Matthew 6:25-31, 33 (RSV) 25 "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, `What shall we eat?' or `What shall we drink?' or `What shall we wear? 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.
Encouraging people to be thrifty, to tithe, and not to worry about money may be good advice, but it is like trying to paste fruit on a barren tree. We do not practice good stewardship without a deep confidence in the sovereignty of God.
The word for “anxious” means having a divided mind. Jesus is saying do not get distracted from the focus of your faith. And His words assume the basic faith of the Hebrew people. They believed that the sovereignty of God meant God was the owner of everything they had. God’s ownership was proclaimed in the Scriptures and was also deeply imbedded in their experience. God had delivered them from slavery in Egypt, promised them a land and possessions, and led them through the wilderness to the land He had promised them. Today, we have the Scriptures, but not the same experience of the Hebrew people. We live in a culture of personal ownership. We buy it, we own it, and we have the papers to prove it.
Do not be distracted, but look and consider. Look at nature around you, the birds of the air and the flowers of the field. Look at the care that the Creator God showers upon them. Look at nature and the care God gives to it. Most of all, look at God. And, though Jesus does not say it, look at Jesus. Look at the way He lived. He gave thanks for the food He ate, the wine He drank, the world that He saw. He lived openly, freely, without undo care and concern about what He would eat or what He would put on. He was faithful and responsible with the gifts God gave Him. In His hands a few loaves of bread and some fish were enough. He had a joyful sense of abundance.
Don’t be distracted by the culture around you. And seek first God’s kingdom and its righteousness. To seek God’s kingdom is to seek God’s rule over our daily life. To seek God’s kingdom is to hold fast to the conviction that God is in charge. God cares about our needs and knows what He is doing. When we focus on seeking God’s Kingdom, concerns about money are real, but they are not the focus. They are where they can be managed without worry.
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope June 28, 1998
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles
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