Seek Ye First

Scriptures: Matthew 6:25-34, Matthew 7:7-11, Matthew 4:1-4

Structure:

• Introduction
• Seek ye first the kingdom of God
• Ask and it shall be given unto you
• We cannot live by bread alone
• Conclusion

Introduction:

The order in which we do things matters

• When you are packing your car to go away on holiday it’s a good idea to put the larger suitcases in first and then pack the smaller things around them
• If you have a leak in your roof, then your priority is to fix the roof before you start painting and decorating inside the house
• When you buy a flat pack of furniture, the first thing to do is read the instructions before you start assembling the product
• Likewise, when you prepare a sermon or a Bible study you start by praying and reading the Scriptures, then you write down your thoughts
• And, if your wife or husband or child is telling you something important, your priority is to listen to them, before attending to the dinner or your emails.  

Today we continue our ‘Anthems’ series

• In this series we are looking at the lyrics of one hymn or Christian worship song each week to see how that song informs our thinking about God and how it connects with Scripture and the heritage of our faith.

The song we are looking at this morning is called Seek Ye First

• The words for Seek Ye First come from the mouth of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew
• Verse 1 of the song is a quote from Matthew 6:33, where Jesus is talking about the futility of worry
• Verse 2 of the song comes from Matthew 4:4, where Jesus is responding to one of the temptations of Satan in the wilderness
• And verse 3 is from Matthew 7:7, where Jesus is helping his listeners to understand that God is a loving Father who knows how to give good things to his children 
• All three verses are about giving God priority – putting God first   

Seek ye first the kingdom of God

The music for Seek Ye First was written by a woman called Karen Lafferty in 1971. Karen was a worship leader for Calvary Chapel in California at the time

• She was 23 years old, had graduated University with a degree in music and recently returned to the Lord and to church after some time away  
• In an interview Karen Lafferty says this about the origin of Seek Ye First,

“I had quit my entertainment job and was trying to support myself with teaching guitar lessons. I had three students! When my savings were all gone and I had no money to make my car payments, I became very discouraged and confused.” One evening I went to a Bible study at church, and we talked about Matthew 6:33. [Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.]I was tremendously encouraged and challenged by the words about Christ’s kingdom. So I went home, wrote the tune, recorded it on a tape recorder, and then sang this little descant part.”

• Karen taught the song in church the next week, and it caught on right away.

So what is Jesus saying in this verse from Matthew 6?

• Well, to understand the meaning, we need to hear the verse in its context.
• From Matthew 6:25-34 (in the NIV) we read…

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.   

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

The word ‘worry’ appears six times in this passage. Worry (or anxiety) is part of the human condition.

• It doesn’t seem to matter what culture you come from or what time in history you live, we all have to deal with worry at some point in our lives

Jesus says we are not to worry and then he gives a number of reasons why we don’t need to worry. He effectively uses reason and logic to disarm worry.

• Reason is to worry what waking up is to a bad dream – reason puts us back in touch with reality and restores our perspective
• Reason is to worry what sunlight is to mould – reason dries out the dampness in our mind to prevent the mould of worry
• Reason is to worry what companionship is to loneliness – reason is a friend who brings understanding and makes us feel connected

The first reason (or logical argument) Jesus gives for not worrying about food and clothes is that there is more to life than food and more to the body than clothes

• While food and clothes are basic to human survival and we need to attend to them they are not the only needs we have in life and they are not the most important needs either – we must keep things in proportion
• For example, other things needed to support human life include:
• Right relationships and community,
• Hope and a sense of purpose,
• A rhythm of worshiping God, which gives us something positive to occupy our minds, something greater than ourselves.

Another reason Jesus gives for not worrying is that worry is pointless – like running on a treadmill it wears you out, it gets you nowhere.

Jesus also gives evidence from nature for not worrying

• God feeds the birds of the air and we human beings are far more valuable to God than birds, so how much more will God feed us
• And, following the same logic, God clothes the grass of the field with beautiful wild flowers which are here today and gone tomorrow, so how much more will he clothe us, for we last a lot longer than grass.

Now, at this point some of you may be thinking, ‘Okay, if it’s true that God feeds the birds, why are some species of birds going extinct? And more to the point, why do so many people in the world starve or walk around in rags?’

• Well, some of the responsibility lies with human beings. While God provides what the world needs humanity doesn’t always manage God’s resources in a way that is fair or equitable
• Having said that, humanity can’t bear the full responsibility – some things are not in our power to do anything about
• The world we live in is not perfect or fair or safe – God’s will is not always done on earth as it is in heaven
• Jesus’ teaching here seems to picture the world as it should be rather than as it is [1]     

This is not to imply that Jesus’ teaching is out of touch with our reality. Quite the opposite – Jesus’ teaching is very down to earth  

• In verse 34 of Matthew 6, Jesus says, Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.  
• Jesus acknowledges that the world isn’t perfect – each day has enough trouble of its own – it simply does no good to worry about what we can’t control and what might never happen in the first place.

The other thing we need to be aware of is that Jesus is not saying we shouldn’t make provision for the future – he’s simply saying don’t worry about the future

• Making provision for the future is not the same thing as worrying about it
• Jesus’ point is not that we should throw all caution to the wind, when it comes to financial matters
• Jesus’ point is that we should not let fear and worry tie us up in knots or impede us in the present

Returning to verse 33 of Matthew 6, the focus of the opening verse of the song; Jesus gives us an alternative to worry – something far more meaningful and fruitful to spend our time and energy on

• Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

God’s kingdom and righteousness means God’s way of doing life

• So, instead of worrying, we need to give top priority to living under God’s direction and governance – we need to obey God in faith that he will provide for our needs.  

Karen Lafferty, the author of Seek Ye First, went on to work for Youth with a Mission (YWAM). She said,

• “The Lord really paved the way for me with that song. “Seek Ye First” has opened doors for me all over the world. And because it’s in so many hymnbooks, about 40 percent of my mission support comes from that song!”
• As I mentioned earlier, Karen had been worrying about making ends meet and paying her bills
• But when she went to the Bible study and spent time seeking God, the Lord sorted out her priorities, dispelled her fears and provided her with an income stream by giving her a tune to put to the words of Jesus.
• And all these things shall be added unto you.

Sometimes the priority is not clear to us. Sometimes what we think is most important is actually not as important in hindsight

• You may be in a hurry to get out the door for work or school drop off but you’ve lost your keys and you are starting to feel stressed
• In the heat of the moment you might think, ‘okay I just have to look harder to find my keys’
• But the faster you look the more flustered you become
• In that moment the priority is not finding your keys but finding your calm
• The best thing to do is stop, be still, let your brain stem settle and then retrace your steps to find your keys 
• In the long run it won’t matter if you are a few minutes late
• In fact, being still for a few moments may help you to find your keys quicker and it will also help you to drive safer.  

It is similar with seeking first the kingdom of God. Sometimes the priority (finding what God wants us to do) is not clear at first

• Sometimes we can be in such a hurry doing the work of ministry or serving God that we miss the spirit in which God wants us to serve
• In that moment the priority is not doing the work of ministry but finding God’s heartbeat, getting back in step with the Lord again.   

We cannot live by bread alone

Verse two of the song reads: We cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Again, these are the words of Jesus, this time from Matthew 4. To understand the meaning we need to read the verse in its context. From Matthew 4, verse 1, in the NIV…

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be temptedby the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Satan then went on to try and tempt Jesus in other ways and each time Jesus resisted the devil with Scripture

The phrase, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’, is a quote from Deuteronomy 8:3 where Moses is addressing the Israelites at the end of their 40 years in the wilderness

• Moses is essentially saying to the people, ‘As a father disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.’
• That’s why you’ve spent all this time wandering around in the wilderness facing various deprivations – so you can learn to trust and obey God
• Among the lessons you should have learned during these past 40 years is not to depend on bread alone but on God’s word
• Not to put God to the test
• And not to worship any other god – but rather to make the Lord God the exclusive object of your worship and obedience [2]

Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness recalls Israel’s 40 years in the wilderness

• Israel (the nation) was known as God’s son
• So too Jesus is God’s son – he embodies the new Israel
• Where the ancient Israelites failed, Jesus passes the test, doing for Israel what they were not able to do for themselves

For a long-time I was puzzled by the temptation to change stones into bread

• I mean, what’s wrong with that? Everyone has to eat.
• What’s more there were other occasions when Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes in the wilderness to feed thousands – so what’s the problem?
• Why was not okay on this occasion (for Jesus to use his power to make bread) but it was okay on a different occasion?  
• Well, as Richard France explains, it is a question of obedience to God’s will in this particular situation…

Obedience to God’s will takes priority… Jesus understood his experience of hunger as God’s will for him at the time and therefore not to be evaded by a self-indulgent use of his power as the Son of God. To [turn the stones into bread] would be [to disobey God] to call into question God’s priorities and set himself at odds with his Father’s plan. [3]

Although Jesus understood his hunger to be God’s will for him at the time, this doesn’t mean that every occasion of hunger or deprivation is God’s will, but sometimes it is and when it is we must trust God to provide for us in his way and his time.

• In Matthew 4, God sent angels to minister to Jesus’ needs after Satan had left him – Jesus passed the test where Israel had failed

You know, sometimes we go without things and we don’t like it

• Perhaps we don’t go without food for 40 days like Jesus did but maybe we go without something else important, for a significant period of time
• We might, for example, go without work for several months,
• Or without our health for several weeks
• Or without joy for several years,
• Or without an answer to prayer, or something else
• Those wilderness times of testing don’t necessarily mean God is angry with us or against us
• To the contrary they show that we are God’s children because he is taking the time to teach us to rely on him – to trust and obey.
• God disciplines those he loves

We are in the season of Lent at the moment – that 40 days (or so) before Easter

• Traditionally many Christians give up something during Lent (maybe chocolate or swearing or justifying yourself or whatever)
• The point of this self-imposed fast is to draw close in solidarity with Jesus – to remember his time of testing and to embrace our identity as children of God who rely on our heavenly father, not on ourselves    

Jesus’ words in Matthew 4, verse 4, about needing the word of God as much as we need bread, connect with his words in Matthew 6:33 about seeking first God’s kingdom

• The word of God is actually more important than food, just as seeking the kingdom of God is more important than seeking money
• Food and money are useful for this life but the word of God and the kingdom of God have value for eternal life.  

Ask and it shall be given to you

A couple of weeks ago Lotto jack potted to $50 million. When it gets that big someone has to win. Apparently the key is getting the Powerball

• So even if you were to win first division, you don’t get the $50 million unless you also have the Powerball number
• Of course it was a popular draw. At one point they were selling 2,000 tickets a minute
• When you don’t have much and life is difficult winning Lotto seems like a silver bullet, something that will fix all your problems
• But excess can be just as harmful as poverty – there is wisdom in moderation. Better a regular sized portion with peace, than a double portion with worry.
• I imagine thousands of people prayed, asking to win the $50 million but, as it turned out, the grand prize was shared by only two families.

In Matthew 7 Jesus says…

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. ¹⁰“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹ If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

In the movie Bruce Almighty (starring Jim Carrey and Morgan Freeman), God gives Bruce the power to answer people’s prayers and so Bruce just says ‘yes’ to every request, with the result that almost everyone wins the lottery

• Of course when $50 million is split equally between 2 million people the winners end up with only $25 each. People took to the streets in riot

When Jesus says, Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you, he doesn’t mean God is obligated to answer ‘yes’ to every prayer we pray

• In the context he means God will give you what you need and what is good for you, which may not necessarily be what you want
• As the little parable in verse 10 indicates, the son isn’t asking for a luxury, he’s asking for his basic needs; bread and fish (carbs & protein) 
• So praying to win Lotto won’t help your chances but praying, give us this day our daily bread will help you.

Jesus’ point is that God is a loving Father who knows how to give good things to his children    

• God Almighty is not like the pagan gods of the Greeks and Romans. We don’t have to sacrifice things to try and persuade God to provide for us
• God is ready & willing to help us with genuine needs, we just have to ask
• And even if we ask God for the wrong things he will still give us the right thing.
• God won’t give us something useless (like a stone), nor will he give us something harmful (like a snake). God wants to do us good.

Jesus’ words about asking, seeking and knocking are supposed to cast out worry and inspire trust in God.

• They invite us to explore the scope of God’s generosity

Having said that, Ask and it will be given to you; also needs to be understood in the context of God’s freedom

• Sometimes our requests may be entirely reasonable and unselfish; maybe we are praying for healing for someone we care about or perhaps we are asking to be spared from some injustice and yet God is silent
• The will of God is inscrutable at times.
• Inscrutable simply means we can’t always understand God’s will and purpose. We can’t put God’s will under a microscope and scrutinize it

Oswald Chambers once said: “Whenever the insistence is on the point that God answers prayer, we are off the track. The meaning of prayer is that we get hold of God, not of the answer.”

God will always do his best for us but sometimes it’s not about us and sometimes the options available to God are limited

• Jesus wrestled in anguish, as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, asking God to spare him the ordeal of the cross
• (Jesus didn’t want to be separated from his heavenly Father)
• But, for whatever reason, God did not change his mind
• While Jesus did not get the answer he wanted to his prayer, he did get hold of God and submitted himself in obedience to God’s will.    
• For Jesus, seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness took priority.

Conclusion:

Each of the verses of the song Seek Ye First ends with the descant or chorus, Allelujah, which is a shortened form of the Hebrew word, Hallelujah

• Allelujah simply means ‘praise the Lord’
• The message is clear; giving priority to what God wants is the truest act of worship and praise we can offer the Lord.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

1. Listen to the song, ‘Seek Ye First’.  What are you in touch with as you listen to this song? (What connections, memories or feelings does the song evoke for you?) 
2. How do you begin each day? What’s the first thing you do?
3. What sorts of things worry you? What reasons does Jesus give for not worrying? How do you deal with your worry?
4. Why does Jesus tell his disciples to seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness? How might we do this? (What does this look like specifically for you?)
5. Discuss / reflect on the parallels between Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness and the Israelites’ 40 years in the wilderness.
6. Why did Jesus refuse to turn the stones into loaves of bread? (in Matthew 4) What have you had to go without for a significant period of time? What have you learned through this experience of deprivation?
7. Take some time this week to reflect on how God has responded to your prayer requests over the years. For example, what things has God said ‘yes’ to? What things has he said ‘no’ to? And what prayers has he answered in a way you weren’t expecting?    

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[1] R.T. France, NICNT, Matthew, page 266.

[2] Ibid, page 128.

[3] Ibid, page 131.