Sermon OTM – Matthew 6:33

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord join us here today
Please Lord, let us be of help.
Let us be your hands or your feet
Let us be your strong back to help lift and carry
Your tender shoulder for tears and comfort
Let us be your smile
Your safe and warm hug
Your knowing nod
Your welcome
Your full acceptance
Your compassion

Let us be a little bit of strength when someone needs it
Calm, patient when things are falling apart
Let us be your grace
Your generosity
Your wallet if need be
Let us be your selflessness
Your sacrifice, living in our bodies
If need be

And kindness,
Lord let us be your kindness
Let us be your gentleness
Let us be your mercy
When folk are afraid
Overwhelmed
Undone
When people are running out of hope
Place us there
Side by side with you
And be rock solid
Steady
Still
Make us like that,
Transform us
Teach us,
Move us,
Compel us Lord

Let us be your joy
Let us be your love
Let us, Lord,
Please
Let us be of help

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:33

Intro: Did you know, many Christians avoid the Sermon On the Mount?

The problem is that they misread the Sermon
– they think Jesus demands a perfection that is beyond us
• what actually happens in the Sermon is that it empowers us
◦ we learn the way of sincerity, integrity, and mercy
• whatever else it might mean to be Christian,
◦ above all, it means to be a “good person”
◦ loving, caring, helping, serving
– I feel that what we go over today can’t be “just another talk”
• we need to know how to get Jesus’ teaching into our hearts, and minds, and our everyday lives
• this verse, that I skimmed over last week,
◦ teaches us where we need to go from here

By now we should be familiar with two key words in this verse

Kingdom and righteousness – we first encounter them in Beatitudes
– in this verse Jesus puts them together
• righteousness is a central concern in the kingdom of God
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17)
– there is a third important word in this verse: “seek”
• Jesus uses seek in the Sermon only two times
◦ first time, is in verse 32 (a slight difference; same word intensive)
• we encounter this concept frequently in the Old Testament
◦ God wants us to come looking for him
Seek the LORD and his strength;
seek his presence continually! (Ps. 105:4)
Seek the LORD while he may be found (Isa. 55:6)

What is it that Jesus expects us to do?

I think it’s obvious that he wants us to live the Sermon
– to put God before everything else
• and that means we live on the outside is what we are on the inside
• it means being the light of the world and salt of the earth
• it means being kindness and compassion, forgiveness and substantial help
◦ Jesus is concerned with doing a lot of internal work with us
◦ that is where integrity begins
– to seek the kingdom of God does not mean to be religious
• I heard that at the National Prayer Breakfast,
◦ two speakers stressed America needed more religion
◦ more religion is Taliban, Isis, an oppressive government like Iran
• to the church in Rome that was divided by religion, Paul said (again),
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17)
◦ God’s righteousness has been what the Sermon is all about to this point
◦ righteousness is “right relationship”

There is another part to seeking the kingdom of God

When Jesus first preached the kingdom, he said its “at hand” (Mt. 4:17)
– what does that mean?
• in Gethsemane when Jesus was arrested, told disciples
“See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed . . .” (Mt. 26:45)
◦ Matthew goes on to say,
“While he was still speaking, Judas came . . . and with him a great crowd . . .” (Mt. 26:47)
◦ “at hand” means it is happening already
• this is the mystery of the kingdom (Mt. 13:11)
“The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you” (Lk. 17:20-21)
• we’re not sitting around waiting for the kingdom to arrive
◦ it’s already arrived, present with us in the here and now
– to seek the kingdom is to develop an awareness of its presence
• God hasn’t yet brought the fullness of his kingdom into our world
◦ but it is here in a way that it wasn’t before Jesus came
• awareness of its presence strengthens and sustains us

In our Lectio Divina, we’ve been in the parables of the kingdom

I want to demonstrate something about Jesus’ parables
– after Jesus cleared the temple of money changers,
• the chief priests and scribes came up to him and demanded,
“Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who is it that gave you this authority” (Lk. 20:1-2)
◦ since they were in charge, they knew he wasn’t authorized by the high priest or anyone else in charge of the temple and its services
• had they been sincere, he would’ve given a suitable answer no doubt
◦ but he knew with their mind-set, they’d reject any answer
◦ so he dodged giving an answer by asking them a question
– but then in his next move, Jesus did answer their question
• but he did it with a parable

And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while. When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written:
“‘The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone’? (Lk. 20:9-17)

◦ a story gave them an opportunity to hear his answer outside their preconceptions
◦ for instance, where did the vineyard owner’s son get his authority?

Jesus changed the context so that they could understand his answer!

• our challenge with being aware of the kingdom here, now, is that our culture is dominated by a materialistic worldview
◦ if it can’t be seen, measured, quantified it doesn’t exist
◦ but the message of the kingdom reveals another dimension beyond our four-dimensional universe
◦ there is a larger reality that the one in which we live our daily lives

Jesus used his parables to create for us a new context,
– one that would helps us grasp the idea of an invisible heavenly kingdom
• he explained this to his disciples
Then the disciples came to him and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given” (Mt. 13:10-11)
• something has to happen with us, in us
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:3)
◦ Nicodemus reacted just like his fellow Pharisees, priests and elders; i.e., within his own narrow context
◦ so Jesus spoke even more seriously,
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (Jn. 3:5-6)
– I’m convinced, there is no expert here, no one with an easy answer or exercise to open our minds and hearts to the reality of God’s kingdom
Lonnie Frisbee, “We fail our way into the kingdom of God”
(I would say, “stumble our way into,” but same idea
• for me, the most difficult part is quieting my mind
◦ in the theater, before a movie begins, we hear, “Silence your cell phones”
◦ it is so difficult at first, but we can learn silence our minds and hearts to better hear God
(sometimes music can also be helpful — 2 Kings 3:15-16!)

Jesus does give us some idea of what might help awaken us to God’s kingdom

In the same chapter where Jesus said
“How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”
he also said,
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (Lk. 18:17-24)

How do children receive gifts? I’m guessing here, but it seems to me:
– With a sense of ownership
It’s only when they get older they ask, “Is this for me”? or “Can I keep it?” Other wise, what’s handed to them becomes theirs
– With curiosity
This motivates them to explore and to ask questions, like, “What does this do?” or “How do I open it?”
– With a feeling of bonding with the giver
They assume the giver’s love or care for them
– With trust in both the gift and the giver
– With eagerness
Have you seen posts on social media of children receiving an unexpected gift? It is so unbelievable to them that they were actually given a puppy, for instance. It can move you to tears

Conclusion: A word of caution

But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go it (Mt. 23:13)

There are blog sites and video streams hosted by religious watch dogs,
who take it upon themselves to warn us of worldly dangers
These are often people who haven’t experienced God for themselves,
and make certain to close the door to others who want to experience God’s kingdom
We can find an entrance into the kingdom in every present moment
Jesus invites us to enter the kingdom, with the promise:
Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom (Lk. 12:32)