I’m Quiet Quitting Jesus
You gotta wonder who is in charge of the economy. Supply chain disruptions, costs rising, buying power down, it seems nobody wants to work anymore… And those of us who are working, we feel overworked, under staffed, underappreciated, and are just waiting for something better to come along. If I were in charge, I would get the economy to run like a well-oiled machine. Although this may sound like a MAGA boomer rant, this is just winter solstice observational ramblings. By the way, I am not addressing the American economy, but God’s economy.
God’s economy has been in shambles for a long time. Jesus even said it himself, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. So ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field. Go your way. Look, I am sending you out as lambs among wolves.” (Luke 10:2-3 EHV) Not enough workers, and those workers sent into terrible working conditions? How about a raise here, Jesus? Maybe throw a few perks my way? Make my life a bit easier: let my family relationships work better, heal a friends illness, let me be less anxious, let me show love, let me find love. That’s the way I would run things, if it was mine.
He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, leased it to some tenant farmers, and went away on a journey for a long time. When it was the right time, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenant farmers beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed. The man went ahead and sent yet another servant, but they also beat him, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. He then sent yet a third. They also wounded him and threw him out. The owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my son, whom I love. Perhaps they will respect him.’
“But when the tenant farmers saw him, they talked it over with one another. They said, ‘This is the heir. Let’s kill him, so that the inheritance will be ours.’ They threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. So what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenant farmers and give the vineyard to others.”
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2020&version=EHV>
I should relax a bit, I’m doing okay, there is a new coined term: quiet quitting. I think you are asking too much from me Jesus, I need some “me time”, call it a mental health day.
He told them a parable: “The land of a certain rich man produced very well. He was thinking to himself, ‘What will I do, because I do not have anywhere to store my crops?’ He said, ‘This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and goods. And I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry.”’
“But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your soul will be demanded from you. Now who will get what you have prepared?’ “
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2012&version=EHV>
Jesus, maybe you better explain to me again how your economy works?
“Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on guard against people. They will hand you over to councils, and they will whip you in their synagogues. You will be brought into the presence of governors and kings for my sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. Whenever they hand you over, do not be worried about how you will respond or what you will say, because what you say will be given to you in that hour. In fact you will not be the ones speaking, but the Spirit of your Father will be speaking through you.
“Brother will hand over his brother to death, and a father will do the same with his child. Children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all people because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved. And when they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. Amen I tell you: You will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor is a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher and the servant like his master. If the master of the house was called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!
“So do not be afraid of them, because there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.”
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2010&version=EHV>
Is that really how God’s economy works? I wonder sometimes.
But to the wicked, God says:
What right do you have to recite my statutes
or to take up my covenant with your mouth?
As for you—you hate discipline,
and you throw my words behind your back.
If you see a thief, you approve of him,
and you cast your lot with adulterers.
You devote your mouth to evil,
and your tongue weaves deceit.
You sit and speak against your brother.
You slander your own mother’s son.
These things you have done, and I kept silent.
You thought I was just like you.
I will indict you and accuse you to your face.
Now consider this, you who forget God,
or I will tear you to pieces,
and there will be no one to rescue you.
The one who sacrifices a thank offering honors me,
and he sets up the way by which I will show the salvation of God.
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2050&version=EHV>
There, the last line from Psalm 50, is the economy of God: the one who sacrifices himself and sets up the way to salvation, Jesus! Jesus has fulfilled all the requirements that we never could, yet still we try to fulfill. He is the salvation of God. This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. (1 Corinthians 4:1 EHV) [The Greek word translated here as “stewards” is “okionomos” from which we get the term “economy.”] We are part of Jesus’ economy. Stop quiet quitting and make a joyful noise: proclaim from the housetops!
Just some pre winter solstice ramblings. The daylight is short and the nighttime is long. The daylight will soon start to get longer, more time to speak of what Jesus — The Light of the World — tells us in these dark times.
Trust the Promises
Steve Skiver