I would like to disclaim that this post is fairly heavy on Bible and academic references, but in this post, I intend to set the stage for the next three posts as well. We’ll center this discussion on the most famous sermon ever preached. The Beatitudes are awesome, but it would be foolish to ignore the rest of the Sermon on the Mount. If you have a Bible with red letters, this section of Matthew may look more like a red sea than the Red Sea does! Jesus says a lot about Christian living and holiness. This is the example he has set for us.
No one can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
New Revised Standard Version: Updated Edition (Mt 6:24). (2021). Friendship Press.
Some may argue that serving wealth is a confusing concept. Others may argue that serving an invisible God is just as confusing. If we think about it using the term “worship”, it begins to take shape. Anyone with access to cable television or streaming services can rather quickly determine that the entertainment industry worships sex. The reason they do this is because it generates them more money. As they say, “sex sells.”
Jesus did not say that a man should not, but that he cannot serve two masters.
Earle, R. (1966). The Gospel according to St. Matthew. In Matthew-Acts (Vol. 4, p. 38). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
Rather ironically, you do not need to open a commentary from 1966 to know this. You don’t even have to read the entire Bible. You just need to get to the first verse of chapter 20 in Exodus. Certainly, the more of the Bible you read, the more the command makes sense—as well as the more convincing God’s divine nature and unparalleled love becomes. Regardless, it only takes 69 chapters and 1 verse to be told that God wants everything we have. Why? Because He gave it all to us.
The Greek word translated Money is mammon, which is actually a Hebrew phrase meaning, that in which one trusts. That in which one trusts is one’s security. The conclusion is that you cannot trust both God and a material source of security. Ultimately, one’s trust can only be placed in one of those two options.
Hahn, R. L. (2007). Matthew: a commentary for Bible students (p. 103). Wesleyan Publishing House.
We’ll now return to the money argument. Money is one of the easiest idols to fall for. Money lets us own stuff. Land, buildings, cars, clothes, books, power, attractiveness, and security (I’m sure I missed some—feel free to fill any in on your own). What do you trust? This is a difficult conversation for us to have with ourselves. Though inseparable, we shouldn’t even trust the Church or the Bible more than we trust God. The best way for me to wrap my head around this idea is that YHWH is the creator of the universe. Nothing can stand above Him. Anything you trust more than God is faulty. This is the cornerstone of faith. Money, you can see—you can have cash or check your bank balance. But God? We have to see His revelation in his creation and in the biblical texts, and have faith that he will provide. That is what separates belief from faith.
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
New Revised Standard Version: Updated Edition (Mt 6:25). (2021). Friendship Press.
For the past five days, I have chosen to fast each day and humble myself in preparation for an important event. Now that I’m done, I can’t claim that I feel holier. What I can say with certainty is that worrying about what you’re going to eat is definitely unnecessary for most people, specifically in the West. Excluding those already facing starvation, many of us have enough extra calories that a missed meal or even five wouldn’t result in death. Furthermore, God chose us to be made in his image. This is another act of trust. If his provision hasn’t failed before, why would it fail now?
The key word in verses 25–34 is worry, which appears six times in these verses. Worry is anxiety expressed as fearfulness
Hahn, R. L. (2007). Matthew: a commentary for Bible students (p. 104). Wesleyan Publishing House.
I like this definition of worry because it doesn’t specifically look down on feeling anxious. Hahn has specifically chosen to isolate the feeling of fear. My high school cross country coach once told us that it is good to feel anxious before a race because it means you care. I loved that then, and I love it more now. Anxiety means emotional investment in something that is not guaranteed. You can be anxious without being afraid. Being afraid is wanting to escape. To flee to situation and hide. Jesus is commanding us not worry about our provision—we should be living bold lives that center on furthering the Gospel and loving our neighbors. The provision will come. Of course, you can anxiously await the provision while still trusting that God will deliver.
The concrete way the provision of food will test them is that it will come daily except at the weekend; they will get two days’ supply on Friday so they don’t have to do anything to make sure they have enough to eat on the Sabbath. This puts them into daily reliance on God. Whether they collect a lot or a little, they have enough. When they try to collect extra to make sure they have some for the next day (who could blame them?), it goes rotten.
Goldingay, J. (2010). Exodus and Leviticus for Everyone (p. 70). Westminster John Knox Press; Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
That command from Jesus echoes back to this passage that Goldingay is writing about. While in the desert between leaving Egypt and arriving in the Promised Land, the Israelites had their daily sustenance provided by God. They could only collect enough for their family that day (excluding the day before the Sabbath). Imagine that concept today! You woke up and checked your bank account, and it was only enough for whatever expenses you had that day!! Do you think you would trust God more or less? Would you be convinced the first time or would you need to see it daily before you believed? It is my conviction that this is how we should face our daily lives now. I have this idea that I’ve taken to calling The Manna Principle. It doesn’t involve hunting the miraculous and punishing yourself to seek dependence. It involves orientation and submission. It is trusting God enough when a rainy day comes that you can give extra to build a school in a third-world country right now. Thank him for waking you up and allowing you to sleep. It is really just not taking anything for granted! That includes not taking for granted that God has provided and will continue to provide for you more than you will ever be able to provide for yourself.
No: [Jesus] seems to have had the skill of living totally in the present, giving attention totally to the present task, celebrating the goodness of God here and now. If that’s not a recipe for happiness, I don’t know what is.
Wright, T. (2004). Matthew for Everyone, Part 1: Chapters 1-15 (p. 66). Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
Here is the heart of what God wants from us. We aren’t supposed to live in the future. If God wanted us to just live for the second coming he would’ve told us! Paul wrote to the church in Thessaloniki telling them not sit around and wait for Jesus to come back. Jesus lived in the moment and in the relationships with people around Him. This is why we’re supposed to love our neighbors. Our neighbors in that moment. The Good Samaritan is not of the story of two people who lived next to each other for a decade! It’s the story of someone who just walked past someone in need. The Samaritan in that parable was more worried about the needs of others than what they were doing next. Are you ever too worried about your schedule than the person next to you made in the Lord’s image? Are you more worried about feeding yourself in six months just in case something happens than you are feeding someone who is hungry today? Brothers and sisters, this is not how we are supposed to live! Trust God and allow him to use you.
Allow me to leave you with a Proverb to ponder until we meet again.
The rich think of their wealth as a strong defense;
they imagine it to be a high wall of safety.
Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Pr 18:11). Tyndale House Publishers.
Moments with Emmanuel 