22 He 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 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 can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 26 If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry 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 clothed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! 29 And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. 30 For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
MONEY MATTERS
Anxiety. People tell me it is all very well for Jesus to say that we should not worry about money and possessions. ‘What about our daily material needs – food, clothing, and a roof over our head?’ they ask. We need to consider the context of his words: he is making a commitment to his disciples, to those who follow him.
Think of the logic. Jesus tells us that to be preoccupied with the basics of human life, food and clothing, is to underestimate human worth. We are more than that the sum of our parts. There is a spiritual dimension to our existence. To be preoccupied and anxious about these things is to be blind to what makes our existence so special and precious.
Further, we need to consider the way God feeds the birds and clothes the flowers (12:24, 27). God does not work a special miracle each day to achieve this. Rather, he provides for them in ways that are consistent with the nature he has given to each. Birds have beaks to forage for food and a digestive system to benefit from it. For their part, flowers have a biological structure to harness the sunlight, the soil and the rain. ‘If God has taken so much trouble to provide for the needs of these transitory elements of creation, how much more trouble will he take with you?’ Jesus asks.
Furthermore, to worry about material things, is to overestimate human power: ‘You can’t add to your length of life’ (12:25). The irony is that worry about our lifespan can actually shorten it. Just as we can’t add to our years by worry, so we can’t guarantee success in all our financial affairs. There are too many variables.
GOD’S COMMITMENT
‘Be assured,’ Jesus says, ‘that God your Father knows your needs; he cares for you and promises to provide for you for as long as you need it (12:28-30).
It is tempting to say that this is empty talk – like an election promise. Jesus is assuring us that as God has provided an environment where the needs of the birds and the flowers are met, so too as our heavenly Father, he has provided environments where our needs can be met. He provides the soil for the seed, the sun and the rain for the growth, and the human skill to harvest and harness the food we need. Anxiety about material needs puts blinders on our eyes and ignores God’s goodness and grace.
Jesus is making a commitment here to provide for the practical needs of his people for as long as we need them. ‘Don’t be anxious about your material needs,’ Jesus says (12:29). He is speaking not about wants, but needs. ‘Centre your life on God,’ he says (12:30).
‘Do not be afraid,’ he continues, ‘for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom’ (12:32). Nothing we have now can be compared with the riches God has in store for his people. God’s great joy – something that makes him happy – is to give us the riches of his kingdom. ‘You may think you are hard done by now,’ Jesus says, ‘but one day God will give you everything to enjoy’ (12:32).
THE CHALLENGE
Jesus is not saying material things are evil: God created all good things for us to enjoy. Nor does he go on to say that we all need literally to sell up everything we have (12:33). His disciples didn’t. Yes, there are some who will be asked to do this – as we see was required of one young man (Luke 18). Rather, he sets out a principle: we need to learn to sit lightly to the things of the world. And if a situation demands it, we should be prepared to sell. There is more to life than a successful share or property portfolio. We are to put spiritual values at the top of our priorities. Instead of hoarding money, amassing wealth, putting it into more investments or more real estate, we should consider ways we can use it in the service of God.
You may want to consider:
the three reasons Jesus gives for us not to be anxious about material things;
the commitment he makes to provide for our needs: can God be trusted?
the ask that he makes of each one of us – to put God’s kingdom first!
13 Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” 16 Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17 And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 18 Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull 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, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
MONEY MATTERS
Money and possessions can all too easily dominate our thinking. This was certainly true in the case of a man listening to Jesus: ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘Tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me’ (12:13). Jesus had been speaking about life and death matters, but this man was thinking about an injustice that was gnawing within him. Without missing a beat Jesus asked: “Man who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” (12:14). Knowing how possessions can grip the human heart, he applied shock treatment: ‘Who do you think has given me this authority?’
The man had not thought about this. If he did think Jesus was a prophet who could adjudicate his affairs, he was in fact, inviting God to judge his own life. “Watch out!” Jesus said. “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (12:15).
Jesus wanted this man, as he wants all of us, to see that there is much more to life than money and possessions. He wants to free us from the domination that material things all too often have over our thinking and life. To make his point, Jesus told a searching little parable (12:16-20).
THE RICH FOOL
Jesus, the master story teller, painted the scene of a wealthy land-owner. As the parable fills out we see that the man was totally self-absorbed with his successes. He didn’t give a moment’s thought to the source of that success (God’s kindness) or the fragility of life. He spoke of ‘my crops,’ ‘my grain,’ ‘my barns,’ ‘myself,’ ‘my life,’ and ‘my soul’ as if he was completely in control (12:17b-19). Jesus wants us to feel the arrogance of this man’s self-satisfaction.
The man could choose how he would invest or use his wealth, but he failed to understand that his life was ultimately not his own (12:20). This is something we all have to recognize, for we all will need to give account for our lives. Indeed, as many have observed, if there were no accounting there would be no justice!
The future tenses of the verbs in Jesus’ story reveal a heart of greed and self-confidence. In response to his own question, ‘What shall I do,’ the man says, “…I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years…Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry’ (12:18-19).
The words of God’s verdict: “You fool”(12:20) are chilling! To be obsessed with things is stupid and myopic. None of us can speak with certainty about tomorrow let alone many years hence. Possessions are temporary and insecure and in any case, we can’t take them with us. ‘There are no pockets in a shroud’. Materialism doesn’t offer real security or lasting satisfaction. Jesus had turned the question of a self-centered man into a provocative moment in his life.
When J.D. Rockefeller died a journalist asked Rockefeller’s accountant: ‘How much did he leave?’ ‘Everything,’ he was told. In contrast to laying up treasure for ourselves, Jesus tells us that we should settle for nothing less than becoming rich in our relationship with God.
You may want to consider:
the implications of the request of the man in the crowd and Jesus’ warning;
your own response to Jesus’ parable;
where your is life centered and what your priorities are.
19 So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
GOD-INSPIRED INTERPRETATION
Some have no problem with the facts of the Bible. Their issue is interpretation: How do we know that the Bible got it right? Take the cross for example: Jesus died by crucifixion— fact. Historians outside the Bible tell us this happened. But the apostles insist that Jesus died on the cross so that those who turn to him might be forgiven and reconciled with God. There is no way that anyone observing Jesus dying on the cross or thinking about his death would have understood this. It is an interpretation of the event. How do we know that apostles like Peter got it right?
God-inspired interpretation. Peter’s words in 1:19-21 are important. He wants us to understand that he is not only a reliable eye-witness, but that he is equally dependable in the way that he has interpreted the meaning of Jesus’ life and death: … no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation. God has not left it to us to work out what Jesus did. He gave us prophets, people who interpreted events, who explained what God’s acts mean. So in 1:21 we read, For no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Spirit of God.
Peter’s analogy is that of a sailboat, blown by the wind. The breath of God guided and directed the prophets and the apostles in what they spoke and wrote. This is just what Jesus had promised His Spirit would do (John 14:25-26). When they taught or wrote, they didn’t speak or write on their own authority, they spoke from God. In other words, the Bible is the product of God’s creative breath, blowing through human personalities, producing reliable human interpretations of human events.
Peter is convinced that we must have the prophets and we must have the Bible. God’s acts are not enough. We need a God-inspired interpretation of them if we are to grasp their meaning.
EYE-WITNESS TESTIMONY
Peter is saying that in one single volume (the Bible) God has brought togetherthe eye-witness testimony of the apostles and the divinely inspired interpretation of the prophets. Further, this has happened in in such a way that Peter can say: You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts (1:19).
In an age when some theologians and church leaders question the uniqueness of the Scriptures, saying it is full of myths, we need to ask what their presuppositions are. We need to ask whether God is capable of speaking to creatures made in his image and, if so, would he want to and would he do so? And more importantly we need to ask whether there is demonstrable evidence that God has spoken. Peter would respond with an emphatic, ‘Yes!’ The myths today are the books written by theologians who deny the historicity and unique authority of Scripture.
Here is God’s answer to those who challenge the credibility of the Christian message. Peter is insistent: it is a message of received truth. Written over two thousand years ago by those who were Jesus’ personal appointees, the New Testament is unchanged and unchanging. It is a message founded upon history, confirmed by eye-witnesses, and a message interpreted, not by mere human theological speculation, but by divine revelation through the inspired words of the prophets. The Bible stands alone to be read as the unique, authoritative self-revelation of God.
You may want to consider:
the importance of divine interpretation of God’s acts;
your response to Peter’s insistence the Scriptures are divinely inspired;
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” 18 We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.
DOUBTS
There are times when we have doubts. Doubting is not ceasing to believe, for doubting is not the opposite of having faith. There may times when we are tempted to doubt the teaching of the Bible because of it exclusiveness, its supernaturalism, and its age.
Exclusiveness. One way we might respond is by cutting Christianity from its historical context saying, as many have done, that spiritual experience is the key. Peter disagreed: ‘Christianity is historically grounded’, he points out. And in 1:16-21 he tells us why:
‘Gnosticism’ which promoted special knowledge and mysteries of God, was on the rise when Peter wrote. His response was to say, ‘What I passed on to you is not cunningly invented myth. Jesus really was God in the flesh and he really did rise from the dead. I know this because I saw him’. In saying this Peter invites us to assess his eyewitness testimony. He couldn’t prove he saw Jesus transfigured on that mountain, but like any good witness, he tells us what he saw. Furthermore, he implies that others supported his testimony (James and John). If Peter’s testimony is true, how can Christianity be anything but exclusive? Either God spoke from heaven and said, ‘This is my beloved Son,’ or he didn’t.
Supernaturalism: – the virgin birth, Jesus’ miracles, and his resurrection. How can Christianity be anything but supernatural, if at a certain time in a certain place divinity walked among men and women? Either Jesus did rise from the dead before many witnesses or he didn’t. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul tells us that Jesus appeared to at least five hundred people.
Age. We may have problems with the age of Christianity – after all it began two thousand years ago. Certainly we cannot prove that Christianity is true in the same way that we might prove that two plus two equals four. But that doesn’t mean that by believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, means we are taking an irrational leap into the dark. That is not what Peter is asking us to do: We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ…’ he says.
What we often forget is that these men and others with them overturned the Roman world, not by armed revolution, but by the example of their lives and the testimony of their lips. And they died for their faith. Can you imagine Jesus’ disciples constructed a monstrous lie? Christianity is not based on myth, but memory.
You may want to consider:
circumstances that might have caused you to have doubts about the faith;
the importance of Peter’s eyewitness testimony;
how you might explain to others that God’s gospel is grounded in truth.
12 As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 13 Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
TRANSFORMED RELATIONSHIPS
Attitudes. There is no such thing as the perfect church this side of heaven. We long for it, but we won’t find it. The reality is that churches experience the tensions and sometimes the conflicts that are found in the wider society. Yet ‘church’ in the New Testament is important. Jesus said, ‘I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.’ Paul, and Peter too, had every expectation that ‘church’ would be a good experience for people. Paul gives us some practical clues to help us make this happen. In Colossians 3:12-17 he points to attitudes and actions we all need to adopt in our relationships so that we may keep the peace.
Consider the flip-side of attitudes that Paul enjoins us to adopt: indifference, pride and impatience. Indifference doesn’t concern itself with others; pride only thinks about self; impatience ignores the realities of life now. If we are to experience the peace of Christ in our relationships, we need new attitudes: instead of indifference – compassion and kindness; instead of pride – humility and gentleness; instead of impatience and resentment – patience.
GOD’S LOVE
Above all, Paul says: Forgive each other as the Lord has forgiven you. Designed by God to love because we are made in his image, we turned our love away from him. But what was the response of God, whose essential nature is to give life and to love? He offered full and free pardon to anyone who turns to Jesus Christ in repentance and in faith. If God was prepared to pay in full the cost of our reconciliation, shouldn’t we be prepared to forgive those who have wronged us? Paul knew how easy it is for us to be divided. He knew the corrosive effect of wounded feelings. But he also knew of the one force that can heal, and enable us to grow into maturity – love.
Churches ought to be different from the wider society for churches are the one place where the ethics of the kingdom should be evident — love, mercy, and reconciliation; not revenge or personal retribution. ‘Pray about your attitude towards those who have wronged you’ says Paul. ‘Can you forgive them? Do you care for them? Above all will you love them?’
Practical Action. Keeping the peace doesn’t mean simply sweeping our differences under the carpet or putting on an artificial smile. We need to work at three things:
Bible. By coming to the Bible together we can instruct and help one another, and even correct one another (3:16). We need to learn to bring our minds under the direction of the Lord’s mind and the way we do this is by coming to the Bible together. Furthermore, we are to read the Scriptures with wisdom. There is no place for uninformed Bible study, reading into the Bible what we want it to mean. Rather, we need to discover the plain meaning of the Bible together, text in context.
Music. Most people think of music and songs in church as only praise to God. However, Paul suggests another purpose: instruction and exhortation. We do not have to address God every time we sing, for it’s also important we speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. It’s one reason we should sing songs that are not insipid or soppy, but strong on Bible. By implication singing is an important way of building relationships.
Gratitude. Discontent often creates tension and division amongst us. And usually our discontent springs from ingratitude. A thankful heart trusts God in every situation, knowing that the Lord Jesus is in control. Thankful people are usually happy and contented people.
You may want to consider:
your attitude to someone who has wronged you or someone you might resent: is there anything in your life that needs to change? Are you prepared to forgive?
the way that Paul puts God’s Word, the Bible, at the heart of our relationship with one another: what lessons can we learn from this?
three people / things in your life for which you can thank the Lord.
1 So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, 3 for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. 7 These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life. 8 But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices 10 and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. 11 In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!
TRANSFORMATION
A New Status. In the first two chapters of his letter Paul has been saying that when Jesus Christ came, God’s rule over the cosmos took on a new form. A new world order began which, for the present, co-exists with the one we know. In Colossians 1:13 Paul put it like this: God has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves….
He wants us to know that God is working out his cosmic strategy in world events and the arena of our lives. Ephesians 1, echoing Genesis 1:15, makes it clear that from before the creation of space and time, God put in place a plan to rescue men and women. And Philippians 2:5-6 tells us that the Son of God not only agreed to take on human form, but gave his life as a sacrifice. Sharing with God the Father the desire to give life and to love, he, the just, would give his life for the unjust, to satisfy God’s perfect righteousness. Jesus’ death was not the end. Rather, it was the end of the beginning— the last stage of God’s plan for the world as we know it.
DARKNESS AND LIGHT
Jesus’ resurrection confirms this, for it points to a power at work that can overcome death itself. It points to the existence of a new world order that we can begin to experience now.
We can think of it like this: two great realms now co-exist— the dominion of darkness and the kingdom of God’s Son. The dominion of darkness is shrinking to eternal destruction. But the kingdom of God’s Son is a universe that is expanding to an eternal glory. For the present, there is a door that allows people to pass from one world to the other. When we turn to Jesus and give him our allegiance we have an identity in both worlds. Physically we are still in the old, but our names are registered in the new.
A New Life-Style. In 3:5 we read, Put to death therefore whatever in you is earthly… Toss out of your life what doesn’t fit this new life with Christ. Is it sexual immorality? Is it lust? Is it evil desire or greed, which is idolatry? Is it anger or rage, or malice or slander, or perhaps foul talk? Do you always tell the truth? These things belong to the old self. Put on the new selfwhich is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator.
You may want to consider:
the meaning of Paul’s words in 3:1-2 – So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God;
the implications of Paul’s words in 3:4 – When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.
the significance and application for you of the imperatives in 3:5-10.
Peter is saying that in one single volume (the Bible) God has brought together the eye-witness testimony of the apostles and the divinely inspired interpretation of the prophets. Further, this has happened in in such a way that Peter can say: You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts (1:19).
Supernaturalism: – the virgin birth, Jesus’ miracles, and his resurrection. How can Christianity be anything but supernatural, if at a certain time in a certain place divinity walked among men and women? Either Jesus did rise from the dead before many witnesses or he didn’t. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul tells us that Jesus appeared to at least five hundred people.
Practical Action. Keeping the peace doesn’t mean simply sweeping our differences under the carpet or putting on an artificial smile. We need to work at three things:
