In Luke 12, Jesus was teaching a large crowd that had gathered to hear Him, most likely somewhere near Jerusalem. There, someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” Jesus sensed something behind the person’s request, and instead of giving in to the request, Jesus replied, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” Jesus turned to the crowd and said, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” (Luke 12:15) At that point, Jesus taught the crowd the parable of the rich fool to warn them of the dangers of greed.
A rich man produced a bountiful harvest, but instead of seeing it as a blessing and thanking God for it, he saw it as a dilemma because he wanted to keep the bountiful harvest all to himself; he said, “What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?” Thinking himself wise, he continued on to say, “This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods.” Apparently, the man was rich; he had barns that were full from previous harvests, for he himself said that he didn’t have any more space to store this new harvest. The rich man already had enough stored away, but he wanted even more. What is greed? Greed is the disordered desire for riches; it is an excessive desire for more than is needed; in simple terms, greed is when someone already has enough but still wants more.
Feeling pleased with his plan, the rich man said to himself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!” Here comes the twist to the parable: But God said to him, “You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong? Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.” (Luke 12:20-21) The rich man planned well for his wealth, but he didn’t foresee the tragedy that awaited him – he wouldn’t live long enough to enjoy all his accumulated wealth even for a little while. The Old Testament speaks of this folly: “For here is one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill, and that one’s legacy must be left to another who has not toiled for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.” (Ecclesiastes 2:21)
The lesson to be learned from the parable of the rich fool is not that we have to plan to spend all our wealth before we die, but that we have to take care not to store treasure for ourselves in things that do not matter to God. (cf. Luke 12:21) In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus teaches, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth… But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19-20)
While living on earth, Christians ought to prioritize spiritual and eternal values over material possessions; instead of investing in earthly treasures which are temporary and can be lost or stolen, we ought to invest in acts of kindness, generosity, compassion, righteousness and charity which not only contribute to our spiritual well-being, but have everlasting rewards.
Some people might say, “I am not storing treasure for myself, because I plan to leave it all to my children and grandchildren when I die.” The point of the lesson is not about to whom we leave our wealth, but whether or not we are storing the kind of ‘treasure’ that matters to God.