Luke 12:16- 21 2023/12/03 Osaka Church
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
“We’re okay now.” We sincerely hope so. The “complexity” of the human mind is that people are always seeking to “feel like it’s okay” rather than “being okay”. This is because people know that there is no such thing as “okay” anywhere in this world. So, should we stop pursuing “being okay”? On the contrary, no matter how many times we think we’ve achieved it, we continue to relentlessly chase “being okay”, which slips away; we have spent millennia building a civilized society, although it’s still not “okay” in the slightest. On the contrary….
Today’s gospel is about this state of “being okay.”
After Jesus taught the people that “a person’s life does not depend on what they have,” he told the following parable.
A rich farmer was blessed with a very bountiful harvest. Faced with the overflowing harvest and being unable to fit into the storehouse, he said, “Now, I’m at a loss. What should I do?” It was a joyous lament. Then he came up with the idea of rebuilding the storehouse. “Let’s build a bigger storehouse.” He smiled at the idea and muttered to himself. “Now I won’t have to worry about living for the time being. I’ll be fine with this now. Let’s drink, eat, and be merry.”
Then God said to him, ‘Fool! Tonight your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? This is how it will be for whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.’
That concluded the parable, but in fact the Lord immediately continued as follows.
‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear… Consider the birds: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. How much more valuable you are than birds!’
Thinking that everything is okay and worrying are two sides of the same coin. People are always gripped by this bottomless anxiety of “losing” their belongings, their lives… “losing” them, sliding toward nothingness. We want to be freed from that anxiety and think, “I’m okay now.’ It doesn’t matter if it’s just an illusion, even if it’s just for a moment, let me experience it!” The heart cries this out, and people continued to struggle. As I said earlier, civilization is the product of that struggle.
This anxiety is the result of not knowing or believing in God.
And this anxiety turns even faith in God into a means of storing up treasure for oneself, even if one believes in God. That is why we are afraid of the weakness and uncertainty of our faith. Religion teaches that acts of love for one’s neighbor, working for the good of others, being kind to and even helping those who feel bad, can be used as “points” to collect to confirm to oneself that “this is all right.” As long as that persists, we will never be free from worry. You can’t escape from anxiety. Because we know that we cannot be perfectly “good” or “worthy” in God’s eyes.
We must acknowledge: we will lose much. Life in this world will soon be lost. But to God, each of us is an eternal treasure that can never be lost and must never be lost. …Let’s believe that. Let’s entrust it to God, who is the very one who says it’s okay. God is bigger than our anxieties, concerns, and fears. This surrender, however, is easier said than done. But think about it. When we reach the end of our lives in this world, we all have no choice but to trust God, who says, “It’s okay.”