Luke 12:22-31

     After telling a story about a man who had a great crop and built a bigger barn to put it in, Jesus directed some words to the disciples. He told them not to worry about what they needed for food and clothing. Life is more important than food and the body more than clothing. The birds don’t plant seeds or harvest, they don’t need barns, but God still feeds them. And “you” are worth so much more than birds.
     Taken literally and to the extreme, these words seem completely contrary to the responsible work ethic that many of us hold. If the birds don’t sow and reap, why should we?
     It isn’t enough to say, ‘well, he was talking to his disciples and not to the rest of us.’ Most of what he said to his first followers is definitely applicable in some way to the chain of disciples down the line 2,000 years later. Did he intend the disciples and succeeding followers to forget about earning a living and expect it to fall from heaven?
      It is hard to believe that Jesus was advising people to do nothing in life or to expect other people to take care of them. He certainly wanted people to use their resources wisely and charitably, and that assumes people will have some resources to manage. The question may boil down to how “excessive” is defined. Jesus was talking that day to a group of extremely practical men, literal, largely unimaginative, and with a tendency to put excess worry into the wrong things.
     This is further emphasized by his next words as he asks his disciples whether they can add even a day to their lives by worrying about it? If not, then why worry about all the other matters? And he continues with the example of the wayside flower, noting that even wealthy King Solomon was not clothed as beautifully as the bloom in the field, though the flower neither spins nor sews. Won’t God clothe the disciples as well?
      As the modern reader of health articles know, “worry” or “stress” is the bugaboo for blood pressure and other health problems. The proliferation of acidic stomach, tension headaches, etc. can attest to it. Yet since the first attempt to turn “stress” into a wholly negative aspect of life, others have pointed out that stress is natural to life and some of it is vital for survival. Balance is often the recommended approach. But could Jesus have talked to these worrying, obsessed disciples about “balance” and have them understand? There was a cultural tendency toward hyperbole, which should never be underestimated, even while we take the teaching seriously.
     Jesus concludes by commenting to the disciples on how small their store of faith is.
     We may all have known people who sat back and declared that “we should act on faith.” Members of churches or other Christian organizations have sometimes made decisions on the belief that they should act on faith and that God will provide. Sometimes that calm belief has proven itself in spectacular ways. In other cases, those who acted on faith ended with a lost mortgage or other problem on their hands. It is possible to say that perhaps what they originally wanted was wrong and that is why God didn’t “provide.” But that backs the question up to the original statement of faith and whether people should be cautious about leaping off the roof and simply expecting God to catch them.
       Of course, it is extremely unlikely that the disciples would ever choose to be non-workers, living off the efforts of other people. They were generally a hard-working responsible group who took a huge leap of faith in leaving their nets and other tasks behind to follow Jesus. Now that they were in the middle of it, they were obviously stewing over what was going to happen next. Was Jesus trying to remind them of the leap they’d already taken and encourage them to hold fast?
      Jesus contrasts the lack of worry he is advising them to have with the pagans who are always concerned about what they will eat and drink. Comparing them with pagans may have been a shock statement. Instead, he tells them, your Father knows that you need these things.
       Once again, the “but” could be asked. There are people of deep and sincere faith who have starved to death, have gone unclothed or watched their children die. We must be honest enough with our faith and its ideals to confront reality. But would Jesus want us to use that as an excuse for scrambling after worldly “security?” Or would he use it as a call to manage any resources we have so we can share with others?
     One thing is certain, excessive anxiety and grasping after worldly goods can exclude God from consideration. It can trap us in our own concerns and close off our compassion for other people.
     Whatever it meant to the first disciples, Jesus’ words challenge us today.
     What does it mean to be people of faith?
      How much planning and work and caution is stewardship, and when does the excess become foolish and counterproductive worry?
     Have you ever taken a leap of faith? Enough of them?