Trinity 15 – 20 September 2009
Joel 2: 21-27, Psalm 103, Galatians 6: 11-18, Matthew
6: 24-34
On 14 September 2009, I rode in my
father’s Case International 1680 Axial-Flow combine. There are few things in this world I enjoy
more than riding in a combine. We were
combining the Steinke quarter, a quarter of land that in 2005 produced a meager
30 bushels of wheat an acre. This year,
that same quarter produced 80 bushels of wheat an acre. However, something was wrong, Spring Wheat
kernels have a deep, transparent red hue, but this year the kernels were slightly
shriveled, yellow, and opaque. Seasoned
farmers call these kernels “Yellowbellies” and they are a sign that the wheat
did not produce protein. Wheat produces
protein by absorbing nitrogen (a building block of protein) from the soil. Nitrogen is a finicky fertilizer; it does not
bond to any substance and roams free in the soil waiting for a chance to escape. Two events led to the leaching of nitrogen
from the soil this past year. First,
there was a hard and heavy rain in the spring and as that hard rain seeped into
the soil the nitrogen seeped out.
Second, the summer weather was perfect for growing wheat so the wheat, instead
of using the remaining nitrogen to produce protein, used nitrogen to grow big
and tall. To grow good and nutritious
wheat it is necessary to have nitrogen otherwise the wheat, though beautiful to
gaze upon and high yielding, will be nutritionally barren and worthless, for
grain elevators place a heavy deduction wheat that does not have protein.
“Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore, I
say unto you, “Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye
shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.” This American life, our American life, is
dedicated to the pursuit of money, clothing, and food. Much of our popular culture revolves around three
things. Our perpetual worry about money even though we make more money than
most people in the world, our worry over food even though we produce and
consume more food than any other nation, and our worry over clothing even
though we are able to spend billions of dollars every year on clothing. Given our obsession with money, food, and
clothing it would be tempting to assert that that Jesus’ words mean that these
items are unnecessary, valueless, and meaningless. However, that assertion would be wrong. To
the contrary, these items are necessary.
Money is the basic unit for buying
and selling. Nothing is free and since God
has forbid stealing, money is necessary.
Therefore, money is not bad; it is a necessary part of life. Food is also a necessary part of life. Medical Doctors say humans can only survive
four to six weeks without food; therefore, food is not bad, it is a vital and
necessary part of life.[1] Clothing also is a necessary part of life. Clothing protects us from harsh and deadly
environmental threats, such as the scorching sun, stinging sand, frigid cold,
and all of those mosquitos in the
A simple
proverb says, what you embrace is what you will become, or you will become what
you seek. If we seek and embrace those
things that do not adhere to any permanent and lasting value, we will become a
valueless and meaningless blob of flesh and bone. Thus, if we desire to have value, if we
desire to live a meaningful life we must seek and embrace those things that
have permanent and abiding value. We
find permanent and steadfast value in God’s Kingdom, as our Lord Jesus said, “Seek ye first [your Father’s] kingdom, and
his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” All of the earthly things we seek and
pursue, those things like money, food and clothing, are momentary foretastes
and fleeting shadows of God’s kingdom, which is permanent and eternally
abiding.
Earthly money, by which we buy what
we need to survive, is a fleeting shadow of grace, the currency, or money of
God’s kingdom. Through grace, our Father has purchased us to
be his children. Furthermore, the cross
of Jesus Christ determined the value of grace; therefore, grace will never lose
it value or suffer from inflation.
Clothing, which protects us and covers our bodies from disgrace, is a
foretaste of God’s kingdom when Christ’s righteousness will wrap around us like
a pure and spotless garment. Furthermore, the cross determined the value of
Christ’s righteousness, for through the cross, the righteousness of Christ is
eternally revealed and in the eyes of our Father – who is a rigorous judge of
fashion - Christ’s righteousness will never go out of style. Food, which our bodies need to survive, is a
foretaste of the wedding banquet of the lamb, when the church will be wedded to
her betrothed husband, Jesus. Furthermore,
we are given a foretaste of this heavenly banquet in the Eucharist, when we
consume the bread and wine of heaven and these simple wafers and sweet wine are
effectual symbols of God’s grace and Christ’s righteousness because they are
bonded to the cross of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my dear sisters and brothers
let us not be anxious for the morrow.
Let us enjoy the money, food and clothing our Lord has graciously given
us. Let us enjoy them because they are a
foretaste of what is to come when our Lord Jesus will return to consummate his
kingdom and let us enjoy them because they are a shadow of what has already
been, the cross of Jesus Christ, through which all things find their lasting
and permanent value.