“FIRST THINGS FIRST”
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 13, 2015
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
[Jesus said:] “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Matthew 6:33 (ESV)
One of the ironies in all the technological advances that we have made is the fact that, even with all of our twenty-first century time-saving conveniences, we seem to be busier than ever and have less free time than ever before. Just think about it: Preparing a meal that used to take the better part of a day can now be done in minutes (that is, if we choose not to just grab something at a fast-food restaurant). Communicating with people used to require writing a letter, addressing it, putting a stamp on it, and mailing it--or looking up a telephone number and placing the call. And if you didn’t reach the person by phone, you couldn’t leave a message and the person would have no idea that you had called, so you would just have to try again at a later time. Today communication can be done electronically, instantaneously, and at a fraction of the cost. So why do we say that we don’t have the time to stay in touch with people? What are we doing with all of this time that we are supposedly saving?
What it all boils down to is priorities. No matter what else may have changed in our world, there are still twenty-four hours in a day, seven days in a week, and twelve months in a year. It’s not that we don’t have as much time as we used to have; it’s just that we choose to use our time in different ways. We don’t have the time to do certain things because we are busy doing other things--things that we consider to be more important. Earlier in the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus said: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21), He was simply pointing out that the way in which we choose to spend our resources is an indication of what we value the most. When we as Christians look over everything that we have--everything that our God has given us and done for us--certainly the first things that ought to come to mind are the blessings of salvation that are ours in our Savior Jesus Christ. This morning we will listen to what our Savior has to teach us about putting first things first--in what we seek as well as in what we value.
What is it that we seek first in life? And what is it that we desire the most for ourselves and for our children? Sad to say, for most people in the world, what is sought after first and foremost is not “the kingdom of God and His righteousness” that come to us in the Gospel of His Son. No, most people seek other things: the kind of things that Jesus warned His disciples about over and over again. What most people seek first are things like personal gratification and material wealth. They seek these things to such a great extent that they are convinced that everyone else is seeking them as well, and they take offense at that. A number of years ago a radio preacher made the statement: “Money is that commodity that people pursue relentlessly six days out of the week and don’t want to hear about on the other day.” There’s a lot of truth in that. And what is it that makes parents most proud of their children? All too often it’s not their children’s faith in Christ, but rather their children’s “success” in education or in marriage or in business or in accumulating wealth.
Jesus tells us that the kingdom of God that He established for us and the righteousness of God that He gained for us and gives to us through faith in Him are to be our first priorities in life--the very first things that we seek. It’s not that the other things in life aren’t desirable or even necessary; it’s just that these other things have a way of crowding out of our lives the things that really matter. The Lord assures us that if we seek the kingdom and righteousness of God first, all of the other necessities of life will be taken care of: They will either be provided for us by God or they will become so insignificant to us that they really won’t matter anymore. If we were to examine our lives honestly, we would have to admit that there are a lot of things that we think we need that we really don’t need--a lot of things that we think we have to do that we really don’t have to do. That is true of all of us. Time and energy are limited resources. Jesus encourages us in this text to use these limited resources wisely--in the pursuit of the things that really matter.
It follows that the kingdom of God established by Christ and the righteousness of God that Christ provides are the things that we should value above all else. But what are the things that we truly value? You can tell what really matters to a person not necessarily by what that person says but by how that person chooses to spend his or her resources. Many people in our society, for example, decry the fact that the “rich” are taking money away from the “poor,” and yet many of these “poor” willingly give their money to the “rich” every time they go to a movie or attend a professional sporting event or patronize a casino--and they compete with one another for the opportunity to do it. No matter what they may say, we can tell from how they spend their resources what really matters to them. But the truth of the matter is that none of these material and temporal things that people seek in life can even be compared with the blessings of salvation that have come to us as God’s gifts of grace by means of the blood-stained cross and empty tomb of Jesus.
These blessings of salvation are the things that really matter! These are the things that are really important and always will be--the things that matter not only at the moment or even during our lifespan here on earth, but will matter throughout life and especially on the day of judgment. If each of us were to make his or her own personal list of things that we value and if all of these lists were to be made public, we would no doubt discover that each list is different. There are as many different values as there are different people. In fact, if we were to make our own list each year and look at the lists, we would find that the things that matter the most to each of us will vary from year to year. It’s not a matter of our being inconsistent or becoming indifferent; it’s just that time changes things, rendering some things to be obsolete and others things to be more relevant. But “the kingdom of God and His righteousness”--His redeeming grace in Christ--is the one thing that is universal--the one thing that everyone can always value because it is the one thing that will always matter--not only in this life but also and especially in the life to come.
In this passage, as in His entire Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is turning typical human values upside down and inside out. There are so many things in life that people are so enthralled with that they allow these things to dictate to them how they will spend their time and money--things that will not matter in the least when they close their eyes in death and face the judgment of God. The only thing that will matter to them then--to any of us--is “the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” Jesus would have us to know that when we have these, we have everything--everything that we could ever need or desire. And these blessings of salvation are ours already, given to us in Gospel of Christ, which His Spirit serves to us in Word and Sacrament, to strengthen and sustain us during our earthly pilgrimage until He graciously brings all things to completion and gives us the fulfillment of the things that we, His people, have diligently sought and received by His grace in Christ.
Amen.
May the Lord bless your hearing of His Word, using it to accomplish in you those things for which He gave it. May you be enriched and strengthened in faith that you may leave here today to go out into our world armed with the whole armor of God, prepared to be able ambassadors of your Savior Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. Amen.