Trinity XV
Let us pray.
May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts, be alway acceptable unto thee, O Lord, our Strength, and our Redeemer. Amen.
From the Gospel: “… seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matt. 6:33)
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Depending on your point of view, today’s text is either completely obvious, or utterly baffling.
For the Theist, the person who believes in a god who is all-powerful, who cares for his people, and who continues to intervene in the universe, it is obvious.
From the Theistic point of view, seeking God’s Kingdom is the goal of life.
Entrance into that kingdom depends on being (or perhaps better, being accounted by God as being) righteous, in a right relationship with Him.
The Theist sees this present life as but the first act in eternal life.
He trusts his loving God to provide whatever is truly necessary for this fleeting part of existence and then to receive him to Himself thereafter.
Given these understandings, the first things are obvious: seeking God’s Kingdom and being in a right relationship with Him; everything else is secondary and may safely be entrusted to the care of a loving God.
For the Theist, therefore, worrying overmuch about those things necessary to life is absurd.
As Cory ten Boom put it, “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”
For the Materialist, one who believes there is nothing outside the physical universe of matter and energy, however, today’s verse would seem like something straight out of “Crazy Town.”
If there is nothing other than the physical universe, there is obviously no God, and no Kingdom of God; if life is a temporary condition and there is only oblivion after death; it follows we had better concern ourselves with acquiring and keeping “all these things.”
By “all these things” Jesus is referring to those things necessary to sustain physical life, symbolized by food, drink, and clothing; what he calls “Our Daily Bread” in the Lord’s Prayer.
For the Materialist an abiding and profound concern for acquiring and maintaining “all these things” is entirely reasonable and understandable.
Surveying our mass media, the number of articles, programs, and advertisements related to acquiring and maintaining “all these things” (even dishonestly, if necessary) suggest the Materialistic understanding of reality is very widespread in our culture.
Then too, there is a tremendous amount of material (movies, books, sports, reality TV, fantasy, and even politics as blood sport) which seems designed to divert and rest the mind from the constant worry about “all these things.”
In a nutshell, for the Theist, today’s verse is simply common sense; for the Materialist, it is simply absurd.
We are sometimes tempted to feel superior to our Materialist friends.
We must always remember our faith is not something we earned or deserve.
As Saint Paul wrote, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
(Ephesians 2:8-9)
Without the unmerited gift of faith, Materialism works very well to explain the world in which we live, in many cases, it is easier to accept than Theism.
It is a great oversimplification to divide humans cleanly into Theists and Materialists, however.
In fact, there is a wide spectrum of worldviews.
At the one extreme, there are doubtless a few saintly people, like a Mother Theresa, who are so aware of the supernatural they consistently seek the Kingdom of God as the primary goal of their lives.
On the other hand, there are doubtless some very committed Materialists who would never allow themselves to give the idea there might be anything beyond this physical world a single thought, even when faced with the death of a loved one or their own death, even when they see a sunset, or a new born baby, or the beauty of the night sky.
I must admit I find that kind of consistency beyond my wildest dreams, but in some way, I feel a strange sort of admiration for the strength of will which allows them to never even wonder if they might be wrong.
Those are the poles, the Saint on the one hand, and the completely committed Materialist on the other, but most of us mere mortals live somewhere between those two extremes.
Most Theists are sometimes distracted by earthly concerns; most Materialists sometimes wonder, perhaps even hope or fear, there just might be a spiritual realm.
The Theist cannot escape the facts of existence.
He is, at present, a creature with a foot in both the physical and spiritual worlds.
Our bodies, our loved ones, our possessions all make their claims upon us.
That is why we must keep offering, “ourselves, our souls and bodies” to God.
That is why Jesus said, “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37.)
That is why He told the rich young ruler, “go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” (Matthew 19:21)
More prosaically, that is why we have Lent.
When all is well with our bodies, our loved ones, and our stuff, you would think it would be much easier to focus on the Kingdom, but often, paradoxically, sometimes just the opposite is true.
Sometimes when all is going well, knowing “this too shall pass” we spend our time and energy trying to shore up the protections for “all these things.”
We have cosmetic surgery or buy a Bowflex machine, we spend more effort on our kin, we work all the harder to acquire more stuff to get us through the dark days ahead.
On the other hand, sometimes it is only when trouble comes we turn to God.
The Materialist, too, even though he seldom wants to admit it, lives with a foot in both realms.
He does not normally aspire to “seek the Kingdom of God,” of course, but when trouble comes, he is sometimes tempted to at least consider the consolations of religion.
He may at least wish he could believe in eternal life, he may at least wish he could believe in a God who could and would take care of him and those he loves.
We should have a profound sympathy for the Materialist who fears or grieves without hope; if there is a definition of Hell, that must be close to it.
On the other hand, sometimes when things are good, he can relax enough to at least wonder if all the good things in life the purely the result of his own efforts, to at least wonder if there might be someone other than himself to whom he owes a debt of gratitude.
All this discussion leads me to a few thoughts on Christian living.
First, as Christians, when things are going well, we need to be extremely vigilant spiritually.
Go out of your way to count your blessings.
“Seek ye first the Kingdom of God.”
Give more of yourself to God’s service and more of your substance to His work.
Give thanks to God frequently and specifically, including giving Him thanks verbally and publicly; give Him the credit for all the good things in your life.
Avoid the temptation to let good fortune tempt us to grasp it too tightly, lest when things change, as they will, you fall into despair or anger.
On the other hand, when bad times come, as they will, never be ashamed to turn to God, even, perhaps especially, if you know you have been less diligent in thanksgiving, service, and almsgiving than you wish you might have been.
Turn to Him in prayer, turn to Him in His Word, but just as importantly, turn to Him in your brothers and sisters in Christ.
He has set us in spiritual families for just such times as these.
If the bad times are mostly of our own making, use the opportunity to learn from them.
To the extent the bad times are not of our own making, trust God to be with us through those bad times and seek to see them, as a friend of mine once called them, (cleaned up for use in the pulpit), “another otherwise unwelcome opportunity for growth.”
Finally, we must consider how we can minister to our Materialist friends.
When things are going well for them, we should, as Saint Paul wrote, “rejoice with them that do rejoice.” (Romans 12:15)
Of course, it is usually possible to slip in an occasional “Thanks be to God” or “Praise the Lord,” without being too tacky.
On the other hand, when that which is not holy hits the fan, as it eventually surely will, we can and must reach out to them with the love of God.
This is not the time for sermonizing or moralizing; it is the time to show them the love of God in deeds, not words.
Of course, at such a time, assuming you have quietly and consistently lived a Christian life before them, they might reach out to you with honest questions.
Beloved, when God presents you with such an opportunity, be ready.
As Saint Peter put it, “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” (1 Peter 3:15)
Know why you believe what you believe; be ready to show faith is not contrary to reason; but above all, be ready to witness to your faith from your own personal experience, that, beloved, is what touches and changes hearts.
Amen.
And now we ascribe unto Thee, O Lord, all might, majesty, power, and dominion, both now and forever. Amen.
