Luke 12:13-34

In the news this week was the mistrial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother accused of killing her three young children. 

The article read;

Clancy has not denied that she had killed her children but her not guilty plea was predicated on a lack of criminal responsibility because, as her defense team said, she was suffering from postpartum psychosis, which included auditory hallucinations that commanded her to harm her children, and undiagnosed bipolar disorder. We had a very similar case in New Zealand where the mother made the same not guilty plea (Lauren Anne Dickason) but she was found guilty.

I would say based on comparison to biblical accounts of similar encounters that that these auditory hallucinations were actually demonic spirits commanding her to kill her children.

We had a very similar case in New Zealand where the mother made the same not guilty plea (Lauren Anne Dickason) but she was found guilty.

“I’m representing a woman who is a fantastic, wonderful individual,” her defence lawyer said. “This woman is so brave, so awesome. She sat there through seven weeks of the trial, where nobody had anything bad to say about her except the two prosecutors.”

The truth often hurts, it shatters delusions.

Reddington also thanked the jury, “minus one” – referring to the holdout juror who he says he “hope[s] they can sleep at night”.

You heard that right. The holdout juror was the only one who thought she was GUILTY. What an upside-down world we are living in. Perhaps it should not surprise us when we live in a society that murders babies and calls it healthcare.

Remember what Jesus said;

Luke 11:34

The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness.

Our society is at the point where it can no longer see that not only abortion is murder but that murder is murder. We have developed bad eyes. It’s a sign of end times delusion. These women were victims of spiritual warfare but they are still responsible for their crimes. It demonstrates the need for spiritual warfare when medication is not working. Call in the Christian Marines ! 

The Good News is that Jesus died for all our sins including murder, but we have to receive Jesus. As we learned last week, the only unpardonable sin or blasphemy of the Holy Spirit means to reject Jesus, the only hope of salvation. Someone who worries that they have blasphemed the Holy Spirit has not.

Following last week's message, I did some further research on the meaning of the word blasphemy because I felt it necessary to understand the seriousness of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit in more detail. Paul described himself before his conversion;

1 Timothy 1:13

although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

The word “blasphemy” is the Greek word blasphemia — and it does not primarily refer to speaking irreverently about divine matters. It has a broader meaning that refers to any type of debasing, derogatory, nasty, shameful, ugly speech or behavior that is intended to humiliate someone else. Paul used the word “blasphemer” to describe his own past words and actions when he purposefully mistreated and humiliated believers for whom he had no tolerance.

In addition to rejecting Christ’s gift of salvation for themselves, to blaspheme the Holy Spirit means calling Christ evil, intentionally mocking and denying the Holy Spirit with the intention of putting others off of receiving Christ. It is such an utter rejection of God that the sin brings about God’s judgement.

Paul was a blasphemer but obtained mercy because he did it ignorantly in unbelief. There are those who have crossed that line into blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, who understand the Gospel, but utterly reject it and seek to prevent others from believing it as well. How sad is that?

We also noted last week that very often when the Lord is speaking to us, Satan (who is the ultimate blasphemer and the first to utterly reject the Lord) will try and distract us though all manner of devices - through people, through troubling thoughts, anything to keep us from listening and doing what the Lord is teaching us.

In last week's passage, we heard Jesus warning his disciples to avoid the leaven of the Pharisees - their hypocrisy and their doctrine. As he was doing this, suddenly someone from the crowd spoke up with a distracting question;

Luke 12:13-15

Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

Distractions come just as the Holy Spirit is getting through to people and appear extremely important at the time. It’s the same method scammers use to try to rush you into making rash decisions. So be on guard !

How would Jesus deal with this distraction from a man about his inheritance. We know justice is an important issue that God is concerned about. Would Jesus ignore the man and carry on teaching his disciples?

No, rather he answered the question and used it as a springboard to continue teaching but with a parable.

To the crowds Jesus often spoke in parables and when the disciples asked why, he gave the reason;

Matthew 13:11-15

He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’

The parables Jesus told were a fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah that God would purposely tell them things that they would not understand and turn to him and be healed. That does sound harsh at first hearing so we need to understand why God would do that.

Stories are normally a good way of teaching and usually we love to be taught this way. The tales we heard as children had moral meanings and we learned life lessons from them. But what can you do if people won’t listen to even the most basic instructions like to repent and believe the Gospel. It is exhausting to teach people if they won’t listen, though you repeat it over and over and over again.

The parables had the dual purpose of teaching those whose hearts were open but confusing those who were hard-hearted and had rejected God as a judgment on their hard-heartedness.

Was the parable he was about to share one with a hidden meaning? Judge for yourself.

Luke 12:16-21

Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

This particular parable is in fact very clear, there are no hidden meanings. The warning was given that it is foolish to think we have our security in ourselves and in our riches. The world teaches us to invest our money so that we will have a comfortable retirement but it is a false security. We do not know that we will have our health when we get old or even that we will live that long. We are wise to invest in eternal things. Sadly many people will reject this advice because they want their best life now.

But you know what, if a person loves the World too much instead of loving God, then even though they hear the parable, it won’t make sense to them to invest in something they can’t see, touch, taste, smell or feel. They think that this life is all there is and fail to understand the reality of eternity and to lay up treasure in Heaven. Isaiah’s prophecy is true but if we open up just a little, Jesus’s word also comes true - to whoever has, more will be given, so open your hearts!

It would seem to me that even though Jesus was answering the man’s distracting question, he had the dual purpose of teaching the disciples to get their priorities right. Those who keep their ears open are always learning even somebody else’s lessons.

Then he resumed his speaking to his disciples.

Luke 12:22-27

Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

My cat doesn’t worry about anything. He knows all the sunny spots in the house and garden, he is warm and dry at night and his breakfast and dinner are served up without having to work for it. Why aren’t we like that, are our worries truly justified? Jesus certainly understood the things we worry about. Our hair or lack of it, our height, what we’re going to eat, where we’re going to live, will we survive a cost of living crisis. And here we all are today, having lived a good number of years. In New Zealand especially we live in comfort. God has really looked after us. So why do we worry, it’s a bit strange of us isn’t it?

Luke 12:28-31

If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

He’s speaking to us believers, and he’s calling us out for the smallness of our faith. Shouldn’t we trust him.  

Why should we be like the people of the world when we know our Heavenly Father is looking after us. Rather than worry, Jesus teaches us to make the Kingdom of God our priority. We will then find that all the things we used to worry about fade into insignificance and all our needs will be provided for. That promise gives a lot of peace.

Luke 12:32-34

“Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

So what should we prioritise today to seek first the Kingdom of God? I’ll leave you to think about that because it could be so many things. Your devotional time, a Church task, a sick family member or friend, a colleague who needs to hear the Gospel, a donation to someone in need, it could be so many things. But when we give up our time and money for the Kingdom of God, we are storing up treasure in Heaven. We may not be prosperous down here but we’ll never regret that in eternity. Amen.

Let’s Pray.