[This sermon is one of a series entitled "Sermon on the Mount, Concentrating on the Beatitudes," which is being preached on Sunday mornings by Pastor Tim Senter.]
If we are going to eat properly at a social gathering, we should learn some of these differences and attempt to respect them. With God though, it is a matter of all or nothing - not just trying, but succeeding.
In our latest studies together we have searched the things of the world and found them wanting – even those things we might consider vital to our lives. Honestly, bread, clothing and water are about as basic as one gets. If these essentials are the major focus of our lives, we have much to learn and there is much that we are missing about life. After these last few studies, we should be asking ourselves who we really are, what we really are and to whom we really belong. After all, if the birds are fed, if the grass grows and all of God’s creation flourishes and they have no thought about the very basics of life but simply function as they are designed, then who are we compared to them? We are not birds who fly aimlessly about looking for food; we go to the grocery store or a restaurant and purchase our meals. We do not act like wildlife scrounging for food. Equally, no moose in their right mind would be found in one of our fine eating establishments in Lander. You could almost see the signs now: “All you can eat salad days every Tuesday $8.99. NO MOOSE ALLOWED.” We might have to reinstitute segregation so we would see signs for “No moose welcome” or “We do not feed moose here” or even separate, “Men” or “Women” and “Moose” facilities in public businesses. It could be very messy. Moose would get lawyers… oh, that is right… they have lawyers already.[i] Truly, as much personality as Sweet Pea has (our little dog really rules the roost) she is not a person, and people are not animals. We are different, we live different, we are clothed differently and we eat differently. People are designed with a rational intellect, animals are not.
One of the first things we must realize is that we are different from everything else in God’s creation. We were made for a higher purpose, not the least of which is stewardship of creation. God also commands us to worship Him in the process of our lives. He makes no such demand upon the rest of creation. They simply obey. Since we are capable of far more, we are expected to deliver far more in our lives (Lk 12:48). We are expected to move past the basics of existence and into a realm of spiritual connection with God that is intellectually based. Every animal can feel some sense of loss, some sense of need. Only humans can think through these sensations to develop understanding of the circumstances. Animals act and react out of instinct, even after the loss of offspring. They are not capable of carefully designing the development of their offspring. Humans have the intellectual ability to effect the development of their offspring either to encourage reliance upon God, or to ignore the truth that God exists. Animals are simply given to obedience in their daily existence. Man can choose to obey and submit to the will of God or not.
Therefore, first and foremost, Christians are called to understand the drastic differences between them and the rest of God’s creation. This pointed recognition does not stop with the animal world, the grass or flowers in the ground or any other part of God’s creation. It extends to the human world too.
Look at Matthew 6 and verse 32. Opening this passage again I pray we are mindful that this is the Lord’s sermon delivered around the turn of the millennium where He preached to “multitudes” or a large group of common people. We also understand that Jesus sat down on the face of a small ravine or valley, what we might call a “cut” where He was high enough and His voice would travel through the small valley. We understand that this instruction was designed to tell us about the Kingdom of God and the saints or inhabitants therein. Therefore, in this sermon Jesus describes the people who will inhabit the kingdom and fill the mansion that He goes to prepare. Recently, as noted above, we talked about basic physical needs such as food, clothing and water. Place this contrast in context now as we study this passage with a view toward the spiritual, but with our minds firmly rooted in scripture.
Americans are unique in a number of ways. I am told that Italians think that we work too hard. We do work long and laborious hours at what we do. Some Americans seldom take vacations. I know I have never been accused of that. I have heard, but was unable to confirm, that in certain countries, there are mandatory holiday periods that add up to as much as 60 days a year. This is outside of special days. These are two week periods of paid vacation. Of course, there are people who vacation at work too. That activity happens in a variety of countries except Japan – they work hard regardless of the day I think. It is in their fabric.
Eating habits are another issue. Take a bowl of food for instance. We would normally not think of a bowl as the primary serving device for our meal. We would consider a plate our primary device, as would most of Europe. However, the Asian countries consider the bowl as their primary eating instrument. Our habits of eating are also different. In America, we use a fork, spoon and knife, while in Japan, China and other Asian countries they use chopsticks. Some have tried to eat with chopsticks, some may not have. What you do is, instead of spearing your food or scooping it with fork or spoon, you pinch it and pick it up between the two sticks. There are also intricate rules regarding chopsticks in the resting position. Eating rice from a bowl with chopsticks is customarily a shoveling expedition. You hold the bowl of rice close to your mouth and shovel in some rice. With soup, it is impolite to slurp, which is something my family customarily does with soup. In America, you dip your spoon into the soup away from you. In Japan, soup is taken directly from the bowl unless there are noodles, in which case a soup spoon is used. In Europe, you not only scoop your spoon away from you to fill it, you tip your bowl away from you as well. In America, you tip your bowl toward you, and only to finish the soup not as a normal practice as in Europe.
Why this exercise in etiquette? Because etiquette illustrates some differences in our respective societies. If we are going to eat properly at a social gathering, we should learn some of these differences and attempt to respect them. With God though, it is a matter of all or nothing – not just trying, but succeeding. This is what Jesus is trying to convey to us. Not only are we different than the rest of creation, we are also different from the rest of man because we are simply sojourners in this land; we belong to the Kingdom of God.
Differences between the Christian and the unbeliever are stark and prevalent. They manifest themselves in lifestyles, in interests, in attitudes, in decision processes, and especially in day to day living and family operations. Christian children are brought up in a home concerned about what God thinks, and how their sin evinces the need for Christ’s atonement on the cross. The world’s children and families are brought up concerned about what the neighbors will think of them, or what their peers in school might say about their behavior. Some of the world ignores rearing their children all together, but the Christian is deeply involved, even if not always successful. Still, Christians can fall prey to the worldly comparison view in trying to keep up or in good stead with the “Joneses.” Sometimes, when trying to fit the world’s views and attitudes with that of Christ and the cross, the Christian succumbs to the secular accusation of arrogance somewhat out of humility, but mostly out of misunderstood doctrine.
All of these differences boil down to one specific and identifiable difference: contentedness. Christians are content with what God gives them. The worldly are never content because there is always more to have. Where the Christian has all things available to him to glorify God, the worldly only has those things available to him that he can envision and earn, steal or swindle. Realizing this limitation creates great discontent in the unbeliever.
I. Discontentedness of man (Verse 32)
The key words in our first verse deal with the discontented or searching heart of the unbeliever. These individuals are seeking, desiring and attempting to fulfill their heart’s desires. The verb is a present, active, indicative which talks of a currently ongoing effort or series of efforts. The word is actually a compound word made from “epi” which means on or upon, and “zēteō“ which translates to attempt to attain a state or condition. We could say they are driving toward or intent on fulfilling their desires. The reason for this is in the next prominent action word “chrēzō” which communicates the sense that they are lacking in something necessary or particularly needed. We could say they are wanting or without something they deem vital to their desires. This pushes the items in verse 31 past the normal, basic food, drink, clothing and shelter discussion.
The natural man completely misses the point made later in the verse that our heavenly Father knows (“oida” 1 Jn 2:28-29 sermon here) what we need. We should ask, Why do they miss the point? The answer lies in a simple word in the scripture we see translated “gentiles.” This is the word “ethnos” where we get our word “ethnic.” However, it did not have the meaning in the time of Christ as it does now. To the Jews, they were the chosen people of God – they had the covenants with God, they had the holy of holies. The Jews held the oracles of God in the Old Testament. All others were heathens, unbelievers, infidels. Islam took their ideas of the infidel from the Jewish tradition that Mohammad borrowed when he wrote the Koran. You see the wide variety of belief systems in the Koran from the eclectic beliefs Mohammad used. Mohammad plagiarized a variety of religious writings across the Asian area where he conducted trade. The exclusivity in Islam is the same exclusivity we see referenced here from Jesus. The Jew is the chosen of God, all others are ethnos (gentile). From the love of money and worldly possessions (taught as a good thing in the Koran – The Family of Imran 1. 3.14) to the desire to be bigger and better than your neighbor – these are the desires of the gentile. Their focus is purely on their own personal enjoyment and involves fulfilling those material desires.
The fact is that the heathen, or unbeliever, the infidel knows nothing of Christ. Further, being focused upon their own desires, any conflict with that drive is attacked viciously in order to mitigate the threat that would detract from fulfilling those desires. For this reason and many others, Jesus tells us that the world hates Him, and it hates because He speaks of its ungodliness (Jn 7:7). The world hates for no reason other than it has a wrong focus. Many in the world perpetrate a quiet hate.
What is “quiet hate,” you ask? It is not common today as more and more frequently Christians are openly attacked, ridiculed and derided. Quiet rebellion is a condition in unbelievers somewhat born from the tolerance indoctrination that causes them to be nice to Christians and their witness or testimony, while inside they would just like you to shut up. On the one hand, they are polite because they are taught they must be tolerant. On the other hand they hold back what they would really like to say, which may be, “Get out of my face;” or “I could care less about God.” The reason is that they hear or see sacrifice in your testimony, and they have no desire to sacrifice for anyone except themselves. These people truly have no concept of God, His majesty and their requirement to match it in order to get into Heaven. They cannot know Christ Jesus, they know nothing nor can they even comprehend their need for atonement for the evil they perpetrate. They have no idea that “God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son” (Jn 3:16a) because they know nothing of God’s love, nor His Son (Jn 8:19). The natural man also has no concept what “whosoever believeth in Him shall have everlasting life” (Jn 3:16b) may mean, because they see only their earth-bound lives here as viable, important and worthy of their time and attention. They remain in this unenlightened ignorance because they have always, “loved the darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (Jn 3:19). They do not know the “light of the world” or the “light of life” (Jn 8:12) because they walk in darkness. The natural man is unable to take a path leading to contentedness in life because “he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth” (Jn 12:35). Man cannot be content when he is unable to see anything in which to glory. Without the light of the world, there is no contentment because there is no light to see the treasure around you.
The people of the world are pushing toward an artificially developed state of pseudo euphoria. Natural man cannot see that true happiness does not lie in this world, in any “thing” or group of things. True happiness, true bliss, true contentedness is in a single man, a person. That happiness is found only in Christ Jesus and His atonement that frees man from the blinding darkness of sin. God knows natural man is lacking something – and it is salvation. Your heavenly Father knows your needs and they are great. The sinner has needs that the Christian has already had satisfied. The natural man will always live in discontent. The Christian should always live in a state of contentedness.
The question is, Do you find yourself focusing on the things around you, on the world around you, on the temporal things or the things that other worldly people are focused upon? Are you focused upon entertainment or some other distraction to take your mind off what is really happening in the world? Open your eyes and see the true Light of Life. Invite Him into your heart. When you do you will never be blind again. If you drink of His living water you will never thirst (Jn 4:10-14). If you taste the living bread, you will never die (Jn 6:49-51).
“But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. When thou art in tribulation and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient to his voice; (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them” (Deut 4:29-30).
When Christ tells these people that the gentiles eagerly seek the things of the world, and God knows their needs, He does not leave them with empty words. He gives them specific direction and guidance. Jesus told them that day that we should first seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness. This is the beginning of our contentedness.
II. Contentedness in God (Verse 33)
The word that begins this scripture is the simple three letter word, “but.” In fact, in the Greek it is even simpler as it is a two-letter word “de.” It is like our big word “if” when you think about it. We often find the word “de” translated “and,” or “now,” or in this case “but.” The inference is, in contrast to what was before, do what follows. Instead of the lack of contentedness in the world’s pursuit of the temporal, do the following. Another way of putting it is this, now that you know the contentment that is lacking in the world, (even toiling after the basic necessities therein), try something different. Leave behind all the cares and worries of the world, and lay them upon His shoulders (Matt 11:28-30; Gal 5:1). Jesus is telling them about Himself and the prophecy concerning His mission in Isaiah 55.
“Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. 3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. 4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. 5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee. 6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
Simply put, Christian, you need to get with the program. God in the person of Jesus Christ has already taken upon Himself the concerns, worries and troubles of the world right down to your basic daily needs.
We find a familiar word here in “zēteō“ meaning to attempt to attain a state or condition. Once again, this is one’s desire or intent to achieve a position or goal. In this case, God tells us to forsake the things of the world and seek first or drive your heart and soul first to achieve the kingdom of God. That is the Savior’s point to this whole sermon. Jesus is repeatedly differentiating between the saved souls in the Kingdom and the lost destined for eternal torment. Jesus takes us back to the Beatitudes. If you remember they are bracketed in the phrase, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:3, 10).
Our Savior goes further. Jesus tells us not just to seek His kingdom, but seek to be everything that is embodied in the kingdom, even while here in this world. Seek to gain the perfect righteousness of God. Hunger and thirst for righteousness and you will have contentment. We should desire in our deepest heart to embody in ourselves the righteousness that is God. His righteousness is perfect and everlasting. For the Christian, it abides in you in the form of the Holy Spirit and is manifested in your daily life, attitude, aptitudes and desires. The righteousness of God is mentioned 92 times in the scriptures, all in the New Testament. We find it most often in Romans (34 times or 36% of its uses). God’s righteousness or God’s perfect justice is a strong spice in the New Testament. We first learn that God is just and perfect, therefore His wrath against sin must be satisfied. The satisfaction for His wrath (propitiation) is accomplished in the Son of God. Righteousness has a great impact upon the New Covenant, for without perfect justice, no one needs the Savior. Without a need for perfect righteousness, natural man can determine how to work out his own righteousness before a god personally devised and defined (relativism). However, when we consider the true and pure righteousness of a perfect and all-powerful God, we know we can never achieve that level of refinement. Therefore, seeking this righteousness with all our passion is a tall order, for it also involves our admission of ineptitude. We have to admit we are incapable, yet we have to strive to achieve that which is impossible to achieve – perfect righteousness. Our only recourse is to seek help from a being who has satisfied God’s demand for perfection: His Son.
The wonderful thing is that when we seek the Son, we receive a gift that mitigates all the problems, worries, trials and tribulations of the world right down to the very bread we will eat and water we will drink. The word “prostithēmi” means to add and can mean to give, to provide, to grant or to place in the hands of someone else for their use. “At their disposal” would be an accurate and descriptive phrase we could use to translate this word. The word “prostithēmi” is a compound word made from the words “pros” and “tithēmi.” “Pros” means with, in comparison, to be open with or to/toward. “Tithemi” is normally translated to put, to appoint/designate/assign, to turn over to or, again place at someone’s disposal. The word used here is a future tense in the passive voice. That means that when Jesus was talking to these people, He saw that many if not all would yet have to make this decision. Many were lost as Jesus spoke to them. The passive portion indicates that those seeking this righteousness and taking upon themselves this added gift, equally give what they have to offer as a gift in return. When we put these two words together we get the sense that we place ourselves with the object. We make an effort to put ourselves forth in a fashion adding ourselves to the object, and the object is also added or placed with us. If we translate this with a more complete sense we might say, “all these things shall be provided for your use and you will be at the disposal of all these things.” It provides in a sense a co-operative effort.
One might ask when salvation has ever been a cooperative effort on anyone’s part; because we are at enmity with God and He chooses us – we do not choose Him. If we give up our heart’s desires for the things on this Earth and give all we have to Christ, we have therefore cooperated with His plan for our lives in our salvation. We are not the instigator, nor are we the designer of these plans. We simply submit to them. We are poor in spirit realizing that our spirit on its own is incapable of giving ourselves to God. We mourn because of this ineptitude and pray God will help us fulfill His will. We are meek and merciful and because we seek His righteousness we develop purity. None of these things is done because of us, but in spite of our own heart as we “prostithēmi” or place ourselves at His disposal just as Jesus placed Himself at our disposal. Jesus submitted to the world’s torture for our salvation. We, in turn, submit ourselves to His service because of our salvation.
Do you find contentedness in your life in all things? Have you taken upon yourself the only bread that is capable of feeding eternally? Have you sipped the living water of Christ such that you thirst no longer? These are all proper and worthwhile endeavors.
Are you unhappy and seeking after the things of the world in order to gain some level of contentedness? Do you seek increasingly thrilling or exhilarating things here on Earth to fill a void you continue to find inside yourself? Do you go all-out to purchase that one special gift for yourself, only to find there is more you want? If you do any of these things (seeking first their pleasures and attempting to justify your existence with them), they are improper and unworthy endeavors for the Christian. The Christian is directed here to “seek ye first the kingdom of God.” When this is accomplished, “all these things will be added unto you.” If you are not first content with God, nothing on this Earth will provide contentment in life because there will always be something else. Alternatively, if you are first content with God, nothing is impossible. Being content with God through salvation in Christ Jesus gives you the ultimate existence, the perfect life.[ii] Do you live a perfect life filled with contentment? No? That is why we need Jesus. Endeavoring to gather Him into your life is a worthwhile and proper effort.
[i] http://animal-law.lawyers.com/ – Animal law is designed to protect the welfare and interests of pets, wildlife, farm animals, animals used in entertainment and animals used in research and experiments. In addition to defining the rights of animals, animal law also defines the rights of animal owners. Issues may include custody over pets in divorce disputes, veterinary malpractice, wrongful death or injury to a pet, enforceable trusts for pets, disputes involving “no pet” policies, and cruelty against animals, including the issue of who has standing to sue on behalf of animals. Certainly, some of these make sense especially where our stewardship is clearly indicated in the scripture. Equally, some are plainly absurd such as trusts for pets and any animal rights that ignore their secondary place compared to human life.
[ii] Many would see this comment and think it a bunch of hooey. Truth be told, when you know you are secure in heaven eternally in the presence of God, nothing else on this earth matters. That is the Christian’s attitude – they look forward to the perfect life of a heavenly existence in the presence of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
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