Sunday 9-6-26 “Am I Greedy?”

Greed usually brings Scrooge McDuck’s vault or Dickens’s miserable miser to mind, but Luke 12 turns the mirror toward every heart. Jesus meets a man demanding his share of an inheritance while the Messiah is speaking of God’s kingdom. The demand exposes a heart so consumed with personal rights and perceived injustice that it cannot hear the words of God standing right in front of it. Jesus refuses to be pulled away from the greater work simply to settle a selfish dispute.

Jesus then gives a forceful warning: “Watch out. Be on your guard against all kinds of greed.” Greed is not just a problem for somebody else, nor is it limited to piles of money. Greed is covetousness, an insatiable desire for more, and a search for safety in wealth, comfort, power, or possessions. God’s provision of daily bread and manna in the wilderness calls His people to trust Him for what they need, rather than hoarding enough to feel in control.

The parable begins with God’s blessing. The ground yields an abundant harvest, showing that the rich man’s prosperity did not ultimately come from his own effort. God provided it. The rich man, however, never brings God into the equation. His crops, his barns, his plans, his ease, and his future fill his thoughts. His real problem is not a storage issue but a greed issue.

The rich man’s bigger barns reveal a heart blind to the poor and blind to the purpose of abundance. God’s resources are not given merely for comfort, security, or an easier retirement. God gives resources so that His name may be made great and so that those in need may see generosity and praise the Father in heaven. The church must look beyond its own stained-glass windows and recognize that eternal lives are at stake.

God calls the rich man a fool, not because planning is always wrong, but because he acts without God and without considering death. His bank account cannot secure tomorrow. His life is demanded that very night. Christ calls His people to begin with obedience, not with a calculation of whether enough resources appear to be available. The five loaves and two fish remind the church that God commands obedience and provides what is needed for the work. The fields are ripe, death is the destiny of every person, and God calls faithful workers to get to work now.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Greed hides behind ordinary concerns. Greed does not always look like gold coins or obvious extravagance. The inheritance demand sounds reasonable at first, yet it reveals a heart that has made personal desires more urgent than God’s kingdom. Self-focused demands can make a person deaf to the words of Christ. [48:47]
• 2. God provides every lasting good. The ground, not the rich man, yields the abundant harvest. Success, opportunity, training, family influence, wisdom, and provision all come from God’s gracious hand. Gratitude begins when possessions stop being proof of personal achievement and become resources entrusted by the true Owner. [56:05]
• 3. A surplus can reveal a greed issue. Bigger barns cannot solve a heart that always needs more in order to feel safe. The rich man already had plenty, but his only question was where to preserve more for himself. God’s abundance calls for stewardship, generosity, and attention to needs that self-protection has made invisible. [63:45]
• 4. Security belongs to God alone. Savings, retirement plans, investments, and careful preparation can never carry the weight of ultimate trust. God remains the endless source, while human resources remain limited and uncertain. Peace grows from God’s ability and promise to provide, not from a number that finally appears sufficient. [70:49]
• 5. Obedience cannot wait for tomorrow. Death, Christ’s return, and the closing of the door of repentance all remain outside human control. The church cannot postpone God’s commands until every financial concern feels resolved. God calls workers to step into the harvest now and trust Him with the provision.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [31:33] - What Greed Looks Like
• [41:12] - Reading Luke 12:13-21
• [43:37] - Stewardship Is a Heart Issue
• [45:34] - The Inheritance Demand
• [50:42] - Jesus Warns Against All Greed
• [53:06] - Covetousness and Daily Bread
• [55:42] - God Gave the Abundant Harvest
• [60:06] - The Rich Man’s Storage Problem
• [63:45] - Bigger Barns and Selfish Comfort
• [69:27] - God Calls the Rich Man a Fool
• [72:19] - Obedience Before Resources
• [75:45] - Rich Toward God
• [76:37] - Praying for Church Obedience

Bible Reading

Luke 12:13–21
Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 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.”
[41:18] [43:37]

Luke 11:3
“Give us each day our daily bread.”
[54:14]

Matthew 6:2–4
“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
[01:05:50]

Ecclesiastes 7:2
“It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.”
[01:11:44]

Observation questions

1. What does the man ask Jesus to do, and what does Jesus refuse to become in Luke 12:13–14? [45:50]
2. What words does Jesus use to describe the danger of greed in verse 15, and what does He say life does not consist of? [51:03]
3. As the rich man thinks through his abundant harvest, what details show that his attention is centered on himself rather than on God or others? [01:03:40]
4. What does the rich man expect his larger barns and stored grain to provide for him, and what interrupts those plans? [01:07:15]

Interpretation questions

1. Why might Jesus connect a dispute over an inheritance with a warning against “all kinds of greed”? How can a concern that seems fair on the surface reveal a heart focused on personal rights or desires? [48:47]
2. The rich man’s land produced the harvest, yet he repeatedly calls it “my crops” and “my goods.” What changes when a person sees wealth, ability, opportunity, and possessions as God’s provision rather than personal achievement? [56:05]
3. Why is the rich man called a fool even though building larger barns could appear wise and responsible from a worldly perspective? [01:09:27]
4. How do Luke 11:3 and the wilderness provision of manna help explain the difference between wise preparation and trying to find ultimate security in stored resources? [54:19]

Application questions

1. What concern, disappointment, or sense of unfairness most easily takes over your thoughts? Could that concern be making it harder for you to hear and obey what Christ is saying? [50:12]
2. Where do you feel the pull to want “more”—more money, comfort, recognition, control, possessions, or security? What would it look like to be on guard against that particular form of greed this week? [52:36]
3. Think about your work, education, family background, skills, health, relationships, or finances. Which gifts are easiest to treat as something you earned by yourself? How can you thank God more specifically for His provision? [58:36]
4. When you think about savings, retirement, investments, or future plans, where do you find yourself looking for peace? How might you plan responsibly while still treating God—not a certain number—as your true security? [01:10:49]
5. Is there a need around you that you may have overlooked because you have been focused on protecting your own comfort or future? What is one quiet and practical way you could care for someone in need? [01:05:41]
6. Is there an area of obedience you have delayed because the resources, timing, or circumstances do not feel sufficient? What would it look like to take one faithful next step and trust God to provide what is needed? [01:12:44]
7. Who in your life needs to hear the gospel or see the love of Christ now rather than later? How can you move toward that person with prayer, care, or a gospel conversation this week? [01:13:50]