In Luke 12.13-21 Jesus gives a parable of what kingdom-oriented living doesn't look like:
"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 toward God."
Barn-building + crop-storing + leisure-seeking = self-serving;
Self-serving ≠ God-honoring, kingdom-oriented living
"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 toward God."
Barn-building + crop-storing + leisure-seeking = self-serving;
Self-serving ≠ God-honoring, kingdom-oriented living
Luke 12.22-32 paints a second picture. The farmer's error in the preceding parable consisted in his bent towards self-preservation; the life of the godly individual, by contrast, consists in self-sacrifice--a type of self-sacrifice rooted in an unflagging belief in the Father's provision and an untiring commitment to preferring the needs of others above her/his own. Here then is what a kingdom-oriented life does look like:
"Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the Birds! . . . [So] do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying . . . Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (12.24, 29, 31, 32-34).
Self-abasing + others-preferring = God-honoring, kingdom-oriented living
"Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the Birds! . . . [So] do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying . . . Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (12.24, 29, 31, 32-34).
Self-abasing + others-preferring = God-honoring, kingdom-oriented living
To talk of "self-sacrifice" and "others-preferment" without reference to Jesus's own life-testimony is really not to talk about either at all. Christ resolutely "set his face towards Jerusalem" full-knowing the consequence; he forbore as Judas carried out his mercenary act of treason; he refused to defend his innocence with either violence or verbal refutation; he gave up his life as "a ransom for many" (and, of course the "many" are not those who are well, but those who are desperately, hopelessly sick). I know it's not yet Maundy Thursday, but Jesus's remark to his disciples as he washed their feet is insightful. Here then is the third picture:
"After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, 'Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord--and you are right, for this is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you" (John 13.12-15).
In short, living a life which is kingdom-oriented--one which is God-honoring--means that we are to reenact him. The Holy Week is thus critical not just in that it reminds us of what Jesus did, but in that it reminds us of what we now are to do.
Wd
"After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, 'Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord--and you are right, for this is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you" (John 13.12-15).
In short, living a life which is kingdom-oriented--one which is God-honoring--means that we are to reenact him. The Holy Week is thus critical not just in that it reminds us of what Jesus did, but in that it reminds us of what we now are to do.
Wd