Transcription
There are certain things in life where they're like the major issues of life. They're not the, you know, dot-the-i, cross-the-t issues. They're the major issues of life. And they're the kind of things where it's like, you get this right, or your life is a wreck. Those are the kinds of issues we're gonna talk about today.
So, we're gonna look at Matthew chapter six, verse 33. These are Jesus's marching orders for our life and our purpose in life. And I think that it really is healthy to, like, look at this passage and reflect very honestly on your own life. Just kind of, you're just, it's not, it's not for the sake of to beat you up. It's rather for the sake of to build us up and to give us refocused on our purpose.
Here in Matthew 6:33, and I can say this, this verse has literally changed my life. It actually is probably the reason why I'm in ministry. This particular passage of scripture, this verse has changed the way I was making a decision at a crucial time. So, Matthew 6:33, Jesus says, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." All these things shall be added to you.
Now, I have a request. You may have heard this passage before. I imagine we've all heard this passage before. But let's look at it freshly, and let's analyze it thoughtfully, like, kind of taking it piece by piece. "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things whatever that is will be added to you." Well, let's talk about it, sort of one piece at a time, because this is the big picture stuff.
And in Jesus's time, he, one of the things he rebuked the Pharisees for was they would strain out a gnat and they would swallow a camel. And so the idea is, they would, the straining out of a gnat wasn't bad. Oh, it's nice that you have this little, this little tiny small issue figured out and worked out. But you're ignoring the bigger issues of life. That's the thing I've noticed too, like in marriage counseling. When you sit down with a couple and you actually talk about marriage, it's often the non-issue stuff they're focused on, and the big issue stuff they're not. And once they get their eyes wrapped around what really matters in their marriage, they get renewed and they get restored. And they're like, "Why were we sweating that stuff? This is about the love and the commitment we have to each other. This is about us being one." You know, like it just kind of refocuses them. This is like the marriage cruise, helps, right? Because they come back from the cruise and it's like, "Now we remember what it's all about." You know, like that's, this is, this is the renewal that comes when we get refocused on the essentials of what life is all about.
Okay, so first, let's talk about this. How Matthew six, in fact, Matthew five, six, and seven are the Sermon on the Mount. This is Jesus's longest preaching message we have recorded in the Gospels. And here it's now at Matthew 6, verse 33, is like the culmination of the whole chapter of Matthew 6. The entire chapter is all teaching the stuff that culminates in, like, climaxes and boom, to Matthew 6:33 moment where he says, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness."
So, one of the questions I'll ask is, what is the kingdom of God? What does that mean in that verse, Matthew 6:33? What is the kingdom of God? This was something when I was in the school of ministry that we were assigned to do. It was actually a homework assignment. They sent us home and I said, "You know, look up all the passages in the Gospels, verses, Kingdom of Heaven or Kingdom of God, and try to figure out what's the difference between Kingdom of Heaven and Kingdom of God and the different ways Jesus words those things." And so I looked and I got all these passages and I started coming up with possible definitions. And here's how you do it. You could, you come up with the definition and you use that definition in every one of those passages to see if it fits. No, that didn't work. Okay, I'll try this. Now, that didn't work.
So my conclusion was two things. I think I have an idea of what the kingdom of God is, and it's not new, it's not novel, it's just pretty much the generic idea. But my second conclusion was, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven, not a big difference here, sir. These are basically saying the same thing in different ways. There's different ways of saying the same thing. I'm going home, I'm going to my house. What's the difference between? And now they're really saying the same thing. Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven.
But the consistent idea across all the passages where Jesus says Kingdom of God is that it's always the place where God is ruling as king. This is why he can say things that sound confusing. He can say, "My kingdom is not of this world, otherwise my servants would fight." Okay, so his kingdom's not on this earth. But then he says, "The kingdom of God is among you." And then he says, "The kingdom of God come upon you." And then he says, "The kingdom of God is in you." Well, how can it be in me? Among us? How can it have come upon us? Get us out of this world, otherwise your servants would fight. And his kingdom is coming. It's a future thing.
So what definition of kingdom fits all of this? Well, if the kingdom is wherever God is reigning his king, then that means the kingdom of God is in me. I'm his, I'm his part of his kingdom. I'm one of his citizens of the kingdom. Yet the kingdom's not of this world. This world is not submitted to Christ. This world is not part of that kingdom. He's going to come and establish his kingdom. That's when his kingdom will be reigning over the world. So in a sense, his kingdom is happening right now in individual lives, and his kingdom will happen on a global, like, you know, Christ setting up his actual rule and reign upon the earth in the future. So that's, that's sort of the definition of kingdom of God.
So if I'm to seek first the kingdom of God, I'm to seek first God reigning his king in my life and in the lives of those around me, and to seek first that eternal stuff that will finally come when Christ returns. So that's my view of it, anyways.
The main focus of the kingdom of God compared to the kingdom of man or the kingdom of this world is that the kingdom of God is all about eternal things, and the kingdoms of this world is all about perishing, temporary things. And that's the big focus. In fact, in Matthew 6, Jesus, he lays that out for us. So I'm not just kind of pulling this out of my hat, like this is in the text of scripture.
In Matthew 6, verse 19, before he gets to verse 33, he says, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys, where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." So there's this, like, temporary nature of all of the treasures on earth and this permanent nature of the treasures in heaven. Because moth, they eat, they close. The moths are eating clothing. You know, rust, that's destroying gold and and creations of mankind. Thieves, they're stealing stuff you own. All of that stuff means it means all the stuff's temporary. Whereas the kingdom of heaven stuff, the eternal stuff, that's forever.
I mean, when you think about it this way, when Jesus says, "Hey, you know, you give someone a cup of cold water in my name, you won't lose your reward." Well, now we're being told that reward, it's also eternal. It's forever. You did some temporary thing that gets you a last-forever thing. That's living, seeking first the kingdom of God. Living a life on this temporary earth that where I do things in my life daily, in my relationships, all the time, I just do stuff that will last forever because I'm doing it for the Lord. I'm doing it in the Lord. So I'm seeking first his kingdom. So I consider it this way, it's like glorifying God by whatever I'm doing. I'm doing it for the glory of God. Now, it's an eternal thing. It's not just a thing, it's an eternal thing.
By seeing people get saved, to preach the gospel, share Christ, people bring them to the Lord, that's eternal. I brought them into the kingdom. Man, there's a new citizen in the kingdom. That's an eternal thing. You know, or I'm building up the saints, I'm strengthening the saints, I'm blessing my brothers and sisters in Christ. I'm just in some way helping out other Christians. That's an eternal thing. I will not lose that reward, that cup of cold water given to one of his people.
So there is this phrase that Pastor Chuck was really fond of, a poem he used to read. I've heard him read it, read it multiple times in different messages that he'd taught. But I think it's really simple, but also very eye-opening for what our lives are like. And he says, "You have only one life, it will soon be past. Only what you do for Christ will last." I just always liked that simplicity of it. It was something he was taught as a child, and he shared it, continuing sharing it as an adult. Some of those truths you hear as a little kid are some of the most true things in life.
Anyway, "You have only one life, it will soon be past. Only what you do for Christ will last." How sobering to think that everything done outside of Jesus Christ, not for the Lord, not seeking first his kingdom, everything else is just temporary and just to be burned up and gone. But everything done in him is forever. That's how I'm to view my life. That's, that's the camel I don't want to swallow. It's like, I don't want to miss this point that my whole life is meant to serve the King, to serve the kingdom, to serve the Lord.
So I think that we really have to learn to apply this practically in our lives and immediately. If you're like me, especially the younger version of me, that wasn't, isn't as insanely wise as the current version of me, nor as insanely wise as the future version of me will be when I look back at myself now and think, "I was a fool." But I remember thinking, if you said, "Seek first the kingdom of God," I thought, "You mean serve in ministry at church." That's what I thought. That is way too small a picture. Seek first the kingdom of God. We've got to learn to apply this in every facet of life and every possible thing you do, whether it's your work in a secular job, or your hobbies, or your hangouts with your friends, or your free time. There's some manner in which we can seek first God's kingdom. And all those things, that's where we, where we learn to, to strain out the camel. Is that, should I keep using that analogy, or am I pressing it too far? Pardon me.
So we got to learn to apply it really practically in our lives. So, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." That's that phrase also jumps at me. And this is the thing that changed my life when I got what was meant by "all these things." "All these things will be added unto you." This verse is something we need to, we need to rescue it from the prosperity preachers. They abuse and distort the meaning of this verse. But that doesn't mean we throw it away. We've got to bring it back to biblical truth.
And so, what are "these things" in Matthew 6:33? Well, I think Jesus explains it earlier in Matthew 6. Remember, it's the culmination of the whole chapter. So, Matthew 6:25, let's just read right up to the edge of 6:33. Jesus says, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, then he explains what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body what you will put on." Three things that are right: eating, drinking, and clothing. "Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?" And so immediately, Christ is just, Jesus is trying to get us, I think, to realize not that we are not that we shouldn't care about eating and drinking, but rather we shouldn't focus on it. And the reason is because life is more than that. Life is more important than the stuff you're eating and drinking and the clothes you're wearing. That's just the stuff that keeps you alive. That's not life. So life is more than that. Live a bigger life than that.
Then he goes on in verse 26, "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?" So why do you worry about clothing? "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. And yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." Now, if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
The concept here is that God is a loving Father who will, of course, provide for the needs of his children. Jesus is like asking us, as we look at our financial issues and we look at our worries about basic needs, right? Food, food, drink, and clothing. This stuff is not, this is extra stuff. This is the basic needs of life. And he's like, "Hey, your Father can take care of you." Solomon, he wasn't even decorated as well as a flower, which I wonder if he means to imply that he saw Solomon in all his glory and he's like, "I tell you, let me tell you about Solomon." What I just wonder if that's being implied in the text. It seems like it's kind of hinted out there. But not even that, it's just, don't worry about your basic needs.
But this is like what I spend most of my time worrying about, especially back then in the pre-industrialized society, or any anybody who's not part of sort of the more prosperous, you know, minorities of human history where we are right now. And it's like, wow, like I'm deciding like which cell phone will I buy. I'm obviously worried about different things than they were worrying about my basic, basic needs. And so he's like, "Don't even worry about this one reason, because you have a loving Father who will provide for you." Just counting on God's heart. That's it. I'm just trusting God's heart for me. That's, that's how you're gonna deal with my worries about my eating, my drinking, my clothing, my basic needs. I'm gonna trust God's heart.
Then in verse 31, he says, "Therefore do not worry saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek." Your heavenly Father knows that you need these things. And this is pretty interesting. The phrase, "after all these things the Gentiles seek." Jesus is is trying to sort of shock them into thinking, "Eat, the other Gentiles are seeking." He's talking to the Jewish audience. It's like the Gentiles, their lives are obsessed with the things under the sun, like Ecclesiastes talks about. And I don't want you to focus on that. I want you to seek first God's kingdom. I want you to seek first his righteousness. And let God provide for you your physical needs, your daily needs. Don't worry about that. Don't focus on that. Don't be so spiritually blind that your main concerns are things that perish instead of things that last forever. That I think is the focus here.
Now, I'll just highlight that these are necessary issues that Jesus is talking about. He's not talking about your Maserati. He's not talking about you getting a new Tesla, whatever they make now. I don't know, cars and flying shoe devices and things like that that they're making now, teleporters and food printers and stuff like that. "Print me a friendly cheeseburger." They got, please, though. Do that. That would be good. But anyway, so it's not what the prosperity preachers do. And they rip this passage out of context and they say, like, "God will make your finances better. God will make you rich if you just, if you're so into his kingdom." Like, that's not what it says. In fact, it's not about you necessarily getting involved in more church ministry. That may be an application for you, but that's not the single application of the passage. It's not like, "God will make your finances better." Instead, it's so much better than that. It's, "Stop worrying about the finances."
So everybody who raises their hand up and waves or money in church to show God how much money they're gonna give, there's, there's churches that do this, yes. And they wave the money in their to show, "I'm gonna see God." And they're thinking, "If I just give this money, then God's gonna pay my rent this month." What are you worried about? You're worried about the wrong things. See, instead of it being about me donating money to my church, it's about me living an entire life that seeks first God's kingdom and doesn't prioritize the mundane things everyone else is worried about. So that it liberates me from worrying about the money. Whereas prosperity preaching, all about worrying about the money. That's all they focus on. In that, in that sort of context, "Worry about the money, worry about the money. God's gonna prosper you. God, how do I get more? Where do I have to give? What do I have to believe? How do I have to pray to, like, bring the windfall of God's blessings into my life?" And I'm just like, Jesus actually seemed to be telling us, "Don't think about that. That's not the thing. Stop prioritizing your finances."
It also doesn't mean you don't have to work. This is not, this is not permission to be lazy as a Christian. You're like, "Well, I feel like I'm hearing a word from the Lord. I quit my job and not worry about my finances." No, that's not what it's saying. 2nd Thessalonians 3:10 clarifies this in case you're confused. It says, "If a man doesn't work, he doesn't eat." So don't be like, "God's gonna provide for me." Well, no, because seek you first God's kingdom means that I'm gonna be a faithful employee. Means I'm gonna be a hard worker. I'm just not gonna focus on the money issues. That's all secondary. This is all second-tier issues. The first tier is serving the Lord, honoring Christ, seeking first his kingdom. That's the idea. My focus is liberated.
Now, in the ancient world, like I mentioned, they're mostly focused on daily bread. Like they're, they're literally getting paid every day so they could eat that day. Some people getting paid in the food they were gonna bring home to eat that day. Some people still experience this. This is why in the Lord's Prayer, in Matthew 6, earlier on, Jesus says, "Give us this day our daily bread." Now, we often pray that we're thinking about about the Bible, like, "Lord, you know, as I read the Bible today, giving me like a, some nourishment spiritually." That's fine, but that's not actually what, what they, they meant bread for today, the food for today. They were literally just, he was, he was leading them into prayer where they're depending on God to provide for their needs. That was the idea of the daily bread.
So you still work, you still labor, you still work hard. But you work hard for the Lord. And if in serving the Lord, you get fired from your job because you're being a representative of Christ, you're like, "Lord, I'm going to trust you to provide." And you continue to work and continue to labor. But you're obviously not being a slouch, because the man doesn't work, refuses to work, is the idea. It doesn't, he doesn't need.
But it's different for us. We're in the industrialized world, or in, we're in modern times. We have first-world problems, right? First-world problems. "Oh, I hate how this app runs these five-second ads all the time." Right? Like these are the, these are the real struggles we go through. "I got a groan for that one." I appreciate we're worried about other things. So the things that they're focused on, you know, food and shelter and just, "What am I going to be sustained by today?" We're focused on other things like my hobbies, what's gonna be on my screen to entertain me today, my various interests. The truth is, because I have less fear about my daily bread, I should be even more liberated to serve the Lord. But instead, I'm more liberated to seek my own constant entertainment. That's a danger I feel we really have. Is that I, and I'm speaking for myself too, I feel like a lot of stuff I've done with online ministry stuff where I'm going, "If I did what I wanted to do, I never would have done that because I would have just been playing video games." And I never would have spent the time it took to prepare and teach. I never would have been doing all the labor. I've had lots of pastors telling me like, "Mike, I really like what you do, but I would never want to spend so much time reading and studying as you do to do it." And I'm like, and I'm like, "Fine, it may not be something for them for their calling and stuff." But I go, "Yeah, but that's the obstacle I have to face all the time." To go like, "Am I willing? This is gonna be like a 40-hour preparation for this message, and I really wanted to dig into it." You know, that's the kind of battles for me. But I want to seek first his kingdom, and that becomes clarity for me.
Just seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Our temptation is different. We're the rich. We're the rich. Like, you, I think you may not feel rich. Like, "I'm poor. I can only afford, you know, one cell phone and we don't even have cable anymore." Okay, yeah. Um, but what are the rich compared to the most of humanity? Most kings would, would, you know, sell their firstborn children to have our indoor plumbing throughout history. Probably not. They're probably just joking, but you get the idea. But if we're the rich, if we're the prosperous, then there's a different phrase from Jesus that applies directly to us. And that's in Matthew chapter 13, 18 and 19. He's talking about the sower going into this, into the field. It's he sows the different seeds to the different soils. One of them is choked out because of riches. So, Matthew 13:18, "Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in, entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful." And I feel like it's such an apt description of our temptations today. I know guys who, guys who I love, guys who love the Lord, but they would spend eight hours playing a video game. They would never spend an hour reading the scriptures. They would, they would go way out of their way, you know, extending lots. I'm sorry, was Mark for confused you guys? You're all like talking amongst yourselves like he's making stuff up again. Okay, Mark 4:18 to 19, sorry. Saved it.
But I'm just thinking about it and I'm going, "Yeah, we're the prosperous. We are the prosperous." And we like to get together and we like to do our activities and stuff like that. And I'm not saying that those things are wrong. I think there's a way to seek first God's kingdom in the middle of those things. But when you get that little niggling thing in the back of your mind, or you're like, "Oh, I'm really too invested in this hobby or this random activity." It's probably 'cause you are. You know, it's probably because that's your radar going off for a reason. And so, seek first the kingdom of God. It may come down to where he tells them like, "It's, don't worry about your daily bread." And maybe to the rich, he's got to say, "Don't worry about binge-watching that show as much as perhaps you do." Right? Worried about maybe seeking so much entertainment because it sucks away your life. And isn't your life more than entertainment? Isn't your life more than you having a good time with that thing? Isn't it about seeking first God's kingdom and His righteousness? I, I feel like this is just so applicable to us, to me personally. I feel like I've wasted years of time, years of time in my life. We're not out of some guilt trip. I, I, it's just, I could have just been doing more for the Lord in that, you know? And why not?
So, seek first, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness is to seek something first. That idea is you're actively going after it as if it's like the most important thing in your life. That's the idea. In your life, more important than your food is gonna be seeking for God's kingdom. Now, imagine this, and maybe you've been there, have been a situation where you guys had no food. But if you had no food, what lengths you would go to to secure food for you and your loved ones? Like, what you would find a job. You're like, "Okay, all of a sudden, you know, before I was like, I can't find a job." And what I really mean is I can't find a job that I want. But now I'm like, "I will find a job. Like, I will sweep. I will clean. I will Uber. I will do whatever I've got to do. I will find a job and I will provide for my family." Because you'd have this sense of desperation, this need, this driving need.
I would say this, if you feel like your life is doing nothing for the Lord, get that sense of desperation to seek first his kingdom. Whether that's in the church, doing a ministry in the church, or not, that's not actually the point. It's about living your life to serve the Lord. That's the point. Be desperate for it. I think it's this way with seeking for God's kingdom. So when you're thinking about serving, let's say it is in church, and you're thinking about serving, and you're like, "I really want to serve in children's ministry. Is that really the right fit for me?" My philosophy is this: if that's the option you're presented with, say yes. Because until your plate is full of serving the Lord, just take whatever option you can get. Just like until you have a job, just take any job. So you get a job. Now that I've got a job, I'll go ahead and keep my eyes open for the better one that's a better fit or better pay or whatever the situation is. And the same thing with ministries. Like, I'm just gonna serve the Lord any way I can. But I'll keep my eyes open because maybe there'll be something that really fits my giftings better, where I can be more effective, and that'll come along and then I'll, I'll step into that. But I'm gonna do something for the Lord. Like, I've got to do something for God. And that has been the driving factor in my own ministry of serving is, I have to serve. Like, I have to serve. I don't understand when Christians don't serve in some capacity.
Now, maybe they're doing it with their family. Maybe it's a dad leading his kid in devotions. You know, maybe it's, it's a mom who does something with with her family to minister to them, and she does it as unto the Lord. Maybe do it at your work. But you've got to do something for the Lord, right? Like, this is my purpose. And that's the idea. Sometimes we have this obnoxiously high bar for serving God. Like, "I just have to feel called. I have to know it's the Lord before I can serve in ministry." But I don't need to know it's the Lord to binge-watch eight seasons or whatever show on Netflix. Like, I don't have to like pray about that. Like I've spent 40 hours of my life on that. But I'm not gonna spend 40 hours serving unless I know it's the Lord. That's completely backwards, isn't it? Like, I already know I'm supposed to seek first his kingdom. I don't have to have confirmation to serve the Lord, right? I want to have confirmation before I like commit my life to some long years, long commitment, sure. But can I, I don't know if I can show up for that paint the church day. Like, I don't know if that's really my calling. You know, like, "Get over it, man. Just serve the Lord." I don't think we need that kind of confirmation to serve.
I've had people say, "Mike, you know, Dean, do you, how'd you know you were a pastor? Had you, were you called to be a pastor?" I didn't. I never at any point did I know I was called to be a pastor. In fact, in the school of ministry, when I was there, they kind of ripped into us a little bit, and they were like, "You better know that you're called." And it's because we're Calvary Chapel. They were like, "You've got to know that you know that you know that you know that you're called." And I remember hearing them and I just, I, I was like, "I'm not gonna fabricate stuff. I don't know what I'm called to do. I just know I've got to serve the Lord." And this school seemed like a great opportunity to learn to do that better, you know? So that's why I'm here. And I don't care what capacity I serve God in. I just want to serve.
And then I read First Timothy, and it really blessed me because First Timothy 3:1 says, "This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop," which is like a pastor, elder, bishop, an elder synonymous terms in the scripture, "if a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work." Now, if that had been conferred, shuffle, it would have said, "If a man desires the position of a bishop, he better know that he knows that he knows that he knows he's called to be a bishop." Instead, it just said, "He desires a good thing." Like, "I really want to be a pastor." And if I'm called, "Oh, okay. Well, how about you pause on knowing God's future plan for the world, and you just say this: Read First Timothy 3. You desire it. It's a great thing. Go for it." And then it gives you all the character rules, all the calling of character that you have to aspire to, right? That is, "give a blameless, and husband of one." All this, like, high godly character. That's what we focus on as we try to serve the Lord, rather than we do it backwards. We think, "If you're gifted enough, we'll put you in the position and we'll hope you have good character." Instead, the Bible was like, "Character, character, character, and able to teach." Almost like, that's not the highest importance on the scale of what you need. We need character for that.
So, seeking first God's kingdom isn't, isn't just though about serving in the local church. It's in your marriage, as a husband loving your wife as Christ loves the church. Like, that's my call. If I'm gonna seek for God's kingdom in my marriage, I'm gonna seek that God is reigning in this marriage. I'm gonna love my wife self-sacrificially. Or it's my husband to treat him with with humility, with with a sense of honor and respect, and a generous, gracious love that, um, that God calls us to.
If you're single, read First Corinthians 7. That's how you, that's how you seek God in singleness. It's not, "I'm free from responsibilities. I can use all of my time for entertainment." That's not the focus of singleness. Rather, First Corinthians 7 says, "Hey, you're single, you have even more time to serve the Lord than the married person does because you have less responsibilities." So those less responsibilities mean more for the kingdom, or do they mean more playtime for me? That's the question.
They're in parenting, to seek to disciple your kids and retrain them up in the ways of the Lord. That's how you seek first God's kingdom. You're, you're instilling spiritual goodness into their lives. Whether it's in your work, your friends, your private time, your school, your abilities, whatever it is, there's always a way to seek God's kingdom in that thing. I could be out at the beach just enjoying the waves, and I just seek God's kingdom by going, "Lord, you made this. I just acknowledge you and I appreciate I'm enjoying your creation while acknowledging you. I'm seeking first your kingdom." As opposed to the one lyric of a song says, "Some men will they'll drink the rain and turn to thank the clouds." You know, but not me, Lord. I'm gonna remember you. That even, even enjoying the pleasures of life, I have Christ and God in my mind so that I'm not unaware that he's the one that gave it to me. So I'm seeking Him first, even in that.
All of life really is a stewardship. It's a stewardship. And that's the idea, I think, is that I've been given this sort of life, this temporary commitment of the people around me, the responsibilities I've been given, the abilities I've been given, the time I've been given, the, the, the finances I've been given. It's all a responsibility unto God. So there's a passage in Luke, Luke 17, I got the book right? I checked. Luke 17, verse 7. And Jesus tells a parable where I think it talks about the stewardship concept. For me, this stewardship concept is something I'd like to talk about. It's something that really affects how I view my whole life and hopefully impacts us.
Luke 17:7 says, "And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come in once and sit down to eat'?" Like the servant's gonna, going to be served by the master, is that the idea? So obviously they wouldn't do this. This wasn't their culture. She's just making a point about that. In verse 8, he says, "But he will not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for my supper and gird yourself and serve me till I've eaten and drunk, and afterwards you will eat and drink.' Does he think the servant, because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise, you, when you've done all those things which you were commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We've done what was our duty to do.'" This is a mindset. My mindset is, "Lord, I'm not just offering you things from my life. I owe you my life." That's the mindset. Whatever I've got, like as far as that giving goes, like all the money in my bank belongs to God. I'm just trying to figure out how to put it wherever he would want me to put it. That's the concept. It's all his. All the days of my life belong to God. I just want to be faithful with them. I'm a steward. I've been given this stuff for a season.
In the church, it tends to be back to church ministry ideas. It tends to be like an 80/20 thing or a 90/10 thing. That usually about 10% of the people in the church get about 90% of the ministry done. And I know we see this sometimes. Actually, Hosanna has a really high rate of volunteers compared to the number of people in the church versus volunteers in the church. It's really high, abnormally high number of volunteers. This is really good. That's healthy. But it's funny when we, when we do like our annual picnic and we start listing the names of the people that are doing different ministries, and some of you guys know it's like, there's the same people standing up over and over again for the same ministry or for different ministries. It's like the same, like 10 people, like doing like 8 different things. And that can be problematic. I guess we just don't feel like we would be a benefit sometimes. "What help would I offer? How could I really be a blessing to somebody?" And then on the other side of the fence, there's the people already serving and they're like, "We need more people. We don't care if you're terrible at it. We just need help." You know, they're just like desperate for more help, more hands, more people getting involved. And that tends to be the way it is.
Okay, so that's seeking first the kingdom of God. But that's only half of what Jesus said. So for the next 45 minutes, I'd like to talk, just kidding, just kidding. But I want to talk about the other half, which is His righteousness. Because that, we just talked about seeking for God's kingdom. Now we're going to talk about seeking first His righteousness. And seeking God's righteousness drills down even to a more difficult task in my mind. It's easier to seek His kingdom than it is to seek His righteousness. Because His righteousness is all about godly character. And I know people who are all about the kingdom, but they're not all about the righteousness. And that can be a problem. Personal character. The standard here as Christians is, is, is so high that the righteousness we're seeking is God's. Like, I want to emulate His righteousness. I'm gonna try to be that righteous. Not just like a good person by worldly standards, which is nice. I mean, we all want to be. It's nice to be around good. All my neighbors to be good people. But as a follower of Christ, I want to be following Jesus's righteous character, which is a standard I have never actually met ever. But am I seeking it first? That's the question. Am I seeking it first, or am I seeking something else? His righteousness.
So this is personal holiness. I could try to give a list of character traits and qualities, but I think that it, the bigger issue here, and the way Jesus puts it in Matthew 6:33, it makes it like a heart issue. It's like seeking first God's kingdom, you see, is like a principle you live with. It's just kind of absorbs it. It just, it's constantly in your thoughts and mind. "I'm seeking first His kingdom." So seeking first the righteousness of God is the same kind of thing. It's just with you at all times. It's not just a list of rules. Nothing's wrong with lists of rules, unless you like breaking rules. But, but it's more than that, right? Because it's the whole heart of following Him. And that, I think, was happening at First Corinthian.
So in First Corinthians chapter 6, Paul writes to the Corinthians and he says something to them that I think just kind of blows my mind. He actually asks them a rhetorical question about whether or not they even know who they are. Like, "Do you even know who you are?" That's kind of the question he asks. And so it's in First Corinthians 6, verse 19, "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you were not your own? For you were bought at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." They belong to God. Your body and spirit, they belong to God.
Think about this. Like, if you were in Corinth and you were reading this, and you were thinking about Paul who had visited you and shared the gospel with you and preached to you, and he writes to you, and you're reading, and he's like, "Do you even know that you're a temple of the Holy Spirit?" Like, "Do you even know?" The concept is that they were living such compromised lives that Paul started thinking that they honestly didn't understand the basics of what it meant to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And he goes, "You're committing these sins. You're allowing compromise into your life. You have disunity. You treat others cruelly." Like, "Did you even know that you're the temple of the Holy Spirit? Like, you don't even belong to you. God bought you with a price. Therefore, glorify Him." So that, to me, is the idea with the "seek first His righteousness" thing. It's like, at the heart of it, like, this isn't a, this isn't about making excuses for for my lowered standards. This is about seeing that I'm a vessel of the Holy Spirit and remembering that zeal and that sense of like holiness that we're called to live for Jesus.
In the Sermon on the Mount, he like elevates this even more because he's like, "You've heard, don't you know? Don't commit adultery. I told you, you look with lust, you've committed adultery in your heart. You know, you've heard, don't murder. Yeah, but I tell you, don't hate. You hate your brother in your heart, you committed murder in your heart." And he kind of elevates this and he turns it inside out. And so that the holiness we're looking for isn't just behavior, but it's like inside-out character transformation.
So, seek first His kingdom, seek first His righteousness. I think this is just, there's our marching orders. This is what I'm supposed to do every day, all day. This is how I live my life. And it's about going, "Lord, can I seek You first in this?" Now, does that mean I can, I can't, like, watch a TV show that I enjoy? No, I don't think that's the case at all. Can you enjoy this until the Lord is this somehow part of His kingdom? You know, that's the question. Scripture says He's given us all things to enjoy. But I don't, but I don't enjoy those outside of His will, outside of pleasure, outside of His kingdom in that, in that sense. I want to, I just want to follow Christ. That's the idea.
Something else I want to share with you guys, as I take too long, so I'm skipping stuff. The best, I've just skipped the best part. But I want you to complain something else to consider. It's, it's just that Jesus says, or the scripture tells us, "A little leaven leavens the whole lump." It's in First Corinthians. "A little leaven leavens the whole lump." And here's the thought: I inevitably affect the Christians around me. I either inspire them, or I delude them, or I, or I bring them down, or I cause them to trip and stumble. Like, I have an effect on everyone around me, no matter whether I like it or not. The question I have, and this is not meant to guilt-trip any of us, that's, you know, it's not my heart at all. But this is the call of Jesus: "Seek first His kingdom and righteousness. Don't want the other stuff at all. Be added to y'all. Take care of it." Am I bringing people into this, or am I watering this down with my life because I'm affecting and impacting the people around me?
It's one of my principles. Like, for me personally, is that, guys, a teacher, I'm more worried about my own personal character than I am the quality of my teaching. I mean, I care about my teaching. I hope, I hope it's obvious I care about it. It's easy. But, but I'm more worried about the who I am than the what I teach. That has to come second. Because I feel like if the who I am, if the character, the Christian character, is compromised, everything I teach will be, will come out of that filter, you know? It'll, it'll bring people down. It won't bring them up. And am I doing it in my marriage, and my family, and my friendships, and my free time, in my pastimes and pursuits, in my stewardships that I've been given by the Lord, my work? Am I seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness? Is that, is that the thrust, you know, the drive that's behind me, or not? That's the question. That's the question.
Okay, finally, I want to read a giant passage from Matthew with you. So, Matthew 25. This is actually Matthew, not Mark, with you. Like I tried to do earlier. Mike doesn't have 25 chapters. This is Mark 25, like Luke 9 or something like that. If you do your math, that's not Matthew 25:14. This is the parable of the talents. I'm just gonna read straight through the parable, and I just want to make kind of like a big overarching point from this parable. A talent, by the way, is just a large sum of money, a great deal of money. So he doesn't mean talents like skills, like one was an acrobat and one could juggle pigeons or something like it's talents, his money here. So Matthew 25:14, Jesus says, "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he..."
gave five talents into another two and to another one to each according to his own ability and immediately he went on the journey.
then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them and made another five talents and likewise he who had received two gained two more also. but he who had received one went and dug it in the ground and hid his Lords money.
after a long time the Lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. so he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents saying Lord you delivered to me five talents look I've gained five more talents besides them. his Lord said to him well done good and faithful servant you were faithful over a few things I will make you ruler over many things enter into the joy of your Lord.
he also had he also who had received two talents came and said Lord you delivered to me two talents look I've gained two more talents besides them. his Lord said to him well done good and faithful servant you've been faithful over a few things I will make you ruler over many things enter into the joy of your Lord.
then he who had received the one talent came and said lord I knew you to be a hard man reaping where you had not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed and I was afraid and went and hid your talent in the look there you have what is yours.
but as Lord answered and said to him you wicked and lazy servant you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed so you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest so take the talent from him and give it to him who has ten talents.
four to everyone who has more will be given and he will have abundance but from him who does not have even what he has will be taken away and cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
there's a I mean obviously there's a ton of info you can go to this parable do a whole thing on it but it's like this servant didn't get the point and it's interesting to me that it's the servant who is given the least that is the least faithful with it sometimes because we think how can I change the world for Christ Who am I I don't have this or that ability or that thing or whatever and so maybe because we feel like we're not going to be important enough we hide what we have and we just don't do anything with it.
the main point is God has given you something for a purpose and he expects a return on his investment whatever you have it doesn't belong to you anyway it's all his and he expects a return on that investment is it about money no I think it's about whatever he's given you time your talents your treasures as the as the three T's of preaching goes time talents and treasures lots of sermons have been taught on those those are the things that God's given you and you're a steward of that stuff so remember it and just seek first God's kingdom and with whatever you've got even if you feel like you can't change the world for Christ I am under the delusion that you should just pretend like you can't and try anyways I mean no one changes the world not trying to you know we impact people by actually making an attempt we you know if you don't shoot you definitely missed the mark if you're like I don't want to I don't want to try because I might fail well just hide it in that field and I'm sure the Lord will totally be cool with it yes that's probably what that means no see first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and I pray this would be good marching orders for your life I hope that it's so that we can learn to apply more and more and to be refocused on to be reminded of stuff that we kind of all knew the day we got saved but we need to be told again perhaps so let's pray father God we ask for your help Lord give us wisdom to see how to apply this Scripture into our lives to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness - to seek your kingdom in all that we do - see how that can invade into every area and aspect of our lives and to see first your righteousness so that character becomes something we do as an act of love for you it's your righteousness we're seeking we pray Lord that the Holy Spirit would bring into our our minds and awareness of how to apply this stuff we want to live lives that make a difference for eternity that impacts your kingdom in the people around us but Lord as we do it we also pray help us while we want to be zealous and committed to help us not to be anxious about it all help us to be just reminded and continually aware of your grace your forgiveness your kindness that sustains us to realize we're only called to be faithful we're not actually called to make anything happen as much as just to seek and then to let you cause your will to be done we love you I pray that you be in the forefront of our hearts and minds even this week as we live for Christ in Jesus name Amen [Music]