The Collect
Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his steps in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Readings:
Psalm 70; 71
Reading Leviticus 19:26-27
Gospel: Matthew 6:25-34
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Commentary:
The King James Version assigns the title “Do Not Be Anxious” to these verses, which is a continuance of the instruction given by Jesus to his disciples regarding life in the new Kingdom.
The basis of these instructions, can be summed up by verse 24; “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Bear with me for a moment, and I will explain this thought.
For illustrative purposes let us divide the chapter into 5 sections and summarize what each section is about:
- Verses 1-4, deal with giving to the needy
- Verses 5-15 speak about praying
- Verses 16-18 are about fasting
- Verses 19-24 talk about laying up treasures in Heaven, and
- Verses 25-34 caution against anxiety.
If you read this chapter with the idea in mind that Jesus is not so much telling his followers what to do as he is telling them what NOT to do, the entire chapter begins to make sense. The premise of what NOT to do becomes easily recognizable with the beginning of each of the first 3 sections, where he openly instructs us not to do as the Pharisees—in the KJV he calls them hypocrites—do when we give, pray or fast.
The Pharisees thought that God, judged his people by how pious they were; however the Pharisees became more obsessed with how they appeared to the community. When they gave to the needy they wanted the act to be witnessed by others, (v. 1a) they wanted to make a show, to draw attention to their giving (v. 2a) When they prayed they did so loudly and where they could be seen by their peers (v. 5a) and when they fasted, they made faces and feigned outward appearance so that others would think that their fast had been arduous and assiduous (v. 16a). Do you see a pattern here in these verses? The first part of each (a) outlines the problem, while the second part (b) states that the Pharisees or Hypocrites as he refers to them in this chapter, will receive no recompense in Heaven for their actions. In 2, 5, & 16, Jesus states categorically that those who have done as the Pharisees, have already received their reward; meaning that their only reward was being seen by mankind in the outward expression of their faith, with no reward or praise from God the Father.
In verse 24, Jesus states; “No man can serve two masters:” which means that by giving, praying or even fasting as the Pharisees did, they were in effect serving the master of their own vain glory, and not the glory of God.
“Jesus states that serving two masters is a simple impossibility. If you think that you are successfully serving two masters, you are deceived. It can’t be done. As ancient Israel struggled with idolatry, they thought they could worship the Lord God and Baal. God constantly reminded them that to worship Baal was to forsake the Lord God. To be loyal to the one is to despise the other.” (Guzik)
As Guzik pointed out, for the Pharisees to make an outrageous display of their piety, they were deceiving themselves, they were serving their own vain glory—an idolatrous act, which in effect demonstrated their own latent contempt for God.
Now in verse 25, we come to Jesus’ admonition against serving a different kind of master, that of fear, anxiety, or concerns that turn your attention away form God towards worldly devices. Matthew Henry wrote about this more than three hundred years ago: “There is scarcely any one sin against which our Lord Jesus more largely and earnestly warns his disciples, or against which he arms them with more variety of arguments, than the sin of disquieting, distracting, distrustful cares about the things of life, which are a bad sign that both the treasure and the heart are on the earth; and therefore he thus largely insists upon it.”
To read verse 25-34 one will naturally feel some sort of anxiety as in our human condition, we can’t help but ask; “What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?” But Jesus is not referring to normal and natural concerns, he knows we will care for our health, food to physically nourish us, water to remain hydrated, and sufficient clothing to protect our bodies from the elements. No, what he is speaking of is unreasonable fears and concerns. Even three hundred years ago, people were concerned about abiding by these verses which led Henry to write; “But the thought here forbidden is, a disquieting, tormenting thought, which hurries the mind hither and thither, and hangs it in suspense; which disturbs our joy in God, and is a damp upon our hope in him; which breaks the sleep, and hinders our enjoyment of ourselves, of our friends, and of what God has given us.”
“No man can serve two masters:” Again, natural concerns are to be expected but as Henry put it; “But the thought here forbidden is, a disquieting, tormenting thought, which hurries the mind hither and thither, and hangs it in suspense; which disturbs our joy in God, and is a damp upon our hope in him.” You see, even these unnatural fears and anxieties, can become a master so to speak, when these thoughts begin to distract us away from God and causing us to question our belief in Him.
In verses 26-30, Jesus speaks of the birds who do not plant crops or put up those crops in barns, but yet they are fed. He speaks of the lilies and the grasses of the field who grow and produce but do not worry about food or clothing. This analogy seems unlikely, but Jesus is pointing out that God’s authority and concern extends to all living things and that he will provide the necessities.
“The call here is not to forego beauty in clothing (or anything else), but to forego anxiety about clothing (or anything else). It is good to enjoy God’s beautiful gifts, but it is not good to worry about them. Again Jesus argues from the lesser to the greater. If God takes care of wildflowers and grass, won’t he also take care of his children?” (Donovan)
“Little faith’ is not a little fault; for it greatly wrongs the Lord, and sadly grieves the fretful mind. To think the Lord who clothes the lilies will leave his own children naked is shameful. O little faith, learn better manners!” (Spurgeon)
“Jesus does not say that food and clothing are unimportant but, to the contrary, reminds us that the Father—the one who created us to be human—knows full well our need for food, clothing, and “all these things.” We don’t have to persuade the Father about this, because the Father has known it all along. We can take comfort in that fact, because the Father is capable of meeting our needs” (Donovan)
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (v. 33) “But seek first the kingdom of God: This must be the rule of our life when ordering our priorities. Yet it is wrong to think that this is just another priority to fit onto our list of priorities – and to put at the top. Instead, in everything we do, we seek first the kingdom of God.” (Guzik)
“The star toward which the Christian is to navigate is God—God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness. The promise is that the person who steers in that direction will ånd blessings along the way. The promise is not wealth, but essentials—food and clothing. These two, food and clothing, serve as a metaphor for all the essentials: air to breathe, medical care, shelter, and all the rest.” (Donovan)
A thorough study of Jesus’ teachings of the Kingdom of Heaven—on Earth—reveals that he was speaking of a community of friends and brothers or sisters that help and care for each other as they also care for the Least of these. We manifest this kingdom of heaven when we glorify God by being good husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, and good workers for God, bringing his kingdom to a reality.
“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” “Do not worry about tomorrow: If you must worry, worry only for the things of today. Most of our worry is over things that we have absolutely no control over anyway, and is therefore foolish as well as harmful.”(Guzik)
“In the Parable of the Bridesmaids (25:1-13), Jesus makes it clear that preparation is essential—although the preparation called for in that parable is spiritual in nature, and is not intended to secure the cradle-to-grave physical security that we crave. While planning and preparing, we can be sure that God is for us, so we have no need to be anxious (Romans 8:31). That does not constitute a guarantee that God will endorse all our plans or open all the doors that we want opened, but it is a guarantee that God will open the right doors at the right times. Nor is it a guarantee that we will not suffer. Christ calls us to crossbearing discipleship (8:34), and many Christians have suffered and even died for their faith. However, it is a promise that, in life and death, we belong to God and, in life and death, God provides for our needs.” (Donovan)
Benediction
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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