“It’s All Just Stuff”
Text: Luke 12:22-34
8-7-2022
Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. Regular viewers of the old Batman TV show were often subjected to a sneaky gimmick intended to make sure you tuned in to watch the next episode. Invariably the Dynamic Duo would be in a precarious situation and as time ran out the dramatic music would start. Then the words “to be continued” would flash across the screen. And the announcer would invite you to tune in the same time, the same bat station next week for the conclusion. It seemed to work. I got to thinking that maybe I should have done something similar last week after the Gospel lesson because today’s reading is a continuation of what Jesus was teaching there. However, it’s doubtful that gimmick would have kept you living in suspense for 7 days, anxiously waiting to hear the rest of the story.
Be that as it may, it would be good to do a little review of what Christ taught thus far. In verse 13, a man came to Jesus complaining that he hadn’t received his portion of the family inheritance. He wanted Christ to use His authority to tell his brother to give him his fair share. Jesus refused to do it. Instead, He told a parable to show how being fixated on material possessions can distract you from what really matters. The farmer in the story had wisely invested in his successful agricultural operation. But he was so busy with it that he neglected to invest in the care of his soul. When God unexpectedly ended his life and examined his spiritual account, it was empty. The Lord called him a fool because he failed to realize that you can’t take your earthly stuff with you into the next life.
In our Gospel for today, Jesus applies that same spiritual truth to even the most basic needs of our existence. Jesus sums up what we should actually concentrate on investing in by saying, “Instead, seek {God’s} kingdom, and these things will be added to you.” What’s interesting is that He tells us to seek the very thing that God wants to give us anyway. God’s kingdom is His kingdom of grace where we freely receive the righteousness of Jesus Christ by the gift of faith. That fills up your spiritual account with heavenly treasure. This righteousness is what provides the forgiveness we so desperately need. And that assures us of our eternal salvation. In light of that, everything else on earth is just stuff! Food, clothing, houses, etc. is all just stuff and our attitude towards it should reflect that. Ah, but if you’re like me—and you are because we’re all frail sinners—then you know that ain’t easy. We come up with all kinds of objections and disclaimers to what Jesus said. I mean, we would be foolish to not work for the food on our tables, clothing for our bodies, and a roof over our heads, right? If you have children at home, you could get arrested or have your little ones taken from you if you don’t provide for these basic needs. So we’ve GOT to be concerned about these things, don’t we? Yes, but concerned is one thing. Obsession is another.
When you think about it, this all amounts to a violation of the 1st Commandment. God makes it quite clear that we are to have no other gods but Him. Nothing and nobody in the whole universe is to distract our devotion to Him. When we are anxious and chase after stuff, it becomes our god. It turns our heart from the true God. On the other hand, if pleasing God is your focus, He will see to it that all your needs are met.
To drive home that point, Jesus gives us several illustrations as to why we aren’t to be anxious about worldly stuff. By the way, the Greek word for “anxious” means to have a divided mind. That’s why some translations use the word “distracted.” Anyway, I would emphasize for you that distracted, anxious thoughts are the real the problem. Working for food, clothes, etc. is not evil. But being anxious about it all shows where your focus is. However, if your trust is in your heavenly Father to provide everything you need then anxiety goes right out the window. Jesus invites us to consider the ravens. They aren’t anxious about where their next meal is coming from, nor do they have the capability to put up grain bins to store a crop for the future. Even with just a pea sized brain they instinctively trust in God to daily supply what they need without fretting about it. If God cares for such an insignificant creature, don’t you think He’ll take care of you?
That was dealing with food, but what about clothing? Well, look at our land. Every year as we enter into spring, God adorns our world with beautiful color as plants sprout with new life. Flowers bloom, trees blossom, and the fields go from bare, dirty brown to bursting with lush, green growth. And it all happens without the plants working or worrying about it. But in about 6 to 7 months, it’ll all turn brown and the crops will be harvested. Now if God can do something so amazing with plants that are here today and gone tomorrow then don’t you think He can provide for your physical needs without all your distracted anxiety? The anticipated answer to both of these illustrations is an emphatic YES. With these two examples Jesus shows us just how foolish being obsessed with chasing after worldly things and being anxious about them really is.
In between those two examples He reminds us of how futile all these anxious thoughts are. He says, “Which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?” In other words, all your fretting and fussing over earthly things won’t add any time to your life. In fact, it’s a proven medical fact that your anxiety will actually subtract from your days here on earth, not to mention how it’ll rob your joy and contentment. Oh, but don’t worry. The pharmaceutical companies are happy because people are popping anxiety pills like candy out of a Pez dispenser. Jesus is telling us that all those anxious thoughts are a waste of time. It doesn’t change anything. And far worse, it is evidence that our focus is wrong and our trust is misplaced.
God has a way of really testing us about this sometimes. He either threatens the loss of worldly, material stuff or He actually allows it to slip through your grasp in order for you to regain your focus. I can give you an example from my own life. About 12 years ago my siblings and I gathered at my parent’s house to divide up their earthly belongings. Let me assure you, my Mom and Dad were not rich. When we took what they owned and divided it 7 ways there wasn’t a whole lot to go around. But even so, we wanted it to be distributed fairly. Was there an opportunity for bickering and fighting even over trinkets? You bet! So to thwart our sinful human natures from taking that path, I asked if I could say something before we got started. I reminded my brothers and sisters that it’s all just stuff. We had already received the real inheritance from our parents. They raised us in the Christian faith and provided us with a loving home. What more could we want? Then we prayed that God would keep that as our focus. And you know what? The day went very smoothly. We laughed and cried as we shared memories rather than fight over who gets what. We weren’t anxious about who got what because our attitude was that it was all just temporal stuff. It wasn’t worth fighting over when weighed against the spiritual inheritance we had received.
My family hasn’t perfected this, but how about you? How do you handle all the material stuff in your life? Are you chasing after it, devoting enormous amounts of time and energy to it? Are you anxious about obtaining and retaining it? Far too many times I’ve witnessed how this pursuit of worldly stuff can destroy people’s marriages, families, and even their faith. And it doesn’t matter if we’re talking about a hundred or a million dollars, people will fight to get something that’s guaranteed to slip through their grasp like sand. How sad, since it’s all just stuff. Again, I would remind you that the problem is not the stuff itself but the anxiety over trying to accumulate more and more of it instead of trusting God. Jesus says, when that happens then you’re investing your valuable time and energy in things that are temporary; things that can be stolen or destroyed. It’s like pouring water into a bucket with a hole in the bottom.
If we were only talking about being financially bankrupt this wouldn’t be a big deal. However, if you’re spiritually bankrupt because you were chasing after worldly things then you’ll lose everything—both the material things as well as your heavenly treasure. On the other hand, if you’re investing in your faith then Jesus says it’s sort of like getting two for the price of one. Remember what He says, “Instead, seek {God’s} kingdom, and these things will be added to you.” That doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll be a millionaire or have a big house or thousands of acres of land or a fancy, new car. But if God provides you with the basic necessities of life, then everything else is gravy. So don’t be anxious about all the other stuff. Instead, concern yourself with God’s kingdom. He has already made you a part of it through Baptism and the preaching of the Gospel. Through His means of grace, He supplies us with Christ’s righteousness. All we have to do is “seek” it, which is to say, we simply need to accept God’s invitation to be filled again and again with His grace right here in worship through His precious Word and Sacrament. He invites you to come here to God’s House and leave all your anxieties with Him. Trust Him to take care of your needs, both big and small. After all, He has provided your most important and urgent need, which is a Savior. So you can relax and be sure that He will take care of all the rest of the stuff in your life. May the Holy Spirit strengthen our faith so that our treasure may be found in possessing His kingdom of grace and glory. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!