Sunday June 15, 2008 | Greg Boyd
Then Jesus said to His disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will He clothe you—you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek His kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
So many of us have a messed up view of God. We don’t understand how our Father in heaven loves us beyond imagination. Because we lack a clear picture of God’s love, we cling to this world and all of its concerns. Our lives can get consumed by worry. But when we see the reality of God’s love, this world's problems are small by comparison.
From the pagan perspective this world is all that is real. People may believe in God, Jesus and many other spiritual things, but what is real to them is this world. They live in the story of survival and success in the here and now. This is a story of pain avoidance and pursuing pleasure. If this world is all that is real, then this life becomes all important. As a result, those living within this story chase after food, clothing, shelter, cars, money and reputation. They cannot help but do so.
In addition, to those within this story, Jesus’ teachings are crazy. Jesus says to trust God and live carefree like birds. This does not make sense. The here and now world story hinders the imagination from hearing what Jesus is saying. Given the STORY they live in, they can’t help but see Jesus’ teachings as insane. His teachings say to deny yourself, to take up a cross, to be willing to die, or to love enemies. This is all ludicrous. Believing in God and Jesus is okay, so long as it benefits them here and now, but actually trusting in God and following the teachings of Jesus make no sense.
Jesus’ is inviting us into a radically different story. It’s the only story in which His teachings make sense. It’s the story of trusting God to be a loving Dad who delights in giving us His Kingdom. The reason we can be carefree is because we know our Father loves us, cares for us and wants to give us the Kingdom.
We’ve got to know our heavenly Dad delights in us and delights in giving us the Kingdom. We don’t have to beg, earn, impress, or cajole. Our Father is not delighted in us because he must. It is just who he is. Our Dad is the kind of Dad who…
Our Heavenly Dad is pleased to give us the entire Kingdom. The question is: Do we trust him? If we get this, it changes the story we live in. And now Jesus’ teachings make sense. If we trust that our Dad loves us, takes delight in us and wants to give us his eternal Kingdom, there is no need to worry about getting the good life now. There is no need to be anxious about food, clothing or shelter. If my Dad wants me to sell all my possession and give to the poor, that is no problem. Clinging to possessions when we have the Kingdom is like a son of Bill Gates loosing sleep over giving up a quarter.
If we trust our Dad loves us, knows what we need, and is delighted to give us the Kingdom, we can live carefree. We can be a passionate trusting free child of God who is not clinging to the things of this world.