Striving for the Worry-Free Kingdom

St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, Gainesville FL
The Chapel of the Incarnation, Gainesville FL
February 27, 2011

Year A: The Eighth Sunday after Epiphany
Isaiah 49:8-16a
Psalm 131
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Matthew 6:24-34

Striving for the Worry-Free Kingdom

Over the past few Sundays we’ve been making our way through the Sermon on the Mount – this extraordinary collection of Jesus sayings assembled by the Evangelist Matthew.

This is one of the best-known parts of the gospel – and also one of the most challenging.

It begins with Jesus’ extraordinary vision of the downside-up kingdom of God – a kingdom in which the poor in spirit, the mournful, the meek, the peacemakers and the persecuted are blessed.

Then Jesus moves on to give us very challenging instructions on how to build the kingdom of God, right here and now.

To build the kingdom we are called to reconcile with our brothers and sisters.

To build the kingdom we are called to strive for self-control.

To build the kingdom we are called to honor our vows.

To build the kingdom we are called to turn the other cheek, give away our cloak, walk the extra mile, and to love our enemies.

To build the kingdom we are called to be perfect as God is perfect.

A very tall order.

In my sermon last week I pointed out that God has the highest expectations of us but that God also knows that in this life at least we’re not going to meet those highest expectations.

So, God invites us to try. And when we stumble and fall, God always stands ready to forgive. The God who has inscribed us on the divine palms, always stands ready to pour out the grace and strength we need to continue.

And now we come to the section of the Sermon on the Mount we heard today.

Actually, there are really three parts to what we heard today.

First, Jesus says we cannot serve God and wealth.

Then Jesus tells us not to worry about our material needs.

Finally, Jesus says to focus on today because tomorrow will bring its own worries.

I have to tell you that following these teachings are a big struggle for me – and I bet for most of you, too.

It’s hard to stay focused on what’s most important.

It’s hard not to worry about material needs – and it’s hard not to worry about the future.

About three and a half years ago I was hired to serve as curate at Grace Church in Madison, New Jersey. At the time Sue and I were living in a house we owned in our hometown of Jersey City. When we had bought this 90 year-old row house I think we both believed that this where we’d live for a long time – maybe even the rest of our lives.

But, now my new job created an unexpected complication. It came with a very nice house in Madison.

So, after some thought, we decided to move to Madison - great decision - and to rent our Jersey City house.

Big mistake. I’ll spare you the details, except to say some tenants don’t always pay their rent and can also really do a lot of damage to a house.

Finally, I guess about two years ago, “Tom and Sue Landlord” decided to sell the house.

You may remember that this was right around the time the housing market was collapsing. There were real doubts that we’d be able to sell this place anytime soon. Month after month went by of us paying a mortgage on an empty house. Despite having already spent a lot of money on home improvements, the inspection report on this nearly a century old house was forty pages of nausea.

It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that worrying about this house took over my life.

I didn’t really care about making money on our investment. Instead, I worried that we’d never be able to sell it. I worried that we’d always be absentee landlords. I worried that for decades we’d be paying the mortgage on this house where we’d probably never live again. I worried that it would be one expensive thing after another – new roof, new windows, new furnace, foundation cracks, termite infestations.

I worried and I worried.

I did my best to focus on my work, but, to be honest, I was at best distracted by – and at worst consumed by – worries about this stupid house.

Meanwhile, during those dismal months God was at work all around me I was missing out on much of what God was doing – much, but not all of it. A few people close to me knew just how much the house thing was bothering me. And they prayed for us.

I know they did because I could actually feel God using their prayers to keep me going, giving me strength in a very bleak time.

My all-consuming worrying about selling our house is exactly what Jesus warns about – what Jesus teaches us – in today’s gospel.

Jesus calls us to mindfulness – to focus on what’s most important.

Jesus calls us to mindfulness – to focus on loving God and loving our neighbor

Jesus calls us to mindfulness – to focus on building the kingdom of God, today, right here and now.

Notice that Jesus doesn’t say that our material needs are unimportant.

Instead, Jesus says, “Indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.”

And then here comes the key to the whole passage:

“But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Jesus is teaching us to focus on building the kingdom of God, today, right here and now.

Jesus is teaching us, urging us, expecting us, to give our lives to building the kingdom in which the poor in spirit, the mournful, the meek, the peacemakers and the persecuted are blessed.

Jesus is teaching us, urging us, expecting us, to build the kingdom by reconciling with our brothers and sisters.

- To build the kingdom by striving for self-control.

- To build the kingdom by honoring our vows.

- To build the kingdom by turning the other cheek, giving away our cloak, walking the extra mile, and by loving our enemies.

- To build the kingdom we are called to be perfect as God is perfect.

And when we commit to this challenging work – when we commit to building the kingdom of God - sure enough our broken and worried world is transformed just a little bit more into the kingdom that God always intended, the kingdom that God dreams of, still.

We saw a glimpse of that transformation at St. Michael’s just a few weeks ago when tragedy struck two of our parishioners.

As word got out I immediately started getting calls and emails from parishioners asking how they could help – people trying to be perfect as God is perfect.

In the end, the extraordinary generosity and hospitality offered by this little parish was a powerful sign of what’s possible when we strive first to build the kingdom of God, today, right here and now.

When we strive first to build the kingdom of God, our worries about tomorrow fade.

When we strive first to build the kingdom of God, today, right here and now, God’s abundance and love is shared with all – material needs are met – and houses are eventually sold.

When we strive first to build the kingdom of God, today, right here and now, then we begin live the worry-free lives of love that God always intended for us – the worry-free lives of love that God dreams for us still.

Amen.