By GARY ALLEY
June 2021
Charles Martin Kopp, May 14, 1948-April 27, 2021
In memoriam of JCF Chairman and Narkis St. Congregation Pastor Chuck Kopp. This is an abridged version of a sermon delivered at Narkis St. Congregation on May 8, 2021.
In Luke 12:13-34, Jesus is confronted by a man who wants his brother to share their father’s inheritance with him. In ancient Israel’s society, the oldest son received a double portion of the father’s inheritance, while the younger sons all received one portion each.[1] Perhaps, this man bugging Jesus was a younger son upset at his single portion and desired a similar share as his older brother.
Nevertheless, Jesus warns the brother, “Beware of greed!” and then distills his dispute into a proverb: “Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” Jesus then adds, as he so often does, a parable—a simple story to draw out the proverb’s meaning. It’s a story about what happens when someone builds their life and legacy on wealth.
The parable begins with a rich farmer who receives a bumper crop of produce. What was he to do with all the extra crops since he didn’t have enough space to store it all? Obviously, he needed to build bigger barns to contain his excess.
In the Bible, an abundance of food was a sign of God’s blessings.[2] So too, a father’s inheritance is intended to bless his children. Possessions and assets passed down to the next generation, if invested wisely, can build a foundation for future financial success. While the brother is worried about his inheritance, Jesus is concerned about his heart.
There was a reason that Jesus said it was hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.[3] The more we accumulate, the harder it becomes for us to master our possessions as they begin to overwhelm us and control us with worry and fear. As our appetite and ambition expands, we buy larger clothes and build bigger barns to try and contain “ourselves.”
Ecc 5:10-15,18-20, says:
Whoever loves money never has enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.
This too is meaningless.
As goods increase, so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them?
The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much,
but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep.
I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners,
or wealth lost through some misfortune,
so that when they have children there is nothing left for them to inherit.
Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb,
and as everyone comes, so they depart.
They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands….
This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat,
to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot.
Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God.
They don’t think about the days of their life, because God keeps them busy with joy of heart.
Just like God gives people an abundance of wealth and possessions, He is also the giver of contentment and enjoyment. According to Ecc 5:19-20, the people who find contentment and joy in their lives, are those who God keeps busy with His calling and the work He has for their lives. Their focus is on God, because they fear Him, which is another way of saying that they honor Him by the way they live.
But on the other hand, those who focus on themselves and worry about their wealth and their possessions, are “fools,” like Jesus calls the rich man in the parable (Lk 12:20).
Psalm 49:10b-20 says,
…the fool and the senseless perish together and leave their wealth to others.
Their tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwellings for endless generations,
though they had named lands after themselves.
People, despite their wealth, do not endure; they are like the beasts that perish.
This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings.
They are like sheep and are destined to die; death will be their shepherd (but the upright will prevail over them in the morning). Their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions.
But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead; he will surely take me to himself.
Do not be overawed when others grow rich, when the splendor of their houses increases;
for they will take nothing with them when they die, their splendor will not descend with them.
Though while they live they count themselves blessed—and people praise you when you prosper—they will join those who have gone before them, who will never again see the light of life.
People who have wealth but lack understanding are like the beasts that perish.
The “fool” in the Bible is a person who lacks understanding, not because they are unintelligent, but because they are morally rebellious. They stubbornly disobey God and ignore His commandments. Here in Psalm 49, the fool is also portrayed as someone consumed by his possessions; he is focused on himself.
The palaces of fools will become their tombs, and their barns and storerooms will enrich others. The fool is no better than an animal focused on its survival, but in the food chain, there is always a predator hunting him, ready to consume what he has stored up. This is humanity’s history of pursuing and hiding wealth. When we trust in ourselves, we are but sheep trying to evade the wolves.
Jesus calls these actions of the rich man in the parable—foolish, because they lead to great loss: “This is how it will be with whoever stores up treasures for themselves but is not rich toward God.”[4] The rich man is a fool because he is focused on himself and not the Lord.
So then, Jesus explains to his disciples—the little flock of sheep (Lk 12:32), how they can take their focus off of themselves by using two examples from nature.
Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn;
yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Luke 12:24-25
All of us who live in Jerusalem know the ever-present ravens which are always swooping around the city spying out food. But what is Jesus alluding to when he refers to the ravens who do not store up grain in storehouses?
Psa 147:7-11 says,
Sing to the Lord with grateful praise;
make music to our God on the harp.
He covers the sky with clouds;
he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills.
He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call.
His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his delight in the legs of the warrior;
the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.
Ravens are scavengers by nature, and since they cannot produce food, they must daily seek out their provision. The young ravens model this trust in the Lord by crying out when they are hungry. Likewise, the righteous person does not depend on himself; he puts his trust in God’s unfailing love. He recognizes the Lord as his daily source for life.
So too, God asks in Job 38:39-41,
“Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions
when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket?
Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?
Like children who cry out to their father when they are hungry, the young ravens cry out to God. [5] Ravens only live 10-15 years in contrast to humans who now live on average, 79 years. Like with our possessions, the more years of life we come to expect, the more we become consumed with increasing our lifespan. Unlike the rich fool who depends on himself, the raven humbly trusts the Lord for both his food and his length of life.
Jesus continues,
“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin.
Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! Luke 12:27-28
If we think a raven’s lifespan is short, how much more the grass and the flowers of the field! We have just witnessed another spring come and go in Israel, and we see how quickly a hot wind (sharav) can blow across Israel’s green vegetation and quickly wipe the landscape brown.
Psa 103:13-19 says,
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dirt.
The life of people is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.
The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.
Our time on earth is compared to grass growing in the field. Our youth, our glory, our energy, our passion, our pride is limited by our lifespan and will run out sooner than we realize. Our golden locks of hair fade to gray and white, and our smooth skin becomes wizened and dry. There is no shame in growing old—Scripture calls it an honor, but aging is a reminder that we are all spring flowers facing the coming summer.[6]
And yet, Ps 103:13 dissolves our future fears with the love of a Father who has compassion on his children. The Lord takes care of and provides for His children even as they sin and make mistakes. Despite the brevity of our life on earth, the Father’s love is immense and eternal. We know we are God’s children if we obey Him.
Jesus then answers his original proverb from Luke 12:15—“life does not consist in an abundance of possessions,” with “sell your possessions and give charity to the poor (Lk 12:33).”
Jesus has returned to the brother’s original demand about his inheritance by challenging him to reconsider what kind of inheritance he would want. Does he seek a treasure in heaven or a treasure on earth?
Sell your possessions and give to the poor.
Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out,
a treasure in heaven that will never fail… Luke 12:33
The phrase “treasure in heaven” was a Jewish idiom in the Second Temple period which meant giving alms or charity to the poor.[7] Whenever you gave to someone in need, who was another human being like yourself, made in God’s image, it was as if you were investing your money in the heavenly bank.
Prov 19:17 says,
Whoever is gracious (generous) to the poor lends to the Lord,
and He will reward them for what they have done.
So too, Jesus is simply saying, rather than be focused on yourself and foolishly using your possessions for yourself, use your possessions wisely by investing in those who are in need. When we stop worrying about ourselves, our children, our jobs, our retirement, but rather serve others in God’s economy, by seeking His kingdom first, then we will begin receiving an inheritance of joy that starts even now. These are treasures in heaven.
The inheritance that a good father passes on to his children is not really about possessions; an inheritance is about people. It’s the relationships we built; the lives we touched; those have eternal consequences. The Gospel has always been more than the word, rather the Gospel is the Word become flesh.
Chuck Kopp, JCF’s longtime chairman and pastor of Narkis St. Congregation in Jerusalem, passed away recently. Instead of possessions, Chuck was a collector of people; he left all and became a fisher of men.
Chuck and his wife, Liz, brought hundreds and hundreds of sons and daughters into their family’s tent. Like Father Abraham, Chuck’s family was much larger than his own flesh and blood children. In the Hebrew text of Gen 12:5, it says that when Abraham left the city of Harran, he took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all their possessions and the people they had “made” in Harran.[8] Like Abraham, Chuck was a father who invested in others’ lives and “made” disciples of God by bringing them along his family’s journey in God’s kingdom.
Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” But as another former Narkis St. Congregation pastor, Bob Lindsey, noted, the better translation, here in Matt 5:3, is “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for “they make up,” “they are the citizens,” “they are” the kingdom of heaven.”
The kingdom of heaven does not consist of stuff or possessions. God’s kingdom is made up of people. People who are poor and broken. And these very same people are those whom Jesus commands us to seek out, to love on, to live with, to put up with, to laugh with, to cry with, to suffer with, and even to die with.
Chuck Kopp left an inheritance of a good father by leaving us his heart—treating others as we would want to be treated by showing mercy, by long-suffering, by hospitality, by generosity, and by loving others, just by spending a little time with them.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:34
[1] Deut 21:15-17
[2] Deut 28:1,4,8; Prov 3:9-10
[3] Luke 18:25
[4] Luke 12:21
[5] Luke 11:11-13
[6] Prov 16:31; 20:29
[7] Gary Anderson, “A Treasury in Heaven: The Exegesis of Proverbs 10:2 in the Second Temple Period” in Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel 1/3 (2012): 351-367.
Jeffrey P. Garcia,“Treasure in Heaven”: Examining an Ancient Idiom for Charity in Jerusalem Perspective (Apr 24, 2014). Here.
[8] עָשׂוּ