Rich Toward God - Sermon for the 8th Sunday after Pentecost

Rich toward God - Luke 12:21
8^th Sunday after Pentecost
August 3^rd, Year of Our + Lord 2025
Our Savior’s and Our Redeemer Lutheran Churches
Hill City and Custer, South Dakota

Sermon Audio available HERE. 

  You already know today’s sermon, don’t you?  The texts seem to preach themselves; they’re very straightforward, don’t you think?  King Solomon’s lament from Ecclesiastes goes well with Jesus’ simple parable, about a foolish rich man, who reasoned to himself how to make the most out of the bountiful harvest he took in from his land.  Solomon and Jesus both warn that you can’t take it with you, that building bigger barns in order to store up your riches is nothing but vanity, a pointless effort, that will lead you to bitter disappointment.  Because you never know when your time will come, your life will end, and your earthly riches will then pass to someone else.  Jesus takes the point farther, explicitly warning against covetousness, that is, against letting our natural pleasure in nice things turn into an ugly, soul-consuming lust to acquire, to turn the pursuit of things into the highest goal of our life.  Guard against this, says Jesus, “for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

    Covetousness, greed, an excessive focus on acquiring stuff, this is the problem.  So, what’s the solution?  The problem, the law that Jesus preaches, is all about the misuse of material blessings.  How do we overcome this sin? 

   It’s quite natural to assume that the answer to the problem of misusing wealth is to use your wealth well.  Remind yourself that you can’t take it with you.  Instead, you should use your wealth in Godly ways, in true Godly wisdom.  The rich fool thought to himself , reasoned in his own mind, about what he should do with his great bounty.  He of course should have consulted with God.  You should pray to God and ask for His Spirit to guide you to the proper use of your possessions.  Certainly, you should think to share some of your wealth with the less fortunate, instead of storing it all up for yourself.  Jesus, after all, talks a lot about caring for the needy. 

   And of course, you should be rich toward God.  That means, I suppose, that we should give more of our bounty to support God’s mission, to support His Church.  Yes, that must be the solution, right?  We can solve the problem of worshiping our material riches by giving more of them to Christ, by giving more to His Church.  (Stop me if you’ve heard this stewardship sermon before.)  To put a bow on that, I could list out some particular needs and causes you might consider, a project we might undertake, a mission we might support.  And, to not let a good stewardship text go to waste, I could mention that we are a little behind on our giving, after all.  You can’t take it with you, so be rich toward God.  That’s the sermon, right?   

   There’s just one problem with this sermon: this is not what Jesus means.  Using your earthly wealth better, sharing more with others and giving more to support the work of Christ’s Church, these are not being “rich toward God.” 

   Now, please don’t misunderstand.  It is good to share your blessings with the less fortunate.  God does want you to use your material blessings well, which does include supporting the Mission of His Church with your time, your talents, and your treasure.  But none of this makes you “rich toward God.”  The rest of Scripture screams against this interpretation.  Thinking we can buy God’s favor with things is the crassest form of self-righteousness, and the Lord is not impressed with the self-righteous.  So we should take a closer look at what it means to be “rich toward God.” 

   Jesus’ parable warning about misusing wealth is also a parable about being prepared for the judgment.  The rich man dies, and God calls him a fool.  God will not exclaim “you fool” to a beloved child He is about to welcome into paradise.  Jesus is concerned that we not be covetous, that we don’t let our earthly riches mislead us into a false security, a false faith.  But being “rich toward God” cannot mean being generous and giving lots of money to the poor or to the Church, because throughout the Bible the Holy Spirit declares that nothing we do can make us ready to face our judgment.  On that night when our souls are demanded from us, and we face the final reckoning, we dare not point to our works as the argument for our acceptance by God, because our works always fall short.

   Using your wealth, your stuff, in a Godly way cannot be what reconciles you to God.  First of all, God doesn’t need your stuff.  What does the Almighty Creator and Sustainer of the Universe need with our wealth?  Does the LORD need a share of your crop, so He can make it through the coming winter?  Does He desire a percentage of your take home pay?  To do what with, buy stuff on Amazon?  God doesn’t need your material goods; He is the One who gives it all to you in the first place.  God doesn’t need and He doesn’t want your stuff.  No, He wants you. 

   Now, I know, that is hard to believe, that God wants you and me.  After all we’ve done?  Knowing how easily and often we fall back into greed, covetousness, and many other shameful sins?  How can it be that God wants sinners like us?  It is hard to believe, but God does want you, and me, and everyone else.  The story of the Bible from Genesis chapter 1 to Revelation chapter 22 is the story of God pursuing His goal of having you, and many, many other people, living with Him, forever.  He wants to have a people with Himself so much that God the Father gave His most precious treasure, His beloved Son, in order that He can have you and me as His beloved children, forever.  You know the verse: For God so loved the world… God loved the world this much, and in this way:  He gave Jesus, into the Cross, for you.

    Being rich toward God, rich enough to merit salvation, means only one thing: that you have God’s most precious treasure: Jesus Christ. That He is yours and you are His, so that together with and for the sake of Christ Jesus, the Father rejoices over you.  That God’s Son, through His suffering, death, and victorious resurrection, has prepared a place for you to live in His Father’s glory and bounty and beauty, forever and ever.  God gives you the gift of His Son and His righteousness and holiness freely, through faith, which the Holy Spirit creates in you, through the very telling of this story, through the proclamation of the Good News, the Gospel.    

    But, you might ask, why does Jesus warn against covetousness, if it is not to motivate us to generosity?  Well, you can’t save yourself by being generous.  But falling into covetousness, which is idolatry, false faith, the worship of earthly things, this does threaten to separate you from God.  To set your heart on worldly goods is to sell yourself back into slavery to Satan.  Jesus doesn’t want us to do that, so He gives us this parable.   

    Now, God is not opposed to the just distribution of earthly blessings.  In fact, He commands this, and loves it when His people use their earthly riches to bless one another, and strangers, and even enemies.  Likewise, God is pleased when His people pool their resources to support the ongoing proclamation of Christ, in our town, our area, and around the world.  And, when you have an unexpected profit, when your blessings abound, it is wise to seek God’s guidance, as opposed to just reasoning with yourself about how to use it.  All of the things the rich fool could have and should have done are worthy things for us to pursue. 

    But, as Jesus makes plain to the man from the crowd who demanded Jesus adjudicate his inheritance fight with his brother, achieving financial justice and peace on earth is not why Jesus came.  Jesus is very direct and harsh with this man’s request: “Who made me judge or arbitrator over you?”  Jesus did not come to bring equity and peace between brothers, or neighbors, or nations.  Those are all good, worthy goals, but they are not Jesus’ purpose for being conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. 

     Jesus came, not to arbitrate between us sinners over earthly inheritance, but rather to be the Arbitrator between mankind and God, to secure for us an eternal inheritance in glory.  Christ is the One Mediator who has made peace between the Almighty and His rebellious creatures.  So it’s no surprise that Jesus bluntly refuses to be an inheritance attorney to sort out a petty squabble between two brothers. 

    Surely injustices ran throughout both the Roman tax system and the Jewish Temple tax system, because every institution run by sinners will always be unjust, to one degree or another.  But Jesus simply paid His taxes, calling us all to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and to render unto God that which is God’s.  And God wants no money, only human souls. 

    Jesus blessed the poor and welcomed them, sometimes performing miracles in order to feed the hungry.  But when Mary anointed Him with expensive perfume just days before Good Friday, and some of His disciples complained that she had wasted the perfume, which could have been sold and the money given to the poor, Jesus would have none of it.  He declared: “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.” (John 12:7-8)  Preparing Jesus’ body to be a fragrant offering to the Father, for the sins of the whole world, was far more important than all the wonderful earthly charity that has ever been done.  Because giving a bit of money or a loaf of bread to a poor person fills their stomach for a day, which is good.  But Jesus’ giving Himself for our forgiveness brings sinners like you and me into God’s heavenly banquet, forever and ever, Alleluia, Amen. 

    Jesus showed great concern and did much on behalf of the poor, the sick, and the ostracized.  Still, achieving earthly justice and providing earthly food was never Jesus’ focus.  Likewise, these ought never be the primary purpose of His Church.  Showing mercy, caring for human beings in their bodily needs, is part of our calling.  But, whenever a Christian Church begins to make earthly justice or alleviating poverty its primary goal, watch out.  Even better, if it is your church, speak up.  And, if they won’t listen, leave.  For when a church, whether a local congregation or a national denomination, prioritizes anything else higher than the death, resurrection, ascension and second coming of the Jesus Christ, they are on the way towards not truly being a Christian Church. 

    There is a great paradox here:  I am not saying human care and mercy, helping people with their daily lives, promoting justice and working to better our society are not concerns for the Church.  They just can’t be the main thing.  We dare not make them our true treasure.  Because we have one Treasure, the Man-God who reconciles us with His Father, and also gives us new hearts that want to share and care and speak the Good News to others.  Our richness toward God is nothing more nor less than Jesus Christ, our crucified and risen Savior. 

   Without Him, nothing has any lasting value, nothing can give true joy.  With Him, everything, including serving the needy and even suffering for the faith, is richer.  And we are indescribably rich, whatever our bank account says, because in Christ we have everything.  And so our making merry, our joy, is great, even when it sometimes comes amidst tears.  Because we know that one day soon, we will receive pure and untainted joy, which goes on forever and ever.

   Loving and seeking too much earthly wealth is covetousness, a threat to salvation.  But we cannot seek too much of our Savior, Christ Jesus, for He our true wealth, the most valuable treasure we could possibly have.  So be wise, hear His voice.  Rejoice in your Baptism into Him.  Feast on Him in the mystery of His Supper, the Gospel that we eat and drink, His true body and blood, given and shed for you, and for the life of the world.  Marvel at God’s generosity.  Be merry in the infinite riches of God, which are yours, in Jesus, Amen.