discipleship | mission | practical theology

The lectionary readings for Harvest festival Year A caused me some difficulty: Deut 8:7-18 and Luke 12:16-30.  The Luke reading is the parable of the rich farmer and the exhortations not to worry.  In the end I extended the Luke reading a little, to include the reason why Jesus is telling this parable: a young man comes to him with some family troubles: access to the inheritance.  Our faith can get disabled by the complexity of life and the situations in which an easy answer is either not available or too destructive.  Disabled faith when the harvest is still wet and the ploughing is already late.  Disabled faith at home when you brother’s marriage has fallen to pieces and he doesn’t seem to care.  Disabled faith when you’re at school and you can’t work out why your still been left out! In the face of these and other complex and painful situations ‘Don’t worry’ seems to be patronising simple.

Our parable and following words of Jesus do not say, ‘poor you, let me sort it out for you’.  Instead, Jesus reminds you of some of the child-like simplicity of our faith.  A child-like simplicity that is true whatever age you are.  God loves you, the creator knows you more than you know yourself, knows where you are where you’ve been and where your going. God loves you.  In the face of a complex situation [which, lets face it are always apparent], which could easily swallow up what even large portions of faith, Jesus wants to remind us  that God love’s us.

So now we are caught!  On the on hand we have complexity of life and on the other we have simplicity of faith.  Allowing one or the other to dominate our perspective has the potential of disabling our faith and the tyranny of the ‘or’ has beaten us again.  Hidden in Luke’s advice to disciples is the glory of the ‘and’. Face life’s complexity and remember that God love’s you.