And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:16-21 (ESV)

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In the parable just read of the fool and his earthly riches, Jesus doesn’t condemn the possession of riches. He doesn’t say it is a sin to work the land, plant crops, harvest them or sell them for a profit. Our Gospel Lesson is not a rebuke for employing others to build barns and granaries, and then storing up the harvest. No, none of these things in and of themselves are what brought judgment upon the fellow who Jesus calls a fool.

Rather, it wasn’t his riches, but quiet the opposite, his impoverishment toward God that condemned him at the last. He was, no doubt, a self-made man—rich in earthly terms—but at the same time, a self-made in poverty in the things of God.

He is like all others who in the end have no faith. We call them hypocrites. Cain, who slew Abel—which was the first persecution of the church; Pharaoh—who wasn’t satisfied until pride ran his whole army into the Sea; The Children of Israel—grumbling against Moses and Aaron—ended up walking aimlessly in the desert until most of them were dead; King Saul—willingly forfeited his Kingdom—and then committed suicide. All of these and many others are examples of unfaith that drove the Holy Spirit from the heart and the end result was their eternal destruction.

Now I’ve always imagined this fellow in our Gospel Lesson as having a massive heart-attack in the middle of the night. He probably had a good night, watched the news, kissed his wife and put on his silk pajamas and velvet slippers and crawled into bed. Instead of saying his prayers he envisioned all he had and accomplished and looked forward to a very good retirement.

Whether he woke-up in the middle of the night and knew what was happening—I can’t say—maybe it was thieves who broke in and killed him in his sleep and he never knew it. But I’ve always imagined that he tucked himself into bed real cozy, dozed off, and the next thing he found himself standing before the judgment seat of God!

And he was found wanting. You see, that’s the irony here: he was poor. Poor towards God.

Who knows when his impoverishment began? He was probably respected in the community. He would have been a member at the local synagogue. He may have been on a board, or some sort of leader because of his skill with money and success as a business man.

But one invisible aspect of his life was not seen by the others. He was a hypocrite! It was all for show, he fooled them all including himself—for I am certain that he thought he was right before God, was at peace with himself and figured “what is right with the world is right with God”—or he wouldn’t have been called a fool.

Jesus says in Mark:For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Mark 8:36 (ESV)

The rich man had traded his soul for the ease of this life and lost it eternally in hell.

Perhaps in his case he traded by absenting himself from the Lord’s House, or ripping-off those who worked for him, or by wanton accumulation of possessions and putting up the storage to house it all—and thinking it was all right because he planned to enjoy it all with his family.

And notice the nature of Jesus’ judgment against the man! “Who will have your things?” The old Germans had a saying, “Das letzte Hemd hat keine Taschen!” which means, “the last garment you wear has no pockets!”

I’ve expressed it this way “I have never had a funeral procession to the cemetery that included a moving van.” A lot of people say, “You can’t take it with you”—and they are right. It’ll rot in the ground with you. However, you can put earthly treasures to work for the Kingdom of God in this life and invest in His Word—and you will find your investment has increased exponentially when in heaven you find the result of the good it did here on earth saving people’s souls.

Again Jesus says elsewhere:

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. Matthew 6:19-20 (ESV)

What separates you from the riches of heaven? Are you easily given in to the temptations of this life? Are you quick to despair when life doesn’t go for you as easily as it does for your neighbor? Don’t be deceived my friend: the life of the Christian will never be of ease, otherwise something is wrong.

Any number of things can separate us from our earthly possessions and wealth: a bad stock market, poor investment, competition, natural disaster, storms, fire, thieves and robbers.

But what about keeping the Sabbath day? Not stealing, not coveting? Honest labor and pay? Avoiding cheating? If these cause us not to get the full profit, are we not to avoid sin and obey God? Even if it makes poor earthly business sense?

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. Luke 9:24 (ESV)

But also sickness, depression, bad habits and compulsiveness, drinking, gambling, and covetousness—all these can bring ruin. Adam and Eve brought the curse of God on the soil so that we have to work hard to eat. Before their sinful rebellion God provided plentifully and easily. But now there is great work attached to getting our food. Weeds and pests have to be contended with. Weather, including heat and cold, rain and drought, winds and hail all add to the difficulty. In this world we will only know trouble. The rich man in our Gospel Lesson was a fool because he thought his life of ease would go on and bring him eternal comforts.

So how do we become rich toward God? By hearing His Word. Making use of the Sacrament. Praying and gaining knowledge of His Word. Investing in the Kingdom and supporting the spread of the Gospel.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:3s (ESV)

Joining with one another in Thanksgiving this morning is a good start. But a life of thanks is hardly a one day event, followed by gorging and shopping ‘till you drop. Repentance and thanksgiving go together.

That God does not hold our sins against us and does not answer our prayers and receive our thanks because of our sins is because Jesus Christ offered up His life on our behalf. He emptied himself on the cross so that we might be full and rich. His nakedness, thirst, wounds and death, clothe us in righteousness, quench eternal thirst, bind the hurts and sorrows, and give us eternal life.

And all this he does out fatherly divine, goodness and mercy without any merit or worthiness in us—we say in the first article of the Creed—therefore—For all it is our duty to thank, praise, serve and obey him. This is most certainly true. Amen.