Kahu's Manao
Keawala‘i Congregational Church
United Church of Christ (USA)
Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday, May 25,2008
The Rev. Kealahou C. Alika
“The Choices We Make”
Matthew 6:24-34
According to the Social Security Administration my earnings record indicates that in the months after I graduated from high school in 1967 I earned a whopping $436.00 from the work I did on the maintenance staff at the Pu‘uhonua O Hōnaunau – the City of Refuge National Park in Kona on the island of Hawai‘i. I spent the summer pulling weeds and removing coconut branches and other debris from the park.
In the three years that followed I worked and earned a total of $7,632.00 working as short order cook at a drive-in restaurant in Kona and in a coffee house and later a car-hop restaurant, both in Waikiki. That amount averaged around $7.00 a day in the days when a two-bedroom apartment in Honolulu could be found for $125.00 a month.
Then from 1971 to 1979 when I attended a community college in Honolulu, the university in Hilo, and seminary in Berkeley, California I earned a total of $526. The earnings record shows that for eight of those nine years I earned a total income that was basically tamago – or as we would say here in Hawai‘i using that Japanese word: “It was the shape of an egg and that means the total income earned was zero.”
I wondered how it was that I managed to survive during those years. As I look back I realize that in addition to receiving scholarships I was able to “work” my way through school through various work-study programs. I also realize that it was during that period in my young adult life that I had taken the words from our reading from The Gospel According to Matthew to heart.
I learned the simple melody that was applied to a portion of the text that comes from our reading: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Allelu, Alleluia!”
In retrospect I am amazed that I was able to get through those years without a lot of money earned. But I also know that whether one would question if I was being naïve or not, I trusted and believed that God would take care of my needs.
Jesus’ words to those who were listening to him that day were straightforward and unambiguous. “Do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ But strive first for the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:31, 33)
It is not clear to whom Jesus was addressing his teaching about anxiety, but his teaching seemed appropriate for the wealthy and the poor. After all, anxiety about money seems to trouble those who have it and those who do not. But given the basic concerns of food and clothing, it may be that he was speaking to those who were poor.
Jesus was not being unrealistic or trying to convince his listeners to ignore their physical needs. But he does say it makes no sense to worry or to be anxious. “Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?” (Matthew 6:27)
Jesus called upon his listeners and he calls upon us today for a radical trust and single-minded service to God. We work but we know that it is not our work that gives us what we have. We are dependent upon God for the simplest elements of life: air, water and sun.
We assume that what we own is the result of our own effort but it only takes an earthquake, a cyclone or tornado, tsunami or flood to show us once again how quickly such possessions can be reduced to rubble. To receive what we have – our breath, our life, our possessions – as gifts from God is the first step we can take to free ourselves from worry.
The second step we can take is to know it is God who protects all of our gifts. Jesus calls us to trust that this is so and to first seek the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness. But if we cling to our possessions or resources rather than share them we will have reason to worry about the future.
And so the third step we can take to free ourselves from worry is to be generous in our sharing. If we worry only about our own needs then we will seek security in possessions and wealth and in the process we may find ourselves ignoring the needs of others.
To seek first the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness will seem like foolishness to the world. Such a call for a radical trust in God and a single-minded service to God is not something we are accustomed to considering.
I must confess to you that as I have grown older I have found myself becoming more and more anxious. “If faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1), such faith seems to be of little assurance to many. It would seem our faith these days is not based on the assurance of things hoped for but on the number of insurance policies we can secure - for home and automobile, fire and flood, medical and dental. We strive to make certain that we will have the resources to cover any calamity that may come our way.
Yet in the end Jesus reminds us that if we spend our lives chasing after wealth and protecting our possessions we will have reason to worry and to be anxious. The choices we make of whom we shall serve matters for we cannot serve God and wealth.
The question for us today is: Whom shall we serve?
Again, the choices we make matter. I would be less than truthful if I did not tell you that I have medical and dental insurance and that I have automobile and home owner’s insurance. We owe nothing to our insurance agencies except the dollars and cents they demand but we owe everything else to Ke Akua and that is a debt we pay with our love, our lives, our souls.