Sometimes our modern translations of the Bible cause us to misread it. With the best of intentions, editors have added chapter and section breaks into the text that were not in the original manuscripts. Some translations also add section headings to help the reader more easily find a story or topic. For example, in my Bible, Matthew 6 is split into five sections with these headings: Giving to the Needy, Prayer, Fasting, Treasures in Heaven, and Do Not Worry.
The unintended consequence of this, however, is that we jump to the topic we are interested in and consume those verses in isolation from what has preceded it. This leads us to see the Sermon on the Mount as a collection of disconnected teachings of Jesus that the gospel writer just happened to include together. We assume it’s a coincidence that Jesus’ instructions about worry happen to follow his words about greed, but they could have just as easily been in the opposite order or nowhere near one another.
In truth, the entire sermon is a unified, cohesive argument, with each section building upon the previous one. Therefore, to fully grasp what Jesus says about worry in Matthew 6:25-34, we must see how it connects to his message about greed and generosity in the preceding verses, 6:19-24. When we read them together, we will begin to recognize the link between worry and greed.
Both are rooted in how we perceive the world and the God who governs it. If we believe the world is a dangerous place in which God cannot be trusted, it makes perfect sense to be afraid and hoard our resources. However, if we see the world as Jesus does, as a God-with-us creation in which our heavenly Father is seeking our well-being and where we are perfectly safe in his hands, then worry and greed aren’t just unnecessary; they are illogical. In other words, these topics are linked together in Jesus’ sermon because they have the same solution. Both greed and worry are overcome with a proper vision of God’s love for us.
Thomas Aquinas, the great theologian of the Middle Ages, said fear causes a contraction of the soul. He compared its effect on a person to a city under siege. When an army attacked a city, the inhabitants in the countryside would gather their resources and barricade themselves behind the city’s walls. From this contracted, inward-focused position, they would hunker down and hope their food and water would outlast the attacking army’s will to fight.
Similarly, when we perceive the world as threatening, we contract; we pull our resources inward in a posture of protection and self-preservation and worry. We can only think about ourselves, our needs, and our survival. From this defensive position, we cannot love because we cannot give. This is exactly what Jesus wants to set us free from. When we come to see that our heavenly Father cares for all he has made, from blades of grass to birds in the air, and that he will take care of us as well, we can be released from our captivity to self-centeredness, which manifests as both worry and greed, and begin instead to see and meet the needs of others. As Henri Nouwen said, “Fear engenders fear, it never gives birth to love.”
Daily Scripture
Matthew 6:25–34
Ephesians 4:28
Weekly Prayer
From Ashton Oxenden (1808–1892)
God, I want your guidance and direction in all I do. Let your wisdom counsel me, your hand lead me, and your arm support me. I put myself into your hands. Breathe into my soul holy and heavenly desires. Conform me to your own image. Make me like my Savior. Enable me in some measure to live here on earth as he lived, and to act in all things as he would have acted.
Amen.
