Planning the Unplannable

Do I invest in a retirement plan, or live paycheck to paycheck? As Christians we are expected to live in the moment and let the future worry about itself. What happens when the future comes, and I am not ready? That doesn’t sound like ‘fun’ to be out in the cold if only I had planned.

The Lord said, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.  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, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.  Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the marriage feast, so that they may open to him at once when he comes and knocks.  Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes; truly, I say to you, he will gird himself and have them sit at table, and he will come and serve them.  If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those servants!  But know this, that if the householder had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into.  You also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an unexpected hour.”

Luke 12:32-40

On the surface, today’s lesson appears to instruct us to live ‘paycheck to paycheck’ with no savings and no financial plan for the future. If we sell our possessions, how are we to live? The lesson ends with a reminder that we must live ‘as if’ Christ is coming tonight, or at any moment.

Sure, if we sell everything and He comes tonight, no problem. I’m in my 50’s now and He hasn’t come yet. If I didn’t plan for my future then, I would have no house to live in now. There must be a middle ground that doesn’t ‘come through’ in the lesson.

I suggest looking at this verse. “Be like men who are waiting for their master to come home.” The servants never ‘just sit and wait’ or they would be punished. They are constantly cleaning and preparing for their master. We don’t just sit and wait. We clean and prepare our soul.

It is hard to plan for something that we can’t really plan for. Here’s what we don’t know. We don’t’ know when Christ is coming. We don’t know what our needs will be in the future. Here’s what we know. Christ is coming and we must plan for His return, whenever that may be.

Put simply we plan our soul to receive Him at any moment. Should we call our estranged friend and reconcile today, or wait? If we are planning for Christ to return tonight, we should call our friend today. If Christ doesn’t come tonight, there is not harm in reconciling with our friend.

If Christ does come tonight and we have not reconciled with our friend, we risk eternal consequences. That is the difference between sitting and waiting, vs working and planning. I would rather have reconciled than risk the alternative. So what if I live longer! I’m reconciled!

I can’t remember the last time someone asked me, “What happens to my soul if I wait?” Instead, I hear, “What happens if I have no money for retirement?” This is why Christ says, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” It means we work and plan. We do both.

We plan our soul like Christ is coming at any moment. Then, we work to make sure we can live without being a burden to others, for as long as it takes, for Christ to come, or until we go to Him. Either way, the day will come with we are face to face with Christ. Today or in the future.

It isn’t a sin to plan for retirement. It is a sin to plan for retirement without preparing our soul to meet Christ at any moment. If Christ comes today, the retirement fund won’t matter, but our sins and reconciliation will. If we go to Christ today, our retirement will go to our descendants.

No matter where you are in your stage of life, plan to live a long life without being a burden to others. At the same time, don’t let another day go by without preparing your soul to meet Christ. If we plan for the unplannable, Christ will give us the Kingdom. That IS the plan.