Fr. Sean’s Trinity XV Sermon

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. 

Early in my teaching career, I had an interaction with a young boy in my Latin class that changed how I taught for the rest of my years. I was preparing the students for a quiz later on in the week, and I noticed there was a bit more anxiety about the upcoming quiz than usual. If I remember correctly, I believe this occurred in February, which, in my opinion, is the hardest month of the school year. I tried reassuring the students that even if they failed this quiz, their lives would not change, but the perspective landed flat. 

Then one of the 8th grade boys declared that his life would be ruined if he failed the upcoming quiz. "Why?" I asked. "Why do your grades matter more than just telling you what you still need to learn?" And he replied that that he had to start doing well now so that he could get into the higher Latin classes in high school, and get good grades in high school so he could get into a good college, so that he could get a good job (I pressed him on this, and he just meant a well-paying job), so that he save a lot of money, so that he could retire early. I must of stared at him for a long time because a long awkward pause followed. And when I asked what he would do in early retirement, he mumbled something about fun things. 

Now don't get me wrong--I don't blame this boy. But I did step back and realize that this typical 8th grade boy, who was extremely fun and humorous and usually carefree, had an undercurrent of anxiety because of a vision of life that was solely focused on this material life. And he was in 8th grade! This incident helped me see just the extent to which our goals/ends/vision of life fuels our anxiety. We all know that our culture, and especially our local culture in Charlottesville and Albermarle County which is so focused on success and future gain, is not marked by peacefulness and charity. 

And so I think the Gospel appointed for today hits us much harder than it has in the past or in other cultures. In fact, it might seem downright impossible. "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?" What is really striking, though, is the context for Jesus' advice. He does not diagnose man's problem as anxiety itself. We think that if we figure how to fix/streamline/hack/solve our day-to-day problems, then the end will be fine. But notice how Jesus starts this section: he is focused on the ends first. "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." 

Jesus immediately takes what we might think of as an issue of the body, of the physical, and turns it into an issue of service. The way we live life is a matter of service and allegiance, to whom or to what your soul desires. It is a matter of idolatry, because any time we put an object or desire above our service to God, we are treating that thing as a god, as an idol. Jesus presses that it is not wealth that matters, God's blessing matters. When we focus on God's blessing, we can be freed from Mammon's grasp and its incessant drive for more. Jesus is warning against much more than an anxiety of basic necessities. This is not just anxiety as concern, as putting a basic meal on the table, but the all-consuming anxiety of worldliness, of intentionally focusing only on material goods. It is what Jesus kindly admonished Martha for when she was so worried about what had to be cooked and served. Her service was not sinful, but the intentions of her heart were not focused on the Messiah who was in her own home. Labor, obviously, is not bad, but even our labor (what we do with our bodies) must be pointed towards an end. Paul, for example, makes tents with Priscilla in order to fund his own journeys. He is so intent on the importance of labor, that he instructs the Thessalonians: "2 Thess 3:10: "For when we were among you, this we taught among you, that if a man would not work, neither should he eat."

Again, work and food and clothing and the material world around us are not evil, and we can own possessions while not be taken over by them. The real question is whom are we serving in our life's pursuits. Every master demands service and sacrifice, and we should ask ourselves what service are we giving and what sacrifices are we making. 

The world, what Jesus refers to analogically as Mammon, demands sacrifice. And the world will use up the lives of humans in their sacrifice--burn up and cast away. Holy Scripture is clear that there can be unholy sacrifices. YWH calls out Israel for offering bad sacrifices, for example in Hosea and Malachi, because they are not truly serving him. The sacrifice is a sign of our allegiance, our master. This is why David writes in the Psalm 51: "For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give [it]: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God [are] a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. [Psa 51:16-17 KJV] Which is why David asked God: "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me."

But the Psalm ends in a very interesting way, by commending the offering of sacrifices! If done with humility and a pure heart, the sacrifice becomes the action through which one lives out the humility of one's soul. We are humans, a unity of body and soul. You cannot just intend your actions, you have to live it out, in and through your body. Husbands, you should know this well. Your wife knows the difference between going out on a date with you and you saying that you intend to take her out for a dinner. Try coming home and giving her a bouquet of intentions. The intentions are great, but those feelings must be lived out, bodily. And the sacrifice is just that! It is the way in which we live out the intentions of our hearts. The act itself matters because it is the humble act of thanksgiving, not just an intention. Sacrifice is the act of giving our life to God. The blood of the animal signified the life of the animal, and so the sacrifice of an animal was the giving of one’s life through the blood of the animal. But this held true in the incense offering or the grain offering as well. Your intentions were lived out through the material offering. And the symbolism is very important here. No longer are you sacrificing yourself upon the altar of Mammon–you are giving your wealth, time, pursuits, and talents to God in thanksgiving. 

But there is more, for in giving through sacrifice, God responds by blessing the sacrifice and giving it back as a blessing. Literally, most of the sacrifices offered were not entirely burned up but carved up and then enjoyed as a meal. God does not destroy our offerings but transforms them into gifts we enjoy. Our service to God does not end in death but in eternal life. Also, the act of sacrifice is not an individualistic event. We see this clearly in the most striking sacrifice of the Day of Atonement which cleanses the altar of God Almighty from the contagion of sin of the whole nation of Israel. Like our General Confession, where we confess not only our sins but confess the sins of the whole Body of Christ, the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement was on behalf of the entire community. 

But in the other sacrifices, this idea of community still holds. Remember, sacrifices are not just for sins! If one had a safe trip or completed a significant project, one may offer a Thanksgiving sacrifice. In these type of sacrifices, the blood of the animal was put on the four horns of the altar, the fat and certain inner parts were burned up in smoke, but the rest of the animal was cooked and then eaten by the priests and by the person who offered the sacrifice. But we know that one person cannot eat an entire goat--the meat was then shared among one's family and community. This is why Jesus stresses that you must make amends with your family and neighbors before you offer a sacrifice. You cannot offer a sacrifice and then eat that meal in anger with your brother next to you! Sacrifice is an offering of one's life to God, the living out of a new way of life. In a sense, the community shares in the sacrifice together--the body comes together and bears the sacrifice together, not just individuals. 

And so here we are at a sacrifice, where we offer bread, wine, and water to be blessed and consecrated and returned to us as the very life of God. But we also offer ourselves to be a living sacrifice to God, joining together with one another and offering ourselves as the Bride of Christ. In this offering we know that God will bless us, giving us what we really need, which is himself. In your service, ask that God works in you and give you the grace to serve Him in all that you do. Let him be the means by which you live and the end to which you live.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.