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Scripture |
Matthew 6:24-34 24“No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. 25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 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? 27 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you--you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
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Devotional |
A European observer summed up with a certain amazement the insatiable drive for consumption he witnessed during a visit to the United States: “Americans cleave to the things of this world as if assured that they will never die, and yet are in such a rush to snatch any that come within their reach, as if expecting to stop living before they have relished them. They clutch everything but hold nothing fast, and so lose grip as they hurry after some new delight.” Was this observer present at the shopping mall last December or just last weekend? Alexis de Tocqueville, the famous Frenchman who wrote these words, visited the United States in the 1830’s. We are still rushing to snatch anything in our reach but today we have a greater variety of merchandise and money or charge cards to purchase more things. Is Jesus speaking especially to us today about our desire to have more and more? Money can’t buy happiness. Money isn’t everything. You hear these two sayings again and again, but most often by the person who has a sufficient amount of money. This is not a saying used by a person with no food in the house, or the utilities are cut off because of lack of payment, or one who can not purchase medicine for their sick child. What did Jesus mean when he is speaking about wealth? Is wealth anything beyond the basic necessities of life? Can wealth mean the addictive virus called affluenza? Affluenza is a contagious, addictive virus that makes us believe that too much is not enough. That transforms us from ‘citizens’ to ‘consumers.’ That prompts political leaders of all persuasions to beg, ‘Buy something, buy anything. 1 Sounds much like, those encouraging everyone to spend the tax rebate coming next month. The self-examination questions these authors offer could make one uncomfortable. Questions like, “Do you get bored unless you have something to consume (goods, food, media)? “Do you use shopping as ‘therapy?’” “Do you personally fill more than one large trash bag in a single week?” “Does each person in your house or apartment occupy more than 500 square feet of personal space?” “Are any of your credit cards maxed out?” Answering these questions can cause one to squirm. Not worrying about tomorrow is not a problem at this time. We have the utilities paid for the month and Joy always has the freezer and cupboard well stocked so we do not have a lot to worry about. God may be calling those of us who are not immediately worried about ourselves to worry about someone who does not have utilities and food. Would shopping as therapy work just as well if we shopped for someone who was hungry or not well dressed? Affuenza virus could be used to help someone else. The cure could be longer lasting if we used the cure for someone in need. I do not know how uncomfortable Jesus intended to make us but surely he did not intend these words to be taken lightly. 1 John de Graaf, David Wann, and Thomas Naylor, Affuenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2001.
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