34 “Therefore do not be anxious about
tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is
its own trouble.
Matthew
6:25-34
The start of our passage today is
with the word “Therefore.” This connecting word indicates that there is
a continuation from the previous passage.
And the previous passage we found is:
24 “No one
can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or
he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. (v. 24)
Here
we find out that we are face to face with a critical reality. Wanted or not we have to choose. A choice has to be made between God and
money. No one can serve both at the same
time. As declared by Jesus Himself,
being a slave of these two masters is not possible. If one chooses to serve God, then he will not
serve money, and vice versa. Obviously
the right choice is to serve God and ditch money. Jesus is not saying that we can’t use money
or be rich. What He is saying here is
about choosing to be a slave of either God or money. This spiritual reality is not something we
can take lightly. It becomes heavier as
we grow older. Its reality becomes more
confronting as we mature. There comes a
time when we DO make a choice. And it is
always a conscious choice.
The conscious choice may be caused by
many reasons, but particularly the pressure of life – the need of food,
clothing, and shelter. The three basic
needs worry us. We are prone to panic
when these three needs are not met. When
our stomach growls because of hunger, but yet there is no food on the table, no
food within grasp, no money in the pocket to buy food, we panic. When we panic we often forget our
principles. When we forget our
principles we lost our life purpose.
When we lost our life purpose we abandon our sacred identity. So we strive to alleviate the pain of hunger,
of nakedness, of the torture of elements, of the insecurity, at all cost. And often, even to the point of selling our
souls. This is the main problem we are
dealing here.
Therefore Jesus is teaching His
audience a very sharp teaching as we read in our passage earlier. His audience display worry and panic when
their basic needs are not met. In their
panic mode they fall into selling their souls to money. Gradually they become servants of money. They worry about food. So they forget that their life is more
important than food. They worry about
clothing. So they forget that their body
is more important than clothes. Then
they forget about a lot of things. They
become dull. They no longer have sharp
minds. They cannot discern that the
birds of the air are even being fed by God in heaven, even though they neither
plant nor store up. The birds of the air
are not worried. But yet the most
valuable beings on earth are worried.
They forget that they are much much more valuable than the birds of the
air.
Forgetfulness seems to be their daily
routine. For they also forget to observe
the lilies of the field, which do not work to dress themselves, yet dressed
most beautifully by God Himself, even more beautiful than Solomon’s
splendor. They can’t discern that those
lilies of the field only live for a day.
They bloom in the morning and die in the evening, but yet their dress is
so glorious and beautiful. In their
panic mode, they cannot see how they are more valuable than the lilies of the
field. Their panic leads them to sell
their souls to become slaves of mammon.
Jesus identifies the core of their
main problem – their lack of faith.
Their lack of faith prompts them to be anxious excessively. It is their coping mechanism. They would feel more meaningful as they are
anxious. They think that when they are
anxious they are wiser. They think that
when they are anxious they are better.
So Jesus asks them: “And which of you by being anxious can add
a single hour to his span of life?” A
rhetorical question to which the answer is nobody can. But their lack of faith is chronic. It’s a disease that robs people their peace. It destroys their core being. And this does not happen only to them 2000
years ago.
This happens to us too in our
glorious scientific and technological age.
We think that when technology is so advanced and that we have found so
many answers to life problems through the improvement of many areas of life, we
would be less anxious, less worry, more at peace. But we are wrong. We grow more anxious. We worry more excessively. We worry not only when our three basic needs
are not met, but also when even after our three basic needs have been met. We worry that we do not get a chance to enjoy
the perks and the fireworks of life. We
are anxious whether we would be able to secure the position that we have
coveted since day one we work in that company.
We are anxious whether we would be able to upgrade our cars or
houses. We worry that we would not be
able to hang out with our friends. We
worry that our clothing style is outdated.
We worry that we don’t know the latest news. We lack sleep over whether we would get the
lush end of year bonuses. We are anxious
whether we could go to Disneyland with our family. Our worries are worse than those people
listening to Jesus 2000 years ago. We
worry not over the primary need, but over the secondary and tertiary need. This is way worse. If we worry over secondary and tertiary need,
how much more if our primary need appears to be unattainable. We live like the Gentiles do. We live as if there is no God. All because we too lack faith. In our lack of faith we adopt the way of life
of the pagans. The second we walk that
path, God no longer exists in our heart.
God would just live in our mind as information, but never as God who
controls the universe, who is sovereign over our life. No, I do not suggest that we exploit our
faith to force God to satisfy our secondary and tertiary need. Not at all.
Secondary and tertiary need can’t ascend to the place where we must
worry. Worrying and being anxious over
secondary and tertiary need in itself should not have happened. In this modern day and age, we are tangled in
the web of anxiety over not so important a thing. How then can we get out of the venomous grip
of anxiety?
To His audience, Jesus gives a way
out. It can be found in verses 32-34:
32 For the
Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you
need them all. But seek first the
kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to
you.
34 “Therefore
do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.
Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
The
Gentiles seek treasures on earth. They
seek satisfaction through the abundance of food, the variety of clothing, the
comfort of housing, the accumulation of money, and all, to secure their
life. But believers in God ought not
live the way the Gentiles do. Simply
because God knows what they need and He provides them. Instead, the believers’ way of life is to
seek the kingdom of God, to seek His righteousness all their life, without
worrying about the physical needs.
Seeking God’s kingdom means desiring
the presence of God’s reign with passion.
We desire Him to command us. We
desire Him to be our King. We desire to
abide by His law. We desire to live as
citizens of God’s kingdom. It is within
the Lord’s prayer: “Thy Kingdom come.” In the midst of the world that rejects God as
king, His subjects are to embrace God as king.
When the world denies God, we admit Him.
When the world hates God, we love Him.
When the world dismisses God, we proclaim Him.
By doing so, Jesus says, all the
things that we need will be added to us.
Contrary to the way of the world, we do not abandon God for the purpose
to gain the world. Instead, we abandon
the world so we may gain God as we seek His kingdom and His righteousness
precisely when the world moves against it.
When we gain God we gain everything.
God is the source of all things.
But this can only happen when we truly submit to His reign. Then and only then we may understand the
meaning of Jesus words that we ought not to worry about about tomorrow, for
tomorrow will worry about itself. No, it
is not our portion to worry about tomorrow.
We do not know what tomorrow may bring.
We do not have the power to control tomorrow. And we do not live in the tomorrow. We live in the now. The trouble we experience in the present does
not need to be added with tomorrow’s trouble.
Our strength is only enough for the present. Beyond that we destroy ourselves. There is a saying that goes: “Yesterday is
history, tomorrow is a mystery,
today is a gift, that is why we call it a present.” Tomorrow is a mystery for us. No one knows what is in it. We have no capacity to predict tomorrow. But tomorrow is not a mystery for God. If we live for tomorrow we live in
unnecessary trouble. Lao Zi says: “If
you are depressed you live in the past, if you are anxious you live in the
future, but if you are at peace you live in the present.” No man can live in the past or in the
future. Such ordeal destroys our core
being.
And so, for us who live in this 21st
century, we must reorganize our priority.
Do not worry about whether we are wearing the most current trend clothes
or not. Trend and styles are not even
essential. Do not be anxious whether we
would be able to vacation in Disneyland or not.
Disneyland vacation is not substantial at all. Do not worry about whether you have the money
to dine at Sushi Tei or not. Sushi Tei
dining is not our primary need. Do not
be anxious whether you are able to afford the newly built five stars luxurious
apartment with three bedrooms and three bathrooms that is located in the most
strategic business district in town.
Luxurious apartment will never be essential for our life. The questions for us folks, “Why chase all
those non-essential things? Why live
like pagans for the sake of gaining the non-substantial things? Why abandon God to gain the world?”
A legend is told about Alexander the
Great. He conquered a vast territory in
such a young age. His brilliance in
conquest was the source of awe for many people throughout the ages. His success was the envy of the world. He was so rich, so powerful, a king. The legend is told about the wisdom of Alexander
as he was nearing death. An illness
struck him. He could not be cured. And he was about to die. Listen to the story that is circulating
almost everywhere:
So
the mighty conqueror lay prostrate and pale, helplessly waiting to breathe his
last. He called his generals and said, "I will depart from this world
soon, I have three wishes, please carry them out without fail."
With
tears flowing down their cheeks, the generals agreed to abide by their king's
last wishes. "My first desire is this: My physicians alone must carry my
coffin."
After
a pause, he continued, "Secondly, I desire that when my coffin is being
carried to the grave, the path leading to the graveyard be strewn with gold,
silver and precious stones which I have collected in my treasury”.
The
king felt exhausted after saying this. He took a minute's rest and continued.
"My third and last wish is that both my hands be kept dangling out of my
coffin."
The
people who had gathered there wondered at the king's strange wishes. But no one
dare bring the question to their lips. Alexander's favorite general kissed his
hand and pressed them to his heart. "O king, we assure you that your
wishes will all be fulfilled. But tell us why do you make such strange
wishes?"
At
this Alexander took a deep breath and said: "I would like the world to
know of the three lessons I have just learnt. I want my physicians to carry my
coffin because people should realize that no doctor can really cure any body.
They are powerless and cannot save a person from the clutches of death. So let
not people take life for granted.
The
second wish of strewing gold, silver and other riches on the way to the
graveyard is to tell the people that not even a fraction of gold will come with
me. I spent all my life earning riches but cannot take anything with me. Let
the people realize that it is a sheer waste of time to chase wealth.
“And
about my third wish of having my hands dangling out of the coffin, I wish the
people to know that I came empty handed into this world and empty handed I go
out of this world."
With
these words, the king closed his eyes. Soon he let death conquer him and he
breathed his last.
The legend contains
wisdom. A Gentile king realized the
vanity of chasing after wealth. And he
had to prove it with his meaningless life.
At the end of his life he realized it.
But it was too late. He was
dying. All his wealth did not go with
him. What was then the meaning of his
life?
How about us? Do
we seek to be like Alexander the Great?
To be so rich, to be so powerful, to live like king? Even with our primary needs met, do we still
feel anxious because we desire for more and other things – secondary and
tertiary? It is meaningless. “A
chasing after the wind,” the teacher in Ecclesiastes says. No, for us, the believers, children of the
living God, we who have faith in God, even in the times of trouble, even in
difficulties, we do not abandon God to gain the world. No, for us, the believers, children of the
living God, we who have faith in God, we seek first His kingdom and His
righteousness. We find meaning in God
Himself. We do not find meaning in
riches, in wealth, in the physical things of this fleeting world. We do not worry. We are not to live anxiously. Tomorrow is a mystery. Leave it to God. Have faith in Him. Our part is to live according to His Kingdom
of justice and righteousness. Then we
will live in peace, in His perfect shalom, from today until the second coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment