Can anyone take a guess at what this is? It’s a bucket of dehydrated survival food that can supposedly last 25 years in the proper conditions. This particular one is made by a company called My Patriot Supply and can easily be purchased online at a cost of about $127.
Things like this have been around for decades, but were given a boost during those infamous Covid months. Covid brought into full view how quickly supply chains can breakdown, so with the continued rise in inflation and uncertainty of the economy, the wars and rumors of wars around the world, talk about civil war here at home, and the violence that seems to be escalating daily, the question has been asked of me, what should a Christian do? How can a Christian prepare for what is possibly ahead?
There’s a lot of ways to answer this with the first one being Jesus’ words, “Fear Not.” Eleven times in the Gospels the disciples are called not to fear. Don’t fear to take on God’s calling, don’t fear those that can physically harm you, don’t fear what hasn’t happened yet. We are called not to fear, and at the same time, we are told to know and understand what is happening around us. We are to learn the lesson of the fig tree (Matthew 24:32), and so, we are called to understand the world around us as we march ever closer to the return of Jesus.
So the question becomes how can we balance the call to fear, and the call to prepare? In the Gospel of Luke chapter 12, starting in verse 13, that is the very conundrum that gets answered. So if you have your Bibles, we’ll be diving into Luke chapter 12:13, so that we can answer the question, how do I prepare for what’s ahead without falling into fear?
As we enter into Luke 12:13, we come upon a scene where Jesus has just told the crowd to not be like the Pharisees who cover their sinful deeds with false actions of self-righteousness. Then Jesus tells the crowd not to fear those who can destroy the body, but fear God who has the authority of eternal judgement; within that same breath reminding the people that God cares deeply for them. Then Jesus tells them to not deny the Son of Man before others, and do not blaspheme the Holy Spirit.
It’s within this context of faithfulness to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and the rejection of evil, that someone in the crowd shouts their question, and it’s at this question where we pick up the passage in Luke 12:13.
“13 Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.’ 14 But he said to him, ‘Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?’ 15 And he said to them, ‘Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’”
The person who shouted out their question seeks Jesus to be a mediator between them and their brother. This person probably lost their parents and feels like their brother has slighted them in not giving them the inheritance they rightfully deserve. But Jesus doesn’t fall into the quarrel. This person has earthly things in mind, so Jesus rejects the idea that he is the judge in this matter, and turns the conversation back on the person who desires possessions. Jesus does this by calling on the person to guard against covetousness or the trap of desiring excessive wealth. In his call to guard against falling into this trap, Jesus tells a parable.
“16 And he told them a parable, saying, ‘The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, “What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?” 18 And he said, “I will do this: I will tear 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, “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.’”
In the parable, the rich man’s land produces a crop so plentiful that he needs more buildings to store it all in. The rich man has an idea to tear down his old barns and build new ones. Giving the benefit of the doubt, maybe the man didn’t have room on his property and needed to tear down his old barns to make way for the new. Being ungracious, he just wanted the newest and best.
But notice, that it’s not in the plenty of the harvest, nor in his building of new barns for his crops that there’s an issue. If it were the case that the plenty of the harvest and the new barns were the issue, then Jesus would be going against his own instructions to Jospeh in Genesis 41:29-35, where God placed Jospeh in a position to store away food for a coming famine. Because God has done things in the past to prepare his people for the future in such ways, it’s not the storehouses that are the problem.
The problem is the state of the heart of the rich man. In verse 19 the rich man proclaims, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink and be merry.” It’s at this declaration that God then speaks “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? (v.20)” The man doesn’t become a fool because of his wealth, nor is he a fool because he built new barns to store his abundance. No, his folly is that he trusted in his wealth and what he had prepared for the unknown future, rather than thanking God and thinking of God’s kingdom instead of his own.
We know this is the problem because of Jesus’ conclusion in verse 21, “So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” This is the answer to the question of can a Christians prepare for the future. And the answer is yes, but we cannot let that preparedness become a treasure greater than God. We cannot let the fear of the world, lead to trusting in the abundance in the barn, which leads to the rejection of trust in the Lord and an embracing of trust in ourselves.
Jesus follows this parable up with two more teachings which helps us understand how to be prepared without falling to self-trust and fear. First, in verse 22, Jesus states, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing…32 Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
All types of possessions can insnare us. We can easily become anxious about food, clothes, money, so we use those things to secure our future and therefore turn our trust from God to ourselves. If our trust is in what we have built, then we should get rid of it. Jesus’ call to sell the possessions and give them to the poor is a call to avoid foolish idea that our preparedness is what can save us. Only reliance on God saves, everything else becomes meaningless if we miss that point.
In the parable, it was God who brought the abundance to the rich man’s fields. But instead of praising God, seeking how to use that abundance for the kingdom, the rich man became satisfied in himself, and in the end, lost everything he had built. And so Jesus calls us to moneybags that do not fail, and treasures that cannot be stolen by thieves or destroyed by moths. Every action we take until God calls us home, or we see him in his second coming, is to be kingdom focused. We prepare, not that we may simply weather the coming storms, but that God may utilize that preparedness for his kingdom’s work.
Jesus makes this point in verse 35, “35 Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.”
The prepared servant is the one who uses what God gives him for the work of his master, with the master’s return ever in their mind.
It’s here that Peter speaks in verse 41, “Peter said, ‘Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?’” It’s a question that is said on our behalf. Am I the one that is to prepare with God’s kingdom in mind? Am I the one that has to utilize those gifts, blessings, tools, and abundance that God has given me?
And instead of answering Peter’s question with a direct yes, Jesus replies in verse 42, “And the Lord said, ‘Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.” Jesus didn’t say yes or no to Peter’s question, he simply implied another question, are you the faithful and wise manager? Are you the servant who is blessed?
That question is directed at us. Are we the rich man who trusts in his preparedness and therefore looses sight in trusting God? Or are we the prepared servant who faithfully prepares with our Master’s return ever in mind? We answer the question by the way in which we prepare.
We show ourselves faithful when our possessions seek to further the kingdom. We show ourselves unfaithful when our possessions become what we seek in an uncertain world.
In my own preparedness I have had to struggle with this. As a father I want to make sure that my family is good if something were to happen to the supply chains, and so I have boughten several of these buckets. But that might not be what God is calling you to, each of us has to wrestle with that. And to some, it might mean that if you were to get these buckets, you will fall into the trap of the rich man, and so you must avoid it.
As a pastor, I want to make sure that the ones that God has called us to protect, the widows and orphans, are taken care of, so we started a pantry for them.
In renovating our house, we designed it with the intention that if things were to really get bad, six families of various sizes could live in it. The dinning room, living room, and garage are spacious enough that a congregation could utilize them. The solar panels, generator, and well, are all meant to help with a disaster. It’s stated in our will & trust that if my wife and I were to pass, this ministry would inherit the house. We didn’t do these things because it would advance us, nor am I telling you these things so that you would emulate or praise us. We did these things so that we may honor God with what he has given us, so that it would be prepared for his kingdom work.
But the calling of God on how we are to prepare is something that each of us has to wrestle with God about. Some of you have RVs and trailers, you have to wrestle with God on how to utilize that possession as preparation for kingdom work. It’s the same with houses, retirement plans, family responsibilities, jobs, we have to wrestle with God in all of it, that we may use what he has given us here for the work of his kingdom, and by doing so, we will show that our hearts are in eternal treasures which is in our eternal lives with Jesus.
My challenge for you this week is to make a list with three columns. In column 1 list all of all your possessions, it can be as detailed as you want. At the top of the second column write, “Prepared For Comfort.” At the top of the third column, write “Prepared for Kingdom.” Then go through your list and mark which possessions are used in which category. Is my house for my comfort or for the kingdom? Is my monies for my comfort or the kingdom? Walk through every possession and then seek the Lord in how you can move comfort to kingdom and how you can better prepare kingdom possessions for Christ’s return.
But understand what I’m not saying. I’m not saying, give your possessions to this ministry or any other ministry. I’m not asking for your money, your car, your house, your investments. What I am asking you for, is to find God’s will for your possessions that he might utilize them for his kingdom work. It might be that God is calling you to prepare your RV to gift to one of these bands; God might be calling you to will your investments to a Christian college who prepares Christian leaders. God might be calling you to prepare food supplies for those who have to go through the Great Tribulation. I don’t know, but what I do know is that God is calling each of us to prepare what he has given us for the work of his kingdom, so let’s do that.
Let us be a people, preparing, not for our own comfort in this world, but for those around us who are lost and in need of hearing the Gospel. Each of us, who have accepted Jesus as our Savior, looks forward to his return and reigning with him in eternity, let’s start that reigning now, but being good stewards and servants of the work he has given us to prepare for his kingdom. Amen.
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