May 25: Matthew 6: 24-34
We imagine Jesus, standing on a hilltop, broadcasting instructions to a throng of followers. Matthew says, “When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.” (5:1) Jesus preaches to a congregation of twelve. Let's imagine Jesus didn't leave the crowds behind. Picture an audience who listen in over the shoulders of Peter and his friends. This is Matthew's way of leaping over the first people who heard Jesus, to the church he wrote his Gospel for. That includes you and me. Don't forget that original audience, Jesus' inner circle. These words are instructions for people who have already thrown their whole life in with Jesus. The Sermon on the Mount isn't a collection of wise watchwords for anyone and everyone, bolstered by parallels in the teaching of other faiths. It's a hard-core call to insiders, the people who know who Jesus is.
For Matthew, Jesus teaching on the mountain is a new Moses. Some scholars see Matthew's Gospel falling into five “books,” just like the Old Testament Books of Moses. The disciples are the 12 men who will go on to form a renewed covenant people. The Sermon on the Mount is like a new set of commandments for the household Jesus gathers around himself.
Today's Gospel isn't a call to cast off all care. We who overhear these words often think that. In a world of rising oil prices, shrinking pension funds, climate change … who can live up to Jesus' high ideal?
Jesus' words call us to stop worrying about the wrong things. To care about the right things. To focus, first, on the one thing that never changes. “Look!” says Jesus. Focus! Single vision, zeroed-in on what God wants us to see. The birds on the branches. The long grass, moving with the wind. Look and see God's care. How God has taken care to make the simplest things beautiful.
Remember who we are! Created in God's image. God's covenant partners. Friends of Jesus. Won't God take care of us? Stop acting like people who don't yet know what we now know of God, through Jesus.
Now, “strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness …” (33) There's the call to care about the right things. Even to worry a little. Worry that leads to action, because the fear that feeds the wrong kind of worry is gone. If we really believe God cares and provides, want and change can't scare us. We may still worry we won't be able to respond to God's call, or live up to God's righteousness. The only way to find out is to try!
The last part of verse 33 can lead to all manner of distortions, including the Prosperity Gospel. We might think Jesus means, “Put God and righteousness first, and we'll get everything we want.” Or at least everything we need. In that formulation “righteousness” is well defined as a very strict personal morality that's beyond the reach of most people. And a brand of politics that serves the already-fortunate few. I wish Jesus had said, “all these things will fall into place!” Not, “all these things will be given to you as well.”
Jesus is talking about God's order. A lot of “these things” won't belong there. Some things we won't even care for when we find the right focus, and try to put first things first. Bring in verse 34, and remember the prayer that comes just a little earlier in the Sermon on the Mount. Don't forget Jesus' first disciples never imagined the wealth and over-abundance we take for granted. “All these things” meant enough to meet the true needs of each day. One day at a time.
Sometimes we give up striving for the kingdom. We think we have to bring it to the world all at once. But the reign of God comes closer one day at a time.
