Foolish Moxie – Luke 12:1-31
Meanwhile, when the crowd gathered by the thousands, so that they trampled on one another, he began to speak first to his disciples, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their hypocrisy. 2 Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. 3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops.
Exhortation to Fearless Confession
4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. 7 But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
8 “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God; 9 but whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 11 When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say; 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.”
The Parable of the Rich Fool
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” 16 Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17 And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 18 Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
Do Not Worry
22 He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 26 If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! 29 And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. 30 For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them.31 Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
What does the passage say?
V. 1-7 Jesus talks to the crowd about religious hypocrisy. The Message says, “You can’t keep your true self-hidden forever; before long you’ll be exposed. You can’t hide behind a religious mask forever; sooner or later the mask will slip, and your true face will be known” (v. 3 The Message)
V. 8-12 Jesus then talks about how in public that his followers should acknowledge and represent him. Not following him continues from disowning to blasphemy.
V. 13-21 He then shares the great story of life and money. He talks in parables about a man, who focus his life on gaining more. He highlights the reality about they life style.
V. 22-31 He then says, don’t be scared to live the opposite of the man in this parable. Jesus says, as long as we live according to God’s will, God will provide. The problem is when we live according to our own will, instead of God’s.
What does the passage say to you and me?
“… so that they were trampling on one another” (v. 1 NIV)
The story starts with the scene of numbers of people following Jesus. So many people gathered they are starting to trample among each other. They are acting the opposite to the teaching of our Lord.
As Jesus was watching the action of this crowd, I am assuming that he thought to himself, ‘I am here to offer something different from the religious leaders, and they seem to follow their own will, which will end up like the group we are trying get away from.’ This is my way to interpret why he talked about ‘hypocrisy’ and ‘fear’.
He says the biggest resistance to living according to God’s will is hypocrisy and fear. Hypocrisy is to be legalistic and express my righteousness over God’s righteousness. Fear is to be worried about my life and body, instead of fearing God.
The message was toward the religious leaders and warning his followers, not to fall into this rut. However, I feel like Jesus’ message, proclaimed 2,000 years ago, is talking to us.
We live in a society where Christianity is labeled as a self-righteous religion. We live in an era, where more people are fearful about their security than God.
Jesus is saying, “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him” (v.4-5 NIV)
Coram Deo is a Latin expression that means, “In the Presence (front) of God.” What will happen if we lived our life, being intentional about being in front of God? Wouldn’t that help us to live how Jesus is telling his follower to live like, according to Luke ch. 12?
Let’s Pray
Lord, help us to fear you, instead of the world. Help us to examine our lives in front of you, instead of the world. Give us the courage to live in this world, as your followers.
In Christ name we pray, AMEN
What are your thoughts?
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