Seeking Peace

Nature of Man

Nature of Man

Life: ψυχή psuchē; breath, the soul

Body: σῶμα sōma;

When we look at this passage we can see that the nature of man is being brought forth. It is our soul and body that is being represented by Jesus’ examples about wildflowers and ravens. The word life in Greek is psuche or psyche. This is the same root word for psychology or psychiatry. These represent the study of the human soul. Jesus is concerned about the soul care of people. He says that our souls are more than what we will eat. He also refers to the body in Greek it is soma. He says that the body is more than what we put on for clothing. Don’t miss this we need food and we need clothing. Both are essential needs for human life. In fact when there is a depravation of these there can be great concern even threat to our wellbeing. So what is Jesus trying to convey here? Let’s dig into the context.

In Luke we read:

Luke 12:15 CSB

He then told them, “Watch out and be on guard against all greed, because one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions.”

Context: A man asks Jesus to adjudicate a disagreement with his brother over the division of their father’s estate. Jesus declines and issues a warning Luke 12:15. Jesus goes on to tell a parable of building bigger barns.

There was a man that came to Jesus to ask him to adjudicate a disagreement with his brother over the division of there father’s estate. In the context of Jewish life Rabbis were the leaders that people went to to settle disputes with other people. In this case this person was thinking that Jesus as a teacher would also serve this role of making a judgment. Jesus declined asking him “Who appointed me a judge over you. He then warns this man and presumably the people who were with them about the dangers of greed.

Jesus Goes on to tell the parable of the Rich Fool. In this parable a man has become quite successful in his farming. His harvest was so successful that he did not have any room to store the produce of his land. He decides that he will make bigger storage for his grain. He also plans to take it easy and enjoy his material wealth. Jesus offers a jarring revelation when he reveals that God says

Luke 12:20

Luke 12:20 CSB

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared—whose will they be?’

You see this man was making plans for early retirement and God was going to demand his life that very night. The man was anxious about what to do with all his wealth when in reality he should have been concerned about his soul. Jesus then interprets his parable by saying.

Luke 12:21

Luke 12:21 CSB

“That’s how it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

So in light of this context when we return to verses 22 and 23 let’s read it.

Luke 12:22-23

Luke 12:22–23 CSB

Then he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, don’t worry about your life, what you will eat; or about the body, what you will wear. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing.

We can see hear that Jesus is saying that we need to put our concerns about our soul and body into perspective of being rich toward God. I am going to come back to this in a moment, but first let’s take look at what happens when worries overtake our soul and body.

What happens when worries overtake our nature?

As we talked about last week when anxieties take over our soul we can become consumed with fearful thoughts about our circumstances. These thoughts of dread can become consuming and plague us with all manner of worrisome thoughts. Fear, worry, anxieties, dread are all heaviness in the soul.

On our bodies the impact of worries is heart racing and ultimately heart disease. It can cause stomach upset and in extreme cases ulcers. It results in tension, headaches, problems breathing. The impact on the physical body is very real. One way to think about it is that stress handled in a negative way makes all bad things worse.

It is not just the soul and body that are impacted. There are spiritual implications as well. Jesus tells another parable which we call the parable of the soils or the parable of the sower. In this parable Jesus outlines 4 types of responses to the word of God. In the third type of response the person that hears the word but there are thorns that grow up with the seed that is planted and the thorns choke out the plant leading to to be unfruitful. Jesus then explains to his disciples what is happening.

Luke 8:14

Luke 8:14 CSB

As for the seed that fell among thorns, these are the ones who, when they have heard, go on their way and are choked with worries, riches, and pleasures of life, and produce no mature fruit.

Notice we have a strong parallel in this passage and the parable of the soils. We seen that worries, riches, and pleasures of this life are the root cause of problems. These issues result in the Word of God not producing good fruit in the life of the believer.

Let’s look at the admonition in this passage to avoid dwelling on worries.

Don’t Dwell on Worries

Don’t worry about Life or Body Luke 12:22

Luke 12:22 (CSB)

Then he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, don’t worry about your life, what you will eat; or about the body, what you will wear.

Can you add a moment to your life or increase your height by worrying? Luke 12:25-26

Luke 12:25–26 (CSB)

Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying? If then you’re not able to do even a little thing, why worry about the rest?

Don’t Strive Luke 12:29

Luke 12:29 (CSB)

Don’t strive for what you should eat and what you should drink, and don’t be anxious.

Don’t be anxious Luke 12:29

Luke 12:29 CSB

Don’t strive for what you should eat and what you should drink, and don’t be anxious.

Don’t be afraid Luke 12:32

Luke 12:32 (CSB)

Don’t be afraid, little flock, because your Father delights to give you the kingdom.

Don’t dwell on Worries

Don’t worry about Life or Body Luke 12:22

Can you add a moment to your life or increase your height by worrying? Luke 12:25-26

Don’t Strive Luke 12:29

Don’t be anxious Luke 12:29

Don’t be afraid Luke 12:32

We find in these passages several key points when it comes to worry. These don’ts make it clear that God does not want us to be consumed with worries for the things of this life. There are some commentaries that would suggest that worry is a sin. I think that is a very superficial reading of this passage. I believe that as we said last week that it is not the feeling that is sinful, but rather the action that follows that is sinful. Let me offer an example.

I know a person who has a general disposition to be anxious. I am not sure why but God has created a diversity when it comes to this sort of anxious personality. It is like a hardwired toward generally anxious or on the other end stoic. Some people may think of the person who does not readily express concerns as being cold, impersonal, and lacking in care or concern. Anyway this person that I know is someone that I hold in high regard in her walk with God. She spends much time in the Word of God and much time in prayer. I am confident that if she is concerned about something that she has spent much time in prayer over the topic of her concern. So is her worry and concern a sin? I don’t believe so. You see she is very devoted to taking her cares before the Lord. This is a Christian response to worry. So if the feeling of anxiety leads a person to seek the help of God and to trust in His provision it is hard for me to imagine that the feeling in and of itself is sinful.

On the other hand if a person’s anxiety leads them to come up with selfish or self sufficient solutions, irritability in their relationships, distrust of God, or other sinful actions then we can safely conclude that it is the person’s response that makes that is sin and not the feeling of anxiety itself.

We see this in the parable of the rich fool as well. You see the rich fool concerned about what he was going to do about his abundance of crops determined that he would build bigger barns. If we were to retell this parable and instead of planning bigger barns we have the rich man say something like, “God has blessed me greatly with this crop. I am going to take this abundance and bless others with it and give to the poor.” As you can see the response to the concern is what makes the rich fool miss the mark.

God’s General Revelation

Jesus is using God’s general revelation speak truth into these circumstances. In

Psalm 19:1–4 (CSB)

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands. Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge. There is no speech; there are no words; their voice is not heard. Their message has gone out to the whole earth, and their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun.

Jesus is presenting a visual analogy to help us understand the truth of what he is saying. Visual analogies are useful as a memory aid. However, I think this is more than a simple analogy here.

Visual Analogy (or Meditation)

Consider the wildflowers

Consider the ravens

Jesus is literally in real time leading those that are with him into a meditation on God’s creation. When he says to consider these things is is wanting the people around him to look deeper, contemplate, see the truth in this situation. I imagine Jesus there point to some ravens that are flying around and wildflowers in a field near by. He was inviting his audience to look deeper into God’s creation to better understand God’s care and provision for us.

This type of meditation is seen in the book of Psalms in various places. What is more I think we can see this in our modern lives as well.

Illustration of Snoqualmie Falls

A couple of weeks ago Amy and I visited Snoqualmie falls. I have lived near these falls for many years. In fact I have driven within 10 minutes of these falls dozens of times over the years. Yet two weeks ago was the first and only time I had been there. You see in the fast pace of modern life we do not take time to take in God’s glorious creation. These things are a special gift of God for us to enjoy and yet for most of us we miss them as we speed past on our way to some other activity. You may have experienced this as well. You leave to go on vacation and felt the natural release of tension that comes from being connected to God’s creation only to have the anxiety of life to return to you as you return home and back to the pressures of life.

We don’t just benefit from meditation on God’s general revelation (that is His creation), but we also benefit from meditation on His special revelation. His special revelation is the Word of God, the Bible and the truths that he shows us in this very precious book. A few weeks back I woke up anxious. I had many things pressing in on my thoughts leading me to wake up extra early. I had a long list of things that I needed to get done by the end of the day and I was thinking that I would not have enough time to get them done. I was tempted to skip my Bible study and get to work on my to do list. However I was convicted to read God’s word. I specifically looked at this passage we are covering today. I spent about 30 minutes meditating on the truth of God’s word. As I ended the time in prayer I had a strong impression from God that I needed to go back to sleep. I needed to care for my body. At least that is how I understood it. At first I resisted and wanted to focus back on my to do list. I eventually opted to trust God. I got an extra hour of sleep. As the day progressed I had various opportunities to get the things done that I needed to get done. God literally “added these things” to me.

So what does it mean to seek God’s Kingdom?

Seeking God’s Kingdom

Seeking God's Kingdom

But seek his kingdom, and these things will be provided for you. Luke 12:31

As I have already shared the seeking of God through his general revelation and through His word is the beginning of seeking God’s kingdom. We then live in obedience to what God is teaching us through His word. I think there are Four essentials of the faith that we pursue that all other things we do in our walk relate to.

The Gospel

Love God

Love others

Fulfill the Great Commission

I won’t go into depth on these this morning since that would be several sermons to cover all those essentials entail. But quickly the first essential is to have a Saving relationship with God. Jesus paid the price for our sin and wants to forgive us for every mess we have made in our lives. It this good news of a restored relationship with God that is the foundation of seeking God’s kingdom. Next we love God. The main way we show love God is to humbly obey His word. Next we love others. It is our responsibility to be an encouragement and build up our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We express love to them as we fulfill this responsibility. We love the community around us when we minster to their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. We represent Christ when we share the love and care he has for our souls by the love and care we show toward those around us. Finally we have to take seriously the call to take God’s message of hope to a dark and anxious world. We need to lead them to receive the gospel message, get baptized, and be built up in the obedience of the Lord. There is much more I want to say about these things.

God Delights to give you the kingdom Luke 12:32

In Luke 12:32 Jesus says

Luke 12:32 (CSB)

“Your Father delights to give you the kingdom.”

Think about it God wants to give us these blessings. When we seek Him He provides for our needs and adds blessings to our lives. It is His delight to do so. When I think about such amazing truths I brings peace to my soul.

Sell possessions and give to the poor Luke 12:33

As I said just a bit ago to serve those around us is a blessing and and act of love. Jesus says that we need to sell our possessions and give to the poor. It is evident we are seeking God’s kingdom when we care more about the poor than we are concerned about becoming poor.

Treasure eternal things Luke 12:33

This is the act of treasuring eternal things. Jesus says that when we seek God’s kingdom and engage in acts of eternal significance that we are storing up treasures in heaven. The treasures of earth will fade, diminish, and eventually decay into nothing. Treasures in heaven are eternal. Learn to treasure those things that are of value in God’s kingdom. Making this a priority will be a guard against the worries of the world.

Your treasure and heart go together Luke 12:34

Let me ask you this: Where is your heart? Jesus concludes this section by saying

Luke 12:34

Luke 12:34 CSB

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

As we close I want us to read this verse together.

Now close your eyes and ask God to examine your heart. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the treasures of your heart. Are you seeking God’s kingdom? As the piano plays take a moment to reflect on these things and make a commitment to God in response to what he is revealing to your heart.