Sharpen Your Focus (The Power of Priorities)
Luke 12:13-21 (ESV):
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?”
15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’
18 And he said, ‘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.
19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be mer- ry.”’
20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have pre- pared, whose will they be?’
21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
I read this joke about a young man driving his BMW around the curve when he realized the car was out of control and about to plunge over a cliff. The young man jumped out, but his left arm was severed from his body. He stood there looking down at his burning BMW and said, "Oh no, my car, my car!" A man who had stopped to help said, "Mister, you have just lost your left arm, and you're crying about your
car?" The young man looked down and said, "Oh no, my Rolex watch!"
I know we can easily laugh at this story, but the reality is that so many people have also mixed up their priorities and don't know exactly what matters most. Of course, some people understand what matters most in life, but they refuse to order their lives according to what they believe is important.
This truth is the reason why we need to talk about the topic of "Sharpen Your Focus." If you can still remember, our key text for this sermon is Philippians 3:13-14, saying: 12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
For today's sermon, I want to emphasize this phrase in verse 13, "But one thing I do." The apostle Paul establishes that to accomplish what God has in store for his life, he needs to determine where he should focus his time and energy. How about you? Do you have the proper focus in your life?
This truth is perfectly illustrated in the life of the great tenor singer Luciano Pavarotti. When he started contemplating what career he should pursue, his mother knew he could sing, but because she felt
there was no money in his singing, she encouraged him to go to the University and be- come a teacher. However, his Dad believed he could be a great operatic singer, so he en- couraged him to continue developing his voice. To please them, he enrolled in a teacher's college but continued his musical studies. After graduation, he asked his father, "Shall I be a teacher or a singer?"
With his question, the father wisely avoided a direct answer. Instead, he spoke these words his son never forgot:
"Luciano, if you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair."
To expound further on this theme of sharpening our focus or priorities, I would like to bring your attention to this familiar parable given by Jesus, which is the parable of the rich fool. He wasted his life's op- portunities because he had mixed up his priorities. Here are three reasons why God regarded him as a fool:
I HE IGNORED THE SHORTNESS OF LIFE
Every parable of Jesus Christ was told within a specific context. For this parable, the context is found in verses 13-15. We would find a man walking up to Jesus while he was teaching a crowd with a request to settle a dispute with his brother concerning their inheritance. The passage is not telling us whether this man was being deprived of his portion of the inheritance, or if he was greedy enough to ask for more than his share. When Jesus responded to his request, He reminded him that He did not come to the world for such trivial matters.
However, Jesus will take this opportunity to warn His hearers against one of the deadliest evils that can creep into the human heart by giving this parable, which is covetousness. This sin comes from our un- satisfiable lust for material possessions. The plain warning in verse 15 says, "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
J. R. Miller explains the meaning of these words by saying:
"Men think they become great just in proportion as they gather wealth. So it seems, too, that the world measures men by their bank accounts. Yet there never was a more fatal error. A man is really measured by what he is, and not by what he has."
Examining the rich fool, his covetousness is even magnified by his ignorance concerning the shortness of life. Evidently, in his covetousness, there were two things he focused his time and energy into:
A. The Accumulation of Wealth
In the eyes of the world, this farmer could easily gain a reputation as being intelligent and successful because he was able to bring in a bountiful harvest. He may have been able to incorporate all the right tech- nologies, the right seeds, and the suitable fertilizers to see such a great harvest.
However, with everything he accumulated, he ended up having a problem with storage. Many of us can identify with this problem. Often, we keep buying stuff, especially when they are at sale prices, and we no longer have enough closet space in our homes for them. How do you resolve this problem?
The rich fool being so smart, came up with a perfect solution. Since his barns and silos were cramped
to capacity, he would tear them down and build bigger ones so that he could have enough rooms. Now, would you do the same? You would build a bigger closet or move to a bigger house.
B. The Security of His Future
Here is also the bigger problem. Once he had accumulated enough possessions, he said, "Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry."
With this statement, immediately, you could notice two false assumptions. First, He assumed that he had control over his soul. Throughout the passage, he spoke consistently as if he was the owner of the things he enjoyed having – "my crops," "my barns," "my grains," "my goods," and now, "my soul." However, the reality is that God owns everything we enjoy including our souls. Paul shared this fundamental truth in 2 Timothy 6:17:
17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncer- tainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
Remember these words and take this to heart – We are never owners; we are simply God's caretak- ers or stewards.
Second, He assumed that he still had many more years to live. The reality is that his soul will be re- quired by God that night. Following his thinking, we can see that since he still had many years here on earth, he could still relax, retire, and enjoy what he had accumulated for many years without concerning himself with his accountability to God. He indeed would be surprised when that evening, he would find himself standing before Judge, giving an account of how he lived his life. The Bible reminds us about this appoint- ment that God has set for all of us:
Hebrews 9:27 (ESV):
27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
We don't have the luxury of delaying our decision to start living for God. Life is short, and death can arrive at the most inconvenient time because we still plan to enjoy our time here on earth. I believe this is the reason why King Solomon, the second wisest man who walked on earth, said in Ecclesiastes 12:1 (ESV)
1 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, "I have no pleasure in them";
There is great wisdom to start serving God while we are still young because we have more time and energy to serve and honor the Lord.
II HE INTERCHANGED THE GOOD FOR THE BEST
In life, one of the most challenging things to do is to discern not only the difference between the good and the bad but to discern the difference between the good and the best. With our limited time and resources, it would be impossible to do everything. Therefore, we must carefully choose our priorities, so we don't waste our lives.
Unfortunately, if you examine the priority of the rich fool, he interchanged or substituted the good
for the best. How? He was more focused on securing or saving for his retirement than knowing the Lord Jesus and finding ways to serve Him through his accumulated wealth. Allow me to explain this truth further. Don't get me wrong; there is nothing evil about becoming successful in life and securing a more stable retirement. However, if they are our ultimate goals, we will miss out on a more meaningful reason why we are here on earth.
Are you familiar with "Summun Bonum," or what philosophers and theologians call the "Supreme good?" Of course, there is a sharp distinction between secular philosophers and theologians in what they identify as the supreme good in life. For many worldly philosophers, the ultimate good is our happiness or well-being. If it's going to make you happy, even if it hurts others, go for it. It is a very man-centered pur- suit.
On the contrary, theologians who based their philosophy on the Bible, the summun bonum is to hon- or and glorify God, which is from 1 Corinthians 10:31, "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." So, as you and I live, our ultimate aim should always be to know Him more and serve Him more. It would be impossible to commit to serving Him if we don't know Him.
Last week, when I introduced our sermon series this month, "Pressing Forward," I told you that our key text is Philippians 3:13-14:
13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
I want to go back to verse 13. Paul mentions that "one thing" he is straining to pursue as his ultimate goal. Verse 14 defines this one thing: to fulfill his calling of serving God in Christ Jesus. I believe you would appreciate these verses more if you go back to the earlier verses of the same chapter:
Philippians 3:8-10:
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
Reading these verses, Paul mentions in verse 8 how he is willing to lose everything he acquired in his past – his ancestry, orthodoxy, morality, and past activity (3:5-6). All of them are like "rubbish" or "human waste" compared to gaining greater knowledge of Jesus Christ and serving Him, and even suffering for Him (v.10).
Dr. David Jeremiah commenting on Paul's "one thing," wrote:
"At the core of Paul's life was one motivating principle: he focused on Christ. He concentrated on his walk
with Jesus. He said, in effect, "Lord, Your will be done – today, and every remaining day I have on this earth. Not my will, but Yours be done."
So, what is your "summun bonum?" Is it in line with the world or the Word of God? If it's not in line with the Bible, let's alter it before it's too late.
III HE INVESTED ONLY ON EARTH, AND NOT FOR ETERNITY.
After the rich fool made plans on what he needed to do with his bountiful harvest, the Lord called him a fool because that same evening, he would die and stand before his maker. Let's read exactly verses 20- 21 of our main text:
20 But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?'
21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."
Reading these words, the question God asks in verse 20 is very significant – "The things you have pre- pared, whose will they be?" The rich fool thought he would enjoy the fruits of all his labors for many more years. But obviously, other people would be the ones to enjoy his earthly investments.
Now, let's consider verse 21. Yes, he was rich on earth but not rich toward God. Is there really some- one rich toward God? Absolutely! Jesus Christ himself taught this truth in Matthew 6:19-24:
19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light,
23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24 "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
This passage clearly teaches that we should consider making eternal investments because we won't lose them. Heavenly investments are much better than earthly investments that are never secured because they can be stolen or corrupted.
If the rich fool was conscious of making heavenly investments, instead of spending for bigger barns, he could have easily decided to share his surplus with those in need around him as his service to God. If he did that, most definitely, it would have been counted as a heavenly investment. Someone has defined a fool as one whose plans end at the grave. I hope and pray that our plans today go beyond the grave.
How many of you have heard of the heavyweight wrestling champion Yusuf Ismail? He was a Turkish wrestler who competed in Europe and the United States during the 1890s. He was known as the Terrible
Turk because of his massive size and incredible strength.
After he won the championship in Europe, he sailed to the United States to con- tend with the US champion - Strangler Lewis - a much smaller man who weighed just over
200 pounds. Strangler Lewis had a simple plan for defeating his opponents. He'd put his
arm around the neck of his competitor and cut off the oxygen at the Adam's apple. Many
of his opponents passed out in the ring with this strategy. The problem Lewis discovered when it came time to fight the Terrible Turk was that the European giant didn't have a neck! He just went straight from his head down to those massive shoulders. Strangler Lewis couldn't even get a hold in the ring, so it wasn't long be- fore Yusuf flipped Lewis over on the mat and pinned him.
After winning the championship, the Terrible Turk demanded that every bit of his $5,000 prize money be given to him in gold. After he wrapped the championship belt around his vast, equator-like middle, he stuffed the gold into the belt and boarded the next ship back to Europe. He had not only captured America's glory, but he possessed her gold as well. He had won it all - except immortality!
Yusuf set sail on the SS Bourgogne. Halfway across the Atlantic, a storm struck, and the ship began to sink. The Terrible Turk went boldly over the side with his gold still strapped around his body. The added weight was too much, even for the heavyweight champion, and he sank.
Like an anvil before crew members could get him into a lifeboat. He was never seen again.
This story is so sad, and we can't help but ask, "How can someone be so foolish?" But the reality is that many people today need the proper perspective on what should be their priority in life. I hope and pray that we will avoid making the same mistake. Let us invest our time and energy in knowing Him and in serving Him more!
B. Jeremiah Lepasana/January 15, 2023