Solomon in all his glory

"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

- Matthew 6:25-34

As we have been doing for more than a week, today we continue with the Sermon on the Mount. Previous readings for this Sermon are: The Beatitudes, Salt and Light, Till heaven and earth pass away, You shall not murder, If your right eye causes you to sin, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, Your father who is in the secret place, Our Father in heaven, and No one can serve two masters.

Today, Jesus continues his theme from yesterday's reading (see No one can serve two masters) in which he taught that one cannot serve God and mammon. Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other." He taught also that we are not to store up for ourselves "treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven." Today, he continues with this message about detachment, and excessive worry and focus on material things - to the detriment of that which should come first in our focus.

"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?" My study bible notes here: "Severe anxiety, not thoughtful planning and care, is what is warned against here. Physical growth and length of life is dependent upon the providence of God more than upon food, drink and clothing. Persistent anxiety over the things of this world demonstrates internal insecurity and a weak or superficial faith." I think this emphasis by my study bible on excessive anxiety is very important. This is a problem for myself on occasion as well, and my solution is always to turn toward God in prayer. Often my direction in prayer is soothing and calming - and then it's my choice if I am going to pay attention and do what is smart! Jesus' words, "Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?" really make tremendous sense in this context, a good question to ask ourselves today amidst anxiety. I find that I am not alone in this problem - anxiety and depression are overwhelmingly the highest rank among social problems that plague the public state of overall emotional health. In the highest ranking among prescription pharmaceuticals in many countries are those for anxiety and depression. What is it about our lifestyles that promotes this? Certainly, Jesus' teachings are those which help us to address this problem. A part of repentance (Gk. metanoia, literally "change of mind") is to address this within ourselves as a problem. I think it is linked to the teachings of yesterday's reading, No one can serve two masters. I know that, for myself, often the solution is simply to give things up that I thought were important, and to see that some of the priorities I had were simply wrong - to "change my mind." Often, we may be fighting social pressures when we do this, and it takes strength to do so.

"So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we wear?'" For myself, I can say that I think these are simply some of the most beautiful words in the gospels. Is not nature, indeed, divinely beautiful? These words give us a sense that our love of beauty is God-given and God-inspired, Creation is good. It is not that we are taught not to wish for the goodness in life, whatever that is. But we are to have faith.

"For after all these things the Gentiles seek. A note in my study bible reads: "The pagan worship of the Gentiles did not deliver them from their earthly cares, because it was focused upon nonexistent gods, that is, idols." For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." And here we have the right perspective, the solution. My study bible notes, "The kingdom of God is the central theme of the teaching of Jesus, and His righteousness is the subject of the Sermon on the Mount. Calling us to be set free from anxiety about earthly things, Jesus directs us to look to heaven, to this greater 'country' which will be received at the Day of the Lord, secure in the faith that God will provide needed earthly blessings." What I find absolutely essential in these teachings is the choice to put the kingdom God and his righteousness first, and all things are set into their proper relationship thereafter. That is, such relationship includes proper priorities as well. What do we need? What is it we have that creates excessive anxiety, that we are better off without? Which concerns can we transcend and set aside in this right-relatedness first to the kingdom and to its righteousness, its justice and love? We must understand, at some point, that idolatry also takes the form of excessive prioritizing of material gain and acquisition. How many relationships are ruined through greed and selfishness? Is righteousness not constantly thwarted by those who will do anything for gain out of an excessive sense of need or greed?

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Here is truly wisdom. "Sufficient for the day..." is a phrase I often find repeating to myself. We take up worries and anxieties, we fret over things we think we need, or that we cannot control, or that we just feel we need to happen for us. As I live in an affluent country, I find we are often being pushed to buy things - through all kinds of social pressures of various types - that we don't necessarily need. Rather there is the drive to acquire what we see that others have, and there is shame attached to not having those things. Therefore, we have a state in which we find shame attached to being poor, to poverty. How can this be righteous? We need to re-think priorities when we penalize those who may need help, when we lose a sense of right-relatedness to others who have less. This is one of the social problems that I feel this teaching would address.

Moreover, we can feel terrible about ourselves because we don't make the right appearance to others - to those who would judge us because there are some things we don't have, including any form of social status. Adoption of these values causes yet more anxiety over how to get what we may not truly need. This is also a problem, and, I feel, a symptom of unrighteousness - of wrong-relatedness, if you will. Does Christ teach us to judge by appearance? We will read more about that tomorrow, and hopefully understand how good judgment fits into this concept of our priorities. We put relationship to Creator first - to this kingdom and its righteousness, and then all things are set into proper relationship afterward. The treasures that moth and rust cannot destroy, and thieves cannot break in and steal, remain the greatest treasures. The Blessings of the Beatitudes remain our most cherished treasure, and everything else must take second rank to that, if we are to be Christ's disciples. I feel this is a strong solution to many public problems of mental health, along with many therapeutic professionals. Regardless of spiritual orientation, the values of love, mercy, humility, justice all have the greatest value in teaching us what is right, and what it is to be in the state of righteousness, of right-relatedness, of true justice among ourselves. And to set aside that which we do not need, the things we are better off without - and without the excess concern they bring, and the harmful ways we may behave in their service. It gives us freedom. It is all related; one cannot serve God and mammon. Let us put our priorities straight. It would do so much to repair what ails us, both personally and socially, and to address the cause of broken relationships on every level.