Luke 12: Be Rich Toward God Before You Are Rich for Yourself

Introduction

"Of the whole series, this is the topic I least feel like talking about." Jason, pastor of the Campbelltown Anglican Churches in Australia, is in the third week of a series titled "Let's Talk About Sex, Money and Power." Many people told him it must be hard to talk about sex or power. For him, money is the hardest, because it is often the most personal subject.

The week before, the church had finished the first letter of John on a surprising verse: "Little children, keep yourselves from idols" (1 John 5:21). A good transition, because Colossians 3 says that covetousness is idolatry.

The pastor draws on two passages: Colossians 3:1-17 and the parable of the rich man in Luke 12:13-31. His prayer for this message: that by the end, despite the difficulty of the subject, everyone would be encouraged and grow in the desire to serve God with their money.

Message Outline

1. Your eternal life has already begun

"If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above" (Colossians 3:1). The heart and the mind are turned toward the things above, not toward those of the earth.
The reason is given in verse 3: you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ died, you died with him. When he was raised, you were raised with him.
The world, its passions and its desires were put to death at the cross. Your new life no longer lives for these things. "Your eternal life has already begun."
We do not yet see this reality in all its glory; we are waiting for Jesus to return. But while we wait, the new life has begun, a life shaped by the future, by eternity.
The image of the plane ticket: you buy a ticket to Bali, you lock it in a safe and you live as if you had not bought it. On departure day, at the airport, you are asked for your passport, your visa, your accommodation: you have nothing. You go back home. If you bought the ticket, you live in line with your decision. It is the same with the Christian life.

2. Covetousness is idolatry

Colossians 3:5 lists what must be put to death: sexual immorality, uncleanness, passions, evil desires and, in the middle of the list, "covetousness, which is idolatry." It is a form of false worship.
Then, in verse 16, Paul concludes with songs sung to God with thankfulness in the heart. The pastor underlines this radical reversal: from covetousness to thankfulness.
The Christian does not look back, telling himself that his old life was better. "If you do that, you have not understood the gospel and you do not understand the lordship of Jesus."
Covetousness is no longer our master, and that is good news: it is a "cruel and insatiable" master. You can give it everything you have, and the following week it will want more.
The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). Satan uses money to tempt our selfish hearts toward false worship and make us forget that Jesus has set us free from covetousness.
The Western world rests on consumption and growth: the next iPhone, "the iPhone 48 instead of the iPhone 47," disposable fashion that has to be replaced after two months, the next car, keeping up with the neighbors. All around us, covetousness keeps society running.

3. Luke 12: the fool is not rich toward God

In the crowd, a man asks Jesus to tell his brother to divide the inheritance with him. The pastor notes that some Australians would find the request fair. But Jesus sees the heart of this man.
"Beware! Keep yourselves from covetousness, for a man's life doesn't consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses" (Luke 12:15). Jesus names the problem, then gives an illustration so sharp that it is still understood today.
A rich man has a bigger harvest than ever. Instead of filling his barns and giving away the rest, he builds bigger ones. The pastor thinks of the retirement fund ads: the older couple walking on the beach, finally arrived at the glory days. "It is a lie."
"You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared, whose will they be?" (Luke 12:20).
We set money aside for a rainy day: retirement, insurance, house, the children's education, investments, cash under the bed, holiday homes. Somewhere along the way, we move from wisdom to the idea of having caught up with our neighbors and then overtaken them, or worse, to slavery to debt.
God is not against enjoying good things: he is the one who gives them. He is not against planning ahead or managing risk. He even has the best strategy: put your trust in Jesus and you will be saved.
The fool's problem is that he lives for things. The pastor mentions those contested estates where everyone fights over the will: the lawyers get rich and everyone walks away empty-handed. "The god of money lets you down."

4. Do not justify covetousness in the name of wisdom

Colossians warns against the idol of money. Luke 12 adds a nuance: do not justify covetousness in the name of a human wisdom that stockpiles for itself first and gives God the leftovers.
In an exercise offered to children, the money was to be divided among several categories. The question: does God receive his share first, or does he receive "the five dollars left at the bottom of the pocket" at the end of the year?
The summary of the message: "Be rich toward God." Do not be rich for yourself before you are rich toward God.
This does not mean you cannot have anything nice or that you must live like monks. It means cultivating a generous attitude, thankful for what God has done, which shows in how you spend what he gives.
It means swimming against the current, because almost no one around us is doing it.

5. Joy, privilege, maturity and contentment

Joy and privilege. Paul speaks of the churches of Macedonia: in the midst of much affliction, their abundant joy and their deep poverty overflowed in rich generosity. They gave according to their means and beyond, begging earnestly for the favor of taking part in the support of the saints (2 Corinthians 8:1-4).
Maturity. "They first gave their own selves to the Lord, and to us through the will of God" (2 Corinthians 8:5). Their attachment to Jesus overflowed all the way into their wallets. According to the pastor, what we do with our bank account is one of the signs of Christian maturity.
Contentment. "But godliness with contentment is great gain" (1 Timothy 6:6). We brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it. Those who want to be rich fall into temptation and a snare. Learning contentment protects us from wandering away from the faith.
That is why the church's vision prays that every member would learn generosity, and why the financial update is published every week. "I hope you don't switch off" at that moment: it is part of our maturity in Christ.
The previous year, the church experienced what the pastor calls a small miracle: a budget finished in the black, something he had never seen in the life of a church. That year, the church had launched a new community and hired a new gospel worker, taking a step of trust. When the vision of the gospel was clear, love for God led to generosity beyond what anyone imagined.
Today, more and more people are coming and want to know Jesus, discovery courses are multiplying and people are becoming Christians. The budget will increase again: the church follows a five-year plan so that property funds property and giving funds ministry. This year, a quarter of a million dollars was invested to renovate the Airds property, and a major project is beginning at St Peter's.

6. Who should give, and how much?

Who? You hear it said that the church only wants your money. That is false: Jesus wants far more, he wants your whole life, your heart, your soul, for eternity. If you are not yet a Christian, "we don't even want your money": Jesus does not need it, he wants you to meet him.
For Christians, the pastor longs for them to learn, like the Macedonians, to beg earnestly to take part in God's work. To those who tell him that as a pastor he does not need to give, he answers: "Don't rob me of my own joy of giving." He loves to support projects in Africa, missionaries in Liberia, people training for ministry.
How much? 2 Corinthians 8:12-13 gives two principles: willingness, and a fairness in which everyone takes their share according to what God has given them. Today, the church has far fewer givers than Christians. The pastor dreams of the day when every Christian will be a partner in the gospel, whatever the amount.
For some, it will be the widow's mite, that woman who put only a small coin into the temple treasury and of whom Jesus said she had given all that she had (Mark 12:41-44). Ten dollars over a year can be a generous gift: God sees it.
He invites everyone to ask whether 10% of income is a good starting point, in memory of the Old Testament tithe. But we are not under the law, we are under grace. For someone living on welfare in public housing, 10% can cost a meal: "Give much less." For those who can, 11, 15, 20 or 30% can be the starting point.
With his wife, the pastor starts his annual budget by setting aside 15%. One year, to support a gospel worker, they took $50 a week out of their food budget. He would have added chocolate chips to the cart; she managed to hold the line, and the way they ate did not really change.
He does not say this to make anyone feel guilty: when you plan your year, think of God first. If it does not work out as you would like, reduce it. "That's okay. But think of God first."
A back-of-the-envelope calculation: if 179 adults on the national median wage ($60,000 after tax) gave 10%, that is $6,000 each, it would make up the church's budget. Yet the church has far more than 179 adults who love Jesus. Imagine what God could open up if the whole church learned to be rich toward him.

7. What should we give to?

First, providing for your family and those who depend on you, so as not to be the Christian whom Scripture condemns.
In the New Testament, generosity mainly supports the work of the gospel in the world. The members of a church begin by supporting their church: "If we don't support our church, no one else will." The pastor and his wife aim for about 80% of their giving to go to their church.
Then, many possibilities: world mission with CMS, other workers, Christian organizations that do direct evangelism or that show God's love through care and help.
There is no rule. The pastor chooses, when possible, a Christian organization rather than a secular charity doing the same work. What matters is the joy of finding what you are passionate about and spreading God's love with your money.
He concludes: "Covetousness is idolatry. Put it behind you." May we learn not to fill everything for ourselves first, but to be rich toward God, and then to enjoy the blessings that overflow from him to us. This is the path of godliness with contentment, and of great gain.

Key Takeaways

Your eternal life has begun: having died and been raised with Christ, you already live in line with the future you have chosen.
Covetousness is idolatry, a cruel and insatiable master from whom Jesus has set you free. The Christian moves from covetousness to thankfulness.
The fool of Luke 12 stockpiles for himself without being rich toward God. Do not justify covetousness in the name of wisdom.
Giving is a joy, a privilege and a mark of maturity, and godliness with contentment is great gain.
Everyone can give according to their means, under grace and not under the law, thinking of God first.

Personal Application

Are you living like someone who has "bought the ticket," in line with the eternal life already begun in Christ?
In what area has the race for the "next model" or comparison with your neighbors taken up space in your heart?
When you plan your budget, does God receive the first share or what is left at the end of the year?
What percentage would be an honest starting point for you, without guilt but with willingness?
What gospel work, beginning with your church, could you support with joy this year?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does "being rich toward God" mean in Luke 12?

In the parable of the rich man, the fool stockpiles treasures for himself without being rich toward God. For Jason, this does not mean living like monks or refusing good things: it means thinking of God first, and not leaving him the five dollars left at the bottom of the pocket at the end of the year.

Why does the Bible say covetousness is idolatry?

Colossians 3:5 lists covetousness among the things to put to death and calls it idolatry, that is, the worship of a false god. The preacher describes it as a cruel and insatiable master: you never give it enough. The Christian, who has died and been raised with Christ, has been set free from it and moves from covetousness to thankfulness.

How much should a Christian give?

Jason draws on 2 Corinthians 8:12-13: willingness and fairness. He suggests considering 10% of income as a starting point, in memory of the tithe, while reminding us that we are under grace and not under the law. Someone who lives on little can give much less, like the widow with her small coin; those who can are encouraged to go beyond.