Matt 6:24-34 for Sunday, May 25, 2008

Translation:

(24)No one can serve two lords; for he will hate the one and will love the other, or he will be loyal to one and the other he will despise. You cannot serve God and possessions. (25)Because of this, I say to you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, not for your body, what you will wear. (26)Look at the bird of the sky, for they do not sow, they do not reap and they do not gather up into a barns, yet your heavenly father feeds them; are you not superior to them? (27)And which of you, by worrying add to one cubit to your life? (28)And with clothes, why are you anxious? Consider the lilies of the field how they grow; they do not labor, they do not spin. (29)And I say to you, not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed as one of these. (30)But if the grass of the field is here today and tomorrow thrown into the oven and God thus clothes it, will he not do much more for you, of little faith? (31)Therefore, do not be anxious, saying "What will we eat?" or "What will we drink?" or "What will we wear?" (32)For all this Gentiles seek after, for your heavenly father knows that you need all these things. (33)Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all this will be added to you. (34)Thus, do not be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. The trouble of today is enough.

One of my favorite authors is Chaim Potok. He writes these amazing novels about Jewish life. You have to be a little invested in the plot to get through the first few chapters, but it's always worth it because he writes such beautiful and thought provoking stories.

One of my favorite Chaim Potok quotes is from his book The Chosen. It goes like this: "We live less than the time it takes to blink an eye, if we measure our lives against eternity. So it may be asked what value is there to a human life. There is so much pain in the world. What does it mean to have to suffer so much if our lives are nothing more than the blink of an eye?...I learned a long time ago, Reuven, that a blink of an eye in itself is nothing. But the eye that blinks, that is something. A span of life is nothing. But the man who lives the span, he is something."

I think of this quote every time I read this scripture from Matthew. I think of this quote because it reminds me that our lives are really very short, and for many people in this world life is full of suffering. Some do not have food or drink or clothing. For some people, these things are a real concern and lack of necessity. And yet, in our short lives, Matthew tells us not to worry about these kinds of things! This quote and this scripture remind me that little good comes from worrying about these things. Worrying is like being the blink of an eye.

The scripture tells us that God provides the necessary things that we need. It is true that God has provided, but it sometimes seems that things are not evenly distributed among all God's people. I doubt this has much to do with God's ability to provide and has more to do with our ability to share. Rather than worrying about whether or not goods and services are being evenly distributed, it would make more sense for me to do something about why they are not. It's better to be the eye that blinks, not the blink of the eye.

I think this week I will try to do less complaining about what I don't have and do more to think about what God provides. I think I will try more to think about what God has provided for this planet and how I can do my best to make sure I am not using more than my fair share and that everyone else gets equal opportunity.