Sermon for November 18th, 2018

Matthew 6:24-33

24 “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Simple Gifts: What Do We Require?

Today's sermon is about the three essential things we require to live: Food, drink, and...well, something else.

I'm reminded of the story about the Scotsman who was shipwrecked and, after several days, washed ashore on a small island. As he regained consciousness on the beach, he saw a beautiful, scantily-clad woman standing over him. She asked, "Would you like some food?" The Scotsman hoarsely croaked, "Och, lassie, I havna' ittin a bite in a week noo and I am verra hungry!"

So the woman disappeared into the woods and quickly came back with a heaping plate of steaming haggis, which the hungry Scotsman quickly devoured. Then the beautiful woman asked him, "Would you like something to drink?" "Och, aye! That haggis has made me verra thirsty." She went off into the woods again and returned with a bottle of 75-year-old single-malt Scotch whiskey.

The Scotsman is now beginning to think that he's in heaven when the beautiful, scantily-clad woman leans closer and whispers, "Would you like to play around?" A great smile breaks over the Scotsman's face, and he says, "Och, lassie, don't tell me ye've got a golf course here too!"

So food, drink, and...golf. Actually, the list according to Jesus in today's scripture passage may be slightly different on that last one...but that's probably only because golf hadn't been invented yet.

This month we are talking about Simple Gifts, or cultivating a life of simplicity in our life, our faith, and our giving. Last week, we learned from the Book of Micah about the three simple gifts that God asks of us: To do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God. Today, we learn from Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew about the three simple gifts we ask God to provide for us. But before we get into that, some context.

Matthew chapter 6 is at the heart of Jesus' most well-known teachings, what's known as the Sermon on the Mount. In chapter 5, Jesus begins this sermon with the Beatitudes (Blessed are those who...) and then in chapter 7 he concludes it with the Golden Rule (do unto others) and the story of the wise man who built his house on the rock.

But here in chapter 6, the middle chapter, we find the Lord's prayer, and interestingly, a lot of teaching about money. Did you know that Jesus actually talks about money more than almost any other subject--including love--except for one: the Kingdom of God? If you don't believe me, read for yourself.

Why does Jesus spend so much time talking about money? I don't know, but I suspect it's because the people listening to Jesus back then (just like us today) spent a whole lot of time thinking about money, worrying about money, chasing, guarding, spending, or saving money.

And so Jesus begins, in our scripture passage today, with a bold claim: "No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."

I don't think any of us--rich or poor or anywhere in between--want to see ourselves as serving money. We all like to think that our money serves us. The greek word translated in the NRSV as "serve" is δουλεύειν (doulein)...literally "to be a slave to."

worry = μεριμνάω - to be divided, pulled in two different directions

feeds = τρέφω = to provide for, nourish, take care of

toil = κοπιάω = work to the point of exhaustion

περιβάλλω = to wear = to be covered by, surrounded ourselves with

Needs acknowledged by God: Eat, Drink, and be Clothed (sheltered).