"living Well"

“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?"