Luke 12:32-40 (II): Jesus' Three Commands

This is Jesus' second commandment to his disciples, and it is harder by far than the first (to get rid of anxiety). We can take the words literally, and we can take the words as pointing to a reality that is crucially important for Jesus. The literal meaning gives us some wiggle room, if that is what we are looking for. It doesn't say that we should give everything as alms; it just emphasizes the getting rid of the possessions. But the larger point ought to be clear. The disciple's true treasure trove is in heaven. That is where our "value" is; that is where heart also should be.

Let's look at this difficult command from the perspective of what Jesus is really asking the disciples to do. It is to cut ourselves off from that system of values which dominates the world in which they lived and we live. The world in which we live measures our value by what we possess. Even the phrase "net worth," which we frequently throw around, gives the impression that a person's life does consist in the abundance of possessions. But Jesus' message in the Gospel of Luke puts emphasis in a fully different area. Just as I argued that in Luke 6 Jesus is controversial because he breaks the connection between giving and receiving (that is, you give without expectation of return), so he is controversial here because he suggests that one's true value in life has little to do with one's "net worth." We might all smile and say, "Sure, I agree with Jesus," and then go back to our money-grubbing ways, but this is the opportunity to let Jesus' words finally have an effect on us.

Suppose that Forbes Magazine scoured America to do a special issue on the 400 Richest Americans in Soul. What might such an issue look like? How would they measure it? Our culture would probably experience a sort of "overnight conversion" if Forbes put out such an issue. Would that be good or bad for us? Jesus' words in v. 34 are memorable--"for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Note that he doesn't say it the other way around. The actual location of our physical "treasure" is where our heart is. By definition. That is why we need to "sell off" our holdings and give (some of) it away. Because if we keep the treasure, the things that demonstrate our economic wherewithal, that, by definition, will be where our heart is. Jesus gives us very little "wiggle room" to try to argue that we can be millionaires, with homes from the Hamptons to the Golden Gate, and be "spiritually" free to serve him completely. I think Jesus would say that this kind of thinking is a crock.

Now you see why this is a harder commandment than the one not to fear or be anxious. But what could be more difficult than this one? Why, commandment three.

III. Be Alert/Awake/Ready

The final six verses of this passage urge the disciple to be ready for the coming of the master. We need to gather up our garments, like the Israelites just before the Passover in Exodus 12, who were so dressed so that they could make a "quick getaway" when the Angel of Death passed over their houses. The emphasis of the passage is that the master's coming is certain but the timing of the coming is uncertain. Thus, be always ready.

The reason I find this last command more difficult than the other two is that I think it is impossible for us, in our human strength, always to be "ready" for the coming of the master. Let me illustrate this by way of a story. When I was a professor at a small church-related college in KS, I was also the pastor of a rural Presbyterian Church. The people were great; the preaching each week gave me a sense of freedom from the academic duties during the rest of the week. I recall one of the first sermons I preached was around Labor Day 1991. I remember my "thesis" or major point of the sermon was that the more I worked, and the harder I focused on my work, the more I needed to goof off. Therefore, goof off this Labor Day and after it. This probably wasn't the message that I should have preached to diligent KS farmers, but I did, and they kept me, until the church closed the next year (people kept dying every time I preached a sermon, though I don't think there was a connection between the two..).

In any case, the point I was trying to make is that the harder I worked the more I needed to "play." I needed natural release, almost irresponsibility, in order to rise to the occasion the next time I needed to focus. I believed then what I preached and I still believe that message today. I know that the nature of the human subject is that we can't focus on a task 100% of the time. We begin to grow inefficient; we lose focus; we become irritable and resentful.

So, what can Jesus' message to us mean today when we know that we can't always be fully "on guard?" What does it mean to us in a society where this life is the be-all and end-all of existence? I think the key to this question relates to the notion of focus in life. Our brains and thoughts, so often, are "scattered." We are overwhelmed and inundated with loads of information all the time. We are tugged in multiple directions by people and demands on our time and our hearts. But what Jesus' message about alertness and readiness says to me today is that we need to do all we can to establish and maintain a focus in life. The focus Jesus wants to exhort us to is captured nicely in Matthew's Gospel: "Seek first God's kingdom and righteousness and all these things will be added to you" (Mt. 6:33).

Conclusion

I think I am doing pretty well on the "fear" front--point one--even though it has taken me years to get to that point. I am pondering deeply the disposal of assets command, though I can't say that I have fully bought into it yet. I seem to be hung up now on the "where to live" question or "what to do" when you have given up most of your things. But I think I can see this happening in the future. But the "be ready" command escapes me now. I know what it is like to have a focus in life; I know how to work hard and get my job done. I don't really know, however, how best to "be ready" for Christ's return in a culture where that return isn't even on the radar screen of anyone. How does one "live ready"? Maybe we should go slowly through the commands, stopping on the one that we feel is our challenge for the day. There will always be one that takes us to a new level of understanding and personal development.

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