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Seek First the Kingdom of God

Second Sunday After Pentecost
May 29. 2016

Introduction
This month hundreds of thousands have graduated and particularly this
weekend the same number will graduate from high school. What are they thinking
about but where to find success and where life is taking them. Often many of these
same people will see me in career counseling with the objective of identifying the
career that pays a great deal of money.
This weekend is both graduation and Memorial Day. Memorial Day is a
holiday in the United States for remembering the people who died while serving in
the armed services. The holiday, began as Decoration Day after the Civil War in
1868, started by the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), an organization of Union
veterans. I have fond memories of Decoration Day as a child picnics with my
Dads side of the family as we gathered in Highland at my Aunt Ann and Uncle
Altons. As a kid they still called it Decoration Day.
You are likely wondering how these two along with our lectionary readings are
connected or if at all, but I hope to make an argument they are indeed connected.
Not only are they connected but we would do well to think about them both.

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The American Civil War

The American Civil War remains the most lethal war in our nations history
resulting in 360,000 deaths.
summarized below.

For the sake of comparison other wars are

US Casualties by War
WWI ~ 117k

WWII ~ 407K (2.3% of Worlds Population

killed)
Korean Conflict ~ 54k
Vietnam ~ 60k

We think about the root causes of the Civil War and historians will list slavery,
states rights, and protectionism; but we need to look much deeper to understand
the root cause of this war or any war for that manner. (The purpose of this message
is not to debate the neccessity of any war but what really is at its root cause.)
Our readings today give us a hint at the answer but I would like to begin with
a thought from Buddhism and the Gospel. The Buddhist use words like grasping
and clinging to describe this. They talk about how we tend to grasp things that do
not last, have little or no real value; in doing so we become enslaved or imprisoned
by them. (Retrieved May 28, 2016: http://www.buddhanet.net/budasa7.htm)
Jesus tells us (Matthew 6: 19 21):
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and
rust[a] consume and where thieves break in and steal;

20

but store up for

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yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust [b]consumes
and where thieves do not break in and steal.

21

For where your treasure is,

there your heart will be also.

Both of these great teachers are telling us the same thing. We have to ask
ourselves what is causing us to grasp, cling to, and go after those things that are so
temporary and failing to satisfy? Grasping and clinging are metaphors for greed,
materialism, or those things in our lives that we cling to that we falsely believe
bring us happiness and security. They can be beliefs, ways of seeing the world,
doing, and feeling. The root cause of the Civil War, and other wars
subsequent to it, is grasping, clinging, and storing up treasures on earth.
Recognizing and owning this craving and addressing it is the solution.
Think of the Civil War, such craving caused many people ~ Christians, to use
Sacred Scripture to dehumanize other Children of God because they were
different; justifying treatment no farm animal would ever receive. How can this
have ever happened?
How Long Will You Hobble Back and Forth?
Well, the clue is in our lesson from Kings (18: 20-39); Elijah asks, How long
do mean to hobble first on one leg then on the other? (v. 20-21a, NJB). If we
are honest, Elijah speaks to us all. This imagery he uses suggests a dance between
taking one position and then another ~ as said today, flip flopping!

Elijah is so

frustrated he is urging the Israelites to just make up their minds ~ choose a side!
If Yahweh is God, follow him; if Baal, follow him. (v. 21b, NJB).

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Jesus says (Matthew 7:21),

21

Not everyone who says to me, Lord,

Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the
will of my Father in heaven. (NRSV) Simply put, Jesus is saying, Stop kidding
yourselves! We have to own our flip flopping and stop our self-deception.
Our Lord goes even further and says, Your heavenly Father knows what
you need (paraphrased). Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on
Gods saving justice and all these other things will be given you as well.
(Mt. 6: 32 33, NJB). Set your hearts on his kingdom first, implies that the
Kingdom of God is everything and we must love and seek it with all we have within
us, this is all that matters. But the Kingdom of the Father is spread across
the earth and we refuse to see it. (Paraphrase of Gospel of Thomas, Saying
113.)
What Does the Kingdom Ask of Us?
What is the Kingdom?
Unfortunately, most of us do not really understand the Kingdom, narrowly
defining it as the place we go to in the next life if we mind our Ps & Qs while
accepting Jesus as our Personal Lord and Savior. Jesus did come to save us but he
came for so much more ~ to invite us to participate in his great work of
transforming this place we call earth, making it on earth as it is in heaven!
(Mt. 6: 9-13) We pray for this at least once a week; but how much effort do
we place in making it a reality? Are we serious about the very words we
pray?
Jesus Gospel is first and foremost a Gospel of the Kingdom of God!
(Wallis, 2013). Jesus came to bring freedom and good news for the poor and the

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oppressed, sight to the blind. He came to do this both literally and spiritually. This
is the job description of Jesus and of each person gathered here today. (McKnight,
S. as cited by Wallis, J. 2013).
The Kingdom is literally the coming of a new order of things and a way of
living. The objective of this way of being, seeing, thinking, and acting was to
transform the world. When Jesus tells us to repent, it is not about feeling guilty and
worthless but a change in direction. Instead of walking away from the Kingdom we
turn around and walk towards it. This Kingdom is a central theme in Jesus stories
and teachings. (Wallis, 2013.)

The Kingdom as: Massive Change

No aspect of our lives is immune from the Kingdom, not the personal,
spiritual, social, economic, or the political is free from massive change. So why do
graduates continue to focus on money and worldly success? Why do we continue to
have to send young men and women to die in wars?
Because we are flip floppers, hobbling back and forth, claiming to be
Christians but clinging and grasping to worldly ideas and values. Our
choice is simple but not so simple, will we offer our lives to things that rust, rot, and
ultimately do not satisfy? It is not just material things but ways of thinking, acting
in our world, and seeing others, too. Will our allegiance be to the Kingdom of
the Man or the Kingdom of God?

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Todays gospel reading involves a Roman Centurion who changed how he saw
the people he came to control. He helped build a synagogue for them. The people
of the synagogue saw him as a friend and not an oppressor. Both were able to see
past their differences culturally, religiously, and nation. This Roman who came to
conquer and control, modeled what it was to be a servant and demonstrated the
willingness to see past politics and greed.
A change had taken place in this group of people Jews and Roman. Fear and
bigotry gave way to love and support. Such choices are not easy, especially to see
that very different other as being like me warts and all.
Conclusion
As the disciples were called, so are you and so am I. We are called to make a
decision just as Elijah told the Israelites.

We are asked to stop grasping and

clinging to those things that hold us back. If we are willing to do this, we like Peter
and John who dropped their nets and left their boats, will be freed by the things we
leave behind.
If each of us who dare to call ourselves Christians do this, the world will
indeed be different. A new order has arrived. Will you join it? If so, maybe the
world will eventually stop grasping, taking, and start sharing. Instead of hating,
instilling fear, and dividing, it will begin loving, bringing calm, and including all
people. And instead of to sending young people to die in a wars to end all wars,
perhaps there will be peace.
Maybe it is just a dream; but it is the dream of a rabbi from a small
town in Israel who was willing to die for it. He calls each of us to do the
same ~ both spiritually and literally. When we come here simply to have a

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nice time, sing some nice songs, and leave feeling good, we have missed
that rabbis message and he is grieved. So, stop making excuses, stop
hobbling, stop flip flopping!

Amen.