Confidence in God’s Constant Care
Gracious God and most merciful Father,
You have granted us the rich and precious jewel of your holy Word: Assist us with your Spirit, that the same Word may be written in our hearts to our everlasting comfort, to reform us, to renew us according to your own image, to build us up and edify us into the perfect dwelling place of your Christ, sanctifying and increasing in us all heavenly virtues; grant this, O heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ’s sake.
Amen.
(Anglican Book of Common Prayer, 2019)
Luke 12:13-21 NRSV
Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” 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.” Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 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. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 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?’ So, it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
Howard Marshall
Covetousness is the desire to have more than one actually has (not necessarily out of envy for other people’s wealth). It not only leads to strife; it also expresses a fundamentally wrong attitude to life, according to which possessions are all that really matter. It only needs God to take away a person’s life, and at once it becomes apparent how useless possessions can be. Money cannot buy everything. The rich man had failed to gain the true riches of a right relationship to God—one step towards which would certainly be through giving to the poor. Thus, he was a fool; a godless and therefore a senseless person.
How then should possessions be regarded? The disciples should not worry about food and clothing (the two essential requirements for the body) as if they were the most important things. The person is more important. If God feeds even carefree birds and clothes the flowers, surely he will all the more provide what is necessary for his children. In any case, worry cannot make a person live any longer. In a world in which people are set on a rat-race for better living conditions, let the disciples first seek out God’s will and his salvation; then they will find that their bodily needs are taken care of. Let them sell their possessions and give to the needy and set their desire on a heavenly treasure that will not pass away.[1]
Riches I heed not, nor vain, empty praise;
Thou mine inheritance, now and always.
Thou and thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art.[2]
O God Who does provide all things necessary for our lives, be present with us now.
For there is little in this life that will so starkly reveal our insecurities and our struggle to trust your tender care as will the state of our hearts when we consider the state of our finances.
When we are anxious about money, O Lord, we can slip so easily into the downward spiral of believing that simply having more of it would guarantee our security.
As if our security could ever rest anywhere outside of you, O God. So, guard our hearts against that lie. Let us learn to view money and all material things as an arena in which to learn and practice a more faithful stewardship, and as a means by which to invest in things eternal – but never as ends in themselves.
Teach us what it would mean to begin to live more generously towards those whose needs are greater than our own. Teach us both a greater contentment and a greater confidence in your constant care.
Amen.[3]
Be Thou My Vision
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Corinthians 4.15).
[1] I. Howard Marshall, “Luke,” in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, ed. D. A. Carson et al., 4th ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 1001.
[2] Ancient Irish poem translated by Mary E. Byrne
[3] Douglas McKelvey, “A Liturgy for the Paying of the Bills.” Every Moment Holy, Volume 1, pp. 193-194.
