ACC ~ Luke 12 v22 - 34

OVERVIEW:

Jesus teaches his disciples not to be anxious about food and clothing, for this anxiety will lead to apostasy. The disciples are to study and ponder how God cares for the ravens and the lilies as a means for comforting us with knowledge of his loving care for us (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). If God’s providence cares for irrational creatures, how much more for rational creatures? For with the angels, believers are the flowers of the world whose fragrance is the smell of sanctification (AMBROSE).

Get rid of earthly possessions; serve the kingdom by giving to others as a response of faith (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). By selling your possessions you are freed from their bondage (PETER CHRYSOLOGUS). Almsgiving produces the true riches which are heavenly (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). There are two alternatives: fleeting treasure on earth or eternal treasure in heaven. Avarice gives us treasure on earth while almsgiving lifts our hearts into heaven (PETER CHRYSOLOGUS). So to lift up your hearts to heaven is to do good works, for such works show where our treasure truly is (AUGUSTINE).

12:22-28 | Three Imperatives About Food and Clothing

A CALL TO ABANDON ANXIETY

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: How carefully and with what great skill he brings the lives of the holy apostles to spiritual excellence. And with them he benefits us too, because he desires all humankind to be saved and to choose the wise and more excellent life. For this reason he makes them abandon unnecessary anxiety and does not allow a careworn and frenetic diligence that would make them wish to gather what exceeds their necessities. In these matters excess adds nothing to our benefit. “Do not be anxious,” therefore, he says, “about your life, what you shall eat, nor about your body, what you shall put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.” He did not simply say, “Do not be anxious,” but added “about your life,” that is, do not give much attention to these things, but devote your earnestness to things of far greater importance. For life indeed is of more importance than food, and the body is more important than clothing. Since, therefore, we are at risk concerning both life and body, and pain and punishment are decreed against those who will not live uprightly, let all anxiety be laid aside with regard to clothing and food. …

These things, in turn, are followed immediately by a savage crowd of other desires, the result being apostasy from God. … It is our duty, therefore, to stay away from all worldly desires, and rather to take delight in those things which please God. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 90. [1]

[1] CGSL 363-64**.

GOD’S CARE FOR BIRDS AND FLOWERS

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: But perhaps you will reply to this, “Who then will give us the necessities of life?” Our answer to this is as follows: The Lord is worthy to be trusted, and he clearly promises it to you and through little things gives you full assurance that he will be true also in that which is great. “Consider,” he says, “the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them.” … Through the birds and the flowers of the field, he produces in you a firm and unwavering faith. Nor does he permit us at all to doubt, but rather he gives us the certainty that he will grant us his mercy and stretch out his comforting hand, that we may have sufficiency in all things. It is, moreover, a very wicked thing that while those who are placed under the yoke of bodily slavery depend on their masters as sufficient to supply them with food and clothing, we will not consent to put our trust in almighty God, when he promises us the necessities of life. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 90. [1]

[1] CGSL 364**.

FLOWERS AND GRASS ILLUSTRATE DIVINE MERCY

AMBROSE: It is indeed a good and moral saying. By the comparison with flowers and grass, the Lord’s words provoke us to faith in the gift of divine mercy, either literally, because we are unable to add to our body’s stature, or spiritually, because we cannot exceed the measure of our stature without the favor of God. For what is so moral for persuasion as when you see that even the nonrational things are so clothed by God’s providence that they lack no use for grace or for ornament? Then you believe the more that rational man, if he places all his usefulness in God and does not dishonor the faith with intent to waver, can never lack, inasmuch as he has rightly trusted in the favor of God? EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 7.125. [1]

[1] EHG 281-82*.

ANGELS, MARTYRS AND SAINTS ARE THE FLOWERS OF THE WORLD

AMBROSE: It is pleasing to note that lilies spring not from the barrenness of mountains and the wildness of forests but from the loveliness of gardens. These are the fruit-bearing gardens of diverse virtues, as it is written, “A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a garden locked, a fountain sealed.” [1] Where there is integrity, chastity, piety, faithful silence of secrets, the radiance of angels, there are the violets of confessors, the lilies of virgins, the roses of martyrs. And let no one think it is inappropriate to compare lilies with angels, when Christ called himself a lily, saying, “I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.” [2] Christ is fittingly a lily, because where there is the blood of martyrs, there is the Christ, who is a flower exalted, undefiled and blameless, in which the roughness of thorns does not offend but enveloping grace begins to shine. Roses have thorns which are the torments of the martyrs. The indivisible Godhead, which did not feel torments, has no thorns. Therefore, if lilies, like angels, are clothed beyond the glory of men, [3] we should not despair of the mercy of God toward us—we to whom through the grace of the resurrection the Lord promises the likeness of angels. [4] In this passage, Jesus also seems to touch on the question which the apostle did not overlook, either—the question that the nations of this world would ask, namely, how will the dead rise and with what manner of body will they come? [5] By saying, “Seek the kingdom, and these things shall be yours as well,” Jesus indicates that grace will not be lacking for the faithful in the present or in the future, if only those who desire the heavenly do not seek the earthly. It is unseemly for the soldiers of the kingdom [6] to worry about food. The King knows how to feed, cherish and clothe his household, and therefore he said, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you.” [7] EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 8.128-30. [8]

[1] Song 4:12.

[2] Song 2:1.

[3] See Mt 6:29.

[4] Mt 22:30.

[5] 1 Cor 15:35.

[6] See 2 Cor 10:3.

[7] Ps 55:22 (54:23 LXX).

[8] EHG 283-84*.

12:29-33 | Imperatives About the Kingdom

SEEK THE KINGDOM

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: He announced as a general law, useful and necessary for salvation, not only to the holy apostles but to all living on the earth, that people must seek his kingdom. He announced this, being sure that what he gives will be sufficient for them to be in need of nothing else. What, then, does he say? Fear not, little flock. And by “do not fear,” he means that they must believe that certainly and without doubt their heavenly Father will give the means of life to those who love him. He will not neglect his own. Rather he will open his hand to them—the hand which ever fills the universe with goodness. [1] COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 91. [2]

[1] Ps 104:28 (103:28 LXX).

[2] CGSL 366**.

NO FEAR FOR THOSE WHO WILL BE GIVEN A KINGDOM

PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: The flock is little in the eyes of the world, but great in the eyes of God. It is little—because he calls glorious those whom he has trained to the innocence of sheep and to Christian meekness. The flock is little, not as the remnant of a big one, but as one which has grown from small beginnings. This little flock denotes the infancy of his newborn church, and immediately he promises that through the blessings of heaven this church will soon have the dignity of his kingdom. SERMON 22. [1]

[1] FC 17:65**.

REAL RICHES COME THROUGH ALMSGIVING

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Give away these earthly things, and win that which is in heaven. Give that which you must leave, even against your will, that you may not lose things later. Lend your wealth to God, that you may be really rich.

Concerning the way in which to lend it, Jesus next teaches us saying, “Sell your possessions, and give alms; provide yourselves with purses that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail.” The blessed David teaches us exactly the same in the psalms, where by inspiration he says of every merciful and good man, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” [1] Worldly wealth has many foes. There are numerous thieves, and this world of ours is full of oppressors. Some plunder by secret means, while others use violence and tear it away even from those who resist. But no one can do damage to the wealth that is laid up above in heaven. God is its keeper, and he does not sleep. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 91. [2]

[1] Ps 112:9 (111:9 LXX).

[2] CGSL 368**.

12:34 | Where Your Treasure Is

ALMSGIVING RAISES OUR HEARTS INTO HEAVEN

PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: All this is what that treasure brings about. Either through almsgiving it raises the heart of a man into heaven, or through greed it buries it in the earth. That is why he said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” O man, send your treasure on, send it ahead into heaven, or else your God-given soul will be buried in the earth. Gold comes from the depth of the earth—the soul, from the highest heaven. Clearly it is better to carry the gold to where the soul resides than to bury the soul in the mine of the gold. That is why God orders those who will serve in his army here below to fight as men stripped of concern for riches and unencumbered by anything. To these he has granted the privilege of reigning in heaven. SERMON 22. [1]

[1] FC 17:67*.

LIFT YOUR HEARTS TO HEAVEN

AUGUSTINE: If you lack earthly riches, do not seek them in the world by evil deeds. If they fall to your lot, let them be stored up in heaven by good works. A manly Christian soul should neither be overjoyed at acquiring them nor cast down when they are gone. Let us instead reflect on what the Lord says: “Where thy treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Surely when we hear that we should lift up our hearts, the familiar answer that we make should not be a lie. LETTER 189. [1]

[1] FC 30:270**.