Luke 12:1-34, ‘’Worry, Provision and Giving’’, Sept 21st.
I wanted to tell a true story about Dallas Theological Seminary. In the 1920s it had a reached a point where it was going to become bankrupt.
At 0500, one morning, three men were awakened and burdened with the need to pray about the financial struggle the seminary faced. One, a pastor, had been involved in the founding, another was the president, and a third, a donor to the seminary. None of them knew that all three had been awakened at the same time. The third – anonymous – had financial means. The need at the time was 10,000 – that today would be around 180,000 dollars. The third felt prompted to help…
The Board members met two weeks later at the school to pray. After they had prayed, they sat in silence. Then there was a knock at the door – and a government bond for 10,000 dollars arrived from an unknown banker near Chicago.
A recent President of DTS looking back on that time said: ‘’God who owns all’’ sovereignly worked in the hearts of a pastor, a president and a donor. Three men prayed, and one had the financial means to give what the school needed to survive. In obedience he sent it.
That story has been a faith-builder for many of us throughout the years. The prompting of the Spirit and the Lord’s provision at that time constituted a God-moment in our school’s history.’’
Luke 12 has three parts – to the disciples, v1-12; then someone in the crowds shouts out and there is a parable of the rich man and teaching to the crowd, v13-21; and then following from that parable, Jesus again speaks to his disciples, v22-31.
A thread that runs through the verses is worry.
You store up possessions – your security is in them – because you are worried that you do not have or will not have enough. Yet God will provide Jesus says – he will clothe and feed you – just look at creation.
You are of value is the message again and again said : you are much more valuable than the birds, the hairs on your head are numbered and you are worth more than many sparrows.
What to worry about, Jesus says, is whether you will be in heaven or hell…
Do not worry about the opinions of others – what is the most they can do – they can only kill the body but they cannot touch the soul. To be killed Jesus does not take lightly but he asks for perspective on what really matters.
Do not let that worry about others, and let that worry cause you to disown Jesus – to deny him.
This fear of others, you can imagine is a big part to play in Peter’s denial of Jesus on Maundy Thursday.
Do worry even about what to say when you are dragged before Jewish leaders, or pagan kings or Roman Governors, the Holy Spirit will teach you what to say… Do not worry…
We are going to focus particularly upon v22-34. Jesus says – ‘’therefore I tell you.’’ That word ‘’therefore’’ makes us think – what has just happened? Jesus has just told the crowd that parable of the rich man who planned for the future, built barns, stored up things for himself, and then died before he could enjoy them. The message – life is not about wanting more – v15; life is not about abundance of possessions v21, life is about being rich towards God.
Jesus speaks now to his disciples – his apprentices. Their lives have been shaped by possessions and they have been taught security comes from that. He is saying – what are your fixing your heart upon – v29.
Creation.
He asks us to consider creation. Look at it. As John Stott said – who was a bird watcher – he said – here is a biblical command to do it! So be encouraged you bird watchers – some bibles say ‘’watch birds’’ – but the Greek is tougher – ‘fix your eyes on, so as to take a good look at’. Really look at creation and what it going on.
Creation can speak to non believers – Romans 1 says – it speaks of a creator God. And creation can lead us into praise – at the wonders we see.
But here Jesus says – creation can teach you about what a relationship with God looks like. When we look at birds – we see they are fed; when we look at the flowers of the field, they are clothed!
So if God does that for birds and flowers, and we are more valuable than he, then won’t he clothe us?
Martin Luther the German Reformer put it: ‘You see, Jesus is making the birds our schoolmasters and teachers. It is a great and abiding challenge to us that in the Gospel a helpless sparrow should become a theologian and a preacher to the wisest of people … Whenever you listen to a nightingale, therefore, you are listening to an excellent preacher … It is as if he were saying “I prefer to be in the Lord’s kitchen. He has made
heaven and earth, and he himself is the cook and the host. Every day he feeds and nourishes little birds out of his hand.” ’
While the great preacher CH Spurgeon said: ‘Lovely lilies, how you rebuke our foolish
nervousness!’
Jesus wants us to grasp the fact that as Christians our security is not to be in our possessions; or even our security to be in that God provides; our security is to be in our relationship with him.
Brother Andrew in his chapter ‘The Game of the Royal Way’ in his Book ‘God Smuggler’’ unpacks this really well. He realized on a walk ‘’Walking back up the hill towards the missionary school, I had my answer. The question was not one of money at all. What I was worried about was a relationship. At the chocolate factory in Alkmaar where I had worked, I had trusted the owner Mr Ringers to pay me in full and on time.
Surely, I said to myself, if an ordinary factory worker could be financially secure, so could one of God’s workers.
I turned through the gate at the school. Above me was the reminder ‘’Have faith in God.’’ That was it! It wasn’t that I needed the security of a certain amount of money. It was that I needed the security of a relationship.’’ (p.72 God’s Smuggler).
However there are three important points to mention. When we consider the entire NT we see that Christians are not exempt from earning our own living – an attitude : I only need faith, I don’t need to work, God will provide.
Consider the birds. Nature provides. The birds are not hand fed by God. The birds seek food. He has provided the resources. The birds work.
The second point – Christians are not exempt from responsibility for others. If God promises to provide food and provide clothing, how come so many of his children are lacking. There are a few among us who have devoted their lives to this ministry. The issue is very complex. But one element in it, I think is to think – the issue is not adequate divine provision, but inadequate human distribution. We store up in our own barns like the rich man than live with our needs… The creation provides much, and yet as humans we have wasted, spoil or hoarded so others cannot benefit from creation.
Third point. Do not worry – the fact that Jesus shares that – we are not exempt from trouble – where pressure and difficulty comes, situations which will cause us to be concerned. The question will be – as Jesus says – upon what relationship will we rely…
Your ambition is not to be possessions but kingdom; security not in things but in a relationship.
And at the point I had planned to finish the gospel. Poor Tristan had a few messages from me changing the gospel – shorter longer….
But v32-34. Jesus – he reminds us again of our value – little flock- suggesting he is the shepherd and the shepherd will provide for his sheep – that is a commitment and promise. We have what matters – the kingdom – so he says now you are free from worry about possessions, you are free to give to those in need.
It is amazing how God’s provision comes from his people. People trust the Lord to provide and he uses people like us to give to people in need.
How exciting. Brother Andrew called this process ‘’a game of the royal way’’ – trusting the king for provide for his beloved valued servants and the game to see how he would do it, and the blessing of how he would involve his children in other places…
One example. Brother Andrew was on a mission team – at the missionary school – trusting God to provide. They had – equivalent of 5 of them to live on 50 euros for 4 week and travel around Scotland, do mission talks. They were not to mention their needs. They were only to pray about it.
Andrew writes: ‘’Later when I tried to reconstruct where our funs came from during those four weeks, it was hard to. It seemed that what we needed was always just there. Sometimes a letter would arrive from one of the fellow student’s parents with a little money. Sometimes we would get a cheque in the mail from a church we had visited days or weeks earlier.
The notes that came with these gifts were always interesting: ‘’I know you don’t need money or you would have mentioned it’’, someone would write. ‘’But God would not let me get to sleep tonight until I had put this in an envelope for you.’’
Contribution frequently came in the form of produce. In one little town of the Highlands of Scotland we were given 6 hundred eggs. We had eggs for breakfast, eggs for lunch, eggs for dinner with an egg-white desert. It was weeks before we could look again at a chicken.’’
So the nudge or even the good idea you have to give, could be the Lord using you to provide for someone else.
This church is one that relies on your donations – there is no outside fund covering our ministry and mission costs. Thank you for your giving to this church… you are people God is using to provide…
What I have seen is how over the years – that the Game of the Royal Way – changes. You learn this lesson of his provision – for you personally; then maybe it moves to providing maybe for your family.
And then for a church or a ministry.
A story I wanted to end with.
I was vicar of St Leonards before I came to the Netherlands. St Leonards was a small congregation.
In a poor area. We were in a cycle of covering expenditure with our reserves. Then came a certain council meeting. We made a decision that our reserves would only be allocated to mission. We would trust and pray for God to provide our gap between our expenses and our income. We held a Gift Day in the autumn – to which people responded well but we were still a few thousand short.
We could have compromised as a council to use our reserves but we decided not to. December approached. Still short. Mid December – still short.
One of our wardens – John – was at a Christmas concert – and he was sitting beside two people, one of them was clergy. Jolanda and I knew them. They asked how St Leonards was doing. John shared about our financial concerns – as he would when a clergy person asks a warden how your church is doing.
A few days later. John had an email. That couple had come into an inheritance. They wanted to give an amount of money to St Leonards – which would cover the gap and cover all expenses for January…
Amazing. You can imagine how that grew faith for the following year, when again we trusted God to provide and he did again… There are stories here of how God has provided here – but they are for another time…
Conclusion. Luke 12.
Jesus is talking about worry – what are you worried about…
He is talking about God’s provision because we are in relationship with him…
And he ends by pointing his disciples to giving, not storing up.
To whom or what could God be inviting you to give today?
Shall we pray…
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