A Homily given by Fr. Ben Jones, Curate;
St. George’s Anglican Church, Raleigh, NC;
On the Sunday Next to Advent, (Thanksgiving); A.D. 2009.
“Priority”
+In the name of God the Father, and of God the Son, and of God the Holy Ghost, AMEN.
Matthew 6.33. “But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Our Gospel lesson occurs somewhere about two-thirds of the way through the Sermon on the Mount. At this point, Jesus is teaching about the importance of our acceptance of His Kingdom and His righteousness. Not turning it ALL over to God, putting OUR wants and OUR desires above HIS love and HIS care for us is called the “Sin of disquieting”. The “Sin of Disquieting” is to worry, to be disturbed, to be alarmed, to be unsettled, to be troubled, or to be distressed; and for what?? Where does this get us?? By the “Sin of Disquieting”, we become distracted and thus become distrustful of the source of obtaining the provisions which are necessary for sustaining our physical well being. This is what is meant by an earlier verse to our Gospel lesson. “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”1 The “Sin of Disquieting” places OUR treasure and OUR heart in the world, and NOT in the Kingdom of God. God has promised to provide for ALL of us; ALL things needful for this life and of course for the next. Jesus is teaching the “PRIORITY” of God’s Kingdom and His righteousness.
“But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”2 In this verse we are given a double argument against the “Sin of Disquieting”. First of all, we have a greater and a better consideration to occupy our time, the health of our soul and our eternal salvation, rather than being anxious for our lives, for what we shall eat, or for what we shall drink; or for our bodies, in what we shall put on. By being more attentive to worshiping God, and to seeking first His kingdom, we will find ourselves less concerned with pleasing ourselves or others. Secondly, with our focus decisively on the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, we have a more certain way of obtaining the necessities for this life and for the next. What are we doing by “first seeking the Kingdom of God??
By “first seeking the Kingdom of God” we are living in God’s New Covenant. The Prophet Jeremiah was the first to speak of this New Covenant. “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a New Covenant, with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.”3 This New Covenant contrasted with the Old Mosaic covenant, promises the blessing of Eternal Salvation that the Old Covenant did not promise. Other blessings of the New Covenant include the full forgiveness or pardon of our sins, an intimate relationship with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and the assurance from our Lord that this New Covenant is unbreakable. The promises of the New Covenant assure us of the fulfillment of ALL of the redemptive work that God established through His Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. The importance of the New Covenant is in the way we have received it.
Jesus taught His Apostles the fulfillment of the New Covenant by the institution of the Holy Eucharist in the Upper Room on the eve of His Crucifixion. The New Covenant is encompassed in Jesus finishing His Father’s work on the cross. We commemorate His death and passion each and every time we celebrate the Mass.
Jesus further taught, “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death.”4 What does the “Institution” of the New Covenant mean for us??
By the “Institution” of the New Covenant, Christ brings to fulfillment the promises and purposes of all of the previous covenants. Christ is the “seed of the woman” that God promised would crush the serpent’s head. Christ is the “seed of Abraham” who would bless the nations. Christ is the fulfillment of the Mosaic Law. Christ is the King who will sit forever on King David’s throne. Christ is “Immanuel” or God with us. This is why we seek first the Kingdom of God. We are promised the Kingdom of God through the New Covenant and anticipate with all Christians everywhere, the consummation of the New Covenant with the return of Jesus Christ. God demonstrates His righteousness within the New Covenant as well.
God defined His righteousness perfectly in the propitiatory death of His Son. St. Paul teaches us, “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time His righteousness: that He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”5 The resurrection of Christ vindicates Christ and completes God’s transaction between fallen humanity and His Son Jesus. “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”6 What St. Paul is telling us is the result of becoming the righteousness of God is a life of righteousness before God. “Original Righteousness”, (Justitia Originalis), is God’s gift to us through the sacrifice of His Son, which restores us to our original condition before the “fall of man” brought on by Adam and Eve in the garden. Do we now understand that by seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness that we are partakers of the New Covenant?? They go hand in hand. Here is what all of this means for us.
“And all these things shall be added unto you” is the result of seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Jesus completed His Father’s work on our behalf and now we have God’s assurance through this New Covenant that we are made that righteousness of God through Jesus Christ. We gather together this morning to give thanks to God on this Solemnity of Thanksgiving, just as we will give thanks to God later this week on Thanksgiving Day when we gather with family and friends. We will give thanks to God for providing for our physical well-being. He promised us that He would care for us and would take this burden away. By this burden being lifted off of our shoulders, we have been freed to seek God first and His righteousness, and to give thanks to Him for His gift to us, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who won the victory for us on the cross. Let’s take this a step further.
Next Sunday we begin the Season of Advent. We have this season of preparation for the birth of Jesus and for the preparation of the return of our Lord and Saviour. I heard a Christmas song on the radio Saturday morning that brought it all into perspective for me, and I hope it will be meaningful to you as well. The title of the song is “A Baby Changes Everything”.
“A baby changes everything. Shepherds all gather ‘round, up above the star shines down, choirs of angels sing glory to the newborn king, a baby changes everything. A baby changes everything. Everything, everything, everything.”7 This baby that changes everything brings us back to that righteousness of God. Seek His Kingdom.
God Bless us richly in an Holy and a prayerful Advent.Amen.
+
And now unto god the father, god the son, and, god the holy ghost,
be ascribed all might, majesty, power, and dominion,
most justly due this day,
both now and forever, world without end. Amen.
1 The Gospel according to St. Matthew 6;21.
2 The Gospel according to St. Matthew 6:33.
3 The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 31:31-33.
4 The First Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians 11:26.
5 The Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans 3:22-26.
6 The Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians 5:21.
7 Excerpt of lyrics from a song written by; Nichols, James Timothy; Wiseman, Craig Michael; Wiseman, Kim; 2009. Performed by Faith Hill.