Jesus said, “Just
think about the birds in the sky: although they neither sow seed nor harvest
nor gather into silos, yet your heavenly Father provides them with what they
need. Aren’t you more valuable than they are?”
—
Matthew 6:26 (USC)
Covetousness is the significant theme of Matthew chapter 6.
First, Jesus has
handled the coveting of status, recognition, and impression — to elevate one’s
repute above what was truthful, and worse, to impugn the status, recognition,
and impression God gives. The covetousness of seeking a higher impression for
one’s self reveals a lower-than-acceptable self-esteem. It speaks of the
opposite effect to that which we are trying to achieve. Coveting reputation is
a great lack of integrity. But our humanity suggests that’s what we are all
tempted to do — to show ourselves better than what or who we are.
Second, Jesus
handles the coveting of other things of this world — ‘valuables’ and money —
when the only things of true worth are the eternal things of God.
Third, Jesus fixes
on the actual outcome of covetousness, which is anxiousness.
If we are perfectly
content, we have nothing to worry about. But we worry because we have to have
life ordered a certain way. We stress about having the right clothes to wear,
and the right food to eat at the right time and in the right way. We who are
very particular are bound to get the particular ills of anxiousness. And the
worst of it morphs into a disorder.
Jesus is getting to
the point in this last package of verses in chapter 6: “don’t worry about what
you’ll get and not get, and about the quality, quantity, and timing of
everything.”
The birds have not a
fleeting worry, unless that is a predator lurks nearby.
If we are anxious we
know why now. If we wish to be less anxious, we know just what we need to do:
surrender our coveting grip on the things of this world. (Though, I do also
need to concede that many who do have anxiety disorders have them because of
complex reasons for which we are not qualified to judge upon. The anxiety in
view, here, is the anxiety of the average person.)
Now that the link
between coveting things and anxiety has been made clear, we may then set about
addressing the semblances of covetousness we engage in.
Contentment is
possible only when we release our covetous grip on the things of this world.
***
QUESTIONS in REVIEW:
1. What things or concepts of
personhood do you covet? How will you surrender these to God, if, in fact, you
will?
2. Where there is anxiousness of a
genuine variety — like that which is propagated by workplace bullying — what
can be done to address the situation? (Sometimes getting out of the environment
is our only option.)
© 2015 S. J. Wickham.
Note: USC version is Under the Southern Cross, The New Testament in Australian English
(2014). This translation was painstakingly developed by Dr. Richard Moore, a NT
Greek scholar, over nearly thirty years.
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