Christmas is coming… and welcome to the season of consumerism—where billions are spent convincing you that your life is incomplete without more stuff. But what starts as "extra would be nice" can quickly become "I NEED this" and eventually morph into the sneakiest heart blockage of all: greed.
Unlike guilt and anger, greed is a master of disguise. It hides behind virtues like planning, saving, and hard work. You can be greedy whether you're rich or poor—because greed isn't about how much you have; it's about how tightly you hold onto it. Through Jesus's powerful parable of the rich fool in Luke 12, we discover that greed is fueled by fear and a false sense of ownership.
The landowner in Jesus's story believed he earned everything, deserved everything, and had a right to store it all up for himself. But he forgot two crucial truths: God gave him the harvest, and God controls his time. In one night, everything he hoarded became someone else's possession.
Luke 12:15–21; John 10:10; Galatians 5:22–23 (NIV)
Big Idea: Greed lies: “Your life = your stuff.” Jesus frees you to be rich toward God through gratitude, humility, contentment, and generosity.
Jesus’ Warning
Luke 12:15 (NIV) “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
Key Insight: Your life does NOT consist in your stuff. You can lose everything and still have your life, or gain everything and lose it. The richest person in the room might be the poorest you know.
Root Issue: Greed believes you've earned what you have, so you're determined to control it. But underneath the excuses is fear—fear that God won't take care of you. So you set out to acquire and maintain security, but there's never enough.
The Rich Fool (Luke 12:16–21)
Luke 12:16–17 (NIV) “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest... ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops. “I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones... ‘Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’” Luke 12:20–21 (NIV) “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you... This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
Jesus' Definition of Greed
Greed Defined: A person who stores up things for themselves but isn't rich toward God. Being "rich toward God" means prioritizing God and being generous toward those in need. A greedy person holds on tightly and gives sparingly.
The Moral: Those whose eagerness to store up material goods outpaces their willingness to give will suffer a complete and total loss when their time runs out. The rich fool was a fool to think he earned it all, a fool not to give from his abundance, a fool to miss his only chance to be generous.
Remedy: Be Rich Toward God
Greed is a joy robber that makes us focus on what we lack rather than what we have. Unlike guilt (thinking we owe a debt) or anger (thinking we're owed a debt), greed disguises itself as wisdom and responsibility. It drives us to hoard, control, and build bigger barns, ultimately stealing our peace, contentment, and joy. The parable of the rich fool reveals that our lives don't consist in our possessions, and everything we accumulate will eventually belong to someone else. True security and joy come from being "rich toward God" through gratitude, humility, contentment, and generosity.
STUDY NOTES
Luke 12:13–21 (NIV) 13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
Jesus warns people far more often about greed than about sex, yet almost no one thinks they’re guilty of it. Therefore, we should all begin with the working hypothesis that this could easily be a problem for me. If greed hides itself so deeply, no one should be confident that it’s not a problem for them. -Tim Keller
The real moral of the story is this: Those whose eagerness to store up material goods outpaces their willingness to give will suffer a complete and total loss when their time runs out. The landowner suffered a total reversal of fortune at death: He lost everything in this life and had nothing to show for it in the next. He didn’t just lose his life, he lost everything he considered “life.” He was rich in this world but poor toward God because everything that came his way was used for his private consumption. In the words of Jesus, he was a fool. A fool that most of us would have envied had we known him. A fool that many of us have a tendency to emulate, but a fool just the same. The landowner was foolish enough to believe that an abundance of stuff meant an abundance of time. He was a fool to assume that his good fortune was the direct result of his hard work. He was a fool not to give to the less fortunate from his abundance, knowing that the day would come when everything would be taken from him, including any further opportunity to be generous. As Mignon McLaughlin once wrote in The Second Neurotic’s Notebook, “ ‘Your money or your life.’ We know what to do when a burglar makes this demand of us, but not when God does.” The parable of the rich fool does two important things for us: First, it defines greed from God’s perspective. Second, it offers a simple remedy. The problem with God’s definition is that it’s a bit broader than most of us are comfortable with. The problem with his solution is that it’s unavoidably practical. Simply stated, the solution is a habit. A habit that has the power to free our greed-ridden hearts. The Power of Generosity. Andy Stanley
12:22–25 Therefore, i.e., because of the truths taught in vv. 13–21, do not be anxious. The first reason why believers should not be anxious is given in v. 23 (for life is more than …); the second in v. 24 (of how much more value are you; cf. note on Matt. 6:26); and the third in Luke 12:25 (because no one has enough control over his own life even to add a single hour to his span of life). Life (or “soul”; Gk. psychē) and body refer to the whole person. (Regarding “add a single hour to his span of life,” see ESV footnote; “hour” is literally “cubit” [Gk. pēchys], and most commentators take it to be a metaphor for adding a standard unit of measure to the length of one’s life.) -ESV Study Bible
Resources: Collins, Gary. Christian Counselling A Comprehensive Guide, Nelson Reference, 2007
Lundgaard, Kris. The Enemy within: Straight Talk about the Power and Defeat of Sin.
P & R, 1998.
Stanley, Andy. Enemies of the Heart: Breaking Free from the Four Emotions That Control. Multnomah Books, 2011.
Pastor Sam Sutter //Sam@bbcconline.org
