So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God (Luke 12:21; cf. 16-21).
This story reminds us of Joseph who stored the grains of Egypt in preparation for the famine (Genesis 41:25ff). It is wise to prepare for the future (Proverbs 6:6-11). Those who do not prepare for the future ensure their poverty. But this story diverges from the Joseph story. Joseph was charged with storing grain so that during the coming famine the people would flourish.
Jesus tells the story of a rich man who was very productive. The rich man asked the right question: “What shall I do?” (Luke 12:17). However, he discerned the wrong answer: “I will store all my grain and my goods” (Luke 12:18-19). His sin is not in being productive, but in hoarding wealth for himself. His selfishness betrayed his heart. He had been an unfaithful steward. He was not prepared to meet God.
God declared, “Your soul is required of you” (Luke 12:20). The love of wealth is deceptive. The rich man can become convinced that he is a god – utterly self-sufficient. It is the height of foolishness to live as if there is no judgment. The rich man was held accountable by God who “has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart . . . and sent away the rich empty-handed” (Luke 1:51-53).
Wealth does not grant immunity from the calamities of life. Job declared, “How short is life, how full of trouble!” (Job 14:1, NLT) Later He rhetorically asked, “Will your riches keep you from distress?” (Job 36:19).
Wealth will not deter death. The psalmist warned, “Surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Surely every man walks about as a phantom; surely they make an uproar for nothing; he amasses riches and does not know who will gather them” (Psalm 39:5-6; cf. James 4:14). Death is a nefarious shadow that persistently reminds us of our mortality. We, and all our treasures, are ashes and dust scattered by the winds.
Wealth will not sway God’s judgment. An ancient sage said, “Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death” (Proverbs 11:4).
The goal of life is to be “rich toward God.” One saint reflected, “I’ve never seen a hearse pulling a U-haul.” Jesus explained:
For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing . . . and which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span? . . . But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you . . . Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys . . . For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Luke 12:23-34).
The last words of theologian Jaroslav Pelikan reveal the only abiding treasure of human existence: “If Christ is risen – then nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen – then nothing else matters.”
