The Best Survival Tip of All Luke 12.31-34

The Best Survival Tip of All

Luke 12.31-34

 

Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

 

     Dear Friends in Christ Jesus and Those Who Will become So…

 

Introduction

     There is a growing interest these days in survival. There are television shows and many books and videos showing how to survive in difficult situations. This probably stems from the uneasy feeling people have when they wonder how they would survive if all their technology, utilities, and police protection were taken away from them. This is exacerbated by the low-level fear, but an increasing fear, that some kind of terrorist attack or natural disaster could occur leaving people to survive on their own. Some people are stock-piling food, learning how to use firearms, or preparing bug-out bags. In addition to all this there is still the constant fear that people have about finding a decent job or surviving a job loss; facing illness; or battling depression or addiction. People are afraid of the changing religious climate and the possibility of losing the freedom to practice their faith without persecution. They fear the pressure that an increasingly immoral culture puts upon their children and whether they will remain faithful to Christ. There are many different reasons why people might feel anxious today. Regarding these things Jesus warns us against anxiety and total reliance on earthly efforts to control it. He commends us to faith in Him as our King who will save us and to a generous spirit that helps to save others. 

 

Anxiety

     The first thing that Jesus warns against is anxiety and worry. “Concern” is good. We should be concerned about the dangers and difficulties around us. It causes us to plan, prepare, and work to avoid unnecessary loss. When concern is coupled with faith, it causes us to turn to God in prayer and to seek His help. Anxiety and worry, on the other hand, paralyze us. They can cause us to stop doing anything – either praying or working to overcome our difficulties. This is what happened to the disciples when Jesus was arrested, and they hid in fear. Worrying is putting all our attention on the problems of life, and giving no thought to the solutions and especially to God, who has promised to help us. One of the important keys to relieving anxiety is to know God and His promises so that when you cry out to Him you really have something to hold, something to help. Sometimes people expect God to perform a miracle for them to make their problems go away. God can certainly do this, and sometimes He does. But at other times God helps us to endure our problems in faith. Here is a great promise: "No temptation/test has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted/tested beyond what you are able, but with the temptation/test will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it" (1 Corinthians 10.13).  Either way, God helps us with our anxiety.

 

 

Total Reliance on Earthly Solutions

     The second thing that Jesus warns against is total reliance upon earthly solutions to protect ourselves and to survive. Physical preparation and protection are important, but they are not the primary way to survive the things that can go wrong in this world. If a tornado is coming, you can't just sit in your living room and pray. You better go to the basement and pray! But when it comes to the things of this earth, Jesus assures us that there will always be thieves that steal and moths that destroy. There is no way to completely and thoroughly protect ourselves from the physical dangers of this world through our own physical efforts.  Jesus says, “Instead…” Instead of all these things to which people naturally gravitate in a difficult situation, Jesus calls us to “seek His (that is God’s) kingdom.” That is what I want to explain and what I want to encourage you to do. This is the greatest survival tip of all. 

 

What Does It Mean?

     What does it mean to seek God’s kingdom? First, we need to think about what a “king” is? In our country we are used to leaders who have limited power. They work together with other leaders. For example, the president has to work with the congress.  But a king is a “monarch.” “Mon” means “alone,” and “arch” means “rules.” A king is a person who rules alone and is not limited or balanced by other rulers. The founding fathers of our country did not like monarchies because they knew that all human beings are sinful, and they hoped that spreading out the rule among different people would prevent the rise of evil rulers. But this does not prevent the whole group of leaders from being evil. When Jesus says that we should seek God’s kingdom, He is saying that we should seek God’s complete and perfect leadership of our life. God doesn’t need to be one of a group of leaders. He is good and just, and He can be trusted to direct us in our all our ways. 

 

     What does God, our King, lead us to do? The first and foremost thing is that He leads us to repent of our sins and to receive His gift of forgiveness and love. This is what He means when He says that He will give us the kingdom. Sin is a huge problem for us, and it is the ultimate destroyer. It is really what we are all trying to survive against. Yet Jesus did not survive. He allowed Himself to be destroyed on the cross so that sin itself could be destroyed. Jesus died as the King on the cross. Luke records the request of the repentant thief who died next to Jesus on his own cross. “Remember me when You come into Your kingdom” (Luke 23.42).  Jesus gave him the kingdom when He said, “Today, you will be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23.43).  That exchange was all about repentance and forgiveness. Consider how different God is from the leaders and kings of this world. Everyone blames, blames, blames, but no one confesses their faults. This is one reason why the world is always in the trouble that it is in. The most broken marriage can be healed if the two spouses can honestly say to each other: “I’m sorry” and “I forgive you.” The walls that sometimes rise up between parents and children and brothers and sisters can be taken down by “I’m sorry” and “I forgive you.” Estranged friends can also be united by these simple words, “I’m sorry” and “I forgive you.” But I can’t just tell you to do this, nor will you be able to do it on your own. The power to destroy sin by confession and forgiveness begins with God’s forgiveness of our sins. So, as our King stresses the importance of practicing forgiveness, above all He leads us in it by constantly showing His forgiveness to us through the cross and teaching us to pray: "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." 

 

     Is there something else that God, our King, would lead us to do? There is. In Satan’s world survival is always about selfishness. Satan’s logic is a this: Only a limited number of people can escape disaster. Take care of yourself and your own, and if you’re lucky, you’ll survive. What he really knows and is actually lying about is that in his kingdom no one survives, but he thoroughly enjoys watching everyone destroy each other in their selfish pursuit of survival. This is his game. One of his names in the Book of Revelation is simply “Destroyer.” He is the author of sin, and he leads us to destroy ourselves through selfishness. In God’s kingdom there is true and real escape from disaster because there is true and real escape from sin in Jesus. Since we have this sure and certain promise, we don’t have to worry about being destroyed. For this reason we can show compassion on those around us and can help them in their physical and spiritual needs. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2.8-10). Jesus is so forceful about this that uses an exaggeration: “Sell your possessions and give to the needy.” This doesn’t mean that we have to sell everything and become so poor ourselves that we can’t help anyone else. But it does mean that helping those in need should be a big priority for us. We teach the love of Jesus in this world with words and deeds. Satan teaches us selfishness so we will destroy ourselves. Jesus teaches generosity so we will save others. I said before that God doesn’t always bestow miracles to make life better for us. He often wants to work through His word and other Christians. So just as we look to God to help us when we’re in trouble, we also are being called to help others when we are blessed and living prosperously.  Your offerings each Sunday are part of this, but so is your whole life as you make personal sacrifices to help others in need. 

 

Conclusion

 

     So how are we going to survive the sin-caused destruction of this world? Not by becoming anxious. Not by focusing exclusively on our physical assets. We will survive by receiving the kingdom that God is giving to us in Jesus. This kingdom gives us a new treasure and a new kind of wealth that will endure all disasters. Jesus assures us: “Have no fear little flock, for it is Your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom…”  That is, forgiveness, salvation, and every other good thing that we need.  Again, the Bible says, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8.32). 

 

Pastor Michael P. Walther, Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Greenville, Illinois

Ninth Sunday After Pentecost, August 10, 2025

Worship While You Work Ecclesiastes 2.24

Worship While You Work

Ecclesiastes 2.24

     Work and wealth are things that a lot of people think about. Many people probably think about work and wealth more than anything else in life. Jesus talked about these things a lot, and He gave us important warnings about the temptation to greed. In my message today I'm going to focus especially on Ecclesiastes 2, and Solomon's wisdom about work and wealth. He was certainly one of the richest men who ever lived. We can approach work and wealth in unhealthy ways or healthy ways. Work and wealth can ultimately destroy us and separate us from God. Or, they can be a wonderful blessing for which we give thanks and through which we glorify God now and forever.

Solomon

     So, who was Solomon? He was the son of the Israelite King, David, undoubtably the greatest king of Israel. He has the unique distinction of being both the wisest person and the most foolish person in the whole world. A famous example of his wisdom is shown when two women came to him with a dilemma. They both had newborns. One had slept upon her child and smothered it. During the night she switched the dead baby with the living baby of the other mother. But that mother knew her own baby, and she knew that a foul thing had been done to her. She appealed to Solomon. He listened, and then decided to find out who was lying. “Bring a sword,” he said, “I’ll cut the baby and half and give one piece to each mother.” Immediately the mother of the living baby cried, “No. Let her have it.” With this Solomon knew who the true mother was. But Solomon’s foolishness is also well-known. One wife wasn’t enough for him. He had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines who turned him away from God. With that turning eventually came confusion, doubt, and despair. He talks about this a lot in Ecclesiastes. “I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure” (2.10). Yet, in the end, he found this to be nothing but “vanity” and “grasping for the wind” (1.14). Solomon talked about a lot of things that he thought would bring him pleasure and happiness. Work and wealth were two of them. Solomon was very wealthy and a hard worker. He had built the Temple and had built Israel into a great nation. But because he drifted away from God, all of this was worthless, “vanity,” as he called it. The same will happen to you and me if we let God drift out of our lives. No matter how hard we work or how hard we pursue happiness in this life, without God, it will all blow away like dust in the wind. Nevertheless, Solomon did find his way back to God. He repented of his foolishness, and he found the eternal significance and happiness that only God can give. In terms of work and wealth, he said it this way: 

Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God. Ecclesiastes 2:24

     The key words are, “This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.” Now, let’s expand on that and see how our work and wealth come from the hand of God. Here are four key concepts: Dedication, Thankfulness, Stewardship, and Spiritual Rest.

Dedication

     The Bible says, “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men” (Colossians 3.23). This is one of the first keys to finding significance and happiness in our work. Dan Doriani, a professor at Covenant Seminary in St. Louis, wrote in his book* about work that many people, when asked about their work start out by saying, “I just…” “I’m just a truck driver.” Or, “I’m just a teacher.” Or, “I’m just a stay-at-home mom.” We all know there are people who do have really important jobs, but compared to them, we don’t feel ours is that important. Doriani goes on to talk about a guy who owned a hamburger place. Is he “just a small business owner”? No. He is honest. He pays fair wages. He produces good food for families to enjoy. He mentors young workers to inculcate in them a good work ethic. He uses the fruit of his labors to support his family, his church, and other charities. When your work is dedicated to God, everything about it is connected to God, and when it’s connected to God, it’s good.

Thankfulness

     In the Parable of the Rich Farmer notice how Jesus says "The ground produced..." Farmers work hard, but the food they produce depends even more on the sunshine, topsoil, and a few inches of rain. A wise farmer gives thanks to God for these things. Notice that the foolish farmer in the parable never once does this. Psalm 115 says it well, “Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but to Your name give glory, because of Your mercy and because of Your truth.” God gave us this earth. He gave us our life. He gave us our minds and bodies. He gave us each other. A Godly view of work and wealth always depends on thankfulness God.

Stewardship

     The Bible never condemns wealth. It condemns the love of wealth and the misuse of wealth. The Bible always commends Christian stewardship. The Bible is full of rich people like Abraham, Job, Solomon, The Wisemen of Christmas, Joseph of Arimathea, who donated his grave to Jesus (for only three days!), Lydia, and many others. But the one thing these people all had in common with each other is their love for God that was so strong that they had a kind of indifference to their wealth. I have often met people like this, and I truly marvel. The more indifferent they are to wealth, the richer they usually become. On the other hand, I have met many people who are hungry, hungry, hungry for wealth. They are always trying to make that fast buck. The vast majority of these people are never going to become rich. And the few of them who do become rich will end up like Solomon – frustrated – because life is going to come to an end. They’re going to find out, “It ain’t going with them.” And where they’re going there’s nothing to buy but the misery of life without God. John Wesley, the famous leader of the Methodist movement, once preached a sermon about wealth in which he said: Make as much as you can. Save as much as you can. Give as much as you can. I can’t argue with that. 

Spiritual Rest

     Dedication, Thankfulness, Stewardship: These are three marks of anyone with a divine perspective on work and wealth. But there is one more: Spiritual Rest.  One of the most famous passages in the Bible about work and wealth is found right in the Ten Commandments. “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.” “Sabbath” means “rest” in Hebrew. As the commandment goes on it tells us to work six days and rest on the seventh just as God worked six days to create the universe and rested on the seventh. “Rest” here doesn’t really mean “go to the beach,” as much as it means, “go to church.” To be sure the beach is good because God made it, and He wants us to enjoy things like that. But He definitely wants us to go to church first where we remember our greatest treasure as Peter told us, "Knowing you were not redeemed with corruptible things like gold or silver from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but by the blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish or spot" (1 Peter 1.18-19).  By remembering them and by living them, we then can go on to enjoy everything God gives us. Paul explained it this way in 1 Timothy 6.17: "Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.” Take careful notice of these last words, “who gives us richly all things to enjoy.” God wants us to enjoy His blessings. But, it is in the remembrance that these are His blessings that we “worship while we work” dedicating our work to God, being thankful, practicing good stewardship, and always resting from our labors to listen to God. Out of this flows the next two verses: "Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share,  storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life" (1 Timothy 6.18-19).

     This is exactly what Jesus was saying in the Parable of the Rich Fool. “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” There is nothing wrong with treasures… as long as our greatest treasure is God. 

Conclusion

     Throughout his book Solomon struggles to find anything good in this life because he was always looking “under the sun.” But when he began to look above of the sun, that is, to God; he began to understand the real meaning and purpose of life and the real path to happiness. Work, not because you have to, or simply to get as rich as you can. Rather, bring your work and worship together. Work with God in mind. Dedicate your work to Him. Be thankful for the rewards He gives us. Use those rewards wisely as a good steward for the sake of God’s kingdom and not only for your personal pleasure. Always seek the spiritual rest of God’s word and worship that your earthly work might be the better, and that you might avoid the temptations of laziness on the one hand and greed on the other. Amen.

* Doriani, Daniel, “Work: Its Purpose, Dignity, and Transformation” 2019

Michael P. Walther, Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Greenville, Illinois

Eighth Sunday After Pentecost, August 3, 2025