealth by unlawful or shameful means. He didn’t get his fortune by selling drugs, or defrauding, or by gambling, or by thievery. No, indeed, he was an honest, hard-working farmer who woke the rooster up every morning, letting that critter know it was dawn and time to crow. The rich man worked all day and his hard labors showed.

At the end of the day, when the sun had dipped below the horizon, he would say, “Well done!” And it was true, for his farm bore witness to his hard work.

Well, it happened as it usually did, at one bedtime, during the autumn of life … during that mysterious time when all creation is preparing for the coming night, the man began to think as he pulled the covers up to his chin and closed his eyes. “Ah, what a day! Here it is 9:00 pm already.

Hard work has its rewards and I am truly being rewarded for my efforts. What a crop this year! I really don’t think it has been any better. It just keeps coming and coming. The yield per acre is astounding! Why is that? Some would say, ‘Thanks be to God,’ but I know better. Hard work. Oh yes, hard work! My crops give the word ‘harvest’ a new meaning. However, such success does not come without consequences. Now, I have a new problem. Success leads to excess. But I will solve my problem. I just need to do some thinking about it. Let’s see, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?'”

And so, the rich man, who had gained his wealth by honest work, was faced with a problem. He chuckled at his great problem, for he loved the trouble that his problem caused. His abundant harvest was his great problem and as he slumbered he thought about its solution, counting his coins as others count sheep. At 10:00pm, in the stillness of the night, something came to him and it was the answer to his great dilemma.

“I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. I have weighed my silver and my gold and found it way more than sufficient to do what I need to have done. I am going to tear down what I have and build new and bigger and greater barns.
Oh, just imagine the amount of harvest my new barns will be able to hold! What an idea and what a solution to the only great problem I have in the my life.”

At the eleventh second of the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour, during that mystical time when one is neither asleep nor awake, the man mused about his abundant crops, his stacks of gold shekels, his new building project, and the great harvest that would be his. In that nether-land between consciousness and unconsciousness, the man smiled and mumbled from his heart of hearts, “And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.'”

One minute before midnight the rich man was confronted by God. The Lord God Almighty invaded the mind, assaulted the being, and confronted the consciousness of the rich man who harvested bumper crops on the surface skin of this planet and built bigger barns in this world — all to feed his soul. But God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?”

Then the Lord God left him alone … left him completely and totally alone in the darkness of this world’s night. The quietness of dread descended upon the barn-builder’s soul. The rich man was by himself and only had his own thoughts to occupy his mind.

“Fool. God called me a fool. A fool is an unbeliever … one who says there is no god. God called me an unbeliever! I don’t want to be a fool. I’m not a fool. I refuse to be. My hands are shaking and my heart is pounding. I don’t want God to ever call me a fool again. Tomorrow morning, when I wake up, I am going to make some changes in my life. Only now do I really understand that God has given me so much … house, home, fields, cattle, crops, clothing and shoes, meat and drink. How wrong I was. God is my Creator and has made provisions for my re-creation. God has provided for my redemption and I have neglected the Redeemer. When the light of a new day shines, I will be a new man. I repent of my sins. He has provided for both my body and my soul.”

The clock began to strike midnight and the rich man’s mind raced in frantic disarray … all thoughts now accusing and not a one excusing. As the clock of time sounded from the third to the eight chimes, the rich man threw promise after promise to staunch the overwhelming flood pouring down upon him.

“Oh God, I will rush to Your House in the morning and fall down before You, seeking to hear Your Word of forgiveness of all my sins. They are many, and I understand now that there are many more than I ever imagined. I will worship You for You are a God of Law and I respect that, reaping where You do not sow. At first light, I will love my neighbor and give to the poor. I will support Your church. Oh, I am sorrow for what I have done. Look, I will throw down thirty pieces of silver. Make it a thousand! In fact, take it all. Not only a tithe … not only 10%. I will return all of it, a 100% to you. I will help pay for mission work to the nations. Is it a deal, God? Will You be merciful to me then? Here, let me sing, ‘Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to Thee, Take my silver and my gold, Not a mite would I withhold.’ Did you hear me sing my promise, Lord? When I wake up from this nightmare, You are going to be amazed at what I’m going to do for You, oh God. Will You take back what You said? In the Name of Jesus, please forgive me? God, are You there? Hey, are You listening?”

The rich man heard nothing but the timepiece pounding out the seconds before midnight. The sound
turned from a chiming to the clanking of a death knell … eight, nine, ten.

“Nothing. I hear nothing from You, O God! But wait! What was it He said? Fool! This night your soul will be required of you. Ridiculous. God is love and this is all a nightmare, isn’t it? I will wake up any second, now. Crow, you blasted rooster. Announce the dawning of a new day. Quick, for I heard the sound of the eleventh clank. It is one second before midnight, one second before the end.
Crow, you lazy, slothful rooster and wake me from this horrible nightmare! I mean, I am asleep, aren’t I? I mean, this is all just a bad dream, isn’t it?”

Wow! Just look at the time, dear people. Do you realize that we’re really running out of the allotted time for preaching. In fact, there are only a few minutes left. Let’s see, what needs to be said? Oh yes, it is morning and we are all here. It’s really, really good to be here, isn’t it? Almost makes you want to pray, the morning prayer. If you know it, please pray it with me …

“I thank You, My heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your Hands I commend myself; my body and soul and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me that the wicked Foe may have no power over me. Amen.”

When Jesus finished speaking this parable about the rich man, He proclaimed the point of the parable. “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

To be rich toward God is to be rich in the treasures of God … the ones that He provides us through the Word and Sacraments which are and come from the Incarnate Son of God. This wealth consists of jewel of Holy Baptism, the abundant treasury of forgiveness, complete peace with God, the stockpile of complete pardon, the multi-faceted salvation of the Lord, and the rich Feast of Victory at the Table of the Lord. The church is given the key to heaven and commanded to announce the absolution which grants such a heavenly treasure. Being rich toward God includes the goodness of God that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4) and the supplying all of our needs, especially granting us faith to believe such promises of God, and all according to God’s riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

Flowing from the grace of God and faith in Christ, the Christian is called to bear fruits of faith. It may mean being a Christian farmer and involve building bigger barns. It does mean supporting the work of the Church in the missions fields of this world, both here locally and away from our area.

The Lord gives us His treasure chest called the Bible and instructs His under-shepherd to command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they may be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life (1 Timothy 6:17-19).

Well, our time is up. Let me close by saying I hope that the rich blessings of the Lord continue to be yours today. Enjoy the rest of this day and may God grant you a peaceful slumber this night … one free from any sort of nightmares … but especially from, … The Nightmare of a Fool! In the Name of the Father and of the Son an of the Holy Spirit. Amen.