I woke up this morning and remembered a verse from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:33 that says, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you."
I want to encourage us this week to do just that.
The Context of Matthew 6:33
In the context of this verse, Jesus is talking about how we should "not be anxious about your life". He gives examples of the birds and the lilies -- how neither of them truly sow nor reap nor gather for themselves but rather it is our Heavenly Father who feeds and clothes them. Jesus is arguing from the lesser to the greater here. It's as if He's saying: "Brothers and sisters, look all around you at God's creation. Don't you see how animals and plants, large and small, all have abundant provision in their own timing? If God does this for them, will He not also do that for you who are made in His image?"
In their times, worry about money, clothing, and food was "commonplace in the Greco-Roman world of the first century" (Jeannine K. Brown, Matthew: Text the Text Commentary Series). She continues with this cultural insight saying, "One model that reflects generally the relative economic levels in the Greco-Roman world suggests that about 3 percent of the population were of elite economic status. Another 17 percent would have been made up of merchants, some freedpersons and artisans, scribes and lectors, and military veterans, who would have had a measure of security and greater possibilities of upward mobility. The remaining 80 percent would have lived close to or below subsistence level."
In other words, Jesus is not talking to a ton of rich people who already have enough. Based on these stats and based on where Jesus is geographically, we know that most likely 90-95% of His audience in the Sermon on the Mount would've been from this "80% who lived close to or below subsistence level". The point here is that if Jesus is saying this to these people then He must truly mean that we have a Father in heaven who will surely provide for us.
We Cannot Worship God and Money
On the heels of this Jesus comes back to His command: "Therefore do not be anxious." This command is in 6:25 and 6:31. It is like a "command-sandwich" which has a persuasive example in between. Following this second issue of the command, Jesus tells us to not be like the world who "seek after all these things" but rather to trust that "your heavenly Father knows that you need them all". And because our heavenly Father knows we need provisions, rather than being anxious we should rather "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness". When we do that we can trust that "all these things will be added to you."
In the greater context of this section of Scripture, Jesus was just talking about how we should not and cannot worship both God and money. He implores us to not "lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal" (6:19). On the contrary, we are to "lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven" (6:20). The reason for this is because this shows where our hearts really are (6:21). Following this, Jesus goes on to say in 6:24 "You cannot serve God and money".
What does this have to do with our original text? The reason why we often go from legitimate worry to sinful anxiety is because of our idols. We have a worship problem. Anxiety, though having several influences, is at the core a worship issue most of all. Leon Morris and Jeannine Brown confirm this connection with anxiety, worship, and money. Morris says, "For this reason [in 6:25] connects this paragraph to the preceding; because it is impossible to be a slave to both God and money, we should not act as though possessions were the be-all and the end-all of life" (Leon Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew: The Pillar New Testament Commentary).
Why does this matter? This text about anxiety and money is not just for individuals but also for groups as a whole. It is for us. It is appropriate for us to have a godly worry about money but it is not right for us to grow in sinful anxiety about money. Sinful anxiety is the over-worrying about money in such a way where we doubt that God can and will provide for us. Godly worry drives us to pray and seek godly ethical ways to make money. Sinful anxiety makes us grow in distrust for God and can influence us to seek unethical ways to make the money.
What Is God Calling Us To Do?
First, we continue to seek godly ways to work, find helpful jobs, maybe make wise investments, and develop a helpful budget. We don’t pit the practical against being prayerful.
Second, and more where I want to focus, is that instead of reverting to sinful anxiety we should "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness" and trust that "all these things will be added to you". What does that look like?
In the context of the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus tells us to seek first the kingdom of heaven and His righteousness He means this is referring to everything that He has just been saying in this very sermon. Let me provide a bullet point list of what this is calling us to do while we seek godly ways to raise financial support in our church.
We should seek to be people who grow in our recognition that we are utterly and completely impoverished spiritually. That we have no ability on our own to change ourselves by our own power. We must have God's help. The goal of this is to see that Christ is rich in spirit for us (5:3).
We should seek to be people who mourn over our own sin (5:4). At the same time, we don't mourn without hope (1 Thess. 4:13) because we have Christ who has conquered our sin.
We should seek to grow in meekness and humility (5:5). We should also see that Jesus is the true Blessed Man who is meek and lowly towards us (Matt. 11:28-30). He is also the true example of humility (Philippians 2).
We should hunger and thirst most of all for righteous standing and righteous living (5:6). Our hunger will be satisfied as we see that it is Christ who is our righteousness (Rom. 3:21-31).
We should continue to show mercy to those who sin against us (5:7). This happens as we obsess over Christ's mercy towards us.
We should strive to be pure in heart (5:8). This comes from our union with Christ who empowers us by His Holy Spirit to grow in grace.
We should promote peacemaking in the church (5:9). Our greatest Enemy before our conversion (God Himself) has made peace with us through His Son by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:1-11). Because of this, we can and must pursue peace with people in our congregation.
We should persevere through persecution and continue to hold to the truth no matter what people say about us or label us as (5:10-12). Just like Jesus who endured the cross, despising the shame, because of the upward call of heaven.
We should determine to be salt and light in Stillwater (5:13-14). We should not hide our faith from others at our workplaces. We should repent of being ashamed of the gospel in our workplaces and neighborhoods. We should invite people to church, talk to them about the gospel, and pray with them. We do this because no one is more glorious, beautiful, and worthy of worship than Jesus Christ.
We should trust that Jesus alone is our righteousness because He has perfectly fulfilled the Law for us (5:17-20). This perfect righteousness is truly ours and God treats us this way.
We should repent of all anger in our hearts, harsh criticism of others, and pursue reconciliation with those in our church who we have broken relationships with (5:21-26). The great love and mercy that God has shown to us should replace our self-centered anger.
We should strive with all our might to repent of lust, pornography usage, lustful looks, any flirtation with someone other than our spouse, and even strive to be most wise with what we watch on TV or look at on social media or the Internet (5:27-30). The purity of Christ's holiness empowers us to hate lust and to love purity. To help with this effort, let us pursue each other and be vulnerable about our struggles. We know that it is God's grace that transforms us. So, as we hear each other confess our struggles, let us relay God's abundant and powerful mercy in Christ as we help each other fight against lust.
We should strive to build up the marriages in our church body (5:31-32). This is modeled after Christ's seeking out His Bride (Eph. 5). This means that by Christ's love for us we should be people who show Christlike love to our spouses.
We should be people who let our "yes be yes" and our "no be no" rather than confusing each other. Let us be a congregation of truth because Jesus is the Truth. (5:33-37)
We should endure the harsh criticisms of others, false accusations, unfair treatment, or whatever else comes our way due to our faithfulness to the Scriptures. Why? Because Jesus did it for us. (5:38-42)
We should love our enemies, the "problem people" in the church, and even those who malign us before others (5:43-48). Though we often fail in this area, Jesus has covered us with His own forgiveness and righteousness as He never returns evil for evil.
We should strive for genuine and authentic godliness rather than boastful self-righteousness and virtue signaling (6:1-4). We should trust that God delights to reward us when we are a giving church.
We must be a church who prays! We must have leaders who act as true representatives and pray for their people. Jesus gives us a model to pray and this prayer includes "Your kingdom come, your will be done". It also includes "give us this day our daily bread". Jesus cares about us asking for our needs to spread His kingdom. We should pray through our church roster for people and families by name. We should pray for our goals in the church. We should pray for the finances. We pray because we have Jesus Christ at the right hand of the Father who not only hears our prayers but answers our prayers (6:5-15).
We should be men who lead first and foremost with forgiveness in the face of sin. When our spouses, children, or friends sin against us we should be eager to forgive them when they confess their sins (6:14-15). Brothers, Jesus is trigger-happy to forgive our sins when we come to Him. He is NOT trigger-happy to shame us and beat us up.
We should think about having a season of fasting and praying for our finances (6:16-18). Jesus uses this to help us grow in longing for Him and His kingdom.
We should lay up treasures in heaven and grow in heavenly-mindedness rather than earthly-mindedness (6:19-24). Worldliness will greatly hurt our influence on our people. We are to be a congregation who should lead by "seeking the things that are above where Christ is seated" (Col. 3:1).
We should help promote a culture that repents of judgmentalism, gossip, and slander (7:1-6). Oh, how different God treats us! He goes on a grace-hunt with us!
We should ask specific requests of our God while trusting that He delights to give what we ask (7:7-11). This is because of the worth of Christ in His atonement for us.
We must be the "culture-makers" of our church by doing unto others as we wish they would do unto us. A big example of this is leading with forgiveness and assurance of Christ's righteousness. A part of this is to lead by "striving to enter the narrow gate" and encouraging others to do the same thing (7:12-14). Praise be to God that through Christ He opens wide that gate!
We should also be very aware of the dangers of false teaching coming into our church. We must do all we can to protect the ministry of the Word and only promote that which is faithful to the gospel of grace (7:15-20). Only the gospel of grace pardons sinners and gives them power to repent.
We should help each other understand that lots of religious activity is worth nothing if they don't know Jesus. We live in a world and culture that is all about doing things and billboarding one's philanthropy. But, Jesus sees straight through this. Eternal life is to know Him (John 17:3). We must promote a gospel-culture rather than a Law-culture. (7:21-23)
Lastly, we should do all we can to build all our ministry upon the Rock of Christ (7:24-27). Only He is the sturdy one. Only He can support us in the storm.
This is a long list. Not only is this a long list but this is an impossible list unless Christ Himself empowers us by the Holy Spirit. As I write this, I see my sinful heart. I have failed in many of these areas not only as a Christian but also as a leader. We stand in need of God's forgiveness and mercy. And we have it abundantly in Jesus! As infinite as Jesus is, so infinite is His grace towards us.
At the same time, this is worth our meditation and thoughtful implementation. Let us trust that God will provide for our needs as we seek His kingdom and His righteousness even more than we seek for our material and financial needs. He will provide! Let us do all we can to work hard, be wise, and learn what biblical stewardship is. Yet, while doing this, let us make sure we look upon our gracious Savior and by His power pursue His ways.