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LIVIN' LARGE

Luke 12:22-34

We were easy to entertain in those days. It didn't take much for a couple of poor college students, and Nampa, Idaho, didn't have a whole lot to offer anyway. So a big night was a half-tank of gas and a trip to Boise for Taco Bell. And if we were really livin' large, we'd might swing by Baskin & Robbins on the way home.

We didn't have much then. No debt, no pressure, no responsibility, no children. But we had lots of dreams. One of the things that we would sometimes do on those trips to Boise was drive by the home of the richest people we knew anything about.

They were pretty well known in that area. We had never met them but we'd heard lots of stories. We heard about the large living. We didn't really know what they were doing, but we were pretty sure they weren't making trips to Taco Bell on Saturday night. We heard about the mansion.

It was part of our Saturday night out to drive by the house and gawk. Of course we never got any closer than the street, but it was fun for a couple of young kids driving by to imagine, while munching the last of our Baskin & Robbins ice cream cones, what it must be like to live large.

Well, 20 years later, we have a lot. A lot of bills, a lot of responsibility, a lot of children. And do you know something? We still wonder what it would be like to be among those who "live large."

Now, we occasionally drive by the mansions of our city and wonder what those people's lives must be like and how they got all that money and what in the world they do with all that space.

It's interesting that in a culture like ours that is so affluent and so well supplied that we spend so much time dreaming about what it would be like if we really had a lot of money. Why else could Robin Leach do a whole show on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, narrating all this unbelievable opulence in his whiny voice, unless we were very interesting in those who can "live the good life"?

In fact, that seems to be pretty much what life is all about in our society--how to get more, how to move up, how to "live large." And it really doesn't matter what your station in life is. This concern over earthly treasure can capture the heart of anyone. The oft-repeated word in this passage that ties it all together is "worry" or "anxiety." We can identify.

Anxiety is the common denominator no matter the degree of wealth. Those who do not have enough to live on are naturally anxious about how they will live. Those who have opportunities to develop a better life than they now enjoy worry about how they will get ahead. Those who have all they need and more are anxious about maintaining and protecting their wealth. Having more is no solution to anxiety.

Maybe that's why we are sometimes offended when Jesus starts talking like this because He calls us to a completely different way. He says to us, "Kingdom people are not even concerned with the same things the world is concerned with."

"Kingdom people give themselves to other things, other priorities that move them in a totally different direction." Well, if that's true, then who are we? We think of ourselves as Kingdom people, but how much of our lives are indeed consumed by this kind of anxiety?

Verse 30 really sets up the dichotomy of choice. It pits the preoccupation of "the pagan world"*--or as one translation has it, "the nations of the world" (NRSV)--against the promise of God's care of those who trust God as Father. It's one way or the other. According to Jesus' way of reckoning things, there are only two basic impulses: to grasp or to give.

Jesus makes it clear in this whole passage that the alternative to anxiety over what we do not control is to release our grasp of that which we do control. That's what He's calling us to here.

Now I don't want to belabor the teaching, because I think we know it. I think we know full well that our lives are too often consumed by the concerns of this world. And we also hear Jesus' answer to how not to be consumed by the concerns of this world. It's a tough word. It always has been. It was tough to the rich young ruler that Jesus met up with one day, and it's tough for us. "Sell your possessions and give to the poor" (v. 33). In Jesus' way of ordering things, that's what it means to be "living large."

And you know, there may have even been times in our lives when we have discovered the truth of Jesus' words. Whenever we have been able to let go and give away, I think we have found out just how freeing and wonderful that is.

But it's a fearful thing to do. Jesus seems to know that. That's why His words in verse 32 are so meaningful, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom."

The picture is that of a father who has bought a special birthday gift for his child and just can't wait for her to open it. Do you believe that about God? Or do you actually believe that if you were to live according to the priorities of the Kingdom that you would be left begging God to meet your needs? Aren't we afraid that if we really live according to Kingdom priorities our lifestyle might become threatened?

Jesus' teaching here is very simple to grasp. If we really want to know what "living large" is about, we won't try to secure and protect and acquire. Instead, we will sell and give and invest.

His teaching is simple to understand but oh so difficult to truly embrace. It really is a matter of overcoming fear and trusting God to do what He says He will do. That means things will need to change in our definition of need and comfort, but when that shift of priority happens, we will find an unprecedented place of freedom and joy.

I want to tell you the rest of the story of that rich family whose mansion we used to gawk at. As providence would have it, about a month ago we met that couple in Chicago.
We were amazed to hear their story. They have sold that big mansion and turned the family business over to others. Now they are spending their lives taking the gospel of Christ to India through work with the JESUS Film Project. I want you to see what they are now giving their lives to. [video]

Jerry and Muriel Caven had it all, according to the world's view of things. Now, I'm pretty sure that if they were standing here they would tell us that life has never been so full, so exciting, so fulfilling as it is now.

Why? They learned the secret of the Kingdom that Jesus is talking about here. When you let go, you receive all that God has to give. When you sell, divest, give away--you find the truth that the Father is pleased to give you the Kingdom.

Do we all need to go to India to discover this truth? No, God isn't calling most of us to do that. For many of us, in fact for most of us, He is calling us to the simple and everyday ways we can "live large" toward others.

The question I'd like us deal with this morning is simply: "Am I afraid to take Jesus seriously? Am I afraid to let go? Am I afraid to sell and give?"

Jesus himself is saying to us today, "Don't be afraid. The Father of all creation is caring for you. So let go, give freely, invest your life in others, and you will find the freedom of Kingdom living."

Turn your eyes upon Jesus;
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.

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*Unidentified Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version® (NIV®). Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotation marked NRSV is from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.