Sermon: Look Consider Seek (Matthew 6:25 33)

Transcription

1 Sermon: Look Consider Seek (Matthew 6:25 33) Dan Mueller, 19th Feb 2017, Harvest Thanksgiving Text Matthew 6:25 33 NIV [Jesus said to his disciples:] 25 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 than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away [produce] in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? [Consider] how the [wild] flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. 30 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 you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Sermon Introduction Our Gospel reading today is challenging. At first glance it seems Jesus is jumping on the bandwagon with some of the latest fads and ideologies. He says: Don t worry about your food. Don t worry about your clothes. In fact, don t worry about your life at all. Don t worry, be happy just chill. Look at the birds and flowers, do what they do. It could sound like Jesus is saying we should quit farming! The birds do not sow or reap store away gain in barns, he says with the apparent subtext so why do you? Should we get rid of industry and agriculture at Jesus command? Or maybe you ve heard of fruitarians? A fruitarian is a raw vegan, eating only botanical fruits in their natural state fruit that falls naturally to the ground. A Walla Walla Lutheran Parish Page 1 of 5

2 strict fruitarian has no potatoes, no brocolli, no food that kills the plant by eating it. Maybe that s what Jesus means. Or maybe Jesus was the first minimalist? Minimalists, to quote, search for happiness not through things, but through life itself. Serious minimalists free themselves from consumer culture by decluttering, getting rid of excess stuff, and eliminating discontent by rejecting possessions. Is this what Jesus means when he says life is more than food and clothes and stuff? Or perhaps Jesus has no clue about farming? I mean, if you left the sheep and cattle and grain to themselves, letting the heavenly Father feed them, it s fairly likely the whole lot will end up dead pretty quick. We can t just sit at home all day and not worry: plants and animals need water, food and fertilizer, disease and pest control! On the surface Jesus words seem anti-social, economically naïve, simplistic, idealistic, unrealistic, and perhaps even down right lazy! What s going on? Do not worry! Well, I think Jesus words to us today are actually the opposite of all of that. Jesus is not being anti-social, but anti-selfish. Jesus is not being simplistic, but deeply profound. This teaching is part of the Sermon on the Mount; we heard an earlier part last week. Jesus is still sitting on the mountainside teaching his disciples. Except here he is talking about priorities the priority for Jesus disciples is not themselves, but God and others. That is his message for us today. Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? 32 For the pagans [obsessively seek] all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Jesus is using various figures of speech to say: Quit worrying about the unimportant things! Quit worrying about accumulating possessions and consuming stuff, that is not what life is about. Quit worrying about your superficial appearance, that is not what your body is for. Your life and body are dedicated to God, to thank and praise him! But how? How can we thank and praise God? Well, Jesus goes on in our passage, freeing us from relentless consumption and obsessive self-centredness. He gives us three commands: Look! Consider! Seek! Let s examine each one in turn. Walla Walla Lutheran Parish Page 2 of 5

3 (1) Look! First Jesus invites us to look: 26 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? Jesus invites us to pause from what we are doing, and come sit with him on that mountainside with his disciples. Jesus points at the creation around: Look at the birds of the air, he says. Your heavenly Father created them, and everything else. The Father almighty is Creator of heaven and earth. God created you and all that exists. God gives to you freely your life and body. And he preserves and sustains you. Just as your heavenly Father feeds the birds of the air, so he sustains you and all that exists. He provides the sun and warmth and food and water for survival. You don t deserve this, you ve done nothing to merit this gift. Yet you are valuable to your heavenly Father. So valuable that he sent his Son to make his kingdom come and declare you right with God. Look and remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives. Be thankful for all that he freely gives to you and all creatures. (2) Consider! Second Jesus leads us to consider: 28 [Consider] how the [wild] flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. 30 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 you of little faith? Jesus again invites us to pause and sit with him on the mountain. He gestures to a nearby wild flower: Consider how the wild flowers of the field grow, he says. Your heavenly Father not only provides all that is necessary for survival, but he also clothes his creation in beauty. God the Creator and Sustainer is also the greatest Artist and Poet. Stop and learn about the intricate beauty of this flower. Count the petals and marvel at the design of your eye. Smell the scent and stand in awe of insect pollination. Touch the leaves and feel the warmth of the sun triggering cellular reactions converting light to chemical energy. Consider your fingerprints; stop and look at them right now. God the Illustrator drew this unique pattern for you. No matter how much you labour and spin you ll never match the splendour and majesty of the Artist and Poet. He stretches out the heavens like a tent, he made the moon to mark the seasons, he paints the sunsets and knows when the sun goes down and rises again, he makes the grass grow for cattle, he opens his hand and satisfies you with good and beautiful things. He weaves together the story of the universe, and you are his workmanship and poem, created in Christ and saved through faith to do good works which he has composed for you. You thank and praise God the Artist and Poet when you consider the beauty of his creation. Walla Walla Lutheran Parish Page 3 of 5

4 (3) Seek! Lastly Jesus calls us to seek: The pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. In contrast to disciples of Jesus, the pagans run after things: they relentlessly seek stuff, consumed with economic concerns, obsessed with superficial appearance, gripped in a nasty cycle of accumulating possessions because the more you have the more worried you are you ll lose it all. Buy buy buy, more more more, me me me. Jesus calls his disciples to a simpler seeking. Not a seeking after self, but a quiet and steady trust in the Father an unwavering belief that his kingdom comes, and his righteous will be done. But as his disciples we don t bring about the kingdom; God does, for it is his kingdom and his righteousness. But what is God s kingdom that we are seeking? The kingdom is the state in which disciples live and serve as saved people, redeemed by Jesus Christ from sin, death, and the power of the devil. We are members of this kingdom by the grace freely given us, believing by faith that Jesus is the Son of God, who two thousand years ago stood on a mountain and taught his disciples that we need not worry because we are valuable and beautiful in the eyes of our heavenly Father. And by the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus is gathering members into God s kingdom from all nations. He does this through you the church! As you live, serve, thank, and praise the LORD in selflessness, others are drawn into the kingdom. God s Spirit works faith in the hearts of those who hear the Word and receive the Sacraments. His kingdom comes to us now, as the Spirit exposes the lies of the self-seeking consumer-driven world, and brings belief in the Word of God the Truth. His kingdom also comes to us in eternity, as our lives and bodies are being recreated to dwell with God forever. Conclusion So, in everything you do every moment, every seemingly mundane task may you look, consider, and seek. (1) May you look and be thankful that God creates and sustains your life & body. Your very being, even your faith in Christ, is created from nothing and freely given to you. (2) May you consider and be thankful for the beauty that is all around. You are a unique work of art who is eternally valuable to God. (3) May you seek after his kingdom now and in eternity. As you live and serve God, and selflessly love others, may they be drawn into the kingdom by God s Word and Spirit. May his kingdom come and his righteous will be done. So I leave you with three challenges for the coming week. (1) Stop and look at the world around you. Think about where God has sustained you in the past? How is he sustaining you right now, today? Walla Walla Lutheran Parish Page 4 of 5

5 (2) Stop and consider the beauty of everyday things. Look at your fingerprints, the wood grain in a desk, a hair, dirt on your shoes. As you consider this beauty, praise the LORD the great Author and Poet. (3) Stop and seek God s kingdom. How are you loving and serving those around you? Who in your life needs to hear God s Word, and be changed by the power of the Holy Spirit? May God guide and bless you this week. Amen. Walla Walla Lutheran Parish Page 5 of 5