1. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our heavenly Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. We continue our sermon series on the Parables for Pentecost, today our text is from the Gospel of Luke 12:13-21, we begin with verses 13-14: “Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.’ But he said to him, ‘Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?’ ” The message is entitled, “A Hostile Takeover,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. The man in the crowd didn’t know it, but he was praying about money. We do plenty of that in these uncertain times. “Lord, will I hold on to my job?” And that’s for reasons that may have nothing to do with your performance. It’s hardball at high levels behind closed doors that have nothing to do with you. It doesn’t matter how good you are at your job, or how much your boss loves you. If the company you work for collides with a company that’s higher on the food chain, guess what? You and your boss are cleaning out your desk, and “Hit the road, Jack, but don’t take it personally.” Corporate mergers, foreign acquisitions, hostile takeovers—we hear about them every day, but for the one who built his or her life around that job, it’s always a hostile takeover. What does all that have to do with this text? Everything!
3. Remember the transfiguration? The voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” Then, as soon as Jesus and the disciples come down from the mountain, the Gospel shifts gears: “He set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Lk 9:51). Listen to this Jesus as he travels to Jerusalem.
4. “Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.’ ” This fellow sounds like a typical heckler in the crowd, trying to get Jesus off message. Jesus’ reply almost sounds as if he were silencing a heckler: “Man, who made me judge or arbitrator over you?” The reasons it sounds to us as if Jesus is dismissing the guy are two: first, because I would have answered a fool like a fool, and rolled my eyes. The second reason is because, at first glance, this doesn’t sound like something Jesus would say, at least according to popular theology. He told those two brothers, “That’s your problem,” and I say, “What?” He said, “That’s not part of my job description,” and we say, “Whoa! I thought . . .”
5. We’re surrounded by a huge sector of Christianity that really thinks that is Jesus’ job description. I’m living the American dream, making a better life. What’s the point of being a Christian in the land of opportunity if I can’t rub the lamp and make a wish? Jesus, out of love for this guy, told him the truth: “I’m not your genie, and this isn’t small-claims court. You have a problem.” This man had the ear of God in a body, and this is all he could come up with? Get my money? And when you receive the key to heaven, and we have the ear of the King, do we ask for important things, or have we taken his name in vain?
6. Pop theology teaches that as a Christian I have the right to more stuff. Is “more stuff” what it all boils down to? Trust me when I tell you more stuff doesn’t make for happiness. It makes for sore muscles! I remember when I first got a call to Grace and I told Tony Mirenda that I needed to move my books into my office. I told him I had 66 boxes of books and Tony thought I had 66 books to bring to my office. Talk about back breaking. The more subtle malfunction is if we think that we already know the right questions to ask, and Jesus’ only job is to pony up the answer we expect. If God would only give me what I ask, that would be my happy ending! Money? Stuff? That is a wrongheaded illusion. Jesus knew it (he always knows!) and told the man, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).
7. You want to know how it turns out if you get what you want? Jesus tells us another parable. A rich man’s land produced a bumper crop. And he began to say to himself, “What shall I do? ” (Luke 12:16b–17a). The farmer consults with . . . himself. “I have no place to store my surplus. What to do?” “What shall I do? I have no place to store my surplus. Here’s what I’ll do, I’ll tear down my barns and I’ll build huge barns and gather all my grain and my goods.” My surplus. My grain. My goods. I’ll bet he called himself a “self-made millionaire” too.
8. The rich farmer never questioned whether the bumper crop was for him to keep. No, this spells early retirement. “Relax, eat, drink, be merry” (Luke 12:19c). Isn’t it obvious? “And I will say to my soul” (Luke 12:19a). Folks all just assume their souls are theirs to keep. “To keep” is the operative phrase. For this man, “to keep” was everything! Greed is a downward spiral. “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction” (1 Tim 6:9). Look at him plunging. “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years” (Luke 12:19b). Many good things—to keep…many good years—my years.
9. “But God said to him, ‘Fool!’ ” (Luke 12:20a). Who told you they were your things? Who told you they were your years? And who told you it was your soul? “Fool! This night your soul is required of [demanded back from] you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” (Luke 12:20). “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Mt 16:26a). For that man, death was a hostile takeover. But man, despite his riches, “will not remain; he is like the beasts that perish” (Ps 49:12). For sinners, the reign of death, hell, and grave is a hostile takeover. It swallows you up even while you go about your business—even if you’re good at your business. Makes no difference. That’s why it’s a hostile takeover. You’re out. Empty your desk. It’s heartbreaking.
10. The punch line is even more heartbreaking: “So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:21). He thought he had good things, but he had no idea how good things could be. He wasn’t “rich toward God.” He thought he had many years more. What, ten, twenty, thirty? Thirty years goes by in a second! He had no concept of “many”! “My ship has come in. I won’t have to work, and I’ll have plenty of stuff ’til I die!” That’s all there is to life when you’re made in the image of God? Hoarding and hiding? That’s what they mean by “be merry”?
11. One could assume that the rich fool laid up for himself and as a result wasn’t rich toward God. But that’s not right. The truth is, he wasn’t rich toward God, and as a result he couldn’t afford not to lay up for himself. Giving a real offering to God doesn’t make you rich toward God. It means you already are. Already rich enough and merry enough to lay up thank-you presents in heaven by taking care of people here.
12. But what about this poor guy in the crowd? What does a wrong question and a stiff warning and a sad parable change? The man in the crowd now knows that he’s not rich toward God. He’s going to lose his soul, and Jesus is headed for Jerusalem. When the man asked Jesus to get him his money, Jesus wasn’t saying, “No can do! You’re asking too much!” He was saying, “Wake Up! Wake Up! You’re Asking Too Little!” Ask me what I mean by “rich toward God.” Ask me why it matters to you. Say to your soul, “Soul, you’re not rich toward God. You haven’t any good things, and you haven’t many years, but death will spring on you like a trap, and there’s not a thing you can do about it.” None of our good deeds could ever make us rich toward God, and every sin put us deeper in the red. And death picks people off and hell gulps people down even while they go about their business, because death knows and hell knows there’s no one big enough to stand up against them. So, they thought.
13. There’s a new kid in town. They call him Immanuel. He’s not a consultant, and he’s not interested in a merger when it comes time to pay for your sin. He looks at you and me and every sinner and says, “I know you planned on facing death, hell, and the grave when the wrath of God falls, but you know something? You’re out. Clean out your desk. This is not a negotiation!” This is a Hostile Takeover!
14. That’s why Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem. He aimed his feet to where the nails were waiting. He reached his goal and things got hostile. They crucified him. The sky turned black, and it was Jesus’ turn to ask the question “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The voice in the parable answered, “Fool!” But this time it was no parable. This was the real voice of God the Father aimed at Jesus! “Fool! Their souls are required of you this night.” He became sin for us. This is the Hostile Takeover of what we had coming. The Hostile Takeover of our judgment: “Not rich toward God.” The notice of accusations against us that hung over our heads was ripped from us and was now hanging over his head on the cross.
15. “And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” And the things he had prepared, good deeds of love, righteousness, and innocence that he had to build bigger storehouses for it all! Whose will they be? Whose?!! Yours. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor 8:9). It was all for you. With every good work and every act of love in his sinless life, Jesus laid up many good things for you for many years. You are rich in God.
16. At this altar, you will show what it really means to eat, drink, and be merry! You can afford anything, especially if it means good news to those who have been slaves to the giant corporation of sin, death, hell, and the grave. While you give yourselves away, announce that hostile takeover: all power is given to Jesus in heaven and in earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of [teach] all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:19). New products and services: the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. New Owner. No worries. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.
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