“Living Well”
Matthew 6:19-34
Jesus had a unique way of teaching and using His surroundings to illustrate His points.
He could enable those listening to be able to relate more and better understand His teachings.
In this passage that we read today, we can see that it is springtime in Galilee if we use our imaginations.
Jesus had no rows of chairs to set up or a podium from which to preach.
So, he walked among the crowd as they sat on the ground and listened.
His eye contact would seek out the people's faces.
He would lift some seemingly unimportant illustration from where He was and expound on it.
We know it’s Springtime because only in the springtime do the wildflowers burst up as though they were a display of colors in a carpet of green.
Walking among the grass and looking down, He sees the flowers, they stand out, and it is from them that He comes up with an illustration.
He can see the flowers; He can
hear the birds, and they provide Him with food for thought.
He talks about worry in the midst of all these things that He sees, and they see, and they're talking about.
(pause)
We worry about the things in our lives we cannot see, yet faith, according to St. Augustine, "is believing what you cannot see, and the reward of faith is seeing what you have believed."
"Worry" the word He uses.
Worry and anxiety are synonymous, and anxiety is the curse of the 21st Century.
We worry about things we cannot control, and sometimes we worry about not being able to be in control.
Many times we worry just for the sake of worrying.
And so, to put things into perspective, Jesus looks at the ground, sees those little flowers, and hears the birds.
The birds can't reap or sow, but God provides for them.
They still have to work for their food, but it is there.
If they seek it, then they find it.
The flowers of the field, the wildflowers, are the color of King Solomon's robes--radiant and stunning—but even more stunning!
(pause)
We worry about our food and our clothes.
We worry about our houses and how we fit into society.
But we're forgetting God's role in our lives and our role in depending on God.
Getting our thinking right is what is essential in life.
After all, John the Baptist and Jesus began their preaching ministries with the word "repent."
What does it mean to repent but to develop a new way of thinking--to turn from our old way of thinking and devote ourselves to kingdom thinking.
And so, the answer lies in striving first for the Kingdom of God--a kingdom not of power, not of might, but of mercy, justice, and grace.
It is a kingdom of forgiveness and love, where prejudice is unheard of, and pride and conceit do not exist.
It is a kingdom where greed doesn’t exist.
(pause)
But again, we find ourselves striving to prepare for the future, for tomorrow, without really living in the present.
Yet the present determines how we plan for our future and learn from the past’s mistakes.
There's a beautiful illustration found in Dr. Spencer Johnson's little book The Present.
The Present is a story of a little boy and an old man in a mentoring relationship.
The little boy is riding his bicycle, the old man is sitting on a swing on a front porch, and his very countenance attracts the boy's attention.
The little boy sees the old man and turns his bicycle around after two or three days of the old man smiling and greeting him.
He says, "Old man, why are you so happy?"
And the old man smiles and says, "It's because I have the present."
"Wow!" said the little boy. "I love presents.
Christmas presents.
Birthday presents.
All kinds of presents.
Any time.
How can I get this present?"
"Well, you already have it."
"I already have it?" said the little boy. "I don't have any presents."
"Yes, you already have it.
And once you have it, everything else falls into perspective.”
And the little boy grows to be a teenager; as a teenager, the old man and the little boy become friends.
The old man has watched him play baseball.
He's watched him on his football team.
And as a teenager, the young man asks this: "Old man, what about this present you have always talked about?"
"The present is the greatest gift you can ever have."
"But I want this present.
I want you to give me this present."
"I can't give you the present.
You have the present all by yourself, and everything else falls into perspective once you have the present."
"Well, is it like a magic wand where you wave your hand, and everything just comes out magic, special?"
"No, it's not like a magic wand.
The present is magical, though, because once you get it, everything else falls into perspective."
"Well, is it like a magic carpet that you ride on and can get anywhere you want to go and do anything you want to do?"
"No, it's not like that at all.
But once you have the present, you are content to be right where you are."
(pause)
And the young man becomes a working man, having graduated from college, and returns to the old man with the--present.
"I think I finally got it.
The present is right now, right?
It's not a gift or anything."
And the old man said, "Yes, you're right.
It's right now.
It's enjoying the moment now.
It's being real now.
It's being authentic now.
It's being in the present."
"Well, now I can return to my job because things weren't working well."
And he returned to his work.
But, came back a few years later and said, "You know, I'm just at a plateau.
Nothing is happening, and I'm doing the present.
I'm living the present."
The old man said, "Yes, but you have forgotten to profit from your past mistakes.
Only when you do that can you live the present at its best."
So, he went back and practiced, and he remembered his mistakes, and he lived in this present, and after a few more years--he was married, he had children--he came back, he said, "I can't even get a promotion.
I'm doing great work.
They recognize it, but I can't get a promotion."
The old man said, "You're doing everything right.
You have the present.
You're enjoying the present.
You're even profiting from past mistakes, but you don't have a plan for your future.
It would help if you had a purpose and a meaning.
Write it down, think about it, and work daily to make your plan come true."
So, the formerly “young” man returned to work, and suddenly, his whole future changed because he had a purpose and meaning.
And as would happen, the old man died, and now the middle-aged man returned to the funeral to discover that from the wealthiest to the poorest, everyone was in attendance at the funeral.
The old man had befriended lots of people along the way.
He had shared the successes of his life, which had been very successful in business, with how to live and how other people ought to live, boys and girls, children, older adults, even the town’s mayor.
And after the funeral, the man went back to the old man's house, which was now empty, the swing still sitting where it sat, and he sat in the swing and started to swing back and forth and thought: "Wow, that man's life was so purposeful; it was so meaningful."
Down the street, the neighborhood had changed, but a new family had moved in with a little six-year-old girl, and she was on her tricycle and riding by.
And as she rode by, she looked up at the man sitting on the swing and said, "Wow! Old man."
He turned and looked and said, "Yes?"
She said, "You look so happy! Why are you so happy?"
And he said, "Oh, it's because I have the present."
"Wow!" she said.
"I love presents.
Christmas presents and birthday presents and all kinds of gifts.
Can you help me get that present?"
(pause)
And the truth of the matter is for all of us, it is the present well-lived, profiting from the mistakes of our past and with a purposeful future, that we're able to strive for the kingdom of God.
God knows our needs before we ever ask Him.
God hears our wants.
When our wants are shaped into God's will, we begin to think about our future in the kingdom.
How much time do you and I spend worrying about things that never happen?
In a world where children are abused and deserted, does it matter what name-brand clothes we wear?
In a world where people don't even know the people next door or down the street, is it essential what those people think about the cars we drive?
In a world where the hurt is real and not being accepted by one's peer group poisons our children's self-image, does it matter if we live into the newest trends?
In a world where other people influence our children more than we do, shouldn't we strengthen our family by being a part of the kingdom of God?
Maybe we need to notice the world right outside our door or inside our house and not try to imitate the actions of the world.
After all, Jesus reminds us, "Seek first [God’s] kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
In other words, everything else falls into perspective once you have the present.
Don’t worry then about tomorrow, for tomorrow will always bring worries of its own.
Today's struggle is enough for today, and today, well-lived is what God wants us all to do.
Let us pray. Great God, we thank you for today, for this moment, and our present.
The present is a gift from You that we must use to its best.
Please help us to seek first your kingdom right now, in the present, and to fill our lives with kingdom thoughts so that every today and every tomorrow is better because our today has been lived well.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Today is Consecration Sunday.
It is the day we pledge to God what we will trust God with out of our paychecks.
It has a lot to do with learning to live in the present.
