The Tyranny of Tomorrow

In these series of posts from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) on Becoming a Kingdom Community, we have made the transition from the introduction of chapter 5 to the instruction of chapter 6.  While chapter 5 was about announcing the Kingdom, introducing the dominant theme of the Kingdom ("righteousness) and assuring the disciples of Jesus transforming Kingdom work in their lives, chapter 6 has been about the "obstacles" to our Kingdom living.

The first obstacle: Our addiction to praise from people.  The more we desire to be affirmed, rewarded and acclaimed by the world, the harder it will be to live under Jesus' reign and live out Jesus' world-transforming Kingdom agenda.  The prescription: Developing a hidden spirituality, a piety that is focused on God's affirmation, the Kingdom transformation over anything else. (Matthew 6:1-18)

The second obstacle is even more insidious: Our worries about future security can keep us from being faithful to the Kingdom today. (Matthew 6:19-34)

In the text the theme is unmistakable. 

v. 25 Do not worry about your life…
v. 27 Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?
v. 28 Why do you worry about clothing…?
v. 31 Therefore do not worry.

Four times in nine verses.  Jesus reassures them amidst their fearful feelings.  But notice how he does it. 

It’s not, “Everything will be fine.  Don’t worry about the economy.  I’ve got my eye on the real estate market.  You’ll always have a job.”  It’s none of that. It’s not, “Do not worry because there is plenty of money to go around. People who follow me will be well off.”  It’s not that either.  It’s also not, “Stop caring about money, you really don’t need any of that stuff”…In fact, it’s not that at all!

Instead Jesus reassures his disciples of this Kingdom fact: your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. (v. 32) And then he says to them, because your heavenly Father knows what you need, 

Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today. 

Remember, Jesus taught these words to people who probably took them literally.  They actually worried about what they would eat, drink or wear.  They actually didn’t know where TOMORROW’s food would come from and they meant tomorrow. 

I dare say that none of us are worrying today literally about what we will eat today or what we will drink or what we will wear.  But the truth is that we, with all we have still worry.  What first disciples and we have in common is not our economic status but our worries. And that is the focus of Jesus’ concern for us, too. 

So here in a nutshell is what Jesus does with his disciples’ worries: He folds them into God’s fatherly love.  He transforms them into Kingdom worrying.  He teaches us to worry well.  To worry not like the Gentiles, but to worry like those who know God as King and Father.  Or to put it another way: If we learn to worry about the Kingdom of Heaven, we’ll not have to worry about anything else.

There is more to say here, but let's  begin by remembering that the key here is to never, ever forget that the great benefit of Jesus' Kingdom is that to enter it, we are not "conquered" but "adopted."

Comments

[No King But Jesus]

Tod wrote:

So here in a nutshell is what Jesus does with his disciples’ worries: He folds them into God’s fatherly love. He transforms them into Kingdom worrying. He teaches us to worry well. To worry not like the Gentiles, but to worry like those who know God as King and Father. Or to put it another way: If we learn to worry about the Kingdom of Heaven, we’ll not have to worry about anything else.

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Right on, man. That's a golden nutshell.

"He teaches us to worry well."

Beautiful. That's as profound as it gets in six words.

[Against Christianity]

Tod wrote:

...key here is to never, ever forget that the great benefit of Jesus' Kingdom is that to enter it, we are not "conquered" but "adopted."

It's not either/or, but both/and.

1CO 6:19 You are not your own;

1CO 6:20 you were bought with a price.

[Broken Messenger]

Tod,

The first obstacle: Our addiction to praise from people. The more we desire to be affirmed, rewarded and acclaimed by the world, the harder it will be to live under Jesus' reign and live out Jesus' world-transforming Kingdom agenda.

This recovering Pharisee can affirm these remarks, humility is a very rare yet necessary quality in maintaining and growing one's faith in Christ. Good post.

Brad