Center of Attention

Luke 12:1-21

Have you ever been watching a movie and something happens that makes you want to scream at the characters on the screen? For me, suspense films garner this sort of reaction more than any other genre. You don’t believe me? Really? Go watch a Hitchcock film and then report back to me. I’m willing to bet that at least once, during the course of the movie, a voice in your head cried out to the main character. “NO, YOU FOOL!! HE’S THE MURDERER! DON’T GO IN THERE!” And then, well then you watch in disgust as the main character ignores your advice, enters the room, and meets their untimely end. If only he knew what you knew.

I’m not sure what to call this phenomenon – this experience of being in the audience while watching a drama unfold before your eyes. It’s a unique and privileged place to be. It causes you to see things in a different light. Always, without exception, you know better than the characters in the scene – if you were in their shoes, you’d never make the same mistakes. Being a spectator causes you to see things differently. I wonder what might happen if we took this approach and turn our attention to Jesus’ parable from Luke 12. Go back and read it in your Bible if you haven’t done so already.

The first thing that jumps out at us when we take a look at this story from the standpoint of an onlooker, is the context in which this parable takes place. Luke 12 marks a time in Jesus’ ministry when things are booming. Jesus’ popularity is growing exponentially. He’s getting a ton of attention wherever he goes. Crowds follow him around. Huge crowds!

But not everyone in the crowd was friendly. Not everyone was there to learn from Jesus and to receive His gifts. No, just a short time before this story took place, Jesus had earned for Himself the hatred of the Pharisees, religious rulers, and lawyers of religious law. He had shown disregard for their false piety and had undermined their authority.

In the midst of all this – in the midst of thousands of bodies pushing and shoving – in the midst of the chaos – Jesus took a moment to turn and speak directly to his chosen disciples. What does he have to say to them? Words of warning. “Beware! Beware of the false teaching of the Pharisees, for in the end, all things will be made known!” What follows this somber warning is one of the most encouraging passages in Scripture coupled with one the most fearful warnings.

As the disciples rode this roller-coaster of emotion, as the crowd clamored around them, as the Pharisees plotted against Jesus, we hear a voice cry out from the crowd: “HEY, TEACHER – tell my brother to give me some of our dad’s money!”

Oh no.

As the audience to this event in Jesus’ ministry – as spectators of the action – we can’t help but cringe at this un-named voice from the crowd. It’s like watching the protagonist of a movie going down into the dark basement alone – or watching the character put their foot directly into their mouth by saying the wrong thing to the wrong person. We cringe at the sheer lunacy of their decision and we scream at the TV – “No, you fool! Don’t do that! Can’t you see the crowd of thousands trampling one another to get closer to Jesus? Can’t you see the religious leaders plotting against Jesus, seeking to trap Him with His own words? Can’t you see that Jesus is trying to have a quiet word with His disciples? This is not the time for property disputes. Jesus is not here to settle the squabble you have with your brother.”

But he can’t hear you. He’s stuck, there in the story – unable to take back his poorly chosen words – unable to prevent himself from looking like a fool. I wonder if he realized the lunacy of his question right after he said it. I wonder if he hoped that Jesus would just ignore him.

But as spectators of this event, we know that Jesus did not ignore him. Interrupted from His conversation with His disciples, Jesus turns from them, looks at the man, and tells him a parable. We all know the parable – we’ve heard it many times before. A rich man has a bountiful harvest, but no place to store it. So he does the most logical thing – he builds bigger storehouses. The rich man is set for life! But he was not set for death. He had riches stored up for himself, but had no treasure before God. Eternally, the only thing that matters is your relationship with God, not your relationship with your bank account.

You and I know this well. We have heard it for years. And so, as spectators of this event, we impatiently scowl at the foolish man, waiting for Jesus to finish up with him so that He can return again to His conversation with his disciples. After all, we’re far more interested in that. We’re more interested in Jesus’ comforting words to His disciples concerning their value compared to sparrows. We’re more interested in the comparison Jesus makes between Solomon and the lilies of the field. Yes, as viewers of this event, we can relate more with the disciples than we can with the crowds of clamoring people, the Pharisees, and certainly the foolish seeker of his inheritance.

Or can we?

Now let’s be really honest with ourselves here. Sitting in the audience, being a spectator of the event unfolding before your eyes – it is really easy to belittle or speak ill of the man in the crowd. But tell me, if you were there – would you have done any different? In a way, the foolish man isn’t as foolish as he might appear to be. Put yourself in his shoes – they might fit better than you’d like to admit.

You see, the cry of the foolish man does, in fact, make a great deal of sense. After all, Jesus was an incredible teacher! Jesus had demonstrated His wisdom time and again before the crowds and the religious leaders. Jesus had shown kindness and impartiality in all that He did, so who better to solve this dispute with his brother? Jesus would know what to say. Surely Jesus would see the predicament he was in with his brother. Surely Jesus would come to his aid. The man saw Jesus as a problem-solver – a solution to worldly troubles.

I wonder, are we prone to thinking of Jesus in the same way? Do we see Jesus as a sort of spiritual self-help book? “Just believe in Jesus, trust in Him and you will have a better life.” Maybe we are led to see our belief in Jesus as a sort of investment – just put in your hour at church and you’ll benefit from God’s blessings throughout the week. Maybe the purpose of your faith is to ensure that you have more “good” days than “bad” days while here on earth. Perhaps you’re pursuing the “Christianity thing” to stop the nagging of a religious family member, or even to quiet the nagging of your own conscious. You have weighed the pros and cons, and have determined that you are better of being in church than not. Each of these motivations, each of these reasons for your being here has one thing in common – you. It’s all about you.

And so there you are, no longer in the audience, no longer a spectator of Jesus’ story – there you are in the midst of the crowd calling out to Jesus, “Teacher! Bless me this coming week”; “Teacher! Heal the broken relationships in my life”; “Teacher! Make me healthy”; “Teacher! Make my belief in you worth my while.”

Jesus hears you. He hears you and He speaks to you the words He spoke to the man seeking his inheritance. The message is simple: nothing – nothing in this world matters more than your relationship with God. Nothing. Not money, not your job, not your classwork, not your happiness, not even your closest relationships matter more than where you stand before God. The things of this world do matter, it is true, but in the end each fails to supersede your relationship with God. 

So where do you stand with God? What does He think of you? Well, take a look at the cross. That’s what He thinks of you. He sees you and He sees your brokenness. He sees you and your sin and sees someone worth dying for. And that’s exactly what He did.

On the cross, you were the center of God’s attention. There Jesus took your sin upon Himself, and gave you His righteousness in exchange. In your baptism, Jesus clothed you with dazzling ropes of white. For that reason, you are able to stand before God – righteous and in a perfect relationship with Him. He sees you, and He sees His child. That is where you stand before God.

What a joy it is to live, not as a spectator of Jesus’ story, but as an actor called to be a child of God. This week, rejoice in the role you’ve been given.