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Little Flock, Fear Not
Authored by Takao Kiyohiro, Osaka, Japan ktakao@po.teleway.ne.jp
Translated by Rev. Mike Furey mfurey@seidata.com
at http://www.j-e-s-u-s.org.
TEXT: Luke 12:22-34
What I read to you today is a very well known
message from the Lord which is also recorded
in the Gospel of Matthew. This narrative in
which "Don't worry" is repeatedly given might
leave an unforgettable impression on most
anyone's heart. In a certain sense "worrying"
is a common condition that has to do with
people everywhere, and I think everyone wishes
"I want to live worry-free." Further, even
though we may think that we are familiar with
this scripture, we must read it with deep
attentiveness. The reason I am saying this is
because it is so easy to overlook the
important points delimited in this particular
passage. We ought not to take this passage in
the way some read it bound as a stale
recommendation urging, "Let's set our hearts
on not worrying." Certainly the Lord did not
speak these words for that purpose. With that,
as we carefully read this passage of the
Gospel of Luke, we notice that this is an
"ongoing story." After the Lord says, "There-
fore, I say to you," he gives this story. It
links to the previous story. In order to
understand today's biblical passage I think we
first need to squeeze hold of what's written
in the previous section.
Beware Of All Kinds Of Covetousness
Please look from verses thirteen on. "One
person from the crowd said, 'Teacher, please
speak to my brother about dividing up the
inheritance with me.' Jesus said to him, 'Who
has appointed me as your judge or mediator?'
He said to all present, 'Be wary of all sorts
of covetousness, and beware. As for having
possessions in excess, beware because a
person's life cannot be based on property or
fortune,'" (vv. 13-15).
What "the one person from the crowd" did here
appears as something odd in our eyes, but in
society back then it was not an uncommon
practice. Back then religious instructors
filled the role of arbitrator in civil cases
of local social groups. Because of this, this
person had nothing to do but simply depend on
the person of Jesus for what one [normally]
depended on any other rabbi for. If we go
further, there are already provisions in the
law concerning succession to inheritance. When
we see this man making his appeal, it is
probably because he had been defrauded by his
brother for his portion of the inheritance
which was legally guaranteed to him. Because of
this, I think if we look at it from a social
perspective what this person is doing is
probably not something wrong or unreasonable.
However, the Lord refuses to act as an
arbitrator in this case. But that 's not all.
With this event as a springboard he adds,
"Beware of covetousness in its different
forms." If we think about it some, this is
strange. Even if it was an inappropriately
placed request, how could this man's
assertion of his natural right be
"covetousness?"
Well, if that's the case, I notice that here
the Lordis not speaking with reference to
plain "covetousness" to anyone in particular,
and the phrases "all sorts of covetousnesses"
and "be careful, beware" are interrelated. The
Lord is making an issue of the roots of
covetousness which frequently escape our
notice because we hide them in the natural
course of daily situations. In order to
clarify this point, what he gave is the
parable which comes next. The Lord takes up a
somewhat extreme example. But let's not focus
directly on the extremity he made. Rather we
need to look right at the universal problem
within each and every person.
Please look from verse sixteen on. A certain
rich householder had a bumper crop. In a sense
it was natural for this person to rebuild his
storehouses. However, on the night he was
thinking all this he lost his life. This
person is called "you fool, o fool." Could it
be because both the bumper crop and the
surplus have become useless to him? No, that's
not why. The problem is seen in his words. The
special tone of a rich word that is used here
is regrettably lost in the Shinkyodo Version
(the New Cooperation Version). If I could
translate it by restoring that word, here is
what he is saying, "What will I do? There's no
place to put my abundant harvest." So, as he
ponders this matter he speaks in this manner.
"Here's what I'll do. I'll tear down my
storehouses, build bigger ones, and gather
into them my grains and my properties; I say,
o my life (o my soul). I said, 'Well from
this point on you've got a pile of years to
live out still. Just take it easy, have fun
eating and drinking.'" Let's see. The problem
is in the word "my" which is repeated
tediously at length. God calls such a person
"a fool." So after he takes up the words "to
my life, the text says "Tonight, your life is
taken from you. Those things you prepared,
whose things will they be now?"
The words "o my soul" form an expression that
appears frequently in the Old Testament. But
his situation has a different meaning even
though he is using a traditional expression.
He uses the word as though his property and
even his very life were owned by him. God
calls such a person "a foolish person." Why?
Because they are not his things. This profound
fact becomes obvious when that which is being
called "my life" is taken out in one night.
So, the same thing inasmuch will be in our
experiences. That which we thought was our
possessions are taken out in one night. Life
itself is something that can be taken out. It
is never under our control. We must look at the
profound fact that God is the owner of
everything. We have got to know that what is
ours, not just property, but whether ability,
or time, or life in this world, is something
permitted by God.
You could say on the other hand that
covetousness is whenever you don't recognize
the ownership of God. Covetousness is whenever
we live claiming that God's stuff is "my
stuff." These types of people are described
as "although piling up riches for himself, he
is a person who is not getting rich before
God." If one looks at it from the point of
view of this world, it is not an unreasonable
thing. So, we don't notice it. Therefore, the
Lord has said beware of that kind of
covetousness.
Don't Worry.
In continuing with this, the story about the
command "Don't worry" comes next. Here a new
question is raised. What does covetousness
have to do with worrying? Many people are
wrapped up in worry and anxiety. Yet, anxious
and worrisome persons do not think about
whether "I am covetous." People who are
stressed do not think about personal requests
and wishes any more than necessary. If that's
so, then according to the phrase "therefore, I
say to you" in verse twenty-two, as the Lord
makes a connection between the conditions of
covetousness and worrying, we see an important
message is truly here. We need to carefully
listen in to what he is aiming at.
Here the Lord says, "Don't worry." So, he
tells about God who nurtures the ravens. In
addition, he tells about God who dresses up
the flowers of the field more than Solomon.
The Lord is not talking about how to have
worry-free hearts, but about the Heavenly
Father. This is connected to the previous
parable. The Lord previously spoke about the
God who takes away life. He showed in the
previous passage that property and even life
itself do not belong to any person. Every
thing is God's. The Lord shows in this story
this same fact as he narrates about the God
who nurtures the ravens. He is showing it as
he narrates about the God who dresses the
flowers. When you go out to the field to view
them, you understand this. Out there are
ravens which live receiving their food from
God. Although there is never a season when
flowers work hard spinning yarn, there are
flowers in the field that are dressed
beautifully by God himself. The very figure of
these flowers and other imagery proves to whom
life and limb belong and who owns every thing
that supports life and limb. So, the loving
glances of the Father who is owner of all turn
toward even ravens which get corrupted and
flowers which fade by tomorrow. So, as
something even more precious, God turns his eye
toward the life and limb of a person. Jesus is
speaking about this fact of reality.
And so, the root of the problem of
covetousness is the same as the root of the
problem of worrying. A person ends up
forgetting that every thing comes from God. We
forget that we are nurtured according to God's
kindness. So we begin to claim arrogantly that
what's around us is our own stuff. Before we
even know it, we are repeating "mine, mine."
Here we must think carefully about where
worrying comes from. People think that
worrying comes from insufficiency and
shortages. We have a shortage of something we
need; we are going to be lacking something.
Of course, each one of us will have different
situations. In our personal contexts, we may
not worry over food and clothing. However, at
times our money runs short. Or there's not
enough affection between husband and wife. Or
not enough help and assistance. In those times
and situations we think we have a problem.
However, the truth is there is no problem
whenever we lack something. That is not the
problem, rather we have a problem whenever we
are full. What are we filled with? We are full
of the word "mine." Perhaps the root of
worrying stems from whenever we say what am I
missing and we are missing the recognition
that every thing is God's; the root is
whenever we are full of "I" and we are missing
"God." Subsequently, the Lord says "you,
persons of weak faith." What is strongly
related to worrying is actually not the
circumstances around a person but one's faith
and relationship with God.
Your Father Is Giving You The Kingdom Of God
Since worrying doesn't come from
insufficiency itself as we already saw, then
just seeking fervently after what one
has a shortage of does not result in a real
solution. What should we do? First of all,
there is one thing we ought to seek after.
The Lord tells us. "Just seek after the
kingdom of God. If you do that these things
will be added to you," (verse thirty-one).
The kingdom of God means God's control. There
is no full solution whenever we magnify "my
control." No solution comes when that which we
are lacking or short of is placed under my
control or according to my independence. That
is not the way to go, but having God who is
the full owner of every thing control things
for us; there is a full solution whenever we
live under God and in the midst of his
control. Therefore, we ought to seek after
God's governing over us as he know every need.
So, we ought to earnestly seek after the
fulfilling of God's control and we ought to
seek after our living perfectly under God.
So, we shouldn't overlook the message spoken
to "the disciples." What he said is written in
verse twenty-two. Even the disciples, who
followed the Lord, were men who could not keep
from worrying about daily food and clothing.
Again, what Luke has recorded here as a
message for these disciples he heard in the
midst of the Lord's words as a message for the
church in the period of time none other than
Luke's. In a time of persecution, the flock
was small and entirely powerless before the
authorities of this world. But even with
respect to that persecuted and powerless
flock, the Lord said, "seek God's kingdom."
What they had to seek was living perfectly
under God whether in this world, the world to
come, or under God's control. The Lord is
giving us a great promise. "O little flock,
don't be afraid. Your Father is gladly giving
you the kingdom of God."
We ourselves must hear this message as if
directed to us. We shouldn't forget who we are
[as people] who pray continuously "May your
kingdom come" in "the Lord's Prayer" which is
offered up in weekly services. "The church
needs funds; the church needs capable leaders;
the church needs lots of laborers and
co-workers." That's what we say, don't we? "For
me the need is having the strength to be able
to serve, or having the time, youthfulness,
health, or understanding what's around me."
That's how we talk, don't we? The Heavenly
Father knows what we truly need. Didn't the
Lord Jesus say precisely that? Besides that,
he says, "Just seek the kingdom of God." And
furthermore, he says, "Little flock, don't be
afraid. Your Father gladly gives you the
kingdom of God."
After that the message comes saying, "Sell off
your possessions and give them to charity,"
(verse thirty-three). We need to understand
this verse from the flow of the story so far.
It's neither a simple recommendation of
charity, nor is it a call to abandon all
economic activity. What he is talking about
here is the concrete posture of a person
spiritually seeking the kingdom of God.
Persons under covetousness or worry forget
that the owner of every thing is God, and they
live as though their life is "mine." What is
being urged here is the complete reversal of
all of that. Every thing is God's, under God's
control, and ought to be used just as God
wills.
Of course, as for these messages spoken to the
disciples, they probably weren't very much
able to "sell off and give to charity." I
think in the early period of the church there
were some people like Barnabas who could sell
a field, but overall there were mostly poor
people. It was probably also a time of
persecution. But no matter what period of time
it might be, even if one was poor, there has
been a call to use what one has as the things
of God, and there have been people who answered
that call. Of course, there will be all kinds
of differences in what one offered up to God.
The call of the same Lord is being made to us.
Therefore, as people living spiritually
seeking after the kingdom of God, I want [us]
to think carefully about what this subject
means on a concrete level.
Translated by Mike Furey
Hanover, IN, USA
mfurey@seidata.com
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