Do you remember when you were young ever dreaming about what you wanted to be when you grew up? We thought of all the cool things that people were doing.
That’s a question that might come up several times in our lives. We may wonder about our career or what to do with our lives. Some common advice is to identify the things you’re passionate about or the things that really matter, and find a way to work within that.
Video:
Audio only
We have been looking at the Sermon on the Mount, and we get to a portion of this great message where Jesus is essentially asking that question: What are you looking for in life? What is it that really matters to you?
Things that reveal our priorities
In my Bible reading I’m about to start reading Ecclesiastes. That can be a hard read. We’re told constantly that everything is meaningless, everything is vanity. It’s hard to maintain your positivity when you keep receiving that message.
However, when you take a deeper look at the book, there’s a bigger picture unfolding. Solomon was a man who had it all. In this book he tells us that he tried to find meaning in wealth, in power, in wisdom, in love, and in knowledge. None of that was enough.
Ultimately he concludes all the things that we think will make us happy are meaningless. He comes to one conclusion: Fear God and look to Him. That’s the only thing that matters.
In the latter half of Matthew 6, Jesus echoes a lot of the message of Ecclesiastes. He does so by first discussing the things that reveal our priorities.
The things we invest in.
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV)
Jesus begins with a look at what we pour ourselves into. He asks where our treasures are. Do we pour our money and efforts into things that are temporary or into what is everlasting?
Risk is an important consideration in investments. Pretty much anything we can invest in has risk. Stocks can crash, the economy can melt down, or thieves can take it away. What happens when everything is gone?
There’s one investment that has no risk: when we store up treasures in heaven. When we invest ourselves into God’s kingdom, nothing can take that away.
Our attention
The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy your whole body will be full of light.But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Matthew 6:22-24 (NIV)
Many in the advertising and media circles will tell you that we live today in what they call an attention economy. Advertisers and marketers and content creators are all competing for your attention.
In the end, the things we pay attention to are the things that ultimately what impact so many things about us. When we give our attention to darkness, we find the darkness creeps inside. Jesus tells us that if what we think is light is really darkness, we truly are stuck in darkness.
Our concerns
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? 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? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 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? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
Matthew 6:25-32 (NIV)
One of the most difficult things for me is packing for a trip. I can go on a two day trip and think I need to fit five changes of clothes into my carryon bag. I’m a little amazed at how well the zipper on that bag has held up.
There’s a future tense in a lot of these worries that Jesus talks about. We might have food today, but what about next week? We may have a shirt on our backs at this moment, but what will we have in a month?
That worry and concern over what we will have later on can consume us today.
Jesus responds to the things that have our attention
The hard part is when Jesus tells us not to worry. We can easily find ourselves where when someone tells us not to worry, we worry more. However, Jesus gives us a tool to offset that tendency, as he gives us something that can replace that worry.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:33-34
Jesus brought up several things that capture our minds and our priorities. Where do we spend our money and efforts? What is it that gets our attention? What are the day to day concerns that consume us.
And then he gives us an answer. It’s an answer that sounds very much like the conclusion in Ecclesiastes.
Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.
Seek God, seek His kingdom. His righteousness. Look to Him and put your trust in Him. Lean on Him.
God is never going away. Our investments and priorities are never in vain. He will never leave us high and dry.
Seek God and His Kingdom, and He will take care of the rest.
What does it mean to seek His kingdom first?
I went through a period where I was back to the question of what I wanted to do when I grew up. When people advised that I follow my passions, I didn’t know what those were. That kind of became my passion: to discover my passions.
Seeking God’s kingdom is in some ways taking that concept to the next level. It becomes us discovering what God is passionate about and seeking those things. What does God seek, what does He want? What are the priorities of the kingdom.
As we grow in maturity and follow Jesus more closely, the Kingdom priorities become our priorities. This is what it is to seek His kingdom first.
The timing of this passage and our ministerial search
When this series of messages was planned, there was no indication we would be making a decision on a potential new minister. And yet here we are, with this passage falling on the day that we vote whether or not to call a particular individual.
It seems there is a lot of anxiety and emotion around this vote. Is this the right step to take as a congregation?
This is why the message is so appropriate for us today: Seek His Kingdom first. Let Him take care of the details.
Maybe it’s where we have to ask ourselves, what do we as a congregation want to be when we grow up? What really matters to us? We can learn from that message: The more we make Him our priority, the more we can rely on God working through this.
Maybe our decision isn’t as much what’s the best decision. Perhaps it’s what do we seek? What’s the most important to us? When we’re clear on the fact that it’s God’s Kingdom that matters the most, God takes care of the rest.