Sermon by Rev Sydney Maitland for Sunday 6 October 2024.
Photo by Evi Radauscher on Unsplash
• First Reading: Joel 2: 21-27 (Do not be afraid, land of Judah; be glad and rejoice)
• Epistle: 1 Timothy 6: 6-10 (Godliness with contentment is a great gain)
• Gospel: Matthew 6: 25-33 (Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness)
Perhaps one of the most confusing of ideas is that of the gift. The unearned and uncontrived receipt of something valuable by one who had no right to expect it and from with compete freedom to give or not.
We work for wages, and as we commit our bodies and minds to tasks set for us by employers, we are rewarded with our wages. These are earned and not given, so there is a sense of obligation on our employers to pay them at the proper time.
But then there is the sense that an artist is ‘gifted’ in painting, sculpting, performing a piece of music or verse or in speaking. That person has a special ability to communicate, to entertain and to edify others.
The charismatic leader is also regarded as being gifted, for Charis is the Greek word for grace: again an unearned but happily received ability to mobilize people to an idea or a vision.
And so as we look at the natural environment we see that it also is a gift in that God has given it the intrinsic quality of reproducing itself. This applies to all animal and plant life.
It is a gift of God in creation, and we compare it with the gift of Jesus Christ of salvation: available to all who will receive it, and let go of the hinderances in their lives so as to follow Him.
And in doing so, His followers are open to receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit: spiritual abilities to build up and pursue the mission that Jesus has given us. These are not natural aptitudes but are spiritual in nature: in the what they are, the ways they are received and exercised.
It with this in mind that we can celebrate the gift of God in creation and its ability to reproduce and even to heal itself. The cut skin heals and the broken branch or bark of a tree also heal themselves with the continuing processes of growth.
Yet this is also a gift that can be misused. In the gospel Jesus firmly makes the priority of life the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Issues of food and clothing come after that and for all our fashion-sense, they are far less important.
As we pursue God’s purposes for our lives then we find that food, drink, clothing and shelter are there as well. We also find protection and the gainful use of our abilities in society and in the church.
Equally, it is a matter of priorities and perspectives. We need food, drink and clothing to support life – but the life Jesus is most concerned about is life with God.
This is the life of the spirit, that part of our being which comes alive as we relate to God and speak with Him in prayer and worship and as we learn from Him in the scriptures and how our experiences of life reflect them or conflict with them.
When our priorities start with the Kingdom then our other needs fall into place.
The difficulty is when we do not start with the Kingdom: when we put food, clothing, shelter or security ahead of the Kingdom of God or when we make other things substitutes for it.
And that applies to the natural environment. This is the space on the earth that God has given us as the arena where we live and where our priorities become evident.
It is the place of relationships with one another in the church and in society, and it reflects the quality of those relationships. Where there is exploitation and abuse then that will be seen in the despoilation of the environment.
And where we seek to manage the environment without managing our own relationships with one another and with God then it is seen in pollution and the degradation of land.
But this is where we need to look at Paul’s letter to Timothy. Godliness with contentment are a great gain while the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
But we have a dilemma: if all economic growth is evil then should we also abandon the search for medicines and medical and surgical treatments? The means of improving agriculture.
How can we pursue them unless we are willing to commit resources to these things and divert them from the production and distribution of food?
Is all economic growth necessarily evil? What about trade? Or the use of money? How are these to be managed in the Kingdom?
For some, all departure from the economy of the Garden of Eden is evil, and yet Jesus Himself was a carpenter-builder and not a farmer.
I do not believe that it was ever God’s will that we should not seek to improve our lives, diets, clothes, tools or places to live and work.
To that extent, economic growth is acceptable in the sight of the Lord: but not and never at the expense of our relationships with Him as our priority and with one another in consequence of that relationship.
And that still means honouring Him in our relationships and transactions. For these also may express the Kingdom of God.
