ルカによる福音書12:13-21 Luke 12:13-21,
「こうしよう。倉を壊して、もっと大きいのを建て、そこに穀物や財産をみなしまい、こう自分に言ってやるのだ。『さあ、これから先何年も生きて行くだけの蓄えができたぞ。ひと休みして、食べたり飲んだりして楽しめ』と。」（ルカ12:18-19）
神様はこのようなことを考えている金持ちに「『愚かな者よ、今夜、お前の命は取り上げられる。お前が用意した物は、いったいだれのものになるのか」(20節)とおっしゃいました。「今夜」というのが一体いつの時点のことかについては、二つの可能性が考えられます。一つは、金持ちが心の中で倉を建てる計画をしているその夜ということです。もう一つは、実際に倉が建ってその中に何年分もの食料をしまい込んだその夜ということです。19節と20節の間には「そして、金持ちは新たな倉を建てた」という説明がありませんので、この神様の言葉は金持ちが心の中であれこれ計画しているその夜に語られたとも考えられます。しかし、神様は「お前が用意しようとする物は、いったいだれのものになるのか」とおっしゃったのではありません。20節の神様の言葉の中には「お前が用意したもの」という過去形の表現があります。これは原典のギリシア語でも、過去のある一点の出来事を表すアオリストという時制で書かれています。つまり、「お前が用意したもの」とは、すでに新しい倉が建てられて、その倉に蓄えられた食料のことであると解釈することができるのです。そして、そちらの解釈の方が「お前が用意した物は、いったいだれのものになるのか」という問いかけの意味としては適切です。
そうすると、神様は金持ちが新しい倉を建てて食料をしまい込み「さあ、これで一安心」と思ったその夜に「愚かな者よ、今夜、お前の命は取り上げられる。お前が用意した物は、いったいだれのものになるのか」と宣告なさったのだということになります。なんと衝撃的なことでしょう！金持ちの思いわずらいは全くムダであったということです。「取り上げられる」と翻訳されているアパイテオーというギリシャ語の動詞は、文字どおりには「要求する」（demand）という意味です。英語の聖書では「要求される」（ESV: required, NRSV/NIV 2011: demanded）と翻訳されています。そして、この言葉は、命はいつか神様に返さねばならない借り物であるという意味を表しているのかもしれません。この金持ちの決定的な誤りは、人生のことを考えるときに神様との関係ということを全く考えなかったことでした。すなわち、命があるということを当たり前のことにして考えており、命が神様からいただいたもの、あるいはお借りしたものであるということを思って感謝することがなかったということです。自分は神様によって生かされているものであるという自覚がなかったのです。 （8月31日の説教より）
In modern times, the pursuit of material wealth holds great power. Television commercials, internet advertisements, and social media are filled with things that stimulate human desires. In the past, we often heard the phrase “be pure, righteous, and beautiful” in Japan, but today, few people live by such principles. It seems that people in modern society have unconsciously fallen into a mindset that prioritises material wealth above all else.
However, the fact that human desires are limitless is not something that began in modern times. As taught in the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house,” the greed for material wealth is deeply rooted in human nature. A man built a sign on his vacant lot that read, “This land will be given to those who know satisfaction.” A wealthy farmer from the neighbourhood happened to pass by and saw the sign. He said, “I am the one who deserves this land. I am wealthy and have everything I need, so I know satisfaction.” He then went to the landowner and asked for the land. The landowner asked the wealthy man, “Do you truly know satisfaction?” The wealthy man replied, “I have everything I need. Therefore, I know satisfaction.” The landowner then asked, “My friend, if you know satisfaction, why do you desire my land?” In truth, the landowner had erected the sign to make people aware of the greed within their hearts. As the Japanese proverb says, “Knowing one has enough,” it is important in life to be modest and know satisfaction. However, people often fall into the trap of greed in their pursuit of material wealth.
In today’s Bible passage, Christ sternly warns us not to fall into the trap of greed. As stated in verse 13, it all began when a man asked Christ, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” This was likely a request for a fair distribution of the inheritance, as the man’s elder brother had taken everything for himself. According to the law of the Old Testament, as stated in Deuteronomy 21:15–17, the eldest son was entitled to twice the inheritance of the other children. However, since the other children also were entitled to their share of the inheritance, this person likely appealed to Christ to ensure that his rightful share was distributed. And from the perspective of the common sense of the time, this was not necessarily something to be criticised.
However, Christ’s response was very stern. As stated in verse 14, Christ replied, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” That is, seeking Christ to judge worldly disputes over property is wrong, regardless of the motive. The teachings of the Bible are by no means indifferent to human economic life. The prophets of the Old Testament warned of God’s severe judgement on the rich who oppressed the poor. In the New Testament as well, the importance of caring for the poor is repeatedly taught. Nevertheless, Christ did not approve of people using him to resolve economic disputes. Christ’s attitude, when he says, “Who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” may seem very harsh and cold. However, when we think about it carefully, it is precisely because such an attitude of using Christ for one’s own economic gain ultimately leads to turning away from Christ’s true grace. And the fact that the Christian church is not a place for judging property disputes or acting as an arbitrator applies to the church today as well.
The root of the attitude of trying to use Christ for one’s own economic gain is greed, and verse 15 teaches that even if one increases one’s material possessions, it cannot save a person’s life. In verse 15, Christ says, “Beware! Be on your guard against greed of every kind, for even when someone has more than enough, his possessions do not give him life” (REB). And in the parable in verses 16-20, Christ showed that life is far more important than possessions. This parable is easy to understand and applies to many people. A rich man who was already wealthy became even richer through a good harvest. However, this wealth became a source of worry. This is because the rich man did not want to share his wealth with others, but wanted to hoard it all for himself. His barns, i.e., storehouses were not large enough to hold all his wealth. So, as it says in verse 17, he worried, “What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?” The wealth that was supposed to sustain his life became a source of worry. And he drifted away from giving thanks to God for the life he had been given. Eventually, this rich man came to believe that wealth, not life, was the centre of his existence. The words of the rich man in verses 18 and 19 express this misconception.
“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.’”
When we consider it, the thoughts behind the rich man’s words are thoughts that almost everyone harbours. Therefore, until we hear God’s words in the next verse, we will not even realise that it is a delusion.
God said to the rich man, “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’” Regarding the exact timing of “this night,” two possibilities come to mind. One is that it refers to the night when the rich man was planning to build the new barns in his heart. The other is that it refers to the night when the new barn were actually built and he had stored years’ worth of food inside. Since there is no explanation between verses 19 and 20 that the rich man actually built the new barns, it is also possible that God’s words were spoken on the night when the rich man was merely planning in his heart. However, God did not say, “The things you are preparing, whose will they be?” In verse 20, God said, “The things you have prepared, whose will they be?” In the original Greek text, it is written using the aorist tense, which indicates a past event at a specific point in time. Therefore, “the things you have prepared” can be interpreted as the crops stored in the new barns that had already been built. This interpretation is more appropriate for the meaning of the question, “The things you have prepared, whose will they be?”
Thus, God declared to the rich man on the very night when he built the new barns, stored the crops, and thought, “Now I can rest easy,” saying, “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” How shocking! The rich man’s worries were completely in vain. The Greek verb apaiteō (ἀπαιτέω), translated in Japanese Bible as “toriagerareru” (taken away), literally means “to demand.” In the English Bible, it is translated as “required” (ESV) or “demanded” (NRSV; NIV 2011). This word may express the idea that life is something that is borrowed and must eventually be returned to God. The decisive mistake of the rich man was that he did not consider his relationship with God when thinking about life. That is, he took life for granted and did not think of it as something given by God or borrowed from God, nor did he express gratitude for it. He was unaware that he was being kept alive by God.
Therefore, in verse 21, Christ concluded this parable with the words, “So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” To be “rich toward God” does not mean to accumulate good works and merits before God. Rather, it means to have a rich relationship with God. In other words, it means to receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life abundantly through believing in Christ. For example, there is no doubt that the apostle Paul, who believed in Christ, was “rich toward God.” In 2 Corinthians 6:10, Paul confesses, “(We are treated) as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.” To receive Christ’s grace abundantly, as Paul did, is truly to be rich. It is futile to accumulate wealth for oneself and think, “I am rich,” without receiving God’s grace and becoming rich toward God.
Today’s Bible passage contains a message that is very meaningful for us living in the modern world. That is, the possessions of this world must be used to enrich our relationship with God. The leaders of the 16th-century Reformation had a balanced view of worldly possessions based on the Bible. In Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, we are taught that neither mere asceticism nor unrestrained indulgence is the proper use of what God has given us (Book 3, Chapter 10, Section 1-3). He also quotes 1 Corinthians 7:31: “They that use this world, be as not abusing it” and warns against becoming dependent on worldly possessions when using them (Section 4). Furthermore, he teaches that each person should live modestly in accordance with the “calling” given by God (Section 6). This became an important way of thinking that shaped modern Western society. That is, the idea that one should use the possessions given by God for God’s sake and live modestly in accordance with the “calling” given by God, that is, one’s way of life. The English word “vocation” is derived from the Latin word “vocatio,” which means “calling.”
However, this healthy way of thinking has been significantly distorted in modern Western society, leading to the wrong belief that happiness depends on wealth. This is evident in contemporary American culture. In modern America, the pursuit of material wealth has become the norm, leading to a widening gap between the wealthy and the poor. This has exacerbated social division, with the dissatisfaction of the poor serving as a driving force behind a presidential campaign slogan promising to “Make America Great Again.” As a result, a mindset focused solely on pursuing the interests of one’s own country has become dominant. This trend is not limited to America but is contributing to political instability worldwide.
In Michigan USA, there is a beautiful town called Holland, founded by Dutch immigrants. In that town, there is Hope College, a college affiliated with Reformed Church in America, which has a historical relationship with our denomination, Church of Christ in Japan. David G. Myers, a professor who has taught psychology at Hope College for many years, published a book in 2000 titled The American Paradox: Spiritual Hunger in an Age of Plenty. This book clearly points out that modern America has pursued material wealth. In the book, Professor Myers recounts that in the mid-1980s, he spent a year in St Andrews, a town in Scotland, for research purposes. St Andrews is famous as the birthplace of golf, and we might imagine it to be as affluent as America. However, according to Professor Myers, the lives of people in the vicinity of St Andrews were extremely modest. Income was about half that of Americans, and 44% of people did not own a car. Despite being located near Iceland, which is covered in glaciers, most of the people living there did not have central heating in their homes, unlike Americans. Professor Myers, a psychologist, was struck by the fact that the people of St Andrews were living with such joy despite their simple lifestyle. And he asks in this book, “Are Americans satisfied with their lives and grateful for what they have?” According to Professor Meyers, there is a correlation between economic wealth and satisfaction up to a certain point, but beyond that point, the correlation becomes almost non-existent. In other words, beyond a certain point, material wealth does not increase satisfaction.
The Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom publishes an annual report called the “World Happiness Report.” According to the 2025 edition of this report, Japan ranked 55th out of 147 countries and regions surveyed in terms of happiness. This happiness index is calculated by quantifying factors such as GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and perceptions of corruption. According to the data published in the 2025 edition, the top three countries are Finland, Denmark, and Iceland, all from Northern Europe. Among the G7 countries, Canada ranks 18th, Germany 22nd, the United Kingdom 23rd, the United States 24th, France 33rd, Italy 40th, and Japan 55th. The reason for these results is that while Japan ranks second in healthy life expectancy and 28th in GDP per capita, it ranks 130th in generosity and 79th in freedom. This result is likely deeply rooted in the way Japanese people think and live.
After World War II, Japanese people adopted the American mindset of pursuing material wealth, but did not fully embrace Christian faith. In other words, Japan pursued an American-style materially affluent lifestyle but did not adopt the Christian value and way of life that were present in America’s early days. This may be why Japan has developed into a society with low levels of generosity and freedom. In such a modern Japan, we would like to live in a way that respects the “calling” that each of us has been given. Rather than prioritising material wealth, let us live a Christian life that uses possessions with moderation for the glory of God. And let us live a life where the first goal is to receive Christ’s grace abundantly and share it with others using our possessions for that first goal.