Spiritual Disciplines | Giving [Pt. 2]

Luke 12:13-21

Jesus is asked to mediate between two brothers. As was the custom in Jewish tradition where a father dies without leaving a will (oral or written) the estate could only be shared between his sons with the older brother's permission.

So this is probably the younger brother who asks Jesus to mediate and, most likely, he is a scribe or a pharisee as he uses the Jewish term *teacher* (v13). He probably already has enough money due to his religious position, but has decided what he believes is fair regarding his father's estate and he wants Jesus to act on his instruction. This is a catastrophic misunderstanding, yet a mistake we all make.

The unfulfilled man

Instead Jesus challenges him (v15) and asks 'what is the center of your life?'. The word 'life' here is 'ζοη/zoay'. There are three words for 'life' in Greek:

- βιος/bios (compare with Mark 12:44) refers to the *amount* of life - e.g., how many years, how much has been achieved.

- ψυχη/psuchay refers to the *quality* of life - the values of relationships, literally connected with the idea of the soul, from where we get the word psyche.

- ζοη/zoay refers to the very essence of life, the definition of life, the fullness of life (John 10:10)

Jesus is not saying that *bios* life can't be measured in possessions: but definition it can. He's not calling us to some sort of impossible esoteric Buddhism where money is bad. Rather he is saying that the fullness of life cannot be experienced through money. For that, you need a relationship with God - the one who made your life.

The functionally atheist man

To help the man understand, Jesus teaches a parable. In it a man owns some land which yields a harvest. v16 is very important - it defines the parable. The subject of the sentence is not the man - but the ground. This is a story about the ground, not the rich man. The man is not connected to the productivity of the ground - in light of the context it is almost certain that Jesus is saying this man *inherited* the land, that is, that it was a gift to him. The rich man refuses to acknowledge this.

The heart of someone who receives wealth - in our day perhaps gets offered a job, or makes profit on a sale, or gets a bonus from work - should be to think of and praise God. But who does this man speak to? Himself. The personal pronoun (I, me) or reflexive pronoun (himself, myself) is used *exclusively* in verses 17-19. His only interest is providing for his *bios* life. And as such, he has become cut off from true *zoay* life all together

The lonely man

We hear this today and think 'what a greedy man (or maybe...lucky?!)'. But there is a good chance that Jesus' first disciples would have seen the bigger picture. Here is a man who in Middle East culture would be deeply pitied. Middle East culture is deeply communal and even more so at the time of this story. People lived in each others homes, hosted each other, spent time at the city gates, and were hugely interconnected.

Yet this man's best use of his money is 'take life easy: eat, drink, be merry'. Its hard to tell in English, but all these verbs in Greek (eat, drink, merry) are in their singular form. He is spending life completely alone.

"He is surrounded by people, yet alone, a self-exile, and his isolation has made him foolish rather than wise." - James R. Edwards

His is foolish because ultimately life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. The message to the man Jesus is telling the parable to - and indeed the reader - is clear. Do you want to be like this man? Or do you want abundant life through Jesus.

verse 21

The final verse is a helpful reminder that Jesus does not consider wealth evil per se. The man was not a fool for having wealth, but rather:

"Because he imagined that wealth consisted in things, and that things rather than God could satisfy his life. Augustine memorably exposes this following: "he did not realise that the bellies of the poor are much safer storerooms than his barns." James R. Edwards

Practice

This week we're building on our last giving practice, which was to write a budget and reflect on it.

This week we're taking a step further. Reflecting on your budget for last week, consider either starting to give if you're not currently giving, or - if you are giving - increasing your giving.

This is not abount an amount, this is about heart response to the gospel. What you give is between you and the Lord.