And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
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. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
“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?’ This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. For there is more to life than food and more to the body than clothing. Look at the birds in the sky, the ravens[1]:
They do not sow, or reap, or gather into storerooms or barns, yet God your heavenly Father feeds them. How much more valuable are you than the birds! And which of you by worrying can add even one hour to his life? If worrying can’t accomplish a little thing such as that, why are you worried about other matters?
Why do you worry about clothing? Think about how the flowers of the field grow; they do not work or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these![2] And if this is how God clothes the wild grass, which is here today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven, won’t he clothe you even more, you people of little faith?
The ravens and the grass are purposeful images. Ravens were unclean, lazy birds in the eyes of the Jewish people. If God “provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call” (Psalm 147:9; Job 38:41), how much more will he provide for His children? If grass is so weak and yet God clothes grass with the glory of flowers, how much more will he adorn His children with good things? Back to the text…
So then, don’t be overly concerned or worry saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For all the nations of the world pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
Worry accomplishes nothing. Tony Evans has a great analogy:
“Worrying is foolish because it cannot bring about change to your situation. Think of it as a rocking chair: it will get you moving, but it can’t take you anywhere.”[3]
It’s one thing to be aware and make a wise plan; it’s another thing to worry, which carries it with it the idea of this nagging, consuming crisis mindset. It’s not just worry about day-to-day things: it’s worry about anything, whether it’s out of your control or in your control. I can worry about my health future, some of which I can control (#KFC) and some I can’t (#genetics). What good does the mere act of worrying do? It just adds stress, which my body does not love.
I had to deal with that after my heart attack. My world shrank in the months that followed: I didn’t want to be anywhere not close to a hospital just in case. I didn’t hike; I didn’t fly; I didn’t want to drive down the interstate. I had to make some choices. Was I going to make reasonably good health choices and enjoy life, or was I going to obsessively worry and be controlled by “what if”?
So, for all us, we have to make choices as well.
· The economy is going to go up or down, and our finances might be impacted by it no matter how much we plan. Do we believe God is still good, and that He watches over His children with care and love?
· The election is going to go one way or the other. Then what? Are we consuming news that escalates our anxiety about the impending downfall of our civilization, or do we believe God is preparing his church for whatever awaits us, and that He watches over His children with love and care?
· Everything is getting more expensive. The more wars rage in countries rich in oil and grain, it’s going to get worse. Okay. How does losing sleep help? How does stewing in fear help? It just ruins our physical and mental health. God is still good, and He still watches over His children with love and care, yes?
Instead, above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
At this point in the story, Jesus is giving this teaching specifically to the disciples, not the whole crowd. I think that’s important. Those disciples set businesses aside, literally following him instead of making money. Meanwhile, he kept sending them out on short missions with hardly anything. My sense is that Jesus is reassuring them in particular about their very practical provision as they follow him. Jesus called them into His mission in that season, and He had a plan. Because of this, the disciples could concentrate their focus and energies on the interests of that kingdom.
If we are to make a broader application, we need to do so in light of the rest of Scripture and the history of the church. While church history is full of stories of miraculous practical provision (#GeorgeMueller), it’s also full of stories where Christians really struggled in poverty, persecution and starvation. The early church letters talk about churches going through extreme poverty. Not long after Jesus’ death, tens of thousands in Rome died of starvation in disease.[4]Did the Christians impacted by this lack faith? I don’t think so. Hebrews 11 has something to say about this:
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised;
who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again.
There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword.
They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated - the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith… (Hebrews 11:32-39)
How do we balance these two seemingly contrasting pictures of God’s care and provision for those who seek the Kingdom vs. the dire circumstances of those being commended for their faith?
First, as I pointed out last week, the early church was radically committed to meeting the financial and physical needs of everyone in the church. If everyone was seeking the Kingdom and the righteousness of God, they would have committed to this generosity whole-heartedly. Truly, there was no need for anyone to worry in the regular course of life if they lived in Holy Spirit led community. God had a plan for provision – His people. That’s what happened in Acts; that’s what happened in the NT letters when one church was in dire need; that’s the ongoing plan for all church communities.
Second, God knows more than we do what we need in this life, and He has the provision to give us what we truly need to sustain us through this life and into the life to come. I suspect there is a deeper spiritual teaching here, as the Bible talks a lot about spiritual clothes and food.[5] When Jesus asked, "Is not life more than food?" I think he’s pointing them toward the kind of food that matters most.
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)
When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” the original language carries the idea of eternal nourishment: “Give us that which we need to sustain us both today and for eternity.” Material provision is not unimportant, but it’s not of eternal importance. There is nothing that can separate us from the eternal provision found in the love of Jesus.
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we encounter death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us!
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39
Notice: we will have trouble, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, the sword. In all these things we will have victory, not because they are absent, but because the strength of God’s love holds us close in the midst of all of them.
* * * * *
Some say the theme of this chapter is summed up in Jesus’ closing words to this section:
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32)[6]
Do you hear the tenderness and the love? “Little flock.” Literally, “little, little flock.” It was God’s good pleasure to give them the Kingdom. What does that look like? Here’s two snapshots of the Kingdom.
For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up. (Romans 4:17-19)
But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness. (James 3:17-18)
Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Jesus said, “Do not be afraid!” so many times during his life on earth.[7] He came to redeem, to save, to heal, to give hope and life, to demonstrate the love of God in the flesh. We read so many times in Scripture about how God intends to do us the favor of Fathering us like a perfectly good father is meant to do, which includes caring for us deeply and relentlessly.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your cares (anxiety) on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6-7)
“Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.” (Psalms 55:22)
“Blessed be the Lord, Who daily bears our burden, the God Who is our salvation.” (Psalm 68:19)
“Be careful for nothing: but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall watch over your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)
When Jesus said, “Take no thought for the things of tomorrow,” this encouragement broadly covers all the things we worry about: jobs, health, family, relationships. Everything that keeps us up at night. The things that give us anxiety and fear. If you have struggled with anxiety and worry, I don’t have to convince you it’s a terrible thing to be overwhelmed by anxiety.
The past year has held a lot of anxiety for me. It is God’s timing that I have begun to remember and process some very traumatic things that happened to me when I was a child. Part of what has happened is that I experience quite a few moments in life through the lenses of a 10-year-old traumatized boy. I had forgotten how big and scary the world can be, both literally and emotionally.
God has provision for me. Good friends, good counselors, the Holy Spirit, His Word. I have been forced to press into all of them in humbling and healing ways. One image of God that I have been clinging to is the image at the end of the passage we read today. If I may paraphrase how this image of God has landed in my life this year:
“Do not be afraid, little one, for your Heavenly Father is deeply pleased to give you the goodness of life in His kingdom.”
I have experienced God’s comfort and provision; I have also been grounded by studying Scripture as well as the insight from other followers of Jesus. I’ve already offered a number of Scripture. I offer this commentary for your consideration also.
“But He cares for us. My soul, has not Jesus proved it? Did He not care for you when He embarked in the work of your salvation? Did He not care for you when you were dead in trespasses and in sins? And when the Holy Spirit convinced you of sin, and broke your heart, and led you in holy contrition to the cross, did not Jesus manifest His care for you then by raising you up from His feet, enfolding you in His arms, and applying His atoning blood to your conscience, saying to your tempest-tossed spirit, 'Peace, be still,' and there was peace? The Lord cares for you still. He cares for your needs, for your trials, for your temptations, for your sorrows. Still more, He cares for… the doubts and fears and tremblings which sometimes assail you--for the darkness which often enshrouds you--for the loneliness and solitude of the way by which He is leading you home to Himself.” - Octavius Winslow
“Treat cares as you treat sins. Hand them over to Jesus one by one as they occur. Commit them to Him. Roll them upon Him. Make them his. By an act of faith look to Him, saying, ‘This, Lord, and this, and this, I cannot bear. Thou hast taken my sins; take my cares: I lay them upon Thee, and trust Thee to do for me all, and more than all, I need. I will trust, and not be afraid…’" - F.B. Meyer
“You are staggering beneath a weight which your Father would not feel. What seems to you a crushing burden, would be to him but as the small dust of the balance… O child of suffering, be thou patient; God has not passed thee over in his providence. He who is the feeder of sparrows, will also furnish you with what you need. Sit not down in despair; hope on, hope ever… There is One who careth for you. His eye is fixed on you… He, if thou art one of his family, will bind up thy wounds, and heal thy broken heart. Doubt not his grace because of thy tribulation, but believe that he loveth thee as much in seasons of trouble as in times of happiness… He has never refused to bear your burdens, he has never fainted under their weight. Come, then, soul! have done with fretful care, and leave all thy concerns in the hand of a gracious God.”- Spurgeon
Be your frame low, your heart dead, your faith weak—arise, and draw near to God… you feel as if there existed in this wide world no heart, no spirit, no mind that responded to, or that chimed and blended with your own. Yes; there is One!—Jesus cares for you. – Octavius Winslow
SOME RECOMMENDED SONGS
· Selah – I look To You
· Kari Jobe – I am Not Alone; Be Still My Soul (In You I Rest)
· Laura Story –He Will Not Let Go; Perfect Peace
· Needtobreathe – Lay ‘Em Down
· Finding Favour – Cast My Cares
· Alisa Turner – My Prayer For You
· I will Arise and Go To Jesus (Julie Miller)
· Psalm 23 (Keith Green)
· I Trust Jesus (Matthew West; Jenn Johnson)
· I Will Fear No More (The Afters)
____________________________________________________________________
[1] Ravens were unclean to Jewish people ((Lev 11:13–15; Deut 14:11–14),
[2] 1 Kings 10:4-5 “When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.”
[3] Tony Evans Study Bible
[4] “In A.D. 51, the emperor Claudius barely escaped a hostile crowd during a grain shortage and resulting famine that left Rome with only a fifteen-day supply of grain. During their revolt, the Jews in Jerusalem experienced great famine. Thousands died as relatives fought over… food. The most horrific example involved a young mother named Mary of Bethezuba who, because of her hunger, tore her baby from her breast and roasted it, devouring half the corpse. This abomination of infant cannibalism horrified both the rebels and the Romans.” - How To Read The Bible Book By Book
“In 65 when Nero was persecuting the church, a plague broke out in Rome killing 30,000 residents. Pestilence also broke out in Jerusalem due to overcrowding during the Roman siege in A.D. 70.” N.T. Wright, Revelation For Everyone
[5] Isaiah 61:10-11, 11:5; Ephesians 4:25-5:2; Revelation 19:8; Psalm 132:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:8; Job 29:14
[6] Africa Bible Commentary
[7] Check out how often this phrase is used in the Bible at “Do not be afraid.” https://catholic-resources.org/Bible/HaveNoFear.html