Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Text: (Matthew 6:25-34)
Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.
Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
With the last year or so, Barbara chose with me the readings and hymns to be sung at her funeral today. Actually, she said that what she really wanted at her funeral was to be carried down the main street of Yinnar followed by a New Orleans Jazz band. But she wanted very much to have this reading from Matthew read at her funeral.
And in this reading, Jesus invites us to do two things: birdwatching, and gardening. He says: “Look at the birds of the air.” “Consider the lilies of the field.”
But right at the heart of this reading about birds and lilies, Jesus teaches us about the great value of human life: that every life is precious in God’s eyes, every person is unique, every person is created in his image, and every death is precious, and especially every Christian death, because it is an occasion of so much joy for all the saints and angels, even though we are left with our grief and sadness. But Jesus says earlier in the passage before our reading for today: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
But our reading today begins with the words:
Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
This bible passage is so well-known to many people, and many people can easily skip over it, thinking that it is just some good advice for life. But it is much more than that—it is the words of the God who made you, and the Saviour who Redeemed you.
And so, Jesus says: “Look at the birds of the air.” Go and do some bird-watching. But he wants you not just the look at the birds, but to notice and find the hand of God. Jesus says: “Your heavenly Father feeds them.” It isn’t simply the mother bird who feeds her chicks, but it is God’s own hand who has sent the mother bird to look after them. It isn’t just the early bird who has found the worm, but it is the same heavenly Father who feeds you who gives the early bird the worm.
And so, all the birds in Barbara’s garden, all the birds on Raymond Island are being fed constantly by the hand of God. They don’t even sow, or reap or gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. God created them for his good pleasure, and for his enjoyment, and also for our enjoyment.
And then Jesus says: “Are you not of more value than they?”
If God was feeding the birds in Barbara’s garden, how much more was God feeding Barbara? If God was feeding all the chicks in every birds nest, how much more was your heavenly Father feeding Barbara’s whole family and looking after them? And does God stop looking after and feeding each bird when the mother is taken away? How much more will your heavenly Father still keep looking after you, even though he has taken Barbara away from you in this life?
And so Jesus says: And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Listen to these words: “Which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” All the days of our life are numbered, and each day is precious. You can’t prolong your life—neither could Barbara. In Job, it says: “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Also, in Genesis we read about Enoch, where it says: “Enoch walked with God, and he was not found, for God took him.”
God has given us so much through Barbara—and now God has taken away. God took her. But it’s not the time to blame God for doing something unfair, but to praise him for doing something gracious and loving. God knows that you are still living, God knows that you need comfort in your mourning, and strength to face a new day without the person that you loved.
And so, Jesus says: “Consider the lilies of the field.” Go and do some gardening. But he wants you not just the look at the lilies and the plants, but to notice and find the hand of God. Jesus says: “God clothes the grass of the field.” The flowers and plants don’t clothe themselves, the flowers, the lilies, the roses, don’t wake up one morning and decide what colour they want to put on. It is God himself who clothes them—he invents the colours, and he is the one who gives to each plant its beauty.
And so, all the plants and flowers in Barbara’s garden are being clothed constantly by the hand of God. They don’t even toil and spin, and yet even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Jesus says, not even the greatest of kings in history with all their robes and crowns and jewellery and finery are as wonderfully clothed as one single lily. God created them for his good pleasure, and for his enjoyment, and also for our enjoyment.
And then Jesus says: “If God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”
If God was clothing the plants in Barbara’s garden, how much more was God clothing Barbara? If God was clothing all the buds on every plant, how much more was your heavenly Father clothing Barbara’s whole family and looking after them? And does God stop looking after and clothing each seedling when the original plant is taken away? How much more will your heavenly Father still keep looking after you, even though he has taken Barbara away from you in this life?
“If God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”
Jesus throws in a little word there for our humility: “O you of little faith.” He knows all very well that we’re weak, and that we’re weak in faith. He knows that we don’t trust in our heavenly Father like we should, and we get anxious and toil and labour as if there’s no such thing as God. The more the people of our world and society disbelieve in God, the less they enjoy their work and the more they work themselves into the ground.
But Jesus doesn’t say this to make us despair. He knows we’re of little faith, but he wants to encourage us. “Will he not much more clothe you?”
Grass and flowers are here today and gone tomorrow. Barbara was here yesterday and gone today, but he still clothes you.
And so Jesus says: Therefore do not be anxious, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “what shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Jesus shows us that what he has said is of such importance that it is has to do with the difference between being a Christian and a pagan. He says: “The Gentiles seek after all these things.” Gentiles live in such a way that there’s no god, or that something else is god that is not actually God, and so they seek food, drink and clothing in such a way that they make themselves the gods.
Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
Today, Jesus also teaches us that your heavenly Father knows that you need comfort in your mourning, and encouragement in the face of death. Gentiles will seek various ways and means to make themselves feel better, but God will look after you. He has looked after Barbara for so many years, and given her so much joy and so many times of joy even when a Gentile, and a person of little faith like us, would have expected that the only thing she would have received would have been sorrow.
And so Jesus gives us his holy encouragement when he says: Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
The kingdom of God and the righteousness of God will still remain when there is no need for food and drink and clothing. The kingdom of God continues even now in Barbara, a baptised child of God, and we are who are left behind on the other side of the grace are part of that same kingdom. This is the kingdom of the Holy Spirit which is given through the clear and pure word of God. And Jesus teaches that it is a kingdom that is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys the field. It is like a mustard seed that grows up into a great tree with all the birds coming to nest in its branches. It is like a pearl of great value. It is like a net cast into the sea and dragging up a great catch of fish.
Also, Jesus says seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Most people think that God’s righteousness means doing good things, and doing good works, and making sure we are honest citizens. But this sort of thing doesn’t save us. Because we are always labouring, and being anxious, toiling, spinning, and worrying about the future and everything that we have to do.
Jesus knows that we are people of little faith. That’s why he was strong for us in dying on the cross and rising from the dead. And now he gives us his righteousness in exchange for our little faith. Jesus makes himself poor, and gives us his riches. He becomes our sin even though he is not a sinner, and gives us his righteousness, he speaks his righteousness onto us through the forgiveness of our sins, so that we are righteous even though we are nothing but people of little faith.
Jesus bore our griefs in his flesh and deep in his soul—even though in his own life he had no reason for it. He said: “My soul is greatly troubled.” And so, through his clear word, Jesus creates joy, even when we think there is no reason for it. Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.
Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Amen.
Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you for Barbara, and for the many things that you have given to us through her. We thank you for her life, and we pray that in our time of sadness, you would strengthen us in your care and comfort us with the heavenly comfort of your Holy Spirit. Amen.
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