“…The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:16-21
My Summary & Reflection
In this parable, Jesus describes a rich man who has a plentiful harvest. He has more than he can possibly store in his barns. Because of this, he chooses to pull down his barns and build even greater barns to hold all of his harvest. He then thought that he would rest and enjoy the goods he had built up for many years. But God said to him that he was to die that very night and would not have the chance to rest and live off the treasure that he had built.
To provide some context for this parable, Jesus provided this parable after making the following statement, “…Take heed, and beware of covetousness; for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” Luke 12:15 In a related passage, Jesus tells us, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal; For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matthew 6:19-21
The lesson of this parable and Jesus’ related words appear to be that a person’s real worth is not a function of his or her financial worth and the things he or she has, but what is in that person’s heart. In the parable, the rich man’s blessings exceeded even his ambitions and the size of his barn. In other words, his cup runneth over. The question is what to do when that happens. When your cup runs over, do you, as the man in this parable, go and get a bigger cup or do you share your excesses to improve the lives of your neighbors?
In our society, where many are judged by their possessions, it can become easy to believe that possessions and outward displays of wealth are important, that they mean something. What Jesus seems to be saying is that these things are not important to God. And we should keep our efforts focused on that which is important to God if we hope for the riches beyond this world, the riches for our soul that are eternal. As in the parable, the possessions that are stored up on earth, will not be joining the rich man as his life here on earth has ended. They all will be left behind. In current times, we may fool ourselves into thinking that we are just providing inspiration to others by displaying our wealth and status. But what we may be in fact doing is building up our own egos and, in the process, inspiring others to covetousness. What this parable and Jesus’ other teachings seem to guide us towards, as the rich man with the excess yields in his harvest, is being grateful for the fruits of our labor and finding ways to share both our bounty and our knowledge with others so that they too can experience a bountiful harvest.
Your Reflection
- Do you believe that gathering as many riches as you are able should be your goal?
- Is your focus on storing up for yourself treasures on earth or in heaven?
- What is your definition of success? Is that definition based on what you have stored up for yourself on earth?