Hastings: Of priorities

“No one can serve two superiors … You cannot give yourself to God and Money … Seek first God’s reign, and God’s justice, and all these things will be given you besides.” — Matthew 6:24, 33 The Inclusive Bible

Jesus spoke these words to people who were struggling for daily needs like food, shelter, and clothing. He said, “Those without faith are always running after these things.” That is, they were focused on their needs and concerned about lack. He assured them, “God knows everything you need.”

Jesus was not telling people to quit their jobs or to be dependent or irresponsible. Rather, he was teaching a spiritual truth: when people focus first God’s purposes in the world — on neighbor love, caring for Creation, and working for the common good — they live from the spiritual reality of abundance rather than the fear-based realm of scarcity.

When people are focused on neighbor love, they do not manipulate health care systems to deny needed care in order to increase profits for a few. When people are focused on caring for Creation, they do not push original residents off their land or plunder Earth’s resources for temporary profits. When people are focused on working for the common good, they do not value weapons and military power more highly than food and housing for all. When people are focused on bringing about God’s justice, they do not have different standards for some than for others — or the highest per capita incarceration rate in the world.

So Jesus invites people to refocus. Wherever one may live or work, whatever is going on in the world, everyone has the power to reset priorities — from fear to faith, from focus on money to focus on the heavenly realm already at work in our midst.

Jesus’ teaching of priorities is in line with a Cree Indian Proverb which says: “Realize that we as human beings have been put on this earth for only a short time and that we must use this time to gain wisdom, knowledge, respect and the understanding for all human beings since we are all relatives.”

The Rev. Celia M. Hastings has a master’s degree in religious education from Western Theological Seminary in Holland. She is author of “The Wisdom Series” and “The Undertaker’s Wife.”

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Hastings: Of priorities