Not My Own | Week 3: Not My Money

Why does the rich fool decide to build bigger barns instead of giving his surplus away?

Jesus tells of a man whose land produces more than his barns can hold, and his first instinct is to keep it all for himself. The story is not about a bad crop but about a man who thought the harvest was his own and the future was his to secure.

He spoke a parable to them, saying, “The ground of a certain rich man produced abundantly. He reasoned within himself, saying, ‘What will I do, because I don’t have room to store my crops?’ He said, ‘This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns, build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared—whose will they be?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Luke 12:16–21

The earth is Yahweh’s, with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell in it.

Psalms 24:1

There is one who scatters, and increases yet more. There is one who withholds more than is appropriate, but gains poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat. He who waters shall be watered also himself.

Proverbs 11:24–25

What does Jesus point to in the ravens and the lilies that he says his disciples are missing?

Jesus sends his listeners to look at birds and wildflowers, creatures that work and grow without hoarding anything. The point is not that they are idle but that they live out of a provision they did not secure for themselves.

He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life, what you will eat, nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they don’t sow, they don’t reap, they have no warehouse or barn, and God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds! Which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his height? If then you aren’t able to do even the least things, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow. They don’t toil, neither do they spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if this is how God clothes the grass in the field, which today exists and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith? “Don’t seek what you will eat or what you will drink; neither be anxious. For the nations of the world seek after all of these things, but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek God’s Kingdom, and all these things will be added to you.

Luke 12:22–31

Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food, and the body more than clothing? See the birds of the sky, that they don’t sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you of much more value than they? “Which of you by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan? Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They don’t toil, neither do they spin, yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today exists and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, won’t he much more clothe you, you of little faith?

Matthew 6:25–30

He sends springs into the valleys. They run among the mountains. They give drink to every animal of the field. The wild donkeys quench their thirst. The birds of the sky nest by them. They sing among the branches. He waters the mountains from his rooms. The earth is filled with the fruit of your works. He causes the grass to grow for the livestock, and plants for man to cultivate, that he may produce food out of the earth: wine that makes the heart of man glad, oil to make his face to shine, and bread that strengthens man’s heart.

Psalms 104:10–15

Why does Jesus say a person cannot serve two masters rather than that a person cannot use money?

Jesus does not tell his hearers to throw their money away. He says the question is which one is master, because the one that is served will do the using. A steward can pick up a tool; a servant gets picked up by it.

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t serve both God and Mammon.

Matthew 6:24

One of the multitude 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 an arbitrator over you?” He said to them, “Beware! Keep yourselves from covetousness, for a man’s life doesn’t consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses.”

Luke 12:13–15

But those who are determined to be rich fall into a temptation, a snare, and many foolish and harmful lusts, such as drown men in ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some have been led astray from the faith in their greed, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

1 Timothy 6:9–10

“Don’t be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. Sell what you have and give gifts to the needy. Make for yourselves purses which don’t grow old, a treasure in the heavens that doesn’t fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Luke 12:32–34