Seeking the Kingdom

Jann Martin May 25, 2008

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Matthew 6:24-34

Gospel Lesson

²⁴ "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

²⁵ "So I tell you, don't worry about everyday life-whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes. Doesn't life consist of more than food and clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds. They don't need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are. ²⁷ Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not.

²⁸ "And why worry about your clothes? Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, ²⁹ yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. ³⁰ And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won't he more surely care for you? You have so little faith!

³¹ "So don't worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. ³² Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, ³³ and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.

³⁴ "So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today." (1)

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to You, O Christ.

We begin in verse 24 with Jesus contrasting earthly values with heavenly values. We can't put the things of this earth before what is much more valuable in heaven. The things of this earth can fade, be stolen, used up and worn out. The treasures God promises us in heaven will never fade, be stolen, used up or worn out. We may need to take stock of where we are and rethink how we look at the things of this earth. Jesus isn't saying that we can't have the things of the earth; we just need to be very careful not to put them first in our life, and to be content with what we do have.

Listen to Jesus' words in verses 25 - 30:

²⁵ "So I tell you, don't worry about everyday life-whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes. Doesn't life consist of more than food and clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds. They don't need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are. ²⁷ Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not.

²⁸ "And why worry about your clothes? Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, ²⁹ yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. ³⁰ And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won't he more surely care for you? You have so little faith!"

Jesus tells us not to worry about the things of this world. We are to trust that God will care for us. He's not saying we don't have to work to take care of ourselves and earn money to pay our bills and buy our food, but trust in God to care for us and provide for our daily needs.

If we do worry, it can cause all kinds of problems. Worry can lead to health problems. Many years ago we went through a very difficult financial time; Jim was laid off almost as much as he worked. I was talking to a friend and she said she thought I'd be more worried about our financial situation. My response was that I had given it to the Lord and He would care for us, and that if I worried I would end up sick and have to go to the doctor, and I didn't want to give the money to the doctor and for medicine that I could use for food and our bills.

Worry can also make an object more important and consume your thoughts. This would take your thoughts away from God. Worry can also disrupt your productivity, make you treat others in a negative way and, unfortunately, affect your trust in God.

Jesus is not only speaking to those who have a lot of "things" in this world, but His words to them are not to put the "things" before Him. His words to those who don't have as much is to put their trust in God, and He will provide for their needs. This doesn't mean they can sit back and have everything just given to them; they still need to try to provide for themselves.

God is our Father and wants the best for each of us. In the reading didn't He say that He feeds the birds and clothes the flowers and the fields? Surely if He has taken such care for these things, won't He take even better care for us? As a parent don't you make sure your children are fed, clothed and have a roof over their head. You want what is best for your family and God wants what is best for us as His children.

Sometimes what we think is best for us isn't what He sees as what is best. He does answer each of our prayers. Sometimes He says yes, sometimes He says no, and sometimes He says wait, there is something better to come. The answers aren't always what we want to hear, but He knows what is best and may have something even better waiting for us if we just follow Him and listen for His answer. We have to put our trust and faith in Him.

If we put our faith in "things" they can take over our lives. They can become our master. They can make us work harder and longer just to have more. This can ruin our relationships with our family and friends because we are spending so much time trying to get more and get ahead. It's more important to work enough to have what you need to live each day and then put your faith and trust in God. Our time with those we love is much more valuable than having more or bigger possessions.

This story is a good example. It's called Perspective:

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"

"It was great, Dad."

"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.

"Oh yeah," said the son.

"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.

The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us; they have friends to protect them."

The boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."

Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have.

So you see we need to be thankful for what we have and not worry about the things we don't have. Have faith that God will provide for our needs. When we say the words in the Lord's Prayer "give us this day our daily bread" we are not only asking for food but for all of our daily needs to be met. In the closing words of our Gospel, in verses 31 to 34, we read:

³¹ "So don't worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. ³² Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, ³³ and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.

³⁴ "So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today."

In order to have these needs met we have to put our trust and faith in God and seek His Kingdom.

Amen.

©Jann Martin 2008