Seek Ye First

Sermon Text: Luke 12:22-34

I remember as a boy, the world at that time was fascinated with Howard Hughes.

Howard Hughes was an aeronautic genius who turned his family fortune in the tool

business into an empire built on Hughes Aircraft and TWA Airlines. He was said to be

the richest man in North America -- possibly the world -- but was a prisoner in his own

home. Why? He apparently suffered from a form of paranoia -- hyper anxiety that

someone was out to do him harm. Because he lived in fear, he became reclusive. He

died a mysterious, tragic figure, but not because of disease or failing health due to age.

He died of malnutrition. Starvation. The richest man in the world worried so much about

being poisoned that he refused to eat, killing himself by malnutrition. All that money and

he couldn't save himself from starvation. He worried himself to death.

Worrying ourselves to death seems to be a growing trend. In an article I read not

to long ago in US News and World Report it was reported that the stress associated with

the high stakes game of stock trading on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange is

killing some our brightest stars in the finance world. Recent studies show that the

pressures of trading stock -- handling so many millions of dollars -- is causing the traders

to age prematurely. In one case, a 36 year-old who collapsed on the trading floor was

thought to be in his mid-fifties when examined by a doctor. All the worry and nail-biting

over being in the right place, at the right time to make the perfect trade had strained the

man's heart and lungs so severely that he had packed 55 years of existence into 36 years.

Worry seems to be the earmark of our time in history.

for retirement. What an odd practice. We worry and fret in our hey days so that we can

play later in life when we are too old to do many of the things we dreamed of in our

youth. We worry about our children's future, so we squirrel money away for their

education. We work late hours, skip meals, and put in weekends at the office so that our

children can have a better life, when what they really need is us. We worry about our

homes and cars and stuff, so much so that we take that second job on the weekends to

make sure we can get the best insurance to protect them. We have entire industries built

around the premise of worry.

But notice what we're worrying about. Us. I am worried about me. What is

related to me. What is produced by me. What is owned by me. You are worried about

you, what's related to you, what's owned by you. We are all worried about I, my and me.

And we teach this to our children.

Our children worry about their social standing, so they have to have the right

clothes, listen to the right music, use the right slang. They worry about college so they

study late in to the night to get the grade to earn the coveted scholarship. Worry is

ingrained in our society, in us and in our children. But in the words of my Writings

Professor, John Stek, "What say the Scriptures?" Do they give insight into worry? Is it a

problem? Sin? How did Christ speak about worry and anxiety?

If we look at the passage for tonight's consideration -- Luke 12:22-34 -- we will

see that Christ had some very powerful things to say about worry what we should

concern ourselves with.

to look back in the chapter to see what it refers to -- to set the scene. A look back would

reveal that at this time in Luke's narrative, Jesus has turned his face toward Jerusalem and

his date with the cross. On the way there, he is teaching his disciples the things they will

need to know after he is gone. Chapter 12 opens with a huge crowd gathering around

Jesus and his disciples after a confrontation with the Pharisees. The Lord has just

confronted them on authority and true religion -- hinting in Luke 11 in the midst of his

questions that the Kingdom of God has come and is in conflict with the kingdom of the

devil. At this point he turns to the crowd and says "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees

which is hypocrisy." Jesus didn't pull any punches. Don't fear them, he says. Fear God.

Christ is warning his disciples and the crowd to be careful where they place their

loyalties. In the midst of this teaching a young man breaks through and demands that

Christ settle a dispute over an inheritance between him and his brother. Jesus declines,

but uses the question to segue into a teaching about material possessions and the anxiety

that accompanies them. He begins his teaching with the parable of the rich fool, who

wisely uses his resources to make himself rich in the eyes of man, but poor towards God.

God is absent from his counsel.

It is from this vantage point that we read the "therefore." Now picking back up in

v.22. "....For this reason I say to you do not be anxious about your life ...." In light of

the previous exhortations to be more concerned with obeying the law of God rather than

the law of the Pharisees and being rich toward God rather than toward man, Jesus tells his

disciples not to worry about how they will live. Don't worry about food, he says, or
clothes. Why? Because life is so much more than food and clothing. What does he

mean by this? Well, Jesus knows how to work a crowd, so he doesn't tell us right away.

We have to listen if we want to know what the "more" is in life.

Jesus uses the example of the ravens first. They don't sow or reap, he says, yet

God feeds them. It is important to note here that the raven was not highly thought of

among the Hebrews. It was the raven that Noah first sent out to look for land, but it

didn't return. In Lev. 11:15 the raven is called detestable and abhorrent, an unclean bird.

It is a scavenger, feeding off dead carcasses and garbage. Yet, even without barns for

storage, the ravens are given enough to eat. By who? God. God feeds them -- they, too

are objects of his mercy and care. If he cares so much for what is unclean -- something

he tells Israel, his holy nation, to detest -- how much more will he be sure to care for you

-- the pinnacle of his creative activity. Jesus argues here from the lesser to the greater.

But he isn't finished yet.

In the movie The Lion King, a wise-cracking meerkat named Timon and his

gentle, but somewhat air-headed warthog companion teach a wayward lion how to forget

his worries by singing Hakuna Matata. It means "no worries, for the rest of your days."

It is a problem free philosophy. The song teaches the lion, to forget his past and his

future and simply live for the moment, accepting whatever life gives him. At first glance,

this is what Christ appears to be saying. But, Jesus realizes the tension he has set up here.

He knows that some are thinking "Yeah, right. What am I supposed to do? Just hang

around the house and wait for manna to fall out of the sky?" He understands that some

things you have to plan and work for. He himself is recorded in Luke 10:7 as saying that
the laborer is worthy of his wages. He is not advocating a hands-off approach to life.

What Christ is speaking against is what the rich fool struggled with -- planning the days

of his life without taking God into his counsel. Look v.25.

"And who by being anxious can add a single cubit to his lifespan?" The rich fool

had an abundance of riches stored in barns, but it did him no good. On the eve of

enjoying all he had laid aside for himself, he died. Howard Hughes could buy anything

in the world he wanted -- except for more time. He actually worried so much about

preserving his life that he lost it. What is more, in v. 26, Jesus calls adding time to your

life "a very little thing." Little for who? God. So what's he saying here? He's saying

why should we be anxious over what we can't control? The times of life are God's and

his alone -- we can't add to them by focusing our energy on how we will eat or what we

will wear.

In v. 27, Jesus has us consider the wild flowers or the lilies. Today, in North

America, he might say consider the dandelion. It does not sew or spin, yet burst open

every spring arrayed in gold finer than anything Howard Hughes or Donald Trump or Ted

Turner could hope for. One day it is gold, the next it's a white wispy ball blown away by

the breath of a child. The point here is that the wild flower, in the words of one

commentator, is the extravagant hobby of God. Gloriously in bloom one day, brown and

decrepit the next. If God so extravagantly clothes the wild flowers, how much more will

he clothe you. It is the man of little faith who questions whether God can provide the

things needed for life. In fact, it is the man of no faith -- what Jesus referred to as the

nations -- who eagerly seeks food and clothing. Think about it. Are you a believer, a
person of faith? Or do you exhaust yourself chasing after things? If not the stuff we need

and want in life, then what are we supposed to chase after?

He tells us in v. 31. "But seek his kingdom and these things shall be added onto

you." Matthew in his gospel says "and all these things will added unto you." It is at this

point that Jesus let's us know what the "more" in life is all about. It is about seeking the

kingdom. Before we continue let's consider what Luke meant by "the kingdom."

The debate over what the kingdom of God consists is no small matter among

theologians. Now I am not going to bore you with all the theologically-charged language

and nuanced arguments concerning the kingdom. I'm simply going to make some

observations to help us get an idea of what the kingdom -- the "more" in life -- is about.

The first thing that we want to observe is that it is present here and now. If you

look at Luke 4: 16-21, Jesus is reading the from Isaiah, but only reads the first part of the

passage, saying that it is fulfilled by his presence. The year of the Lord's favor has been

declared -- the poor hear the gospel, the prisoners are freed and the blind see -- undoing

the affects of sin, the works of the devil. So in the ministry of Christ, the Kingdom of

God breaks in on the kingdom of the devil -- just as he later alludes to in chapter 11.

The second thing to notice is that the Kingdom is militant and active. The

Kingdom doesn't come as an alternative to the world -- the kingdom of Satan -- it comes

as an enemy. Or better yet, it comes as a the returning hero, determined to set things

right. In J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, Aragorn, the descendant of

forgotten kings returns to claim his throne and overthrow the great enemy. Aragorn is not

interested in setting up an alternative kingdom, his kingdom thrives only in as much as he

interested sharing his kingdom with the devil in some uneasy truce. No, Christ makes it

clear in the parable of the strongman in chapter 11 that the goal of the kingdom is nothing

less than completely reclaiming all that was lost to the enemy. God's aggressive plan for

regaining the earth was initiated by Christ on earth. And guess what? He's left it up to us

to continue what he's started.

The final thing to understand about the kingdom is that it is not here -- in fullness

-- yet. We will not bring the Kingdom to completion through our efforts. God is not

waiting on us to whip the devil for him before he returns. But just as we don't know the

time of his return, we also do not know exactly what he is waiting on -- save the Father's

good pleasure. We only know that he will return and when he does he will bring the

conflict to a close and fully establish his Kingdom. How do we know this? Well, one

way is to look at the text in Isaiah 61 that Jesus read in Luke 4. Remember, Jesus stopped

reading part way through the prophecy and claimed that in him it was fulfilled. By doing

this he indicated that the prophecy is to be understood in two parts. The now and the not

yet. What Christ did not read from Isaiah has to do with the judgment that will happen

when he returns.

So when Christ speaks about "more" in life, he has in mind Kingdom service.

What is seeking the Kingdom, then? In the words of the prophet Micah "He has told you,

O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? But to do justice to love

kindness, and to walk humbly with your God." Seeking the Kingdom means struggling

with the kingdom of Satan and looking to repair the damage done by him. It means
giving more than your resources. It means engaging the enemy yourself, preaching the

gospel to the poor, releasing the captives, restoring sight to the blind. Do you begin to

sense the largeness of what you're seeking?

But don't let the largeness scare you. It's not impossible -- not with God's help. In

v.32 Jesus makes it clear that our task is seeking the Kingdom, not gaining it. That

belongs to God. He is pleased -- tickled pink -- to give it to us! So how do we go about

it?

This is where it gets tricky. Christ says sell all you have and give it to the poor.

Then you will have treasure in heaven. So one thing we know from this is that seeking

the Kingdom means we seek its riches and not the riches of the nations. But does Christ

really want us to sell everything we have and give to the poor? In effect, yes. The point

Christ is trying to make here is that seeking the Kingdom means being outward focused.

It means considering the needs of others more important than our own. It means if we

have choice between feeding the poor and buying a boat -- we better pick the poor. He is

saying that what we have -- our homes, our cars, our clothes, our food, our bank accounts

-- is a gift of God, given to us freely. Our lives should not be consumed with chasing

after these things.

In v.34, Jesus makes it clear why it is important to recognize God as the giver.

Whatever it is we spend our time on, wherever it is we focus our energies, that's where

our heart truly lies. We can claim to be Christians all we like, but if we are not seeking

justice -- if we are ignoring the poor, the oppressed and the blind -- and focusing on our

own needs, then we are not truly seeking the Kingdom.

the point is clear. Jesus said that he came that we may have life and have it abundantly --

the "more" in life. But to know what the "more" is means doing daily what we confess

every time we pray the Lord's prayer -- "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

This is not a request. It's a confession, a statement. But it is a statement that needs to

lived out if it is to be a true confession. Frederick Danker talks about seeking the

Kingdom this way:

...it is easy to dispense charity at the expense of the unlucky recipient of

misdirected alms. It is much easier to buy garbage cans for a rat-infested

neighborhood, only to have them stolen and resold to the poor, than to move City

Hall to have more frequent garbage collections. It is easier to give a five dollar

bill to a poor man than to go to the trouble of helping him improve his laboring

skills and to find constructive work for him. Absurd welfare policies of a guilt-

ridden affluent society merely perpetuate the social dilemma.

Are you beginning to see what the more is? It is the life lived in light of eternity. It is

recognizing that food and clothing have no eternal value. It is realizing that only the

person who has no hope in anything else places such a high value on stuff. If we are

going to call ourselves Christians, we had better take notice of what it is we should be

seeking.

As much as I would love to, I cannot stand here and tell you definitively where the

line is between concerning yourself about putting food in the mouths of your children and

selling all you have and giving to the poor is. I honestly believe that is part of seeking the
Kingdom of God. What I can tell you is this -- if you are not taking God into your

counsels, you are a fool. Rich or poor, a fool and you are not seeking the Kingdom. If

you are clothing yourself and your children in the latest fashions and ignoring the

nakedness of your neighbor, you are not seeking the Kingdom. If you are stuffing your

cupboards with all the best brands while your neighbor goes hungry, you are not seeking

the Kingdom. When it gets right down to it, if you are not doing onto the least of these --

you are a goat, and not seeking the Kingdom.

Jesus us tells us in this passage not to chase after stuff, like the nations do -- like

we are unbelievers -- because God knows what we need and will provide it. If you doubt

this all you have to do is look out your window and see how God provides for plants and

animals who don't fret over food and clothing. To continually worry about these things is

to declare yourself among the unbelievers -- which is an insult to the providence of God.

Don't worry about your life. Rather seek the Kingdom, he says. For it is there, when you

lose -- in this case give -- your life for his name's sake, you gain life abundantly.

Howard Hughes died because of his obsessive worry over preserving his life. A

36 year-old stock trader lost nineteen years of his life striving for the ultimate trade. The

rich fool lived only for himself only to find out he was ultimately poor. What about you?

Are you rich toward the world and poor toward God? Are you an unbeliever, pouring out

your resources and time trying to build a secure future for you and your children? Do

you seek clothes and food or the Kingdom? Jesus tells us to seek God's Kingdom instead

of what the nations -- unbelievers -- seek. Where is your heart?