Don’t Worry, Be Righteous – SOTM Series Part 11
(While Laura is preaching in this section this week, as she didn’t want to blog her notes, I thought I would put mine up anyway. Peace!)
Part 5 – Murder/Adultery/Divorce
Part 6 – Oaths, Eyes & Enemies
Part 7 – Hiding In Plain Sight
Part 8 – The Lord’s Prayer (1)
Part 9 – The Lord’s Prayer (2)
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21
With the foundation of the Lord’s Prayer in place, teaching us the priority of the Kingdom in our lives, we learn that even our “daily bread” is secondary to such devotion. From there Jesus reminded us to fast with pure hearts and motives, a discipline that reinforces not only the selfish longing of our hearts and bodies, but also the importance of its denial in the face of God’s vocation for us. And it is here that Jesus addresses the inevitable tension these teachings build in our hearts and lives.
It might be easy to read the Scripture above as a warning against greed and materialism. While there is surely that caution present in His words, Jesus is talking about much more than this. After all, He does not deny our need for material provision nor that wealth itself is inherently evil. Rather, He warns us against storing it up, words that would have reminded His listeners of the daily provision of manna (see Part 9 of this series).
Are we therefore forbidden to be responsible with our money through saving? I don’t believe so, as Scripture affirms the wisdom of preparing for meager times (such as the ant who stores up for winter). Rather, Jesus looks to our hearts, the motives which drive us to save, leaving no room for selfishness. However, we must be careful to recognize the two faces of this takes. While most of us are aware of the dangers of greed, we too often miss the danger of fear. It is equally as dangerous to store up wealth out of a lack of faith that God will provide as it is from selfish greed. Here lies a difficult tension, one that requires the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the accountability of the community of faith.
When we understand this, we realize that the danger is not simply in the quantity of wealth we accumulate (though Jesus does warn us of the dangers to our heart that come with great wealth), but rather the condition and motivation of our hearts that shape our actions. In this way, even a lack of material wealth can be a justification for fear or selfishness, placing all under the same standard. Our hearts must be first and only with Christ.
Yet Jesus doesn’t reject our desires for treasures, instead promising us His treasures in Heaven. What are these treasures? Jesus is not clear, but I cannot help but think back to the blessings of the Beatitudes. Far greater than any earthly treasure, Jesus opens up to us the blessings of His Kingdom. What greater treasure could we seek?
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” Matthew 6:22-24
For the Jews of Jesus time, the eyes represented the central access point to the heart. It was through our eyes that all we see and understand is taken in, allowing us to function properly and effectively in the world around us. Having two very close friends who are blind, I am well aware of the costly reality of their condition. While impressively adapted to the limitations of their sight, they know that they are still just that- real limitations that present real challenges.
In this way, Jesus is reminding us of our need for single-minded devotion on Christ and His Kingdom. Any other focus blinds us from what really matters, crippling our capacity to function in all other functions of life and faith- not absolutely, but primarily. In other words, Jesus is saying that when greed or mistrust leads us to focus on our material wealth and/or financial security, we inevitably lose sight of our true priority, thus stepping into darkness.
By saying this, Jesus is making this clarity of vision the single priority of His teaching. He is pulling no punches with the reality that it is a binary choice- either you are in light or in darkness; either you serve God or Mammon/money. There is no room for degrees when it comes to devotion to ones master. In a world where we may have several bosses, we fail to understand the uncompromising nature of a slaves devotion to his/her master. We are to be absolutely subject to our King and His Kingdom, leaving no room for compromise.
This raises some very difficult questions for us. Are we, in any way, living our lives and faiths in ways that accommodate materialism along with faith, even if in a subordinate position? Are we serving Mammon at all? If so, Jesus indicates that our devotion to Him is completely compromised. Few teachings of Christ are so explicit as this. It is a choice. It is a choice that requires immediate response and tangible changes. Lord have mercy.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” Matthew 6:25-27
It is in these words that it becomes clear that Jesus is not primarily focusing on greed. The emphasis on greed has too often been a way for us to by-pass the harder implications of this teaching. However, in addition to the fact that, relative to most of the world, we are indeed very wealthy, we see here that Jesus is talking about the worry, uncertainty and fear that lead us to store up wealth. The Jews faced the risk of having what little security they had taken from them by the occupying Romans, so their desire to store up wealth is understandable. Yet Jesus saw that such storing would (and did) limit their ability and willingness to extend hospitality, charity and generosity. And yet Jesus still makes it clear that to do so, even in these circumstances, was a violation of their devotion to God. How much more, than, is our own storing up of wealth and security a compromise?
Jesus is not putting forth a “health & wealth” theology. It does not exempt us from having to work (and work hard) for our provision. Neither does it mean we are excused from our mandate to give and share what we have. Above all, it is not a promise that we will never experience trying times where things are lean. Rather than a law to be obeyed and through which we receive an immediate, material reward, it is about the the eternal fruit of obedience to the law of love and grace. It is a promise that we need to worry or be anxious about anything.
As the unlikely people of the Beatitudes, we are call live in eager and trusting expectation of our King and of His Kingdom. Rather than living in fear and uncertainty, we can instead live in single-minded devotion to serving our King and building His Kingdom, knowing that as we do so, He will provide for our every need (not whim). Even death cannot rob us that promise, thus liberating us from the uncertainty and fear that drive us to selfishness.
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:28-34
The beauty of this passage is summed up so eloquently here. While we live with the uncompromising devotion of a slave to their Master, that Master treats us, not as slaves, but as His beloved children. The bird and the flowers, while created by Him, are not His children, yet He provides for them in every way. How much more can we trust that He will meet our needs? This is the hope that banishes the fear, allowing us to embrace this seemingly reckless devotion to serving God and building His Kingdom. It is this very hope that the Kingdom offers to all of creation.
Like in the priorities of the Lord’s Prayer, we are again called to make His Kingdom our priority, even before our own well-being- not out of self-destructive neglect, but out of radical trust and obedience to our Father-King. And the nature of this King and His Kingdom? This has been the constant message through the Sermon on the Mount, even reflected in His temptation in the wilderness. In addition to seek first His Kingdom, we are commanded to seek also His righteousness. What is this righteousness?
This word “righteousness”, as we have seen previously, is better understood as justice. In addition to being call to live for His Kingdom, established in and through the community of faith, the Church, we are also called to champion justice in a world shattered by injustice. It is here that our role as ambassadors of the Kingdom propel us out of the context of our faith communities and actively into the wider world for which Christ came to save. This is the justice we are blessed for hungering and thirsting after. It is also the justice for which we can expect to be persecuted for. It is in seeking both His Kingdom and His justice that we see what it means to be both salt and light to the world.
We are called to believe the Gospel in our hearts and minds. We are called to proclaim the Gospel in our words and deeds. We are called to obey the Gospel at all costs and without compromise. This is what it means to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness. Then, when we do this, all the other details of life and provision will be given to us by God. Therefore, crucify any worry that robs us of our single-minded devotion to Christ.
Tags: Sermon on the Mount
