STRIVE FIRST FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD

It is not rare at all to have strife among siblings over the inheritance. Court battles, enmity over a meager piece of land or a dilapidated house are not uncommon. Greediness will step over blood relations, love and justice. Such a case prompted the Lord to teach this very instructive parable of the Foolish Rich man. “Someone in the crowd,” writes St. Luke, “said to Him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’ But He said to him, ‘Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’ And He said to them, ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’” And then He told them the parable of the Foolish Rich man.

Doesn’t it strike you as funny the way the Lord answered? What would we have answered if we were in the Lord’s place? Would we have said something like, “My dear fellow, your request is reasonable. Your brother should indeed sit down with you, and like two brothers you should resolve justly and equitably your differences. I’ll be glad to sit with you as an impartial arbitrator, to make sure justice is rendered, and that you both are treated fairly. I’ll talk to your brother.” Instead the Lord teaches the “reasonable” brother a hard lesson. He tells him, “Don’t be greedy!” A reply that seems unreasonable, because the request appears to be so reasonable. How would you have reacted to this reply if you were in this man’s place? Would you have muttered something like, “Should we then let the greedy and the rapacious people of this world just take over? Should we let injustice reign? Should we let the rich take over what is rightfully ours without a fight?” What would the Lord have answered then?

As He said, right after this parable: “Do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying; for the nations of the world (that is, those who do not worship the true God) strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive for His kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well” (Lk. 12:29-31). St Matthew says, “But strive first for the kingdom of God.” (Mt. 6:23) What could we have replied to this? “So we shouldn’t provide for our future and for the future of our children? We shouldn’t save any money, or invest to have something in our old age? Is it a sin to be prudent, to be good managers of the goods we have worked so hard to earn?” What would the Lord have said to this? He would say, My friend, I said first; strive first for the kingdom of God. If you do this, you won’t have to worry about all those other things. And I ask us all today, Do we strive first for the kingdom of God? Is the main goal of our life to inherit God’s Kingdom?

My friends, the Lord speaks to us today, as He spoke to this worldly man and to the crowds 2,000 years ago, saying: “Strive first for the kingdom of God.” Do we? What is our answer? How can we know? It’s easy. The Lord added, “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Let us be sincere, and examine ourselves: Doesn’t it sound contrary to everything we strive for in our lives: to better our lot, to have everything we need, to live comfortably, to work long and hard and smart to provide for ourselves and for our children? The problem is, we are overly attached to “the abundance of possessions,” as the man of the parable was, who, while the Lord was preaching His divine teachings, was preoccupied about the distribution of his father’s inheritance.

What are our priorities? What do we do? Do we come to church, to ask for God’s forgiveness, to raise as God’s holy people our praise to our Creator and heavenly Father, and thank Him for His gift of His only Son and Savior and Sanctifier of our souls? And then, after we have refreshed our souls, and partaken of the spiritual food, to also get together, to exchange a greeting among us, and to break bread, nourishing at the same time our body, always giving thanks to God? Let us examine ourselves, whether per chance we are in the hall as busy bodies, mingling with each other and neglecting the reason why we come to church in the first place, and thus drawing the warning of the Lord and His chastisement.

We too are in church and listen to the same divine teachings of the Lord, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt. 6:21), “Do not be afraid, little flock” (Lk. 12:32), “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Mt. 6:20), “Do not worry” (Mt. 6:25), “Do not resist evil” (Mt. 5:39), “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36), etc, etc, and yet we preoccupy ourselves with ephemeral things: our business transactions, the stock market, our investments, how to increase our profit, the future of our children, and a myriad of other thoughts that fill our mind and our time and our entire existence, hardly leaving a fleeting thought for our eternal soul.

Remember another incident, with Martha and Mary (a passage very familiar to us because it is read at many services)? “The Lord,” says the holy Evangelist Luke, “entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to His teachings. But Martha was distracted with much serving and approached Him and said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are troubled and distracted by many things; one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion which will not be taken away from her.’” (Lk. 10:38-42) Do you see the parallel? We would expect the Lord to lend a sympathetic ear to Martha. After all, someone had to take care of the reception, prepare lunch for Him and His retinue. Martha was doing a service of love for Him and His disciples. Instead of sympathy she gets a reprimand. Unfair? By our standards, yes. By God’s, no. I’m afraid we would side with Martha, because we care more about the body than the soul. The Lord, however, knows that the soul needs to be fed first. If Martha were like Mary, and no one attended to lunch, maybe the Lord would have taken care of lunch, as He did with the 5,000 and the 7,000. Maybe He will do the same for us too.

The answer of the Lord to the request to be a judge and an arbiter, and His refusal to get involved with cases of purely earthly, worldly, secular and material nature, should serve as a guide for us, both individually and as a Church, on how to see and resolve similar issues in our times, in the spirit of the gospel and of the truth of Christ. The Lord’s answer reveals that the nature and constitution of God’s kingdom is spiritual. It does not attempt to introduce its own authority, it does not clash with the earthly system, it does not push its own agenda. “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbiter over you?” If the Church made her mission the material betterment of mankind, equitable distribution of goods, poverty, education, etc, then she would be missing the mark of her primary role, which is to bring souls to salvation.

Our agenda as Christians and as Church should not be about social issues, such as education or criminal justice, not even about poverty or health care reform, but about the one thing that is needful: striving for the kingdom of God. What are Christ and the Church all about? Christ and His holy Church do not intervene in the political arena, neither do they form a political party, nor do they support one. Similarly with other issues, such as the economy and the finances, or even with an apparently very clear-cut issue, such as abortion. (Incidentally, of course we are pro-life, without, however, identifying ourselves with the pro-life movement. For or against abortion is not the only issue that will determine who will get our vote. With everything else being equal, perhaps. But this issue alone is not going to carry our vote, as fundamentalist Christians would have us.)

My dear Christians: What is in our purview is to guide our souls gently and compassionately to God, away from sin and temptations, sanctifying our lives. Christ and His holy Church say, “Take care! Be on your guard!” By keeping our goal in life clear, we will properly orient every other endeavor of ours. By seeking the one thing that is needful, everything else will be given us as well (cf. Lk. 12:31).

May the Lord grant it to us. Amen.