I was thankful to have a chance to preach this past Sunday at PUMP while Ike was speaking at a retreat. Thought I'd share what I said.
(The sermon begins with a clip from 'Dead Poets Society' in which Mr. Keating (Robin Williams) proclaims a certain plotting and graphing approach by a J. Evans Pritchard, PhD for measuring the greatness of a poem as 'excrement'- and proceeds to prompt the students to tear out the entire introductory essay right out of their textbooks.)
The problem is, having taught a subject similar to poetry, the subject of art, is that it is difficult to measure. Much easier to apply some numerical value because then you have a continuum where the higher number is easily the better product than the lower number. But for something like art or poetry- or more to the point- life, which art and poetry try to express- what do you use as the standard of measure?
I've recently taken a delightful trip into a field that is defined by measurements- economics. Not your ordinary economics, but a book that distinguishes its role by being titled 'Freakonomics'- "where the dependability of data meets the randomness of life." Just listen to some of the titles of the chapters and I think you'll get a feel that this is no ordinary, dry form of measurement- 'What do school teachers and sumo-wrestlers have in common?' - 'How is the Ku Klux Klan like a group of real estate agents' - 'Why do drug dealers still live with their moms?'- that's good stuff. In the books introduction it lays out 4- or 5 premises- assumptions that the book is based on and/or seeks to prove. One of them is that 'Knowing what to measure and how to measure it makes a complicated world much less so. If you learn how to look at data in the right way, you can explain riddles that otherwise might have seemed impossible. Because there is nothing like the sheer power of numbers to scrub away layers of confusion and contradiction."
Have you realized that over the past few weeks we've been looking at standards of measure? (note: this sermon is part of a series that is progressing through the Sermon on the Mount beginning in chapter 5 of the Gospel According to Matthew) In it's own way, we've been seeing the reduction of a life of faith down to the 'sheer power of numbers.' Consider this:
Measure #1: How much do you give? Are you a tither? Do you tithe on your gross or your net? Does your tithe go just to church, while extra giving goes toward additional charities and ministries? Or do you factor in all the charities, ministries, missionaries, churches, etc. and split your 10% among them? Maybe we don't flaunt our giving like Matthew 6:1ff, where the very act of giving was the measure- but we have our own standards to appease our conscience, to justify our identity as Christians.
Measure #2: How's your prayer life? My lovely wife's got me beat on this one for sure. She is such a prayer warrior and desires to be even moreso. I'll be downright honest, I have a horrible prayer life. How often do you pray? Each morning when you wake up? Certain times during the day? Only at meals? Only at meals at home but not necessarily out in public, at restaurants or at work? And, again, it most likely isn't about 'showing' our prayers in public as in Matt 6:5, but we all have our own habits and our own justifications for why our prayer life is OK, why it is acceptable.
Measure #3: How do you fast? Boy the bar has really lowered since Jesus' day on this one! He spoke of how one should fast in Matt 6:16- our question today, though, would probably be do you fast? I think those that do, are ahead in the ball game, so to speak.
But then we get to this financial stuff- about where your treasure is, and that you can't serve two Gods- you can't serve both the Lord and money. And then our present text beginning in Matt. 6:25- (read) "But, Michael," you say, "this isn't about measuring. These are legitimate concerns for one's well being- we need food and we need clothing and we need shelter." And I agree, we need those things, and it is distressing when we don't have those things. But here's the problem- how much is enough and when is it too little or too much? I don't think it would be difficult for anyone here to think of Christians that run the gamut of worldly success and affluence. We know God fearing individuals that are living in their vehicles to Christians that earn millions. So where do you draw the line? How little can you live on without being anxious or worried about your physical and financial well being? And conversely, how much do you have to make before you go from feeling blessed to feeling obsessed? At what annual salary do you become a lover of money, a worshipper of the 'almighty dollar'? It is impossible to draw lines that way. Impossible in and of itself (what if you got a raise?- all of the sudden you're greedy!) and made all the more complex when you consider the fact that those lines would be different for each person.
No, I can't find any way of making that interpretation a viable option. So I began to think- if this follows other standards of measure, could this also be a standard of measure? Consider the following verses:
Gen. 26:12-13
Deuteronomy 29:9
Joshua 1:8
Job 1:1-3
Proverbs 10:22
Material wealth was for them, a sign of the Lord's blessing. If you were in right with God, you had abundant means to provide for yourself and your family. So the more I read this passage, the more I become convinced that it isn't anxiety so much over material goods, whether they be excessive wealth or necessary food, clothing, and shelter- it's about where you are in relationship with God. If you don't have food, then you don't have God's blessing, then you don't have salvation, then you don't have hope. Can you imagine the effect that this is having on Jesus' listeners? First, He starts this sermon out by saying that tons of people who formerly were not highly esteemed now have access to the Kingdom of God. Then he paints pictures of Kingdom life- and those pictures are more 'extreme' versions of commands that they are probably having a hard time dealing with anyway- or if they aren't having trouble, He's at least taken away their checklist status. Now He's telling them, "Hey, you know all these things that you hang your hat on? All these supports that you base your religious status on? I'm just going to pull this rug right out from underneath your feet! This can't be what you stand on in Kingdom life." Yikes! I mean, C'mon! What have we got left?! What assurance do we have?
What assurance do we have? Baptism? The fact that you go to church on a regular, or semi-regular basis? I used to think so. And then I started reading verses like Colossians 1:21-23 : " Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation- IF you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard..." That's a pretty crucial 'if.' Or consider these words from Galations 3 and 4: "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ...But now that you know God- or rather are known by God- how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? ... I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you." Is there anything to fear if baptism was the sole measure? I don't think so- and keep in mind that these were not people who stopped going to church. They were still meeting regularly. Finally, Jesus himself says in Matthew 7:21- 'Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom of Heaven.' It is by grace that we are saved, and it is from grace that we can fall. I'm afraid to say it, but churchgoing and baptism don't always mean that much.
But it seems evident that they do by our efforts. We try so hard to get people to... come to church. We focus so much on people....getting baptised. Because, I think, that is easy to measure. Like rating a poem by a graph, or an economist comparing numbers- it's black and white, plain to see.
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." - Jesus tells us. Notice he does not say "Get first, the kingdom", or "have first his righteousness." Our assurance is not in the having, but rather in the continuing. It's in the searching, not the finding, or the getting.
It's kind of like being in it for 'love of the game.' I've heard people say that if they were a pro sports player and got a multimillion dollar contract that they'd retire early. Their focus is on the having- of getting that money. Unfortunately, those that concern themselves with having end up getting nothing but the fear and anxiety of losing what they have. And that's what Jesus is trying to tell us. But when we focus on the game, on playing, on seeking- it doesn't matter how much we get paid, or how much security we acquire, or how much or how fine our clothing is, or what and how much we are eating- because those aren't the issues- those aren't even on the radar. In fact, there is no longer any need to measure or be measured. As long as we are 'in the game'- we win.
I want to close by adapting Galatians 6:3-4: "If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing...
If anyone thinks he is something because of what he wears...
If anyone thinks he is something because of what he eats...
If anyone thinks he is something because of how he prays....
If anyone thinks he is something because of how much he gives...
If anyone thinks he is something because he has been baptized...
If anyone thinks he is something because he is sitting here today in church...
If anyone things he is something, when he is indeed nothing...
He deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions (-am I still acting? Am I still in the game? Am I still... seeking?). Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, ... without measuring himself to somebody else... without measuring others to himself."
"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you as well."
