I remember one of the first times I felt guilty for not trusting my mom.

It was May of 1994, and commercials had been running non-stop about a “Fox-o-rama” event that would broadcast a movie in 3-D and “Aroma-vision.”  For 35 cents you could get a kit from 7-eleven that included 3-D glasses and four scratch-and-shift cards to be used during the course of the movie.  I knew nothing about the movie, but I knew I wanted to experience “Fox-o-rama.”

Being just shy of 11 and living in the country, my only hope was pleading with my mom to get the kit for me.  With time being limited before the premiere, I pushed and pushed, yet ultimately — for some reason — I did not trust that she would get it.

Somehow I took matters into my own hands and found a way to get a kit.  I can’t remember those details, but I do remember the pain I felt when my mom came home with a big smile and the kit in her hand.  My little mind immediately recognized that in my pursuit of a silly experience I had disregarded my mom, who ultimately took an hour out of her busy day to get me some smelly cards.  It’s a small thing, but for years I would randomly recall the sadness of failing to trust my mom’s love for me.

This is a common element of our human condition.  Our drive for self-preservation — whether for our life, our reputation, our means, or our opportunities — can drive us to take matters into our own hands.  Jesus tells a story about this in Luke 12:16-20:

“The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

You wouldn’t be unreasonable if felt like the man was being reasonable.  Isn’t it prudent to save and plan for the future?  Is God against a comfortable life?

When confronted by a man arguing about inheritance, Jesus immediately recognized several issues he needed to confront in the crowd:

• Greed takes many forms.  “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” (v14)  When we think of greed, we can think of the most overt, malicious form, and give ourselves a pass.  However, Jesus recognizes that it isn’t “robber barons” who succumb to greed, but every day people who choose money over image-bearers.
• Wealth is not meant for a silo.  The man in the story is already rich when he lands an abundant harvest; he already have more than he needs, yet he decides to store up the abundance for himself.  He says nothing of his workers, or his community; in fact, he has plans to retire, which could mean the loss of unemployment for his harvesters.  “This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” (v20)
• Life is more than living.  “For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.” (v23)  It was not that God was opposed to a lifestyle of “eat, drink, and be merry”, but that He knew that easy living would not compare to the full life God had for him; this plan for the abundance would be settling for less.  God blessed him with abundance for something greater than wealth, but the man lacked the imagination to see it.
• The man was driven by worry.  We do not overtly see this in the story, but the fact Jesus immediately transitions to worry implies this was a driver of the man’s plans; “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.” (v22)  His was less a pursuit of easy living, and more a fear of potential hardship; his gut response to abundance was ensuring all future needs were met.

Perhaps the most important element of this story is that the man knew God, and God was not a part of his life-planning.  If this were a secular story, it would be logical to emphasize practices like saving, future planning, and retirement; the man wasn’t bad for doing these things.  However, the parable includes God Himself as a speaking character, which means that the man knew God existed and — based on the cultural context — committed to following Him.  His response to abundance was not to seek and trust God, but worry about his storage limitations and create his own safety net.

The Israelites wrestled in the same way in Exodus 16.  Though God had frequently shown Himself as Provider, He once again did something miraculous to make it clear; each morning he rained down manna, enough for everyone to gather what the needed without worry.  However, some did not trust God; though He made it clear they were not to stockpile their manna, many did to horrible results:

However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them. (v20)

God freed them to gather as much as they needed, and yet some wanted a safety net, just in case God didn’t follow through the next morning.

The key issue Jesus is addressing is not one of financial stewardship, but relation to God.  Both the rich man and the Israelites knew and committed to following God, but in the moment they worried about their livelihood, they disregarded Him and took matters into their own hands.  God is not against saving and planning; what concerns Him is when we claim that He is Provider but live as though He is not.  When we create our own safety net separate from Him, it says more about what we think of Him than of our situation.

God knows what you need, and intends to bless you with “immeasurably more”; it’s up to you to trust Him:

And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Luke 12:29-34