Matthew 6:25-34

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Thanksgiving Service -- St. Mary Catholic Central High School

Matthew 6:25-34

From hearing the gospel lesson from the sixth chapter of Matthew, we might first assume that Jesus was telling his disciples that they didn't have to work for a living; but that, somehow, everything they would ever need -- food, clothes -- would miraculously fall into their lap like manna from heaven. And if we were to take those words seriously, or literally, or out of context, we certainly wouldn't need schools like this one or have to think about what college or university we're going to go to after graduating from high school, or what sort of job we will do in order to make the kind of money we'll need to have food, clothes, and everything else we have come to expect out of life. But then, of course, we know that we should never take the bible out of context; but should, rather, as much as it is possible, read and understand the scriptures with a knowledge of the situation in life of those who first wrote, read, and heard the scriptures. For if we know those things, then we will not be mislead when we read those scriptures.

Of course, when Jesus told his followers not to worry about food and clothes, he was not telling us to quit our jobs or quit our life's preparations which ultimately earn us the necessities of life. Rather, as Jesus encountered people, he was concerned about how all they seemed to worry about were the necessities of life. It was their number one priority. And Jesus wanted to make sure that our number one priority in life was simply being faithful to God. And we can see that this is true by what he tells us in the thirty-third verse of Matthew 6: "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

Now, whenever we read scripture it is important that we ask the question, "How is God using that scripture to speak to me?" And God does speak to us and God speaks to the Church through the power of his Spirit. So, periodically, regularly, and especially as we read the scriptures, we need to silence ourselves and listen to the voice of God's Spirit. What does God say to us as we encounter Matthew 6? What is the Word of God to us, today?

The amazing thing is that most of us sitting here today don't worry about necessities for life. Food and clothing and a place to live are almost a given for most of us sitting here today. Even if our parents lost their jobs there would still be food and clothing and housing. For our society has the safety nets of unemployment compensation and insurance and social security and welfare. So, we're not exactly living on the very edge of survival, wondering and worrying about where our next meal is coming from.

So, what are most of us worried about, today? For most of us the one major concern that we have is how we fit into the structure of friends and peers that make up our corner of the world. We're not concerned with having clothes to wear. Rather, we're concerned about having the right clothes to wear: clothes that we feel will help us to fit in. And, we're not concerned with having food to eat. Rather, we're concerned that we'll have enough money to hang out with our friends at the burger place or the ice cream parlor. We're not concerned with having a roof over our heads as much as we are concerned with having it fixed up so that it looks nice for our friends when they come over. And we are concerned about our future. Even though most of you students are a bit foggy about what we want to make of your lives, most of you juniors and seniors have at least two or three college catalogs sitting on your dresser in anticipation of spending fifty to a hundred thousand dollars for four years of going to some university. And for quite a few of you, finding that money is a worry, indeed.

So, what would Jesus say to us about our concerns about food and clothing and our concerns about the future and such?

I still believe that Jesus would say just about the same thing to us as he did to his followers 2,000 years ago. And what was that? Do you remember? Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

It is interesting that as Jesus talked with his followers he called them "you of little faith." In fact, throughout the gospels Jesus called his disciples and followers "you of little faith" a total of six different times, five of these instances being in Matthew, alone. And what's just as enlightening is that Jesus usually called his followers this at moments when they were in despair, looking to him for help, either because they didn't have enough bread, or because their boat was about to sink, or (as in Peter's attempt to walk on the water) they were failing in their attempt to do the impossible. And in each of those times, Jesus reminded his followers, and he reminds us, that God is with us. God is with us in our search for bread. God is with us even as it looks like our boat is about to sink. And God is with us, especially as we take risks, sometimes even doing the impossible, walking on water, for the sake of the kingdom of God.

The fact is that Jesus called his followers, "You of little faith," not when they were short of the things they needed, not when they were failing, but when they were in despair. It is at those times that Jesus reminds us to look up; to make God our number one priority; to be faithful; to trust in God. For if we do these things the rest will be taken care of.

So, you of little faith! Yes, you of little faith! How does it feel to be called this? Does it sound like an insult? After all, we like to think that we are in control. We like to think that we have it all worked out, that we have it all together. But, if we're honest, if we're real with each other and with God, we all know that we have a ways to go. So, yes, you of little faith! Me, of little faith! We're all in that sinking boat together. We're all on the hillside together, hungering for food and wondering where it's going to come from, we've all known despair from time to time. But the lesson is that through Jesus Christ God is with us and that we must remember him and serve him. For when we do "all these things will be given to us, as well."

Thanksgiving offers us the opportunity to remember God and give God the priority that God deserves. Indeed, thanking God and placing God at the center of our lives may even give meaning to those things that might otherwise bring us to despair and feelings of hopelessness. I'd like to leave you with this poem:

"The roar of the world is in my ears.

Thank God for the roar of the world;

Thank God for the mighty tide of fears

Against me always hurled.

Thank God for the bitter and ceaseless strife,

And sting of his chastening rod.

Thank God for the stress and pain of life,

And O, thank God for God!"

Amen.