Friday, March 3, 2023

 

Friday, March 3, 2023


Psalm 9

Genesis 42:1-17

Luke 12:22-34


“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”


When the Bible teaches us that Jesus has freed us from slavery, what kind of slavery is it talking about? Christians like William Wilberforce read it to mean freedom from chattel slavery, and was instrumental in leading Britain to release their slaves. God frequently is at pains to remind the Jews that He freed them from slavery in Egypt – again, chattel slavery.


There is another kind of slavery at work here in Australia. Yes, we still have chattel slaves in the traditional and literal sense, and there are groups around doing God’s work in exposing their evil masters and freeing those slaves. But the kind of slavery relevant to Jesus’ words this morning is in our enslavement to our own future.


The current political battle over tax rates on superannuation accounts is the most recent example. We have been exposed to be a people obsessed with our future. One side of parliament wants to provide for the future for one group of people, and the other side of parliament wants to provide for the future of another group.


Jesus speaks into this situation with some radical, controversial, but much needed wisdom: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear.”


Whether I am rich or whether I am poor, I always have enough. The fattest man at an all-you-can-eat buffet always has enough; I haven’t got a brass razoo, but I have Christ, and so I too am that fat man. I pour my income into my savings account in the kingdom. Everything I receive I give, because I have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit and His love, and since that came for free, I freely give it away. I am never in want: I have Christ, and so I have everything.



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