A few years ago, a financial planning company ran an ad that showed people walking around a city carrying large models of various dollar amounts. It then asked the question, “What is your number?” The purpose was to have the audience think about the amount of money they needed to accumulate before they could retire. The point was to have the advertiser’s company manage your money so you could ensure you would reach your goal. As I watched that ad, I realized that my investments would never reach anywhere near the amount being portrayed.
When I came to this conclusion, I was left with several options. I could worry about my future. I could decide to never retire. Or I could recognize that this was an earthy expectation that had little or nothing to do with how the success of my life was measured.
One day when Jesus was teaching, a very large crowd had gathered to hear him and possibly see one of his impressive miracles. Luke tells us that there were many thousands of people listening that day. One man in the crowd got the attention of Jesus and mentioned a perceived problem in his family. In Luke 12:13-15, we have the following conversation recorded. 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.” This discussion led to Jesus telling a brief but significant parable in verses 16-21. 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.”
The application of this parable is not difficult to discern. The man was already wealthy as we see from his introduction, but what he had was not enough. Therefore, his only motivation for building bigger barns was greed. The man declared that if he did this, he would be able take life easy. However, we can assume this would not be the case. He was already rich and wanted more so how would he know when he had enough? Unfortunately, that is an opened ended goal. Because greed was his goal, there was no amount that would ever fully satisfy his need.
Jesus brings the truth of the futility of this pursuit into stark focus when God reveals that the man’s life would end soon. Once this life is over, all that we accumulate no longer has value. It may be passed on to the next generation, but this “gift” might come with the same attitude of greed that was modeled by the giver.
Instead, Jesus encourages us to leave a far better inheritance. We can leave our children riches toward God. Those can be stored up, not in bigger barns, but in actions and attitudes that teach our families to value the pursuit of God’s Kingdom as a top priority. This is an inheritance that can be passed down from generation to generation.
When my dad died several years ago, my sister and I were able to break even financially. We didn’t receive any financial inheritance because there was nothing available. However, I have a rich memory of my dad making it a priority that his family was in church. In my account are thoughts of my dad making prayer a priority. He wasn’t perfect and he did work a lot to keep food on the table. But he left us with something that will last forever.