Please read today’s passage here: Luke 12:22-32
Jesus told the Rich Fool story to warn against self-centered greed and the futile attempt to avoid dependence on God's provision of our needs by the endless accumulation of possessions and financial assets.
His next words in Luke concern another aspect of the general subject of acquisitiveness: not so much greed as preoccupation with one’s physical needs. Even if we are not positively greedy, there is a danger that as disciples we need to be aware of. It is the danger of being too preoccupied with fulfilling our physical needs. This is not as easy a danger to recognize. And the way Jesus describes it here tends to make us raise our eyebrows, when we read it. It almost seems unreasonable to us at first glance.
Jesus warns us not to be anxious or concerned about whether we can put food on our tables or clothe ourselves and our families. I can understand what your reaction may be at this point. It is also mine. Perhaps you are the sole income-producer in your household, and your income is borderline sufficient. Are you not justified in being worried about feeding your children?
I have to be careful at this point. I could do either of two things now, and both of them would be wrong. I could say that I disagree with Jesus: that his command is unrealistic and impractical. And if I do that, I am saying that neither you nor I can trust what he advises us all of the time. If that is so, then of what more value is he as a teacher and Lord than any other person? That would also imply that Jesus really doesn't care if you and your family starve, because he gave you a promise that he had no intention at all of fulfilling.
The second thing I could do is to explain away his words here, water them down so as to nullify the way in which they were intended to challenge us to believe what we are inclined not to think is possible. That way, you and I could say we agree with him, but he would not be saying what in fact he did intend to say to us.
I believe that Jesus does intend to challenge us to believe what we are very reluctant to believe: that he can and will see to it that our physical needs are met without our fretting and worrying about them. Notice that he does not say that we are not to work in order to earn our livelihood. But he commands us not to worry while we work.
The ravens in his illustration may not, as Jesus reminds us, “sow or reap”, but they do seek out food in other ways. We do not know the inner nerve systems of birds, but it is a pretty good bet that they are not hard-wired to worry. Worry is a uniquely human ability. What enables us to plan also enables us to doubt and worry about our prospects. God wants us to plan, but he wants us to suppress by our confidence in his love for us the negative side of foresight: worry.
You say: “That is easy to say—not so easy to do!” True. But since when was anything Jesus asked his disciples to do easy, humanly speaking? That is why he has given us the Holy Spirit living within us: to enable us to do what seems impossible to us.
As for what practical steps the Holy Spirit might suggest to you, there are too many possibilities for me to discussed them all. As a sample, it may be that you need to quit borrowing and spending too much, and to begin living on a tight budget. Many Christians who found themselves deeply in debt have found good Christian counsel that helped them to work their own way out of debt by responsible budgeting. It is important to work out practical ways to live within our means and avoid situations in which we are tempted to worry. But that side of the problem is not really what the focus of these verses is.
Everyone knows that the best way to eliminate negative thinking is to give yourself something positive to put in its place. So Jesus does just that. In v. 31-32 he gives us an “instead” to occupy us instead of worrying about whether or not our money or clothes are enough. That “instead” is the kingdom of God. This is the ocean that disciples swim in, their natural habitat, the sphere of their ministry to others. Occupy yourself with the King’s business, and that will keep your mind off worries that cannot improve your actual situation.
It has been testified by thousands of believers down through the history of Christianity, that when they were starting to run short of money, they just gave more generously to others in need and trusted God to supply their own needs. That sounds crazy, but it is not: it has been proven time and time again in the experience of believers. What would be crazy and irresponsible would be to spend what little you have left on yourself. But that is not what these believers are suggesting. It is spending more on God and others in need.
That is an entirely different matter. When you focus on others with greater needs than yourself and then do something concrete to help them, you automatically reduce the worry about your less important needs. And by increasing your giving, or at least not decreasing it during periods when your income is slack, you are saying by your actions that you believe God will care for your legitimate needs. Jesus knows that once a disciple starts worrying about his money, he can very easily “redefine” what his "minimal needs” are, and that will lead to a preoccupation with his income and a decreasing of his giving to God and others.
It is here that we should also take into account that many, if not most, of the disciples Jesus was addressing at this point were not the radically poor: they were what we would today call middle class or working people. Fishermen who were able to own their own fleet of fishing boats (Peter and Andrew) and employ servants. It is such disciples who—like many of us today who are not poor, yet worry constantly about our incomes—needed to change their attitudes and give more generously to those who are truly needy.
The real “kicker” is v. 34. Jesus said: “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” If you are fixated on maximizing your earthly resources, you will no longer care about the heavenly resources you have and your pleasing Jesus as a disciple. It is this preoccupation—this improper priority of one's own physical comforts over following Jesus in ministry to others—that is our Lord’s concern in this passage.
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