Readings for today: Luke 12:1-13:30
We live in anxious times. I was talking to a family member recently. They expressed their fears over the outcome of the election. They are pondering a potential move out of the country depending on who wins. I talked to another family member who’s suffered from loneliness and depression as a result of some of the COVID restrictions that have isolated them from friends and family and any sense of community. I talked to a friend who attends a church in deep conflict. He is struggling. He is hurting. The one “safe” place in his life is now racked with dissension and division. I spoke to another friend who lost their job at the beginning of the pandemic and has now come to the end of their resources. He may lose his home. He may have to move his family out of state. I know others who have contracted COVID and spent time in the hospital. Still others who have other health emergencies they are fighting right now. A young mom fighting cancer. A close friend who suffered an aneurysm. On and on it goes. And that’s just my personal experience. What about the friends I have around the world who have it much worse? South Sudan has descended into chaos and civil war. Starvation is rampant and suffering is widespread. My friend Martin is ministering in the midst of it all. He’s not the only one.
“Jesus said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Luke 12:22-34)
Don’t be anxious? Surely Jesus isn’t serious? Perhaps the people he’s talking to didn’t have the problems we do today? Perhaps life for them always came up roses and things were all good? Of course we know this isn’t true. Life in first century Palestine was often short and brutal. Violence could break out at any time. Disease could devastate a village. Crops could fail. Herds could die. Starvation could set in. Water could be scarce. Life expectancy was low. Infant mortality was high. And still Jesus tells His followers to not be anxious. Why? Because Jesus trusted the heart of His Father. Our Heavenly Father is good. Faithful. True. He delights to give His children good things, even the Kingdom. He provides what we need if we will but ask in His name. He knows our struggles and fears and failures. He knows our sinful desires and wants and passions. He may not act in accordance to our will or in alignment with our schedule but He always comes through.
So how do we learn such trust? Jesus gives us that answer as well. Store up treasures in heaven. Set your mind on the things of God. Seek first His Kingdom and all the rest will get thrown in. As a dear friend of mine loves to say, “You take care of the things God cares about - the lost and the least among you - and He will take care of the things you care about.” The cure for all our anxiety is to step out in faith to serve God’s mission in the world.
Readings for tomorrow: Luke 14-15