Matthew 6:25-33
Jesus said, "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? 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? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 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? Therefore do not worry, saying, `What will we eat?' or `What will we drink?' or `What will we wear?' For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
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"Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." That's quite a promise. Don't worry about what you will eat, or drink, or wear and God will provide them. It is a promise that very few of us are called on to test. You see, for most of us, God has already filled God's part of the bargain. We are surrounded by abundance. We might wonder about what we are going to eat, drink, or wear, but the wondering is simply choosing from the array of choices we have. Should I have fish or chicken for lunch? Sweet or unsweetened tea? - a choice I didn't know existed until I came to Arkansas. Our worry about clothes is confined to how appropriate they are for the occasion or the changing weather, or the fashion statement they make.
I look at this gospel reading and ask, "What does this have to do with me? - when God has already provided more than I will ever need. It's the easiest thing in the world for me, for most of us, not to worry about having enough food, or drink, or clothing. I could attempt to stretch the message a bit and say, "Well, I really shouldn't worry about having enough money to pay my daughter's rather expensive tuition, Jesus is telling me here that he will provide. I'll just seek the Kingdom of God and the money for tuition, or the trip I would like to take will be given to me as well. And I could stand here and tell you that the message for us, affluent by any of the world's standards is, "Don't worry so much about your mortgage payment, or buying that new car, the new flat screen TV...seek the Kingdom of God and these things will be added to you as well."
Somehow that just doesn't ring true. I think it doesn't ring true, because we as 21st century Christian Americans are always reading scripture and imagining that the Bible was written with us in mind - that Jesus is talking directly to us.
Consider this: Maybe we are just overhearing the conversation. Perhaps the conversation is between Jesus and the real poor, those who live lives of very real physical deprivation. In the verse that appears just before today's gospel reading, we hear Jesus saying, "No one can serve two masters. You can not serve God and wealth." This wasn't an abstract argument. There were slaves among the people Jesus was addressing. And the vast majority of his listeners were poor - people who had good reason to worry about the source of their next meal. Jesus was offering them a message of hope - a promise of a place in the Kingdom.
It is the same message that Christ has to offer the millions of people around the globe today, particularly those in Africa and Latin America, who live in absolute poverty and are responding to God's promise that if they seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, then the necessities of life will be provided.
So where does that leave us - the rich who overhear Jesus' promise to the poor. The rich to whom the promise has already been fulfilled. Consider that we are meant to be the instruments of God's love, that we are called to make good on the promise that Jesus made to his listener's 2000 years ago. For the first time in the history of the world, advancements in technology and the accumulation of wealth have made it possible to completely eradicate poverty - to give the poor no cause to worry about what they will eat, or drink, or how they will clothe their bodies. We as God's people, people already blessed with abundance, are the agents of change through whom God acts. It is up to us to open the doors to the Kingdom.