WHERE ARE YOU LIVING?
6:34 This verse shows strong links with proverbial wisdom, which points out in many ways the fruitlessness of anticipating either by worry or action a tomorrow whose shape we cannot know. The Matthean context, however, gives a distinctive turn to the proverbial wisdom. The ties with the Lord’s Prayer continue here (with the reference to evil and the focus on today), and these probably provide the key for linking v. 34 with the preceding materials. In connection with the Lord’s Prayer, the promise of God’s provision which emerges in vv. 25–34 and climaxes with the promise of v. 34b is a promise about the needs of the present. But a good deal of human anxiety involves worrying about ‘tomorrow’ (the future). What is implied about tomorrow in the thrust of teaching which has been given? This is the agenda of v. 34.
We already know that we are not to worry about our basic needs of today; now we are specifically challenged not to worry about our needs of tomorrow. We are not to worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will do the worrying about tomorrow. But what can this mean? The goal here is to take from us our sense of worrisome responsibility for tomorrow. The rhetorical strategy used to achieve this is to relocate to a credible somewhere else the worry about tomorrow which comes so naturally to us. ‘Tomorrow’ fits the needs well, as a place to pass this responsibility to, because it is tomorrow and only tomorrow which is located in the appropriate time frame for paying attention to the needs of tomorrow (tomorrow’s today!). Of course the language is not intended literally: the whole passage is about stopping worrying (not transferring the task of worrying to another); and tomorrow cannot genuinely be an agent of action. In truth the handing of the task of worrying over to tomorrow is a convenient pedagogical fiction intended to help us release the worrying into oblivion.
The normal perspective from which the final clause is read is that of the human capacity to cope with bad things, difficult things (one day’s worth is enough to manage at any one time). But with its emphasis on God’s provision and our need to focus on the kingdom, the whole drift of the passage is against this. Again the Lord’s Prayer can help us. Our prayer is (v. 13) for God to rescue us from such disastrous events as we find ourselves engulfed by. It is likely that v. 34 does not have a comprehensive concern with evil, but that (avoiding an odd introduction of a new subject) the focus is on that aspect of evil which underlies the anxiety people feel about their daily needs. If one had to worry only about planting enough grain or working enough hours, then the human situation would be less worrisome. Anxiety is created primarily by the very real possibility that such arrangements will let us down (there will be a drought; our supplies will be destroyed; we will be robbed; etc.). The promise of God’s provision involves a promise to deliver us (from the consequences of) such eventualities as they press on us on a daily basis. If God looks after today, that will be enough. God does not abstractly guarantee the future; he deals with the needs of each today. This is the one-day-at-a-time perspective of the Lord’s Prayer which keeps so firmly in focus the immediacy of receiving from the hand of God. There is no need to worry about tomorrow because God will deal with it as the ‘today’ of that day.
34. Another therefore carries on the argument in logical sequence. Since the preceding is true, it follows that there is no point in worrying about tomorrow (cf. Prov. 27:1). A number of commentators point out that something like the words of this verse is found in commonsense proverbs in antiquity. This may indeed be so, but what distinguishes this passage from similar ones is that Jesus is not teaching fatalism but trust in God. It is trust that is important. The aorist imperative does not imply anything about the present state and perhaps signifies that disciples should not start being anxious. There is no need to be anxious even about tomorrow, let alone the days ahead. Tomorrow will be anxious about itself does not mean that, while we must not worry today, tomorrow we may do so. It is a forceful way of saying that worry must always be deferred. Tomorrow’s worry is only in the sense “tomorrow never comes”; if worry is confined to tomorrow we are free, for it is always today. And Jesus finishes this part of his subject with the reminder that each day has sufficient trouble to keep us occupied; there is no point in anticipating tomorrow’s quota of trouble today. “Today’s trouble is enough for today” (NRSV). This, of course, is a counsel that defeats worry. We are rarely anxious for today; it is the future that bothers us. If we restrict our concern to today, we defeat anxiety. The plain statement that there is trouble each day, however, is important. A shallow thinker might gather from the previous words about trust that the believer will have a smooth path through life. That is not what Jesus is saying. All people have trouble, believers among them. But he is making it clear that there is all the difference in the world between facing the problems we will certainly meet with firm faith in our heavenly Father and facing them with anxiety.
6:25–34 If, on the other hand, we put trust in God first, God will take care of the rest of life. This renders worry unnecessary. “Worry” is the key word of this entire section, since it occurs six times (vv. 25, 27–28, 31, 34 [2×]). The KJV’s “take no thought” is definitely misleading here. Christians must plan for the future, but they need not be anxious. Jesus illustrates his point by discussing the basic provisions of food and clothing.
First, he focuses on the need for food. Birds in their wild state provide a good example because they are tirelessly industrious. Jesus is not discouraging hard work to provide for our needs. Yet despite their constant efforts, birds remain far more dependent on the “whims” of nature (which Jesus views as God’s provisions) than are people. We who have so much more opportunity to use creation for our own ends ought to worry even less than birds.
Two additional rationales for Jesus’ instruction follow. First, we are more valuable in God’s eyes because we are the only creatures made in his image. Second, worry doesn’t accomplish anything anyway, at least not in terms of enabling us to live longer. The NIV marginal note “single cubit to his height” is a somewhat more natural translation of the Greek than “single hour to his life,” but it does not fit as well into the context. Adding a foot and one half to one’s height is not the trifling amount Jesus’ flow of thought seems to demand, and stature does not fit the context of provisions of food and clothing nearly as well as longevity.
To illustrate God’s provision of clothing, Jesus next directs attention to “the lilies of the field” (perhaps a reference to wild flowers and grasses more generally). “See how” is better translated “learn carefully from” (katamathete). Uncultivated vegetation does much less to provide for itself than do birds, yet God adorns it with beauty that at times surpasses the greatest splendor of human raiment (on Solomon’s wealth, cf. 1 Kgs 4:20–34; 7:1–51; 10:14–29). “Labor” (toiling in the field) and spinning (sewing clothing at home) probably refer, respectively, to the characteristic occupations of men and women in ancient rural culture. Yet plants prove even more fragile than birds and more short-lived than humans. People even picked plants and used them as fuel for the ovens in which they baked bread. If God lavishes such concern over the rest of his creation, how much more does he love us! Again, Jesus uses the characteristically Jewish type of reasoning—from the lesser to the greater. If the logic of his argument be granted, then worry can only result from a lack of genuine belief in God’s goodness and mercy. R. Mounce says, “Worry is practical atheism and an affront to God.” Anxiety characterized pagan religions, which were dominated by fears of a capricious and despotic deity who constantly had to be appeased. In its modern, irreligious garb, pagan anxiety displays a great preoccupation with physical exercise and diet without a corresponding concern for spiritual growth and nutrition.82 Verse 32a recalls the logic of 5:47; v. 32b parallels and recalls 6:8b.
Verse 33 brings this paragraph to its climax. When priorities regarding treasures in heaven and on earth are right, God will provide for fundamental human needs. Seeking first the righteousness of the kingdom implies obedience to all of Jesus’ commands and shows that the thesis of 5:20 continues to be advanced. Of course, the major problem with the promise “all these things [food, drink, clothing] will be given to you” is the contrary experience of many Christians throughout history who have suffered deprivation and even starvation. One possible solution to this problem is to reserve all guarantees for the age to come. “Will be given” does not specify when God will provide. To be sure, the fullness of the kingdom will eradicate all suffering for God’s people, but it is hard to see why Jesus would rule out worry in the present age if his promise applies only to a distant future. And if God’s kingdom has already been inaugurated, then believers should expect to receive in this age the firstfruits of its material blessings. Hence, v. 33b is probably to be interpreted in light of Luke 12:33 and Mark 10:30a, which presuppose the sharing of goods within the Christian community. When God’s people corporately seek first his priorities, they will by definition take care of the needy in their fellowships. When one considers that over 50 percent of all believers now live in the Two-Thirds World and that a substantial majority of those believers live below what we would consider the poverty line, a huge challenge to First-World Christianity emerges. Without a doubt, most individual and church budgets need drastic realignment in terms of what Christians spend on themselves versus what they spend on others (cf. 2 Cor 8:13–15).
In v. 34 Jesus returns full circle to the beginning of his discussion (v. 25), encouraging daily dependence on God (cf. also v. 11). As if to underscore that v. 33 will never be implemented absolutely in this age, he reminds his audience of the daily evil (a more literal rendering than NIV “trouble”) that persists. But there are enough non-Christian sources of evil for believers (most notably the persecutions predicted in 5:10–11) that Christian self-centeredness ought never compound the problems of fellow believers who live in poverty.
6:25–34 (Luke 12:22–34). If a person is occupied with the things of God, the true Master, how will he care for his ordinary needs in life, such as food, clothing, and shelter? The Pharisees in their pursuit of material things had never learned to live by faith. Jesus told them and us not to worry about these things, for life is more important than physical things. He cited several illustrations to prove His point. The birds of the air are fed by the heavenly Father, and the lilies of the field grow in such a way that their splendor is greater than even Solomon’s. Jesus was saying God has built into His Creation the means by which all things are cared for. The birds are fed because they diligently work to maintain their lives. They do not store up great amounts of food, but continually work. And believers are far more valuable to God than birds! The lilies grow daily through a natural process. Therefore an individual need not be anxious about his existence (Matt. 6:31), for by worrying he can never add any amount of time, not even a single hour, to his life. Rather than being like the pagans who are concerned about physical needs, the Lord’s disciples should be concerned about the things of God, His kingdom and His righteousness. Then all these needs will be supplied in God’s timing. This is the life of daily faith. It does no good to worry—do not worry occurs three times (vv. 25, 31, 34; cf. vv. 27–28)—or be concerned about tomorrow for there are sufficient matters to attend to each day. Worrying shows that one has “little faith” in what God can do (v. 30; cf. you of little faith in 8:26; 14:31; 16:8). As a disciple cares each day for the things God has trusted to him, God, his heavenly Father (6:26, 32), cares for his daily needs.
Loss of joy today (v. 34). Worrying about tomorrow does not help either tomorrow or today. If anything, it robs us of our effectiveness today—which means we will be even less effective tomorrow. Someone has said that the average person is crucifying himself between two thieves: the regrets of yesterday and the worries about tomorrow. It is right to plan for the future and even to save for the future (2 Cor. 12:14; 1 Tim. 5:8). But it is a sin to worry about the future and permit tomorrow to rob today of its blessings.
Three words in this section point the way to victory over worry: (1) faith (Matt. 6:30), trusting God to meet our needs; (2) Father (Matt. 6:32), knowing He cares for His children; and (3) first (Matt. 6:33), putting God’s will first in our lives so that He might be glorified. If we have faith in our Father and put Him first, He will meet our needs.