Our gods ... or our God?

Isaiah 49:8-16a
Psalm 131
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Matthew 6:24-34



“Hell is where you get what you want and have to live with it.”
- Stanley Hauerwas



How much is “too much”? How little is “not enough”? And by what standard do we measure either? Obviously the standard will depend on any number of variables including what part of the world we live in, but even in the United States we constantly debate these questions and wonder how it can be that some have far more than they can possibly need in a lifetime while others struggle just to make it through the day. The politicians try their level best to convince us that the so-called “middle class” is getting hammered while the poor get poorer and the rich get richer. No matter what the particular issue is, there never seems to be a point in which contentment is ever achieved because once we reach a particular plateau we raise the standard. And we raise this standard according to society’s, and our own, expectations.

I think it is a mistake to believe that what Jesus is talking about in Matthew’s Gospel is restricted only to material goods; the entire sixth chapter has more to do with the conflicts which most of us endure in discovering where we are versus where we should be. The “needs” to which Jesus refers are the very basics of what we require: food and clothing, although we might also add shelter and transportation to the list. Beyond this, however, what more is there?

Even if we expand the list of basics to more accurately fit our own lives and our sense of need according to our particular circumstances, the whole point that Jesus is making has little to do with material acquisition. I think maybe it has more to do with the choices we make and the reasons for those choices in the context of His admonition to “seek first the kingdom of G-d and His righteousness”. Only when this is achieved, He seems to suggest, will we find our genuine needs fulfilled.

Strictly speaking, what needs could we possibly have beyond food and clothing? Some would suggest that my particular needs cannot be fairly compared to the needs of others, that it is unfair to suggest that any one of us could establish an acceptable standard by which genuine needs can be measured, and this would be a fair statement. I think the problem most of us might have with this passage is that what we think we need (or want) may be in direct conflict with what has perhaps been ordered for our lives and, most likely, our confusion between “want” and “need”. Spiritually speaking, where does this passage take us? How can we know that the “stuff” we have is not in some way restricting our ability to pray, for instance, with a clear mind and conscience? How can we know that we are making choices that may conflict with what Jesus is encouraging us to do?

I think perhaps the key word in this entire passage is “worry”. Who among us has not laid awake at night at one time or another in our lives worrying about one thing or another? I know that when I was younger and my wife and I were just starting out, I lost a lot of sleep worrying about how the bills were going to get paid. When I lost my job earlier this year, the first couple of weeks were perhaps the most difficult period of my entire life because, as I had shared previously, I had my entire existence, my very identity, enmeshed with my job. So when I lost my job, I lost my identity. Who among us has not faced similar challenges especially when so much depends on our paychecks?

It’s not easy living in today’s society, and I know there is a lot of intense concern about which way we may be headed especially in the context of the price of a gallon of fuel. I freely admit to you that I am gravely concerned about whether my wife and I will be able to sell our home before we leave for Magnolia. Carrying that mortgage for too long is going to be a huge financial burden for us. But this is the rub, isn’t it? I am concerned about something I cannot control. I might be able to manipulate a newspaper ad to get more people to look at the house, but I cannot force anyone to buy it.

Fuel and food prices, both of which are beyond our control, continue to worry so many yet there is little any one of us can do about it, so it is as Jesus says: Why are you so worried about tomorrow when you still have today to deal with? And will your lives be somehow enhanced or lengthened by worrying?

Our gifts to the Kingdom of Heaven are entirely dependent on how well we use what has been divinely bestowed on us, so “seeking the Kingdom” must be considered within the context of what we have each been called to do. Equally as important, however, is to consider the Living Word which seeks to offer to us “abundant life” not only in the Age To Come but also in the age in which we find ourselves.

Tomorrow is coming, and the great challenge to us all is to determine WHICH GOD we will choose to get us through it. Will it be the Eternal, Ageless and Living God who continues to work in and through the lives of His faithful, or will it be some lifeless god of this age which even within its lifeless existence continually demands, devours and ultimately destroys?

Worry not, dear friends. Our heavenly Father knows what we need. If we believe Jesus enough to get us into Heaven, it should not be a far stretch to believe Him enough to get us through today. We can then worry about tomorrow when it comes.