Matthew 6:24-34

Matthew 6:24     Which Master?

24 “No one can serve two masters; 
for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, 
or be devoted to the one and despise the other. 
You cannot serve God and wealth.

Love and hate are to be understood as Jewish idiom meaning “choose for” or “choose against” [5:43].

Matthew consistently interpreted Jesus’ messages in ‘either/or’, ‘good/bad’, ‘reward/punishment’, ‘black/white’ , etc. categories. He rarely allowed for nuance, for ‘greys’. His concern was that disciples clearly decide where they stood, that they be single-minded in their discipleship. But he seemed not to understand that human realities are often more like a continuum spread between opposing poles. He sought to categorise three-dimensional reality in two-dimensional terms.

Matthew would have seen the warning applying particularly to those in his community who were better off than others (though the poor, on their part, could allow their desire or envy for wealth to divert their focus from God).

The early Church was consistently sensitive to the ownership and use of wealth, and in this it stood in contrast to the conventional wisdom, which saw wealth as sign of God’s blessing. Jesus’ concern was shared by a number of thoughtful Jewish teachers.

Matthew 6:25-34    Worry and Trust 

(Lk 12:22-31)
 
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, 
what you will eat or what you will drink, 
or about your body, what you will wear. 
Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 

From a caution to the wealthier members of his community, Matthew turned to the poorer ones. They were the ones struggling to meet their daily needs for nourishment and clothing. Matthew was concerned lest their struggles might distract them from their single-minded attention to God. They were not to worry.

26 Look at the birds of the air; 
they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, 
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. 
Are you not of more value than they? 

Jesus encouraged his disciples to trust God, who would always give them personal dignity and value. God would not abandon them – they were blessed now and the Kingdom would be theirs – though, in the meantime, they might experience the grinding effects of others’ injustice and oppression.

27 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?

From reminding them of their intrinsic value, Jesus proceeded to confront them with their radical powerlessness. Unsupported by God, any anxious efforts they made to retain total control of their lives would be futile. Certainly, they were not to be totally passive, yet worry was pointless.

28 And why do you worry about clothing? 
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; 
they neither toil nor spin, 
29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory
was not clothed like one of these. 
30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, 
which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, 
will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 

As with food, similarly with clothing: disciples were to do what they could and leave the rest to God. They needed to trust the God of the Kingdom, the God of ‘enough’.

31 Therefore do not worry, saying, 
‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 
32 For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; 
and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 
33 But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, 
and all these things will be given to you as well.

Gentiles did not know God, the Father of Jesus, who loved the creatures he had made, the heavenly Father in whom disciples placed their trust. Already, Jesus had spoken clearly of the Father who knows what you need before you ask him [6:8]. Clear-sighted Matthew demanded consistency between prayer and behaviour. He reminded his community of their need to make up their minds.

34 “So do not worry about tomorrow, 
for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. 
Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Jesus was realistic. Unrelenting poverty meant that each day had to be faced on its own merits. Trust had to be constantly renewed. In his prayer, Jesus had taught them to pray: Give to us each day our bread for the day. That was today’s need. God did not promise tomorrow’s bread. Tomorrow’s need could be faced tomorrow with the same trust as today’s need can be faced today.  That trust would need to be learnt and practised each new day. Yet each new day’s trust would remove each new day’s worry. 


Food and Clothing in the Western World

As disciples in the Western world hear Jesus’ advice, most of them do not struggle to find food for their tables. Yet, most worry about food and clothing, not for sustenance, but for acceptance and enjoyment.

Like fasting, which in Jesus’ day gave rise to the temptation to hypocrisy, questions of food and clothing present a greater challenge to today’s disciples in the Western world. Most of the world’s followers of Jesus live in the developing world, where about 850,000,000 go to bed hungry each night. The rest in the West worry about their diets, or confront massive problems connected with over-weight, or are consumed by the need to wear the latest fashions. Their magazines are filled with recipes, slimming programs or advertisements for clothing. The hungry are hungry due, in part, to the neglect of the Western nations, for whom food and clothing can be challenging luxuries.

Yet, so much of the excess of the Western world is due to lack of trust. Many people lack a radical sense of their own dignity given to them by God. Their “eye is evil”. Without a clear option for genuinely transcendent values, lesser goods become addictive. Skilled advertisers continue to exploit their insecurities. They feel desperately, but often unconsciously, inadequate and incomplete. They do not know, or fail to trust, the God who loves them passionately and unconditionally. Consequently, they are driven to compensate – by looking good or indulging their superficial desires. 

Their only salvation is to learn to trust.


Next >> Matthew 7:1-23