Kingdom Given - Luke 12:22-40 - Ninth Week after Pentecost

 

Luke 12:22-40 NIV

²² Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. ²³ For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. ²⁴ 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! ²⁵ Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? ²⁶ Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

²⁷ “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. ²⁸ 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! ²⁹ And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. ³⁰ For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. ³¹ But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

³² “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. ³³ 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, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. ³⁴ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

³⁵ “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, ³⁶ like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. ³⁷ It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. ³⁸ It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. ³⁹ But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁰ You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

Kingdom Given

We’re back to the “stuff” stuff again this week. Jesus teaches us about “stuff.”

When we focus on “stuff” – And I mean “stuff” in not only material things, but many other things as well, like power, riches, wants and perceived needs… you know, “stuff.” When we focus on this kind of “stuff”, it drags us away from trust IN God. That doesn’t need to happen. God knows what we need, AND God gives us the Kingdom. God is anxious to give us the Kingdom. If you look back at the reading, you will see that God is pleased to give us the Kingdom.

But, face it, we all worry about “stuff.” And this worry, honestly, displays a lack of trust in God.

When we hear about the worry of birds, well, birds aren’t lazy and idle, rather they are free from worry.

But, most birds die of starvation. Seems like a need to worry maybe.

Likewise, if we don’t feed or clothe one another, people starve or freeze. So, what’s the deal?

The deal Jesus is teaching here is about worry. Worry defeats trust in God. Worry IS NOT what TRUE LIFE IN God is about. TRUE LIFE IN God… think about Adam and Eve in paradise, HAS NO NEED of worry. Adam and Eve had all they needed. They didn’t need to worry about anything!

Worry serves no useful purpose.

Since the beginning, God takes care of ALL life. AND God WILL NOT overlook your needs. God knows what we need and gives us, this day, our daily bread.

Recall the Fourth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer…

Give us this day our daily bread…

In Luther’s Small Catechism we learn what this means…

God gives daily bread, even without our prayer, to all people, though sinful, but we ask in this prayer that he will help us realize this and receive our daily bread with thanks.

What is meant by “daily bread”?

Daily bread includes everything needed for this life, such as food and clothing, home and property, work and income, a devoted family, an orderly community, good government, favorable weather, peace and health, a good name, and true friends and neighbors.

Well, hold on a minute. I didn’t receive all of that! Or did I? If I look through the eyes of God, OH YES, I DID! That’s what God gave and that’s what God intended from the get go!

We lost focus on God and started to focus on ourselves. We wanted to BE LIKE God so much that we gave ourselves over to the temptation to KNOW what God knows. Our focus changed from God to self. And it happens today all the time. Admit it. Recall it. Confess it to God and turn that focus back to Him and His Kingdom.

When we turn our focus from self to God, we can put that “worry” behind. We can give ourselves to God and neighbor. We can freely give, because we know, that God provides for ALL we need and we can be a part of God’s Kingdom, here and now, and give away food and clothing, home and property, work and income, create an orderly community with good government. The weather will be the weather and peace and health will occur with true friends and neighbors. ALL because God gives us His Kingdom and gives us ALL we need.

God’s will of LIFE is eternal. God’s will of LIFE is FREE. Yet…

To NOT worry does NOT replace our response to God to pray and work IN God’s Kingdom, here and now.

Our response to NOT WORRY frees us TO BE courageous, active and accepting of God’s will in our lives to live each day trusting God and to work IN the Kingdom of God. THEN, worry seems silly.

You see, God’s Kingdom IS already breaking into human history to become FULLFILLED in the resurrection…

Back to the Second Petition of the Lord’s Prayer…

Thy kingdom come.

From Luther’s Small Catechism we learn….

What does this mean?

God’s kingdom comes indeed without our praying for it, but we ask in this prayer that it may come also to us.

When does this happen?

God’s kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and live a godly life on earth now and in heaven forever.

So, I once again stress. Find a church or a disciple of Christ and get baptized! That’s when you receive the gift God gives of Spirit and Word, call and Kingdom. Even take someone along to be baptized so that they will receive this gift and then help them in their life with God as both of you live in His Kingdom into eternity.

Don’t be afraid! God gives you the Kingdom AND you belong to the Kingdom. God gives it to you. This Kingdom is SO MUCH MORE than human togetherness. LIKE the Church IS SO MUCH MORE. The Church is NOT only here and now, BUT ALSO in the age to come. Why?

God has already given us the Kingdom.

So, we learn from this Gift that “stuff” doesn’t make us safe.

Our self-suffering won’t help or eliminate worry or desire.

We are ONLY rich, when we are rich towards God.

God has transferred us from this world to the Kingdom of Jesus… listen to the words of Paul from Colossians 1:13-14

¹³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

In Jesus, we become eternally free of decay… YET… We own this world we live in. How?

Let’s turn back to the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:21-22

²¹ So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, ²² whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours,

There it is… ALL things through Christ are ours… listen a bit more to Paul…  Corinthians 3:23

²³ and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

We are in the Kingdom as a gift of God through Jesus.

So, now we become aware, how, “stuff” will possess you… UNLESS… you are possessed by God. THEN, nothing else can possess or own us.

Listen to the words of Jesus about “stuff” from Matthew 6:19-21…

¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

We need this heavenly view. We need to look beyond our life here to see what God has in store. Here and now, we will sin, we will get hungry and cold and suffer and die. Yet, there is more… so much more… God gives us all we ever need. It’s true! Our real treasure is in heaven.

Now, let’s look to what Jesus warns us about in the final coming and fulfillment of God’s Kingdom in Jesus’ words from Matthew 25:13…

¹³ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

We live on the edge of heaven, hell and eternity. BE faithful in the small things. Why?

Because there are NO small things.

BE faithful while God is away. Why?

Because God is always here.

Live ready. Why?

Because God gives you ALL Faith, Hope, Love, Forgiveness and Salvation.

Because He GAVE YOU, His Kingdom!

Accept the Gift!

This IS a “Kingdom Given” AT a great price!

TRUST, WAIT AND HAVE FAITH… faith given to You to be in His Kingdom.

God’s Kingdom IS yours to live in… today… tomorrow… and forever… thanks be to God!

I leave you with this YouTube Music Video that speaks to this passage of Scripture…

“Seek Ye First”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsBpM9IcBts&list=RDEsBpM9IcBts&start_radio=1

Seek Ye First

Get Rich Fast! - Luke 12:13-21 - Eighth Week after Pentecost

 

Luke 12:13-21 NIV

¹³ Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

¹⁴ Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” ¹⁵ Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

¹⁶ And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. ¹⁷ He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

¹⁸ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. ¹⁹ And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

²⁰ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

²¹ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

Get Rich Fast!

Get rich, fast! All you have to do is be successful in the name of coveting and winning over your neighbor’s possessions. It’s quick and easy! But first let’s talk about the 9^th and 10^th Commandments about coveting, and just how to be successful at it.

So how do we do this covet stuff? Well, it’s simple. Trick those in your world and those you want to use in your world into giving up what they have to give to you. You can steal the stuff, or lie about getting the stuff or just fake em out until you get their stuff for yourself.

Everyone likes stuff, like money, power, sex, health, possessions, and a good life. Everyone like this stuff, and over time collects this stuff to the best of their ability. Why? So that they can take life easy. People all want the easy stuff. Get em to give you stuff, like some people who trick others into thinking that giving up money helps someone else. Well, usually that someone else is the one collecting the stuff to begin with. All it takes is a laser focus on the other person’s stuff and how to trick or convince them to give their stuff to you. It’s that easy!

But, guess what Jesus teaches here, in this passage of Scripture. It’s about the 9^th and 10^th commandments for sure, but more. So, what are the 9^th and 10^th commandments? I find it peculiar that today in the United States, anyway, we fuss over having the Commandments in school and other places. Well, the 10 commandments aren’t even numbered, as over time, we people number them differently. So, here are the 9^th and 10^th commandments as I was taught…

9– You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.

10- You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his cattle, or anything that is your neighbor’s.

What does this mean? Well, to me, don’t try to get your neighbor’s stuff. Leave his stuff alone! It’s not yours!

We are, instead, to be focused on the WILL of GOD… NOT… other’s stuff or even our own stuff. Yea, even our own stuff. Don’t focus on stuff!

Don’t set your heart on this world. Set your heart on the world to come. This world is for a little while, BUT God’s world is eternal.

It’s easy to lose focus on God’s WILL and what God wants from us. I can easily focus on my need of money, health, power, prestige, sex, or how far ahead my neighbor is in gathering his stuff from my stuff.

It’s easy to focus on today and tomorrow, that I lose sight of eternity.

It’s like God is tapping me on the head and whispering, “Hey Billy, there’s more to life than this place in which you presently live. Look to me a little more and you will witness My Kingdom IN eternity. You will witness how I created, you to be with Me in eternity. It’s not all about you, you know. It’s about me… God.” --- tink tink tink on my thick skull… goes God.

There are already earthly judges set in place in our world to deal with stuff. Judges deal with this dividing of stuff. Yet, we still get trapped and wrapped up in covetous “stuff.” You know, the petty problems of stuff, because we don’t want to deal with the deeper issue of our own covetous.

Really, my life IS NOT, and DOES NOT belong to me. No matter HOW rich I may become, my life IS NOT just my own or all under my control. I have influence over my life, for sure, BUT my life is not from me alone.

And there is caution here. Watch OUT! That before God we are confessors… NOT… complainers. In the confession booth of God, we ARE NOT the judge. We are being judged. Huh? That sounds odd.

God has already granted to us all that we need. We don’t need other’s stuff. We have enough stuff of our own. BUT, if we waste our life focusing on our stuff, we lose sight of what God’s WILL is for our lives to give that stuff away, to God and to our neighbor.

My wealth, of any earthly kind, IS NOT, a guarantee of, or for, eternal life.

Stuff, - Wealth and Riches stuff, WILL NOT protect me from LIFE or what MIGHT happen in life.

I am only secure BY being rich toward God. Huh? How’s that?

I am secure NOT by stuff, BUT through victory over stuff.

How?

When God comes to me and calls me, God gifts me in the waters of baptism, AND LETS ME be a part of HIS JOY IN THE SPIRIT to be a part of the Gospel.

Paul words this this way in 1 Corinthians 15:57…

⁵⁷ But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

IT IS through God, who loved us in Jesus and the Holy Spirit, that I am IN HIM.

Listen once again to the words of Paul in Romans 8:37-39…

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Yes! THIS LOVE IS RICH! Rich TOWARDS God!

To “Get Rich Fast!” --- forget about stuff and the gathering and the coveting of stuff. Toil to please God, not this world or yourself. God is the God who made you. God made you FOR Him. So, set your mind on Jesus Christ above, NOT on the stuff of earth… today… tomorrow… and forever. Thanks be to God!

I invite you to be inspired by this YouTube Music video that reminds me of this Gospel…

“Seek Ye First”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsBpM9IcBts

Seek ye First