“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).
We live in a pretty materialistic culture; we tend to confuse purpose or meaning in life with success. And we tend to confuse success with the accumulation of material possessions. The more stuff we have, the more successful we must be. The more successful we are the more purpose or meaning our lives must have. We draw meaning from the stuff we collect.
It’s not all our fault. Our need to collect stuff has its roots in the most basic of our survival instincts. Upon ejection from the garden, Adam and Eve figured out real quick that without food and protection from the elements they would die. Food and protection from the elements are the most basic of human needs; necessary for survival.
Once our ancestors garnered enough food, clothing and shelter to satisfy their immediate needs they began to squirrel away a little extra, for a rainy day. And the habit of collecting stuff was established.
After we had collected enough food, clothing and shelter to take the edge off, other needs began to pop up. According to psychology guru Abraham Maslow, when we satisfy our most basic human needs we move toward fulfilling other needs, such as the need for safety and security, love, esteem, and self-actualization. He illustrated the progression of human needs as a pyramid. Food and protection from the elements were on the bottom of the pyramid, safety and security came next, then the need for love and acceptance, then esteem and recognition. At the top of the pyramid was our need for self-actualization. Thanks to Maslow, we have the humanist version of meaning, purpose and success in a nutshell … or at least, in a pyramid.
Maslow believed that once a person’s basic needs for air, water, food and shelter were met, he or she could move on to the next level of human need, which was safety. Safety, in human culture was provided by the group - the tribe. As civilization progressed this became the state or the government. The tribe protected us from wild animals and other marauding tribes; the government protects us from criminals and other marauding governments.
Once our safety needs have been met, according to Maslow, we seek to satisfy our love or belonging needs; the need for friendship, family and sexual intimacy. Once those have been met we move on to satisfy our need for esteem; the need to be recognized by ourselves and others as important. We want self-respect and the respect of the community.
When our esteem needs have been met we’re able to climb to the uppermost level of the human needs pyramid – the need for self-actualization. Self-actualization, the peak of human needs fulfillment, is manifest by our developing a sense of morality, creativity and spontaneity; forgetting our prejudices and accepting the truth about how things are.
According to Maslow, we have to work our way up to self-actualization. We can’t address issues like morality, beauty, justice and truth until we’ve met our more basic needs, like being fed, clothed, loved and esteemed by others.
*****
About two-thousand years ago, Jesus spoke to a huge crowd that had assembled on a hillside overlooking the Sea of Galilee. They came to witness His miracles. He came to teach them His hierarchy of human needs; without the benefit of Maslow’s pyramid.
Jesus began his teaching with the most anti-success speech every given. “Blessed are the poor in spirit … blessed are those who mourn … blessed are the meek … blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness … blessed are the merciful … blessed are the pure in heart … blessed are the peacemakers … blessed are those who are persecuted.” And, for the big finish, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.”
What kind of motivational talk was that? These people didn’t hike all out to the backside of nowhere to hear Jesus tell them that the worse off they were the better off they were. That didn’t even make sense. They had heard that Jesus was a miracle worker. He turned water into wine, he healed the sick and he cast out demons. They came here to see a show. They came here to have their needs met. And now, instead of miracles, Jesus is telling them that they’ll be abused and ridiculed because of their association with Him, and they should be glad about it?
Jesus knew something about their needs they didn’t know. He knew something about their needs Maslow didn’t know. Jesus was present on the day of creation. He was present when the first man took his first breath. He knew a little about what man’s needs really were. He wanted to turn their thinking around about what was really needful.
And turn their thinking around he did. Jesus turned every belief they held as sacred on its head. First he destroyed the Law. He didn’t destroy the law by abolishing it, but by fulfilling it. More accurately, He didn’t destroy the Law; He destroyed their perception of the Law. To the Jews, the Law was the Letter. Do not murder, do not commit adultery, obey the rules for divorce, fulfill your oaths, make the punishment fit the crime, love your friends – hate your enemies.
Jesus destroyed the Letter of the Law by revealing the Spirit of the Law. Anyone who speaks in anger to his brother is as guilty as a murderer. Anyone who looks at another woman in lust is guilty of adultery. Anyone who divorces his wife for a reason other than her adultery causes her to be an adulteress. Don’t make any oaths, you’re not qualified. Don’t seek justice for yourself when you’ve been wronged. Love your enemies.
The Jews found safety in the Law. Jesus destroyed that safety. Under the Jesus’ Law, when they were wronged, they were to take no recourse. And the private crimes of their hearts held the same penalties as adultery and murder. It they hated their brother they were as guilty as a murderer. If they lusted they were adulterers. There was no room for vengeance in this new Law. A man was to love his enemy and submit to his oppressor. The safety Israel found in the Letter of the Law was made void by the Spirit of the Law.
Moving up the pyramid, Jesus destroyed their definition of love and brotherhood. It wasn’t good enough to love their friends and family, now they must love their enemies. How could they feel a sense of closeness or the intimacy of friendship and kinship when even their enemies were to be their friends and brothers?
Jesus destroyed their sources of esteem and respect. He attacked their most sacred sources of self-righteousness. He preached that they should give quietly and secretly, not seeking any recognition for their gifts. When they prayed, it should be done in private and when they fasted they should do their best not to show any outward sign of hunger or physical distress.
Up to this point, giving to the poor had been a win/win proposition. The poor received some relief by way of a generous gift and the giver received recognition from the community. Heck, if gift is generous enough they’d even blow the temple trumpets so the crowd could witness the giver’s grandiose philanthropy. Now Jesus was saying that gifts like this didn’t even count. He warned them not to expect any reward from their Father in heaven; the “oohhs” and “aahhs” of the crowd were reward enough.
How they prayed and fasted wasn’t good enough for Jesus either. He wanted them to hide their acts of righteousness from others. How would the community know of their sanctity and holiness without public displays of prayer, loud and long, so that by its volume and duration their neighbors could appreciate what godly men they truly were? How would others know the pain of their sacrificial fasts if they hid all outward signs of their suffering? What good was fasting if their neighbors couldn’t appreciate the price of their devotion and praise them for it?
Finally Jesus attacked their holy of holies, their greatest sanctity. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).
*****
*editor’s note: Jesus then said something I didn’t quite understand. “The eye is the lamp of the whole body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness” (22-23).
That passage was beyond me. I couldn’t make heads or tails of it. I had to consult a few other resources for help. The Bible Knowledge Commentary explained the passage so I could understand.
The Pharisees believed the Lord materially blessed all He loved. They were intent on building great treasures on earth …. The Pharisees had this problem because their spiritual eyes were diseased. With their eyes they were coveting money and wealth. Thus they were in spiritual darkness. They were slaves to the master of greed, and their desire for money was so great they were failing in their service to their true Master, God.
Whew! It sounds like Israel was having a lot of trouble with Pharisees and greed back then. I’m sure glad we don’t have Pharisees around anymore.
*****
Jesus turned the Jews’ hierarchy of needs (and Maslow’s) on its head. Of their most basic needs he said: “… do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.” He told them that the birds don’t work nine-to-five jobs or have fully funded 401(k)s and yet God provides food for them. The lilies of the field are dressed without the aid of Target and J.C. Penney and yet they are clothed in a splendor the richest kings of the earth couldn’t match.
If that is how God cares for the birds and the flowers of the field, Jesus explained, will He not much more clothe and feed you? These are the kind of things pagans worry about all day long, but you belong to God, why are you worrying about such things?
But Jesus didn’t leave them hanging. He knew about their needs and He had His own hierarchy. It wasn’t a pyramid. It was a simple command. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Your Father in heaven knows your needs. He knows you need food and clothing. He knows your electric bill is due next Tuesday and He knows the car is starting to smoke. He knows Billy needs braces and He knows Mom’s getting older. He knows all that. If He cares for the birds and the flowers of the field do you really think He won’t care for you?
His command is simple: “… seek first his kingdom and his righteousness ….” He’ll take care of everything else. When you obey the Law, obey the Spirit of the Law. When you love, love like He does; love your enemies. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
When you give, give in secret; He sees it. When you pray and fast, do it privately. Prayer and fasting are to glorify God, not for men to glorify you.
And for heaven’s sake, don’t worry. He’s your Father, you’re His child. What do you have to worry about? Take one day at a time and trust Him to be good to His Word. Like Jesus said, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34).
