In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has just taught us how to live economically moral lives. But these principles aren’t easy to hear or accept. In summary, he just taught us the following:
§ We are not to store up money or possessions for future needs
§ We are not to seek what we do not have
§ We are to be content with what God has given us
§ We are to give all extra wealth to the poor
And, Jesus says, to ignore these principles is to be living under another god, Mammon, and to be hating the God who created us.
But given that we are in an economic system that is dependent on money and wealth to get along, and the fact that we are often told that we are “irresponsible” if we do not save for the future, or have a “steady job” that will continue to provide for us, then certain questions come up. Society’s voice speaks in our head, saying, “How will you provide for yourself? If you do as Jesus says, then how will you get along? What happens if a disaster happens in your life—if you have nothing to fall back on, what will you do?”
In summary, we might ask the question: “What about our economic future?” Jesus himself summarizes the question like this: “What will we eat and what will we wear?” Jesus is very aware of this question and actually spends longer answering them than in making his initial proposal.
More than Survival
You might be concerned because surrendering what we have to the poor seems like economic suicide. And not storing up for the future seems like irresponsibility. But listen to me—Don’t bother about your livelihood. Don’t worry about what you will eat or drink or wear. Your life, as a whole, is more than what you stuff in your mouth, isn’t it? And isn’t a living body more than having clothes to wear?
In answering the question—“What about our economic future?” Jesus first summarizes his main point of view—don’t worry about it. He is basically saying that our question about our how we will be taken care of, if we follow this seemingly foolish ideal of giving all of our extra to the poor, is a non-entity. We are being anxious, being concerned about something that will not happen. Fundamentally, we often use our economic concerns as an excuse to not follow God, or to do what He says—“Well, that would be a nice way to live, but it just isn’t practical. I mean, we have to live in the real world, and in the real world we need to provide for ourselves.” Jesus denies that this argument holds any water. He tells us not to bother about the “practical” matters.
Then Jesus begins defending his position. His first point is that economics isn’t the most important part of life. “Life” he says, “is more than food and clothes.” Jesus is trying to being us to the place where we look at more important things than simply taking care of ourselves, than simple survival. Jesus is saying that being generous to those in need brings us closer to God, and that being in God is more significant than simple economic assurance.
Eating like Birds, Clothed like Flowers
Study the birds. Do they go to stores, work to make money, or savings accounts? No, they rely on the Father in heaven to feed them—and somehow they get fed. Doesn’t God consider you more important than them? And tell me, which one of you increased your quality or quantity of life by being anxious about tomorrow’s food? And clothes—why bother about being concerned about them? Study wild flowers. You see how they spring up? They don’t haunt retail shops or have closets full of clothes, but even the richest woman in Beverly Hills isn’t clothed as beautifully as these. So if God provides clothes for flowers that pop up one day and are mowed down the next, surely he will provide for the mustard-seed-faith troupe.
Now Jesus gives us two examples which also supports his idea that we need not worry about our economic future. He tells us to pay attention to birds, and notes that they do very little for their food. They go out, they find it, they eat it. They don’t plant it, maintain an occupation, or have bank accounts. The bird’s life is very simple—why is this? Because they depend on God who will provide for them. God grants birds all the food they need. And do we think that God wouldn’t do less for us?
Jesus also speaks about wild flowers. Wild flowers do nothing for their clothing. All they do is live, and their “clothing”, adornment, is provided for them. How? Because the flowers depend on God who gives them all they need.
So, Jesus says, if God provides for the economic needs of birds and flowers, what about those who follow him? If God provides for these lesser beings—who have short life spans and are often carelessly killed—then certainly God will provide for those who follow and obey Him. For Jesus, this is a no-brainer. Why be anxious about economic matters, when God is so ready to take care of them? This is an area we just do not need to worry about—if we follow God, he will take care of us.
Jesus also makes another support point in the middle of these two examples. He states it simply—What has worrying about the future done for you? Has it given you a better life? Has it made you live longer? Or will the added stress on your life actually give you a shorter life? Does being anxious actually give you anything? So you might as well give it up and rest on God’s provision.
One Day At A Time
So stop worrying! Stop saying “How can you ask this of us? How can we provide for ourselves? How can we survive?” You are talking like unbelievers—those who don’t know that God provides for them. Your Father knows what you need already. Focus instead on God’s kingdom and accomplishing God’s righteousness, and your boss—the Father—will provide all these basics for you. So stop being concerned about the future. It is enough to be concerned about today’s trouble, and let the future go.
Jesus concludes his mini sermon in three ways. First, he says that worrying about our economic future is to think like the world—not believers in God. Believers in God know that He will provide and do not scramble around spending their lives doing what God is already doing. So, Jesus says, stop being practical unbelievers and act like believers in a compassionate, all-powerful God.
Second, Jesus says that we should stop worrying about our economic future because God already has our needs in mind. He already sees what we will need in the future, and He is ready to help us. Why fret about what we can’t see, when God already sees it? If God has already taken care of it, why worry about it?
Third, Jesus very wisely points out that today has enough trouble of its own. Jesus isn’t telling us not to worry about stuff. But today’s concerns are enough. We shouldn’t have to put our future on ourselves as well—especially because we don’t know what that future will actually hold!
If we are not to worry about our economic future, then we certainly are not to worry about our future…
§ Health care
§ Retirement
§ Family responsibilities
§ Education
§ Expenses
§ Child care
§ Social obligations
§ Entertainment
§ Security
Nor are we to worry about our past…
§ Enemies
§ Failures
§ Background
§ Lack of education
§ Burnt out careers
§ Unacceptable lifestyle
What matters is now—what is God calling us to do now, who is God calling us to be now, and the fact that God is promising to meet our needs both now and in the future. What is God calling us to? Lives of generosity, lives that focus on building up people in God, lives that leave the worldly concerns to the world.
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