Luke 19:1-10
“I Pity the Fool”
Preached Sunday, May 4, 2025
“I pity the fool” is Mr. T’s iconic line in the 1982 movie, Rocky III - and it went on to become his personal motto. In the movie, the line is ironic, as the fool got a beatdown - the pity isn’t really there in the sense of feeling bad for someone…but in 2006, Mr. T launched a reality TV show with the same name - “I Pity the Fool” where he works with “fools” to help them make better decisions in their life and business.
Today we are going to look at a fool in Scripture - and we should pity him - and then another example of a man who could have been a fool - but an encounter with Jesus radically changed his life and his generosity.
First, the fool.
There was a rich man who grew even richer due to his land being abundant. The man, perhaps, seems a little surprised at this. For he asks himself: “What should I do?” He decides to build new barns and store his grain and his goods and live comfortably for the rest of his life. But, here’s where Jesus throws in a plot twist, the man was a fool for he was to die that very night. Jesus concludes, “So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
I want to read a line from the Scripture to you again and see what pops out at you. It will hopefully be easy as I’ll be stressing the words I want you to hear:
“What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?...I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods...”
First, the fool.
There was a rich man who grew even richer due to his land being abundant. The man, perhaps, seems a little surprised at this. For he asks himself: “What should I do?” He decides to build new barns and store his grain and his goods and live comfortably for the rest of his life. But, here’s where Jesus throws in a plot twist, the man was a fool for he was to die that very night. Jesus concludes, “So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
I want to read a line from the Scripture to you again and see what pops out at you. It will hopefully be easy as I’ll be stressing the words I want you to hear:
“What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?...I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods...”
What is this man’s folly, you may ask? When the rich man recognizes his wealth, sees his abundance: all of his thoughts are directed back toward himself. Jesus is quite prolific in his use of the first-person pronoun when giving the rich man a voice in this story. It is clear that his first priority is me, myself, and I. It is a story applicable 2000 years ago and a story applicable today.
In Deuteronomy, the Jewish people were instructed to take the FIRST tenth of their produce, of all their land had supplied, bring it to the temple and give thanks to God. That first 10 percent, their tithe, was then used to set a feast and feed the hungry. But in the case of this rich man, there is no thanksgiving made to God and not a single thought is spared for the widow, the orphan, and the poor who go hungry. Instead it is me, myself, and I. The commandment of the tithe, to give thanks to God FIRST and to give back to God and neighbor FIRST, it is a hard one and one that I know we struggle with still today. Many would say it’s not a good business decision. For some of us, the mandated ten percent may seem like an impossible feat in the face of bills, debt, inflation. It’s a hard decision at least - and one that I think should be taken seriously and be considered first when we decide how we are going to live, financially, as followers of Christ. Too often, life just gets in the way. Bills come, they -hopefully- get paid. Tables get filled, mouths fed. This is all good. But by the time we may finally come around to thinking of God and others, it is already all gone.
This story, though, helps to put it in perspective, for the story as Jesus tells it goes, “But God said to him, ‘you fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared whose will they be?’” Woah. Talk about extreme. Remember that in parables, hyperbole is a staple of the genre. But this man would die before the day was over, before he had the chance to enjoy his abundance. The occasion of death and of loss always pauses to make us think: What do I want out of this life? What do I want my legacy to be? It helps put things into perspective for us, that this life is fleeting. Our time with each other, our relationships, our resources - they are all gifts from God. And we should treat them accordingly, with reverence, with thanksgiving to God, and with a heart full of hospitality, generosity, and love.
I want to take a moment and circle back to another line from the story that really caught my attention. The rich man is talking to himself and he says: “And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years: relax, eat, drink, and be merry.’”
And I will tell my SOUL - Soul, don’t worry. It’s okay. You’ve got lots of stuff.
Does anyone else here talk to their soul? It’s a habit I’m trying to get used to. When I talk to my soul, I try and talk to my soul, really, to myself, as if I am a small child in need of reassurance of love and safety. I practice telling myself things that I have told many of you: God loves you. Breathe. You’re a child of God. I think all of our souls need this reassurance. In our world, it’s so easy to get an anxious soul, a restless soul, a burned out soul. Even a bitter or cynical one. We are embodied souls in this world and we are all seeking the same thing: love and reassurance of that love.
Now, what can fill us with that love and reassurance? I firmly believe that it is our Triune God, claiming and naming us as God’s children. It is then strengthened in the church community and in a rich prayer life and a rich life of Christian discipleship.
Most commercials on TV though, tell us that other things - literally things - will fill us with that love. A new phone, a new car. More money would do the trick too. And so often we try to tell our souls, who are like children looking for love: Soul! Don’t worry about it! We’ve got money, car, phone, <insert whatever it is here> - relax! Just like the rich man in Jesus’s story did.
The fool. For he was to die that very night. And none of those things would have brought happiness and contentment anyway.
And now - let’s talk about another fool - a could-be-fool, who changed his ways.
We sing about Zacchaeus being a wee little man, but there was nothing wee about his bank account. He was a chief tax collector and he earned his money from a corrupt economic system in which he collected high taxes for the Roman Empire and then extracted a generous portion for himself - perhaps even increasing what he collected from people so that he could take more for himself. He likely used just as many “me-myselfs-and-Is” as the rich fool. Zacchaeus was a rich fool. He was storing up wealth for himself - wealth that was achieved at, quite literally, the expense of others. As a result, while his bank account was large, he was generally despised by his neighbors and not welcome in the synagogue as an unrepentant sinner - wee not just in stature, but in reputation and regard.
But on the day Jesus was coming to town - Zacchaus wanted to see him. ...Why? How had he heard about Jesus? Why was he so bent on seeing him? What was going on in Zacchaeus’s mind and heart that day? I recently read that maybe Zacchaus had met Jesus before - or at least been in his company. In Luke Chapter 5, we hear about Levi, another tax collector, who threw a big party to introduce Jesus to “a large number of tax collectors.” Who is to say whether or not Zacchaeus had been there that day? But if he was...maybe he experienced something he had never experienced before. Maybe “he would have felt accepted by Jesus and loved by God. He could have glimpsed a life that was about more than grabbing all the money he could get. He may have realized that all his wealth could never buy the life he most deeply desired. Perhaps he became convinced there was a higher calling for the way he used his money” -- the way he lived his life.
This could have been what was weighing on Zacchaeus’s mind and heart that day - but these were not easy choices, decisions - perhaps he needed to see Jesus just one more time to confirm - did he really feel this way? We also know that changing one's way of life - especially the way we understand and interact with our money, takes a lot of inertia to overcome. And so he climbed that tree, he saw Jesus - Jesus saw HIM, and Jesus called him by name. And “in response to the unexpected, underserved, unearned grace of God in Jesus Christ, Zacchaeus blurted out, ‘Wow! The only way I know to say ‘Thanks’ is to give half of my wealth to the poor and pay back the folks I’ve cheated four times over!’ And Jesus said, ‘Now, THAT’S what salvation looks like!’” Of course, that last bit is a paraphrase but Jesus DOES say, “Today salvation has come to this house.”
Zacchaeus is no longer the fool - he has been saved.
What do we mean by salvation in this context? Salvation has been overly spiritualized in our modern understanding of it so this utterance may seem weird to us. But “Salvation is not merely a spiritual experience that prepares us for life after death.” - Although, that is part of it - AND “Salvation is the way God transforms every area of life so that we become a part of God’s saving work in this world.” Salvation changes our hearts - and because of THAT change, it also should change everything else - or perhaps the heart was never really changed. Martin Luther, the famous reformer, “said that three conversions are necessary in the Christian life: conversion of the heart, of the mind, and of the purse.” - And they seem to happen in that order too. Zacchaeus was getting there in his mind and his heart - we can see that in how we climbed the tree to see Jesus, but he experienced salvation in all areas of his life when he experienced the conversion of his purse.
To be clear, Zacchaeus did not EARN or buy his salvation through giving - his giving, his newfound generosity, was a sign that he has experienced salvation AND, salvation never would have become a reality for Zacchaeus unless he moved away from his his life consumed by money, greed, and taking advantage of others.
For Zacchaeus, an encounter with Jesus changed everything - and he was no longer the fool. The cautionary tale of the rich fool, and the salvation of Zacchaeus should give us pause - where in our lives are we still acting the fool? Where in our lives do we still need conversion?
Where do we need to go from “me, myself, and I” - to “What good can I do in this world?” to “Where and how can I be generous?” A start in this conversion is opening ourselves up to encountering Jesus - as Zacchaus did. A good place to start is praying our Today, Tomorrow, Together Capital Campaign prayer, “God, what do you want to do through me?”
Because God wants to save us. God wants to convert us. To lives of generosity, thankfulness, community, and love of God and neighbor.
May none of us be the fool.
Amen.
*Uncited quotes from Earn, Save, Give material
In Deuteronomy, the Jewish people were instructed to take the FIRST tenth of their produce, of all their land had supplied, bring it to the temple and give thanks to God. That first 10 percent, their tithe, was then used to set a feast and feed the hungry. But in the case of this rich man, there is no thanksgiving made to God and not a single thought is spared for the widow, the orphan, and the poor who go hungry. Instead it is me, myself, and I. The commandment of the tithe, to give thanks to God FIRST and to give back to God and neighbor FIRST, it is a hard one and one that I know we struggle with still today. Many would say it’s not a good business decision. For some of us, the mandated ten percent may seem like an impossible feat in the face of bills, debt, inflation. It’s a hard decision at least - and one that I think should be taken seriously and be considered first when we decide how we are going to live, financially, as followers of Christ. Too often, life just gets in the way. Bills come, they -hopefully- get paid. Tables get filled, mouths fed. This is all good. But by the time we may finally come around to thinking of God and others, it is already all gone.
This story, though, helps to put it in perspective, for the story as Jesus tells it goes, “But God said to him, ‘you fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared whose will they be?’” Woah. Talk about extreme. Remember that in parables, hyperbole is a staple of the genre. But this man would die before the day was over, before he had the chance to enjoy his abundance. The occasion of death and of loss always pauses to make us think: What do I want out of this life? What do I want my legacy to be? It helps put things into perspective for us, that this life is fleeting. Our time with each other, our relationships, our resources - they are all gifts from God. And we should treat them accordingly, with reverence, with thanksgiving to God, and with a heart full of hospitality, generosity, and love.
I want to take a moment and circle back to another line from the story that really caught my attention. The rich man is talking to himself and he says: “And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years: relax, eat, drink, and be merry.’”
And I will tell my SOUL - Soul, don’t worry. It’s okay. You’ve got lots of stuff.
Does anyone else here talk to their soul? It’s a habit I’m trying to get used to. When I talk to my soul, I try and talk to my soul, really, to myself, as if I am a small child in need of reassurance of love and safety. I practice telling myself things that I have told many of you: God loves you. Breathe. You’re a child of God. I think all of our souls need this reassurance. In our world, it’s so easy to get an anxious soul, a restless soul, a burned out soul. Even a bitter or cynical one. We are embodied souls in this world and we are all seeking the same thing: love and reassurance of that love.
Now, what can fill us with that love and reassurance? I firmly believe that it is our Triune God, claiming and naming us as God’s children. It is then strengthened in the church community and in a rich prayer life and a rich life of Christian discipleship.
Most commercials on TV though, tell us that other things - literally things - will fill us with that love. A new phone, a new car. More money would do the trick too. And so often we try to tell our souls, who are like children looking for love: Soul! Don’t worry about it! We’ve got money, car, phone, <insert whatever it is here> - relax! Just like the rich man in Jesus’s story did.
The fool. For he was to die that very night. And none of those things would have brought happiness and contentment anyway.
And now - let’s talk about another fool - a could-be-fool, who changed his ways.
We sing about Zacchaeus being a wee little man, but there was nothing wee about his bank account. He was a chief tax collector and he earned his money from a corrupt economic system in which he collected high taxes for the Roman Empire and then extracted a generous portion for himself - perhaps even increasing what he collected from people so that he could take more for himself. He likely used just as many “me-myselfs-and-Is” as the rich fool. Zacchaeus was a rich fool. He was storing up wealth for himself - wealth that was achieved at, quite literally, the expense of others. As a result, while his bank account was large, he was generally despised by his neighbors and not welcome in the synagogue as an unrepentant sinner - wee not just in stature, but in reputation and regard.
But on the day Jesus was coming to town - Zacchaus wanted to see him. ...Why? How had he heard about Jesus? Why was he so bent on seeing him? What was going on in Zacchaeus’s mind and heart that day? I recently read that maybe Zacchaus had met Jesus before - or at least been in his company. In Luke Chapter 5, we hear about Levi, another tax collector, who threw a big party to introduce Jesus to “a large number of tax collectors.” Who is to say whether or not Zacchaeus had been there that day? But if he was...maybe he experienced something he had never experienced before. Maybe “he would have felt accepted by Jesus and loved by God. He could have glimpsed a life that was about more than grabbing all the money he could get. He may have realized that all his wealth could never buy the life he most deeply desired. Perhaps he became convinced there was a higher calling for the way he used his money” -- the way he lived his life.
This could have been what was weighing on Zacchaeus’s mind and heart that day - but these were not easy choices, decisions - perhaps he needed to see Jesus just one more time to confirm - did he really feel this way? We also know that changing one's way of life - especially the way we understand and interact with our money, takes a lot of inertia to overcome. And so he climbed that tree, he saw Jesus - Jesus saw HIM, and Jesus called him by name. And “in response to the unexpected, underserved, unearned grace of God in Jesus Christ, Zacchaeus blurted out, ‘Wow! The only way I know to say ‘Thanks’ is to give half of my wealth to the poor and pay back the folks I’ve cheated four times over!’ And Jesus said, ‘Now, THAT’S what salvation looks like!’” Of course, that last bit is a paraphrase but Jesus DOES say, “Today salvation has come to this house.”
Zacchaeus is no longer the fool - he has been saved.
What do we mean by salvation in this context? Salvation has been overly spiritualized in our modern understanding of it so this utterance may seem weird to us. But “Salvation is not merely a spiritual experience that prepares us for life after death.” - Although, that is part of it - AND “Salvation is the way God transforms every area of life so that we become a part of God’s saving work in this world.” Salvation changes our hearts - and because of THAT change, it also should change everything else - or perhaps the heart was never really changed. Martin Luther, the famous reformer, “said that three conversions are necessary in the Christian life: conversion of the heart, of the mind, and of the purse.” - And they seem to happen in that order too. Zacchaeus was getting there in his mind and his heart - we can see that in how we climbed the tree to see Jesus, but he experienced salvation in all areas of his life when he experienced the conversion of his purse.
To be clear, Zacchaeus did not EARN or buy his salvation through giving - his giving, his newfound generosity, was a sign that he has experienced salvation AND, salvation never would have become a reality for Zacchaeus unless he moved away from his his life consumed by money, greed, and taking advantage of others.
For Zacchaeus, an encounter with Jesus changed everything - and he was no longer the fool. The cautionary tale of the rich fool, and the salvation of Zacchaeus should give us pause - where in our lives are we still acting the fool? Where in our lives do we still need conversion?
Where do we need to go from “me, myself, and I” - to “What good can I do in this world?” to “Where and how can I be generous?” A start in this conversion is opening ourselves up to encountering Jesus - as Zacchaus did. A good place to start is praying our Today, Tomorrow, Together Capital Campaign prayer, “God, what do you want to do through me?”
Because God wants to save us. God wants to convert us. To lives of generosity, thankfulness, community, and love of God and neighbor.
May none of us be the fool.
Amen.
*Uncited quotes from Earn, Save, Give material
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