22 Then Jesus 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 Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! (Luke 12:22-24 NIV)
Some years ago I had a friend who was obsessed with making money. Now we all like to have money and most of us work pretty hard for what we have. Nothing wrong with that. But my friend had what I thought was an unhealthy need to be deemed successful in the eyes of friends and, especially, his father, whom he was convinced didn't think he would ever amount to much. My friend had a good job and took on two small businesses on the side, one of which grew to be much bigger than he ever imagined. He made a lot of money which he invested in houses which, in his imaginary spare time, he flipped to make even more money.
The problem was that work became his life. Family and friends faded into the shadow cast by the next big project looming in the distance. Rest was something unsuccessful people did because they didn't have enough ambition to keep them busy 24-7. However, his very human heart forced him to slow down and re-prioritize his attempt at a super-human life. I'm happy to report that he has been able to maintain the slower pace dictated by his health and seems to be happier now with what he has than he was during his perilous quest for what he didn't have (or really need).
Jesus' words above are often misconstrued. At face value they can be taken either as a pointless platitude that doesn't work in the real world or a naive suggestion that we can just sit down and wait for God to bless us with whatever we need. When we're dealing with the very real prospects of having more month than money the last thing we need is someone telling us not to worry. And it's either laziness (sloth is a good biblical term) or bad theology that says we don't really have to work, God will just drop whatever we need in our laps.
So how do we read this? Is there anything that connects with our reality or is Jesus teasing us with more of his patented hyperbole? (think about a camel going through the eye of a needle, Luke 18:24-25) Let's take Jesus' challenge and consider the ravens. Birds spend their days doing what birds do, singing, making nests, and searching for food. These are all very reasonable activities for birds. However, sewing and reaping are not. Birds don't sew seeds then water and fertilize them. They don't later reap the harvest of grain or whatever the seeds produce. Birds don't build storage facilities and then store up a winter's worth of food. It's way beyond their ability. They don't need to. They spend their days doing what God gave them the ability to do, then they rest and get up and do it again in the morning.
My friend was trying to do things far beyond his abilities, beyond anyone's reasonable abilities. God gives us the ability and opportunity to work and he wants us to stay busy. To be sure, sometimes our work takes more time and effort and we all have to spend some long days or nights discharging our responsibilities and obligations to our work. But, there is a line that we all stand in danger of crossing. Are we working to sustain life, or is our work draining us of life? Is something inside driving us to reach for more than we really need? Are we operating beyond our abilities and assuming that our equipment will hold up under the strain?
I don't think Jesus is offering platitudes or hyperbole. I think he's keeping it real and wants us to as well. Lent is a time for inward examination. Honest examination. Maybe this detour has a bench with a view. Maybe we should sit down for a while and think about how we're spending the time God gives us. Maybe we should take some time to re-prioritize our lives and stay within the boundaries of what we are reasonably able to do. Or, maybe we should just lay down a take nap.
Blessings,
Larry
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