May 25, 2008 – The Second Sunday after Pentecost
Matthew 6:24-34
Grace and peace to you from God the Creator, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Well here we are on the first Sunday of summer, and the beginning of our long, green season after Pentecost. It is the time of the church, of Spiritual growth and discipleship. It is a perfect time for us to be looking at who we are and what we need to learn, and our INSTAR program has just the thing to help us along! The Giftedness team has begun to pilot a ministry that will take shape this fall, and I hope you will all take part in the sessions. The staff and Church Council have already taken an inventory that you can take. It’s called the Clifton Strength finder and is a program of the Gallup organization.
We have been having a lot of fun discovering our strengths, but the most interesting thing to me is that this program recommends we NOT focus on being “well-rounded,” but that we identify our strengths with the understanding that they are gifts from God, and part of our unique and special nature. Therefore, something that drives me absolutely crazy about someone else, is possibly a great strength! (You know, that person who takes FOREVER to get to the point of action, might actually be bringing a needed gift to the conversation!) What a great way to look at our gifts – (and how Biblical!) - that we each have something to contribute or share, essential to the group, to the community. AND, it also means that I don’t have to be strong in everything. There are other folks who have gifts that I do not, and I no longer have to worry about being all things to all people! Whew.
In our lesson for today from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, the phrase we most likely fix on first is in verse 25, “Do not worry…” In fact, it is even the printed headline on our bulletin this morning. And of course, like most of the things we are drawn to first, it’s all about us. But what about those folks who heard Jesus himself preach this sermon? At this early point in his career he had probably not begun to attract the very rich, or the Temple leaders from Jerusalem. Most of the folks who gathered were the simple folk, the poor village dwellers, many of whom were slaves. They would have known what it was like to feel the boot of Rome upon their necks, and very possibly did NOT know what they would eat or what they would wear. So how did they hear these lines about worry? Well, they probably heard GOOD NEWS! They heard that in this community of followers, God would provide, and that there is enough to go around. The old Jewish phrase, “it is sufficient” would have brought them comfort, and a new way of looking at their situation.
But, we who have much – how do we hear these same words? You’d think that since we are not in the position of ever really being concerned about survival and where our next meal is coming from, we would not be able to relate to these worries. But how much time do we spend ruminating, obsessing about such things? As a person with lifelong food issues, I can tell you I spend a huge amount of time worrying about food! For example, “What will I have for lunch today, and is there anything in my refrigerator? Is that what I really want? Or should I stop at McDonald’s on the way home? But no, fast food isn’t good for me. Maybe I’ll just have an apple and wait until dinner time, but then what will we have for dinner? Will Roger want to barbeque or should we go out? And if we go out will we have to wait since it’s a holiday or should we just eat what we already have at the house?” (I can see by the smiles out there that there are a number of you who can relate to this usurper of psychic energy…)
And that’s not all! Just turn on the t.v. or look at magazines, newspapers or the internet and you will see CLOTHES! Not just apparel, but FASHION – stuff that if we do NOT wear we will have no friends, no career and no status! Do you know that America is the richest nation in history, and we are also the sickest? That we have the highest incident of stress-related depression and suicide in the world? You see, Jesus isn’t talking about sustenance here, he’s talking about trust. He’s not saying that we are to do nothing. Birds have to eat multiple times their body weight each day to survive, and lilies are out there working hard on photosynthesis ALL DAY LONG. The key is - sparrows have value; lilies are works of art. And yet they only DO what they were created to DO, and they DON’T DO things for which they were NOT created!
Which reminds me of the Creation in Genesis. Many of you have heard me teach this, and know that in the original Hebrew, nouns and verbs are different forms of the same word. So that literally, God created the birds “birding,” the trees “treeing,” and the heavens “heaven-ing.” Each thing was created to DO what it was made to do: tigers “tigering,” plants “planting” and human beings “being” what God created them to be. And now, many generations have passed, and we have come to where we are today…so very far away from the original intent.
So let’s back up a little bit in the text today to the little heard, verse 24: “No one can serve two masters.” In your “Greek for the week” there are three important words here:
(1) No one can-the word is “dynamis” like “dynamite”-no one has the power;
(2) No one can serve- the word is “doulos” or slave, and finally,
(3) No one can serve two masters- the world is “kyrios” like our “kyrie” and means lords.
In other words, No one is capable (or has the power) to be a slave to two owner-lords. That reminds me of the first rule God gave us, the First Commandment: “You shall have no other gods…” Now you might be sitting there thinking today that I am talking about your other gods and wanting you to unhook from your money, or your food or your fashion or your family. But no. Our other god is none other than our selves. Because each and every one of us struggles with the deep conviction that we can take care of ourselves. And at the same time we KNOW (don’t we?) that: spouses leave, parents die, children disappoint us. Careers end, health fails, homes decay and love walks out the door. And money never, ever satisfies…ONLY GOD is faithful.
The antidote to the dilemma? Verse 33 says “Strive FIRST for the Kingdom of God and its righteousness…” Or as I remember singing it, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God.” Doing that does not mean denial of our needs, but believing that it is possible to live so that my needs do not have to be met always at your expense. And that, my dear friends, is God’s justice – when we seek to live in ways that do not take advantage of strength and position – ways that do not infringe on someone else.* Which means we look for lifestyles that do not depend on foreign oil, or other’s economies or labor or resources. Seeking the Kingdom of God first, makes the vision of justice your focus… and it is not about turning your eyes to heaven but about turning towards human need and your part in it. Then you’ll usually find support around you, enough and to spare, (remember the Hebrew adage, “it is sufficient.”) So how can we strive for the Kingdom, for righteousness and God’s justice with what God has given us?
Tony Campolo, noted motivational speaker and teacher at Eastern University says that the question students ask him most often is, “How can I know what God wants me to do with my life?” To which he answers that he doesn’t know. In fact, he recounts, he’s not sure that Jesus even wants us to look that far ahead. Perhaps God doesn’t really CARE that you decide all at once for your whole life! What Jesus calls us to do is to solve, “What should I be doing today?”
You know, we have been given the best gifts from God, and one of them is the gift of the “Greatest Story Ever Told.” We have the anticipation of Advent – God’s Love in flesh at Christmas – the Light of the World coming into our darkness at Epiphany and the Journey of Lent. We have the Passion of Christ’s excruciating death, and the Glory of his Resurrection. Easter’s New Life. And Pentecost’s power IN US…so that we can be unafraid and free, just as Jesus was free. Rooted in spiritual awareness: Beloved Child of God. He knew (in the depth of his being) that he belonged to God before his birth, that he was sent into the world to proclaim God's love, and that he would return to God after his mission was fulfilled. This knowledge gave Jesus the freedom to speak and act without having to please the world*… (or any other masters.)
We, too, are free in God through this water (lifting water from the Baptismal font.) So what is it that you are free to do today? How will you seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness and honor God with the unique gift that you are? Remember that the Veggie Tales always say, “God made you special, and He loves you very much.” Amen.
*Resources: Henri Nouwen and William Loader
