Willard's World 6 - Why we don't Seek First the Kingdom
The third section of the sermon on the mount deals with the common traps that often hinder our kingdom life. These are, according to Willard, stiving for the acceptance of others and striving for security through material wealth.
Respectability
Think back to day one of the seventh grade. What was the worst thing you could imagine? Now think back to yersterday. What was teh worst thing you couold imagine? For me the answer to both is what other people will think of me and I imagine I'm amoung th emajority. Instead Jesus asks us to seek only the favor of God. Willard says, "Of course by now we surley know that we are not to be in bondage to external forms or to there absence. The form could be wrongand the heart right or the form right and the heart wrong. What matters are the intensions of our heart before God." Jesus says in Matthew 6:1, "Be sure not to do your rightness before human beings with the intent of being seen by them. Otherwise your Father, teh one in the heavens, will have nothing to do with it." We are to act righteously, but the intent is key. We are to be righteous (dikaiosune) to please onlyour father in heaven. This doesn't mean we have to hide as we do so but it does mean that pleasing God is the one and only goal.
There are then three illustrations of how this might look. As before these illustrartions are not rules. a)When we give money to the poor we shouldn't know what our hands are doing. Willard explains, "The kind of people who have been so transformed by their daily walk with God that good deed naturally flow from their character are precisly the kind of people whose left hand would not notice what their right hand is doing." b)When we pray we are to do so simply becasue, "prayer, it is rightly said, is teh method of genuine theological research, teh method of understanding what and who God is." c)When we fast we are to not make a show of it as if we are miserable. In fact we should not be miserable as we willbe sustained by a different kind of nourishment. Like manna for the Isrealites or Jesus teaching in John chapter 4 about spiritual water. We will be sustained physically by a spiritual reality when we fast.
Willard concludes, "If we honestly compared the amount of time in church spent thinking what others think or might think with th eamount of time spent thinking about what God is thinking, we would probably be shocked. Thoes of us in congregational leadership need to think deeply about this."
Wealth
If the favor of people is what I most then more stuff is second on the list. Again I seem to be amoung the majority in this. Treasure as Willard discusses it seems to be more of a choice than actual stuff. THings only have value when we ascribe it to them. I think an economist might disagree but nothing is worth more than "I" think it is worth. This is displayed in the infinite value of a child's beloved blanket or the worthlessness of a Canadian $100 bill in rural china. The question of treasure then has much to do with how we assign value to things.
When Jesus comands, "Lay up for yourselves treasues in heaven," Willard paraphrases it as, "direct your actions toward making a difference in the realm of spiritual substance sustained and governed by God. Invest your life in what God is doing, which cannot be lost. Of course this means that we will invest in our relationship to Jesus himself, and through him to God. But beyond that, and in close union with it, we will devote ourselves to the good of other people--those around us within our range of power to affect. These are amoung God's treasures."
These "treasures in heaven" may sound like divine life insurance but, "the treasure we have in heaven is also something very much available to us now. We can and should draw upon it as needed, for it is nothing less than God himself and the wonderful society of his kingdom even now interwoven in my life."
So what does the life of someone with heavenly treasure look like? There are four ways Willard discusses. a)It looks different or even crazy becasue we value supremely that which we cannot see. b)It looks childlike. "The little child has no capacity to command a store of goods on its own that would alow it to live independant of others. It simply must assume that provisions are made for it by others." c)It looks simple. "Having our treasure in heaven frees us to live simply in the present so far as our vital needs are concerned. We work hard of course and care for our loved ones. But we do not worry--not even about them." d)It looks content. "The natural beauty of the human being is given from the kingdom to every person who will recieve it." This means we don't seek more and more but will be happy with what we have.
Respectability
Think back to day one of the seventh grade. What was the worst thing you could imagine? Now think back to yersterday. What was teh worst thing you couold imagine? For me the answer to both is what other people will think of me and I imagine I'm amoung th emajority. Instead Jesus asks us to seek only the favor of God. Willard says, "Of course by now we surley know that we are not to be in bondage to external forms or to there absence. The form could be wrongand the heart right or the form right and the heart wrong. What matters are the intensions of our heart before God." Jesus says in Matthew 6:1, "Be sure not to do your rightness before human beings with the intent of being seen by them. Otherwise your Father, teh one in the heavens, will have nothing to do with it." We are to act righteously, but the intent is key. We are to be righteous (dikaiosune) to please onlyour father in heaven. This doesn't mean we have to hide as we do so but it does mean that pleasing God is the one and only goal.
There are then three illustrations of how this might look. As before these illustrartions are not rules. a)When we give money to the poor we shouldn't know what our hands are doing. Willard explains, "The kind of people who have been so transformed by their daily walk with God that good deed naturally flow from their character are precisly the kind of people whose left hand would not notice what their right hand is doing." b)When we pray we are to do so simply becasue, "prayer, it is rightly said, is teh method of genuine theological research, teh method of understanding what and who God is." c)When we fast we are to not make a show of it as if we are miserable. In fact we should not be miserable as we willbe sustained by a different kind of nourishment. Like manna for the Isrealites or Jesus teaching in John chapter 4 about spiritual water. We will be sustained physically by a spiritual reality when we fast.
Willard concludes, "If we honestly compared the amount of time in church spent thinking what others think or might think with th eamount of time spent thinking about what God is thinking, we would probably be shocked. Thoes of us in congregational leadership need to think deeply about this."
Everyone is talking about you all the time. They say, "Come and lets hear what the word is from teh Lord." And they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them. For their mouths talk devotion but their hearts seek wicked gains. Why, you are just like one who sings about love with a beautiful voice and a well-played instument. They hear what you are saying, but do not do it.
-Eziekiel 33:31-32
Wealth
If the favor of people is what I most then more stuff is second on the list. Again I seem to be amoung the majority in this. Treasure as Willard discusses it seems to be more of a choice than actual stuff. THings only have value when we ascribe it to them. I think an economist might disagree but nothing is worth more than "I" think it is worth. This is displayed in the infinite value of a child's beloved blanket or the worthlessness of a Canadian $100 bill in rural china. The question of treasure then has much to do with how we assign value to things.
When Jesus comands, "Lay up for yourselves treasues in heaven," Willard paraphrases it as, "direct your actions toward making a difference in the realm of spiritual substance sustained and governed by God. Invest your life in what God is doing, which cannot be lost. Of course this means that we will invest in our relationship to Jesus himself, and through him to God. But beyond that, and in close union with it, we will devote ourselves to the good of other people--those around us within our range of power to affect. These are amoung God's treasures."
These "treasures in heaven" may sound like divine life insurance but, "the treasure we have in heaven is also something very much available to us now. We can and should draw upon it as needed, for it is nothing less than God himself and the wonderful society of his kingdom even now interwoven in my life."
So what does the life of someone with heavenly treasure look like? There are four ways Willard discusses. a)It looks different or even crazy becasue we value supremely that which we cannot see. b)It looks childlike. "The little child has no capacity to command a store of goods on its own that would alow it to live independant of others. It simply must assume that provisions are made for it by others." c)It looks simple. "Having our treasure in heaven frees us to live simply in the present so far as our vital needs are concerned. We work hard of course and care for our loved ones. But we do not worry--not even about them." d)It looks content. "The natural beauty of the human being is given from the kingdom to every person who will recieve it." This means we don't seek more and more but will be happy with what we have.
You have no need to beanxious about what will happen tomorrow. You can do your worrying about tomorrow tomorrow. Each day contains just enough problems to last to the end of that day.
-Matthew 6:34
posted by Luke at
7:02 AM
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