Do we have faith or fear?

Luke 12:13-21

There are a few worldly describing words that, when you add the title Christian or Catholic to, don’t make sense to me.  Things like: Christian doomsday prepper, or Christian hoarder, Christian miser.  There are more, but you get the drift of where my mind is going with those.  While part of the reason those words together don’t make sense to me is found in how God handled the Exodus (nowhere does it say the Lord told His people to pack 100 days’ worth of supplies leading up to Him calling them out of bondage), and the other was a Gospel reading we had not long ago about Jesus sending his disciples out in twos. He told them pretty much to take nothing with them and let God supply their needs through the towns and people they’d be ministering to.  (Luke 10: 1-23)  In both those cases, and many other smaller cases like Lot’s family, God said, “Go and do.” Not, “Prepare, hoard, then move the hoard, gather all the things, pack 10.5 bags, gather a satchel of money, don’t forget to pack more underwear, bring your favorite abacus…”  No, none of that.  He always seems to say, “Be obedient and do as I say, your needs will be provided for.”  (Philippians 4: 19, Matthew 6: 7-8)  The heart of this understanding, I believe, is that when we are relying on ourselves and what we can provide, then we aren’t relying on God and God calls us to lean into him, in faith, at all times. 

Which brings me back to today’s Gospel reading.  Jesus tells us of a rich man who got richer as a parable warning us against greed.  Now, what is greed?  If we boil greed down to its’ essence, greed is fear.  We greed because we fear that we lack or will lack in some way, and fear is the absence of faith.  In the parable the rich man finally gets what he thinks is “enough”.  He finally doesn’t have to fear not being rich anymore, so he can retire and party (just a modern translation of what Jesus explained as “eat, drink, and be merry”).  So, he no longer fears, but he has put all his faith in his own ability.  He put all his trust in his possessions, and that along with his wealth of possessions he would also have a wealth of the rarest most valuable commodity, that being time.   Boiling it all down to the simplest parts, Jesus is telling us a story about a man leaning on himself and his own understanding, living a life in fear (which does not come from God), who gets himself the success he thinks he needs, only to be bit by the thing he didn’t ever prepare for because he was preparing for his own fear.  It’s a story about how someone replaces faith with fear, and money is just the mcguffin. 

Jesus says two sentences that haunt me in these verses.  "Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of possessions."  And “Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God."

I read the first sentence with the understanding that all greed is fear, and the seed of that fear is our own will, with the reminder at the end that our life is more than the sum of those parts.  The second sentence I read with the understanding that when we live like that, and we do not live in the abundance and gratitude that faith provide, that we get exactly what we can get-not what God wants for us.  It’s haunting to me, to realize that in every genre of my life, money, health, love, companionship, and everything in between this applies.  In all things, we should stop hoarding and preparing, and walk in faith because God does not change and he will provide for us when the time comes.  He gives us what we need, when we need it, at the perfect time. Not a moment before, and not a moment late.  Believing and living that out, gives us a better relationship with all that is in the scope of our world, whether it’s people, places, or things.  If we can practice this, we can be free as Jesus promised.  Imagine your world without fear. 

Just some food for thought and prayer…

Heavenly Father, I thank you for all that you have provided for me and ask that I have the right heart about it all.  Allow me to walk in faith and not fear so I may be obedient and reap the true treasure of Your promises.  In Jesus name, Amen! 

Here I am, Lord, send me,

lisa brandel