What, Me Worry? Luke 12:22-31 - October 15, 2023

 Luke 12:22-31 What, Me Worry?

Good morning! Turn with me to Luke 12:22-31, page 871 in the pew Bibles.

Before we read our text, I want to read for you two others.

The first is Philippians 4:6-7 and the Second is 1 Peter 5:7.

6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

And now let’s consider Luke 12:22-31.

22 And he 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. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 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! 25 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 27 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. 28 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! 29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

Let’s pray.

So, why these three texts? Simply because any time a theme is repeated in Scripture it means it’s pretty important and it is a theme we need to wrestle with. 

What is that theme? Anxiety, worry.

You know how much I like to do key word studies, here is our key word: Anxiety, worry.

So let’s get a good handle on what this concept of worrying or anxiety really is. 

The Greek word means to have anxious concern based on the apprehension of possible danger or misfortune. The word literally means to divide or tear apart. Our English word, “Worry,” comes from an Anglo-Saxon word that means, “to strangle.”

If you think about it, this is exactly what worry does; it divides our thoughts and strangles our trust in the Lord.

Worry, at its core is self-centered, it is a self-concern for the future based on a lack of trust in the Lord.

I want you to look closely at verse 22, you’ll notice that the words are written in red. 22 And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life…” Let’s stop there.

When Jesus tells us to do something and we don’t do it, what is that called? Sin.

And when He tells us not to do something and we do it? Sin.

So when Jesus tells us, and Paul tells us, and Peter tells us not to worry, or not to be anxious and we still do it, what is that called? Sin. Ok, I just wanted to be clear on that. I don’t like it, but that doesn’t really matter.

22 And he 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. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

Does this mean that we don’t have to care about anything? No.

Calvin wrote, “If we give proper attention to the words of Christ, we shall fond that He does not forbid every kind of care, but only what arises from distrust.”

Only oppressive care, anxious solicitude which springs from unbelieving doubts are condemned here.

The truth is that by worrying, by being anxious about our lives we communicate to the Lord that we are, or should be, in control, and that the circumstances that we are concerned about would be better if the Lord would just let us have our way. Just give me the thing, or let me have the stuff, and everything will be fine. 

What is missing in this type of thinking is perspective. Putting worldly pursuits before the Kingdom, seeking the good of the body but not the soul, seeking provision for this life and not for the next, it is all based in selfishness, pride, and distrust of our Father.

23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 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!

RC Sproul wrote, “If we think food or clothing are the essence of life, we have missed the Kingdom of God.”

Martin Luther wrote, “You turn it exactly round; food is meant to serve life, but life serves food; clothes are to serve the body, but the body must serve clothing, and so blind is this world that it doesn’t see this.”

25 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 27 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. 28 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! 29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them.

Just like the parable from last week the trouble in this passage has the same source, last week it was greed, this week it is worry, the source is the same: a lack of trust in God.

Worry is truly accusing God our Father of not being trustworthy. It is self-centered at its core. We have to understand that we must not believe that we can secure our lives by worrying. It won’t add a single hour to our life, it can’t add an inch to our height, it will rob us of joy, and it threatens our relationship with God our Father. If you think about it, it threatens our claim that Jesus is Lord.

The Father knows what we need to live, He knows that we need food and clothes. He feeds the birds of the air, He clothes the flowers of the field, you, His children are worth much more than birds and grass!

Verse 30 says that the nations of the world seek after these things… That means the unbelievers of the world. The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament says, “The believer is thus released from anxious concern or worrying, for his existence is an eschatological existence. This will be shown whether, in conflict with the hostile world, he can rest, not on the strength of his own calculations, but wholly on the Spirit given him from the world to come.

The unbelievers of this world don’t have that same Spirit, they don’t have that same resource, they aren’t going to understand how believers can sleep at night with all that’s going on.

And that may be the most important part of this whole thing. It’s not to show those that don’t know Jesus that Christians don’t ever worry, or don’t struggle with anxiety. Those that know me well know that I struggle mightily with anxiety. But it’s the conscious choice of trusting in the Lordship of Christ over our lives that gives us the strength to endure and will make that anxiety subside.

29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

Make the Lordship of Jesus over your life your first concern and the anxiety about your life will begin to wither away.

When we are faced with worry or anxiety let’s train ourselves to examine ourselves in those moments. Where is your heart? Are you seeking to control what can’t be controlled, at least not by you? Are you trusting in the Lordship of Jesus, are you trusting the Father with your needs. Is what you are worrying about even a need, or is it just a want, are you focusing on your own good or the good of others?

Where is your heart?

As Corrie Ten Boom put it, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.”

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

And, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Amen.

Covetousness - Luke 12:13-21 - October 8, 2023

 Luke 12:13-21 Covetousness

Good morning! Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter 12 and verse 13. We are going to look at verse 13-21 and that’s on page 871 in the pew Bibles.

Last week we looked at a passage of Scripture that warned against the unforgivable sin, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. And as vague and complex as that idea is and its understanding so cloudy and hazy, I would rather chew on that text ten times over before I would happily dive into this one that stands before us this morning.

But that’s not how it works here. We work through the Bible book by book, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse so we can’t skip over the stuff that we don’t get, or don’t like, or that makes us uncomfortable. And so this morning we come to Luke 12:13-21.

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Let’s pray.

Now you may remember from our previous studies that Luke arranged his Gospel more thematically than chronologically, and just as the last few passages that we have looked at dealt with similar topics so the next few passages will too.

In these next few passages Jesus is really dealing with our priorities as his disciples, what we put first in our lives, what takes priority.

Here in our text for this morning Jesus uses a request from someone in the crowd to teach His disciples and us a little bit about arranging our priorities.

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?”

Jesus’ job while here on earth was not to settle disputes between people as Moses had done. Moses spent all day listening to arguments and accusations and dispensing judgments and divisions of goods until it wore him out. That was not Jesus’ role and it was a mantle He was not going to pick up.

His concern was not who got what in the dispute between these two brothers, but rather, what was at the heart of the dispute.

Jesus knows the heart. He knew what this man’s desires were, and what his priorities were. He knew what the man would do with the inheritance once he got it and that is what motivated the warning and the parable.

15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

Covetousness is the crux of the issue here. Some translations use the word, “greed,” this is where the word, “avarice,” comes from.

Covetousness is a strong desire to acquire more and more material possessions or to possess more than other people have, all irrespective of need.

Irrespective of need is a pretty important part of that definition.

Not coveting another person’s goods was important enough to our Heavenly Father that it made His top ten list of things not to do, it’s the tenth commandment!

The hard pill to swallow is that Jesus said, “One’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” That pill tastes so bitter because I agree with my head that it is right, I will preach from this pulpit that it is right, but when the rubber meets the road I don’t live like it is right.

Take a walk through my house, or worse, take a walk through my wood shop, I don’t live like this is right. Maybe I’m not the only one.

I’m sure that you have heard it said that money doesn’t buy happiness. JJ vanOosterzee wrote, “That riches in and of themselves do not give happiness is undoubtedly true, yet not the chief thought of this parable.” Money can’t buy happiness is not Jesus’ point here. I think it’s a little closer to: don’t waste your life and your resources on yourself.

Let’s take a look at the parable.

“The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

First things first, this guy was already rich, let’s be clear about that. In the past his land had produced well enough that he needed multiple barns to store his crops, and now is faced with a bumper crop, more than he ever expected.

The farmer was faced with a choice: what to do with this abundant harvest. He could have filled his existing barns and sold the rest, he could have filled his barns and given the rest to the poor, instead he decided to tear down his barns and build bigger ones in order to keep the abundance for himself.

Jesus is not saying that having wealth is evil, neither is He denying the validity of earning income, or possessing worldly goods. What he is warning against is covetousness which has at its heart selfishness. That heart attitude that causes a person to crave what they don’t have or even more of what they do whether they need it or not.

Take a look at the farmer’s statement when considering his problem.

“The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’

You know what I see? Eleven times he refers to himself in three sentences.

Again, vanOosterzee states, “That his increased prosperity offers him opportunity to do something for his poor brethren, does not even come to his mind. Selfishness strikes the key note.” 

Selfishness is at the heart of covetousness.

The man thought that he had reached the pinnacle of human life, he had all he needed, but he had no regard for God or his neighbor, he just wanted to live out his life at ease.

The trouble was that he overestimated how much time he had left!

19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Warren Wiersbe said, “People who are satisfied only with the things that money can buy are in great danger of losing the things that money cannot buy.” He who dies with the most toys still dies.

Again, this is not a lesson against material things but materialism- the selfish seeking of the essence of life in the abundance of stuff.

The rich man was not a fool because he was rich, he was a fool because he was blessed abundantly by God and didn’t have the wisdom to acknowledge that it was God who blessed him, and he didn’t have the wisdom to use his abundant blessing to bless others.

Proverbs 3:8-9 says, give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, 9 lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God. 

It was no accident that Jesus taught us to pray, “give us this day our daily bread.”

Being rich toward God, or rich in regards to God is recognizing that man’s life is wholly dependent on God not on our possessions. Being rich in regards to God is relying solely on His providence not trusting in earthly things or the pursuit of even more earthly things whether we need them or not.

What this all boils down to is our priorities, what comes first for us in our everyday reality? Trust in our Father’s daily provision for our need, or our endless pursuit of more stuff? If you look at my Amazon order history you might wonder.

This can all be summed up in the Great Commandment: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.

When we love the Lord with all we have, we recognize that all we have comes from Him and belongs to Him and should be used for His glory, and when we love our neighbor as we love ourselves we’ll share our abundant blessings with them.

Amen.

Confession and Denial - Luke 12:8-12 - October 1, 2023

 Luke 12:8-12 Confession and Denial

Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke 12:8-12, page 871 in the pew Bibles.

We are going to look at a small passage in the Gospel of Luke that has prompted some big questions.

I want to make sure that we do not miss the forest for the trees in this passage and focus solely on the big question that I’m sure will pop up in your minds as we read the text.

Last week we dealt with the difficulty of the fear of man and the temptation we all face of being forced into silence because we are afraid of what people might think, or say, or do. But we were reminded by Jesus of our great value in the Father’s sight and that He cares deeply for us.

This passage for today follows closely on the heels of those thoughts thematically just as it follows them in Luke’s Gospel. 

Let’s look at it together.

8 “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, 9 but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Let’s pray.

At first glance it may seem that this idea of acknowledging, or confessing Jesus before others is a merely outward exercise, but this is truly heart level stuff. 

A courageous confession of Christ is not a mere outward confession of the mouth but a genuine and consistent confession of the whole life.

Jesus warned His disciples back in verse 4 not to fear those who only had power over the body. Fear of those people leads to silence when it comes to confessing Jesus but He tells us here in verse 8 that there is a great reward for confessing Him before mankind, that He will confess us before the angels.

But there is also a warning for those that deny Christ: that he will deny them before the angels of God.

Jesus is clearly speaking of the final judgment.

Matthew 25:31-46 says,

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ 

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Acknowledging Jesus before men is not a mere confession of the mouth but a genuine and consistent confession of the whole life. Donald Miller wrote, “What we believe isn’t what we say we believe, what we believe is what we do.”

Saying that Jesus is Lord is one thing, living as if God raised Him from the dead and He is Lord is something else entirely. That’s what it means to acknowledge Jesus before men.

The opposite is also true, saying that Jesus is Lord, yet living as if He isn’t is just as much a denial of the risen Lord as if we were to say that Jesus isn’t real and is not alive. And the result when people deny Jesus with their lives is that He will deny them before the angels in heaven and say, “depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

And with that happy thought we come to the question that popped up into your minds as we read our text for today: what is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, what is the unforgivable sin?

10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

This is a question that has been troubling the minds of believers ever since the day Jesus first said these words. What is this unforgivable sin and have I committed it?

First, Jesus said anyone who speaks a word against Him would be forgiven.

Why is it ok to blaspheme Jesus but not the Holy Spirit? 

Well, first of all, it’s not. Blasphemy is a sin in either case.

Blasphemy means to speak against someone in such a way as to harm or injure his or her reputation—‘to revile, to defame, to slander.’

But why is defaming Jesus forgivable and defaming the Holy Spirit not forgivable.

When Jesus was being crucified, the ultimate act of blasphemy, He asked the Father to forgive those who were doing it. Do you remember why? They didn’t know what they were doing.

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is a conscious denial of the power, presence, and work of the Holy Spirit after experiencing it personally.

John Calvin wrote, “Those only are blasphemers against the Spirit who slander His gifts and power contrary to the conviction of their own mind.”

Meaning, they are convicted by the Holy Spirit that Jesus is Lord but still reject Him.

Jesus asked forgiveness of those who were crucifying Him because they didn’t know what they were doing. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is an educated act, a willful denial against what a person has known and seen and felt personally.

If the true confession of Christ is our rubric for judgment, it makes sense then that a denial of Christ once enlightened by the Holy Spirit would be unforgivable.

Craig Blomberg wrote, “Professing believers who fear that they have committed the unforgivable sin demonstrate a concern for their spiritual welfare which by definition proves that they have not committed it.”

Kenneth Berding said, “Whatever resides in people’s hearts begins to show up in how people live and speak… What is at issue is not just a word passing over someone’s lips, but a more fundamental posture of despising what God has revealed.”

And finally, verses 11-12.

11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Jesus knew very well what awaited His disciples. He didn’t say, “if,” but, “when.”

When you are dragged in front of these authorities to answer for your faith in me, don’t worry about what you should say, the Holy Spirit will teach you what to say in that moment.

This is part of the continuing work of the Holy Spirit. He continues to teach us what we should say in defense of our faith. It’s the Holy Spirit that fuels our confession of Christ in the world.

He provides us the opportunities to speak the truth of the gospel. He gives us the words to say. He softens and convicts the hearts of the hearers. He gives us a defense when we are accused. He has given us the Bible and preserved it so that we can learn and grow as disciples of Jesus and know Him better. 

Whom have we to fear if the Spirit that hovered over the waters at creation is the very same Spirit that lives in our hearts by faith in Jesus Christ? He is the Giver of good gifts and the Empowerer of genuine, consistent confession of our whole lives.

Let’s agree with the Apostle Paul from Romans 8…

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 

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

Amen.