The problem with the Rich Fool is he never saw beyond himself.  There is no parable like this one which is so full of the words, I, me, my and mine. From verse 16 to 19, four verses, so much is revealed in the frequency of the personal pronouns. Listen to how many times they are used: I, I, my, I, I, I, my, my, I, my. A schoolboy was once asked what parts of speech my and mine are.  He answered, "Aggressive pronouns."  The rich fool was aggressively self-centered. It was said of a self-centered young lady, "Edith lived in a little world, bounded on the north, south, east and west by Edith."  The famous criticism was made of a self-centered person, "There is too much ego in his cosmos."  When this man had a superfluity of goods the one thing that never entered his head was to give any away.  His whole attitude was the very reverse of Christianity.  Instead of denying himself he aggressively affirmed himself: instead of finding his happiness in giving he tried to conserve it by keeping.

John Wesley's rule of life was to save all he could and give all he could. When he was at Oxford he had an income of 30 pounds a year.  He lived on 28 pounds and gave 2 pounds away.  When his income increased to 60 pounds, 90 pounds, 120 pounds a year, he still lived on 28 pounds and gave the balance away.  The Accountant-General for Household Plate demanded a return from him.  His reply was, "I have two silver tea spoons at London and two at Bristol.  This is all the plate which I have at present; and I shall not buy any more, while so many around me want bread."

The Romans had a proverb which said that money was like sea-water; the more a man drank the thirstier he became.  And so long as a man's attitude is that of the rich fool his desire will always be to get more-and that is the reverse of the Christian way.

Note: It would be effective to read the parable once and then re-read it again punctuating the personal pronouns. Don't tell your congregation directly what you are doing, just tell them you want to re-read the parable with a little different twist. Ask them, "Can you hear what's going on now?"