Kingdom Building
August 4, 2019
Scripture Reading: Luke 12:13-21
Then he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” Then he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.’ Luke 12:16-21
Cognate: 4147 ploutéō – be rich, having many resources*.
For you say, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.” You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. — Revelation 3:17
Commit from Strong’s Concordance regarding the use of the word rich in the Lukan scripture above: (Rev 3:17) The Laodiceans had success in banking, trade, and commerce – but their “spiritual” lives paid “low spiritual” dividends (yields)! The Laodiceans were too highly motivated (conscientious) about “earthly” matters, and lacked real “spiritual” commitment for wise prioritizing*.
I am supplementing the scripture for today because I found the commentary in Strong’s Concordance very instructive. It was directly related to my search of the word rich from Luke 12:21. It referenced Revelation 3:17 so it is included as well as the Strong’s definition of “rich”.
I tend to agree with Maslow** that when one’s basic needs are not being met it is almost impossible for them to focus on anything else. The same is true of people living in fear of their safety. Both conditions describe the refugees fleeing from Central American coming to the USA and those together are the reasons these refugees are not deterred by anything; their lives are more worthless in their homelands than in our detention facilities. For people to even begin to come into wholeness they must have basic needs met and a safe environment in which to live. At that point they can receive and give love and grow into belonging. Not recognizing and responding accordingly to this basic psychology renders all our attempts at turning refugees away fruitless. We are most likely exacerbating the problem and may pay a high price for it someday. We must do all we can to reduce the chaos in the refugee’s homeland and for the ones arriving here adjudicate their cases as quickly as possible while providing humane treatment as they are processed. We may need to define some category of people who fall below the current definition of a refugee but who would be returning to harms way until their homelands recover from the dangers that are prevalent. Serious criminal would continue to be prosecuted and face whatever the result of that prosecution is.
Jesus makes clear in the scripture above that having riches is fleeting and meaningless for we are all going to die, as wealth is not transferable after death. Our misplaced efforts to store wealth to the detriment of others is worthless.
Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we worship idols of riches and guide us into the rich life of the spirit where love is the measure of wealth. Amen.
*https://biblehub.com/greek/4147.htm
**https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.