TROUBLE ENOUGH


So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has trouble enough of its own. 
(Matthew 6: 34 – NAS)

 
Jesus has reminded us in several different ways that we can trust God to watch out for us. The Lord is our heavenly Father who cares about us. He is our good Master who protects and provides for His servants. Even as He cares for the “little things” of creation, such as small birds and lilies that are here today and gone tomorrow, how much more does He care about us? We are the ones He desires to call His Children. We are the ones to whom He desires to give the authority of heaven.

Of course the Lord will watch out for us!

So here, Jesus tells us not to worry about tomorrow.

After all, can we make tomorrow come any faster by worrying about it? No. And usually, if we have fallen into worrying about things, we do not want tomorrow to come faster.

It is so easy for us to anticipate problems, even when we are in the midst of a current set of challenges. As we wrestle with the current difficulties, we lift our heads for a moment and see that outside the ring a couple more wait to pounce on us in turn. So we start worrying about them, because they look big and bulky, and we know we will be exhausted after dealing with the current challenge. So our grip slips and the current combatant starts pummeling us even more.

Jesus reminds us that each day has “trouble enough of its own.”

Deal with the here and now.

As simple as that.

The truth of the matter is that once we have dealt with the current problem, two things can happen. First, we might learn that we are much more competent and capable than we thought we were. And second, sometimes those problems we see in tomorrow are very dependent upon what we are dealing with today. If we solve this problem right now, some of those anticipated challenges evaporate.

We cannot know what God will do, other than love us. That much we are assured of: that His love is always with us, His attention is always upon us, that He knows already our every need and is laying groundwork ahead of us. All we need to is trust Him and follow His pathway.

Why do we find that so difficult?

We let many things pull at us during the course of the day. We spend time in morning prayer with the Lord and then immediately afterward dash off to deal with the days chores and challenges. We feel responsible for the work we are supposed to be doing, to do our jobs, take care of our families, meet our obligations. But we do not always remember to invite God to come along with us.

Oh, He is always there, of course. But He does prefer when we bring Him along intentionally on our part, when we consider Him an active partner in all our endeavors.

And yet we forget about that part of the relationship.

So we wind ourselves up over problems we encounter, whether pragmatic things we need to untangle or relationships that have gone awry. We’re the ones that are supposed to deal with these things, aren’t we? Will we bring it to a successful conclusion? Will we get all the work done today that needs to be done today? Will we have the right answer for the boss? Worry, worry, worry. And then we have to do it all over again tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that. Round and round and round with seemingly little variation.

And then Jesus tells us not to worry, not about the concerns for today and not about the troubles of tomorrow.

We move through time. We think about time. We think about days past and how they affected us, both our personal histories and the scope of the ages that preceded us. We think about what will unfold before us in the next hour, the next day, the next week and on into the future of possibilities. Something about or very nature compels us to be conscious of this vast scope of time and possibility.

And yet we cannot really do anything to affect anything on either side of this moment, not in a substantial way. We cannot reach into the past and change a fact, no matter how much we may wish to do so. Likewise, we cannot reach into the future and pin down something we deeply desire to occur, no matter how great our desire to do so. All we have is this moment, right now.

What then is before you? Are the problems in front of you really so great that you cannot deal with them? Or have you been ballooning up their size because you have filled them with the dreadful possibilities of tomorrow? If we let out the hot air of “what it will be like tomorrow”, what do you have?

Usually, we find we have something we can deal with. It may not be pleasant, and yes, it may have to be dealt with again tomorrow. But it can be faced. If it is something that requires a decision from us, then decide. Say “Yes” or “No” to whatever the matter is, and then move on. There’s no need to get into a staring match with Today’s Problem, hoping that just by staring it down you will reduce it to ashes. Alas, that is not the way of This-Day’s-Trouble. “Maybe if I do nothing, it will go away,” rarely works the way we wish it would.

I’m a great one for anticipating problems. It is part of the skill set of a Control Freak. If I’m running something, I try to figure out ahead of time everything that might possibly turn up and then I build in the solution to those snags before-hand. That’s part of the job, when you are overseeing a project or event, part of today's “troubles.” But once that is done, I might still start fretting about everything that falls outside my control and ability to anticipate. Earthquakes, fire, tempests, human locusts, whatever. Is the Zombie Apocalypse really going to happen tomorrow? Probably not. Why am I worrying about that?

All joking aside, Jesus wants us to remember that we do have enough on our plate as it is. Being merciful, kind, being a peacemaker, these things require our attention to the here-and-now. We should not let ourselves be distracted by what-might-be. Until we actually meet it, there is nothing we can do about it. If we are always looking ahead, we can easily miss what is right in front of us. And our proper service to the Lord lies in dealing with those people and circumstances that are right in front of us, right now.

 Today has “trouble enough” of its own. Deal with that, and stop worrying.

SET YOUR PRIORITIES

 
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
(Matthew 6: 33 – NAS)


After reminding us that we do not have cause to worry about our basic needs, Jesus tells us what we should give top priority. We are to first seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness. 

Someone once reacted to the previous verses about how God already knows what we need by inquiring as to whether that meant we were not to ask for the things we need. But I don’t think that is what Jesus meant at all. He has told us not to worry about those needs (not an easy task!), but if we remember what is in the Lord’s Prayer we can see that we may indeed ask for such things (“our daily bread”). 

The point in this verse is to direct our attention to where it should be focused: on the Lord, His kingdom and righteousness. 

Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount by describing what those things looked like: open hearted to the world, willing to mourn loss, to be merciful, be peacemaking, hungry for righteousness, steadfast in our commitment to Him even in the face of persecution. All these things make for the kingdom of God here and now. If we seek these things first, Jesus tells us, everything else will be “added to you.” 

It should be straightforward for us. Seek God first, be His type of person in the world first, and everything else that we need will be placed in our hands, along with the authority of heaven. How hard is that? Spending time with the Lord in prayer, doing the “right things” shouldn’t be that difficult, should it? And yet, every day it seems we need to start over again, wrestling our hearts and minds away from concern about our needs. And if we are at a point where our needs are being met, then it is our desires that get our priority attention, even when they are in themselves worthy of God’s attention. It isn’t easy at all. 

Often we tell our fellow believers, “I need to spend more time with God.” And we put that into practice, and what happens? Those prayer sessions become long stretches of prayers about needs, our own or those we have chosen to pray for. “I need this, Joe needs that, Sharon needs these things. Help us, Lord, we are needy.” And of course, there is nothing wrong in themselves with prayers like that. Our God loves that we do come to Him with our concerns, just as any father does when his child comes to him for comfort or help.  

But do we really “spend time” with God? Do we ever do anything like being a child who climbs onto her father’s lap and begs her father to tell her a story or to show her something wonderful? Do we ever behave like the child who runs up to his father and grabs whatever part of his parent that he can reach to hug tightly in adoration. How many times have we smiled at the sight of a small child hugging a parent’s leg because that’s all the child could reach? Yet, when was the last time we approached God that way? 

We let our priorities get skewed to focus on our needs because we do not open our hearts and minds to see the ways that God meets us every day. Our Father is all about us, ready at hand, and yet we do not give our attention to the wonders he puts before us. And we narrow our vision so much to our worries and concerns, that we choke off the actions Jesus called “blessed” in the Beatitudes. We don’t have time (we say) to really give over to mourning, and so we rush on with our lives with un-comforted grief carried inside us. Because we worry so much about ourselves, we do not give time to being merciful to those we encounter in passing during the day, whether it’s the reckless driver who cut us off on the freeway or the less-than-perfect waitress who served us at the restaurant. We forget mercy toward these people, cursing the driver and cutting the tip to the waitress. We see two people arguing and realize that they are clashing because they have each misunderstood one key point the other made. It would be easy enough to step in and say, “Bob, when Joe said X you took it as this and that is not what he meant. And Joe, when Bob reacted, you thought it was because of Y and that has nothing to do with it. You are both actually on the same page about this.” But instead, we shrug because it “isn’t any of my business.” 

God wants us to be pro-active as His people, His children, His heirs, as we go through life. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to us. 

Yet we keep worrying about the “things.” 

Everything that Jesus described as being part of God’s kingdom and righteousness has, in fact, nothing to do with things. There is no physical object on this earth that is required for us to “seek the kingdom and God’s righteousness” other than other human beings. Because, let us remember, the kingdom of God is all about relationships: our relationship to the Almighty Himself and then our relationships to each other. Do we need food or shelter or money for those? No, we do not. Oh, money helps us “make more” of what we can do with other people, spending time, sharing meals, giving gifts. But we do not actually need money for those things. 

Lest you think I am writing this from a place of comfort in my life, I’m not, really. At the time of this writing, though I have a nice apartment, this month’s rent has not been paid. Though I do have some food to eat, it is not much at all, for I have little means to buy greater amounts and variety. But it sustains me. It is“daily bread.” For months, the admonition from Jesus not to worry about our needs has been something I have had to wrestle with. Over and over in little ways, God has shown me that the more I clutch my neediness to me, the harder it is for Him to give me anything. You’d think it would be easy to learn this lesson, but the world finds ways to challenge us every step of the way. Yet, for all the worries that I let pull at me when I am awake, I sleep peacefully at night. My heart knows and trusts the Lord much more fully than my waking mind, it would seem. 

And so in my struggling way, I try to shift my priorities back to what Jesus has put before us. To seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness first. To know my need of God first and foremost (to be “poor in spirit”), to mourn for losses, to be gentle, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to be merciful, to be pure in heart, to be a peacemaker, and to stand for the Lord no matter what. I ask for my daily bread, to be forgiven, and to be protected from temptation and evil. And then I ask that God’s will be done.  

Some days I do it better than others. But I am trying to get my priorities straight with the Lord.

YOUR FATHER KNOWS


Do not worry, then, saying, ' What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' For the Gentiles eagerly seek for all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 
(Matthew 6: 31-32 – NAS)                                                                           


Jesus has just humorously reminded His followers of how wonderfully God takes of simple things like birds and flowers. He has even chided them in a light way about not having faith in the Lord’s providence by saying “Oh, you of little faith!” He wants to inspire them to even greater faith than they have at present.

To do that, He tells them once more not to worry about the basics of their lives. Don’t worry about what you will eat, or drink, or what clothing you will have. Even the Gentiles worry about that sort of thing, He tells them. 

Jesus references the outsiders of faith, the Gentiles, at this point. It is an indirect way of reminding His Jewish followers that they, as a people, were called by God to be a holy nation, a priesthood to the world. They were called to be something more than “just ordinary.” 

“Even the Gentiles do this,” He says. It emphasizes again that these things we worry about are indeed the basics of life. God knows that all of His creation has need of them. He doesn’t need reminding of that fact. 

“Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” 

Again, Jesus reminds us of the richness of our relationship with the Lord. Moments earlier He had addressed the nature of God as our sovereign Master whom we are to serve. But now, He returns to the relationship of us as God’s children. 

Is there a conflict in that? 

Perhaps in our democratized society, where lordship is not a factor, we are far removed from the concept of serving a lord and master. We use that phrase “lord and master” disparagingly of those with despotic attitudes, who control every detail of the lives in their charge. We equate being in service to such as being slaves, uncared for, disregarded except for the insisted service. But for older cultures, that was not necessarily the case. 

Lords had as many responsibilities to their underlings as the retainers and servants had to the lord. The lord was responsible for the protection of his people, making sure they had access to save havens in time of war, that their shelters were sufficient against the effects of weather. Ideally, it would be the lord’s task to make certain that his retainers had food enough – and that meant not just those serving in his household, but also the workers in the fields and those who handled the livestock. It does the lord no good to have people who are weak and starving. If his people were in need, it was the lord’s job to find the means to provide for them – helping them reach new markets, if trade was the answer, protecting them from raiders, if such thieves were the problem. Not every lord was contentious about such duties, of course, but everyone understood that was the standard. 

And what of the task of being a master? 

In its simplest meaning, it does indeed mean that the master has control over all the actions of his underling. He can order the lesser person to do any possible thing, for that is the power of his position. But there is more to mastery than that. For the term “master” is also used of a teacher. This was particularly notable when trade guilds were most in use.  

In the guild structure, there were generally three levels of achievement: apprentice, journeyman, master.  

The apprentice was the student, one who was learning the basics of the craft, polishing his or her skills. They would be given the initial simple tasks to do, so that they could first learn the tools of their trade. An apprentice carpenter, for instance, would likely be set to cutting the wood, so that he would learn not only how to use the axe properly but also the various natures of the different woods. Dealing with the wood in its most basic form would give the apprentice a “feel” for it. He might then be set to planing the surfaces with a plane, making them flat and smooth. This would be done under the eye of the master, who has much more experience and can show the apprentice the best way to do something, and also where he has gone wrong in his work. 

Once an apprentice has learned the basics and has achieved a level of competency in their craft, he becomes a journeyman. The journeyman is one who has the ability to deliver a good job, a reliable job on whatever the craft he practices. A journeyman carpenter was the worker the master could send out to a customer who needed hardy work tables and benches made. The journeyman could be trusted to select the suitable wood, assemble the pieces correctly, and complete the task without error. To be a journeyman was an honorable level of service. Even though we now use the term dismissively, that is only because we have acquired a distorted perception of the level of master craftsman. You don’t usually need a master plumber when your drains are clogged, but you certainly don’t really want an apprentice. You want the reliable journeyman, who knows what he’s doing and will do it efficiently. 

Eventually, one might rise to the level of master. This is the craftsman who has learned the skills of his craft so well that he can now envision even more ways of using those skills. He can easily teach the basics to apprentices, he can do the reliable work, but he can also stretch beyond what most thought possible in the craft. There was a time when the term “masterwork” did not mean the absolute best that artist could achieve (often a piece done late in that craftsman’s life). Instead, it meant first work that showed that the craftsman had moved beyond being a mere journeyman, that he had indeed “mastered” the skills and could now make those skills do what he wanted.  

Now consider again that phrase “lord and master.” God is all that to us. Our protector and teacher, who is trying to raise us up through the ranks of His apprentices. But He is also our Father. 

It was, in fact, not unusual for children (sons in particular, given the history of treatment of women) to follow in the footsteps of their parents in terms of learning a craft or skill. They would not, ideally, get special treatment or privileges simply because they were the child of the master. They were expected to learn the basics like any other apprentice. 

And that is how Jesus can so easily move from speaking of God as our Master to God as our Father. There is no conflict in it. There is only a broadening of the type of relationship we can have with the Lord.  

God IS our Father. The Creator of the Universe considers us His children, whom He loves. He knows what our basic needs are, those things that we let worry us the most. He knows we need shelter and food. He does not forget that. We don’t need to tell Him. (Perhaps He is waiting for us to get beyond the needs on our list and raise up to Him broader concerns that will draw us closer to Him? Now that’s worth a thought.)

FOR THIS REASON




For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink, nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor do they reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil or spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
(Matthew 6: 25-30 – NAS)



Jesus begins this section by saying, “For this reason....”


“For which reason?” we ask.


We have gotten so used to breaking up the things Jesus says into convenient little segments we call verses, that we often overlook the flow of one concept into the next. We memorize our verses in isolation of their context. Not that such a habit negates the power of such verses, but we lose some of the effect by forgetting to check the context.


The reason Jesus is talking about is what He had just said: we cannot serve both God and money. Between that sentence and the first one in this passage, He heavily implies that we ought to choose God as our Master. For this reason, then, we are not to be worried. God is our Master and is on the job doing what masters do in taking care of their servants.


Jesus knows that our primal worries are for food and protection of our bodies (clothing first and then shelter). And He knows that we have a hard time relating to – and even relying upon – an invisible master. We cannot see God Himself as easily as we see our work-boss or the currency in our pocket. So Jesus takes the time to remind us of how all-encompassing God’s dominion really is.


You worry about food? Look at the birds! God feeds them, even though they do not plant seed and raise the food they eat. They do not take the time to harvest and process food. But God feeds them. They go about the world fulfilling their purpose in just being birds, and God takes care of them.


And you are worth far more to the Lord than the birds of the air.


Of course, Jesus doesn’t forget that the cause of our distraction from dwelling upon the sovereignty of God lies in our daily worries. So He speaks to that: can you add a single hour to your life by worrying?


Studies have shown that we can very well shorten our life-times by worrying. The stresses that anxiety and worry create in our bodies wear away at them, sapping our inner strength. Worry undercuts our ability to take joy in our work and in the people around us. But can we increase our lifespan by worrying about how we are to get on? No we cannot.


Jesus then moves on to our worries about what we are to wear. Now admittedly, we do have an inclination to look nice. Jesus knows that full well, just as He knows how easily we can get caught up in the dream of looking better and better and better. He even addresses it straight on: “Solomon in all his glory.”


By all accounts, Solomon loved rich, fabulous beauty, around him and on his back. When he became king, he inherited a large treasury that his father had built up. David had amassed this fortune so that a glorious temple to the Lord could be built in Jerusalem. He had been forbidden to do so himself (being a man of war and blood), but he decided that he would make sure that the glory of God would be reflected in the temple he charged his son Solomon to build. And Solomon did use the fortune for that purpose. But because of his wise rulership, he also greatly increased the wealth of the king, and he celebrated it, in the surroundings of his palace and in the clothes he wore. The “glory of Solomon” was very great indeed for that age.


But Jesus undercuts that all by pointing to the lilies of the field, and saying that the dazzling display of Solomon was still less than the beauty of lilies in a field.


“Really?” we wonder. Is Jesus serious? Fine linen and wool clothes dyed in rich colors, even the famed, rare and expensive Tyrian purple? Embroidery with gold thread? Jewelry of gold with pearls and other gemstones? A lily is finer than that?


But a lily in a field on a sunny day is indeed a thing of great beauty. In the midst of the greens of grass, the lily opens out its trumpet-shape, glowing white against the green around it. The petals gently curve outward in a graceful arc at the end, their texture softer than silk. And deep in the heart of the trumpet, the pistols and stamens glow with a yellow far warmer than gold.


We so often substitute “bright and shiny” for the real beauty of God’s creation.


That is what Jesus is trying to remind us of: God is the Master Craftsman. The Lord lavishes all this beautiful details on the simple things that, basically, garnish the world. The birds of the air and the lilies of the field are flourishes and pleasing ornaments to His creation. We, as His children, are so much more than flourishes and ornaments.


Even when we remember that God considers us His children, we still let anxiety about what we will eat and how we will stay clothed and sheltered nibble away at us. When things go rough for us, we worry about having “enough.” Jesus tells us that the birds of the air get “enough.” He tells us that in God’s eyes we are worth far more than “enough.” And that His care will bring us far more.


“You of little faith!”


Jesus must have been smiling as he said that. He knows how easily we can be shaken. He knows that the ember of faith can be choked. But the spark has not gone out. With His reminder of how God treats the birds and the flowers, He gently blows upon our faith, encouraging the flame to grow again. Even a little faith is enough to start a fire again. Let us remember the power of the Master we have chosen.

CHOOSE YOUR MASTER


No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. 
(Matthew 6: 24 – NAS)


Jesus had just been talking about how we choose to see the world around us, about whether we choose to see with clear eyes and to take in and give out light, or whether we choose to see darkly, taking darkness into our hearts and radiating that upon all around us. In the next verse after this one, He will remind us of God’s hand on the world and how we can trust the Almighty. 

But smack! right here between those two, He makes this declaration about serving masters, and He is very blunt about it. Why is that? 

Jesus understands that one of the most powerful things that can darken a person’s world is anxiety about “making ends meet.” He knows we worry about providing food and clothing for ourselves and our families (in fact, He’ll comment on that shortly). And because we require money to attend to those needs, we worry about having money, or not having money. The medium of exchange can quickly become an end in itself. 

But Jesus talks about serving masters. So let’s look at that general observation first. 

“No one can serve two masters.” 

How often does this happen? We generally like a clear “chain of command” for our activities. We prefer to be answerable to one specific person in our jobs. When we have to please two people, things get complicated. There is no guarantee that both of those who have an immediate authority over us will have similar goals or desires regarding the work we are to perform. The clash of conflicting requirements makes our work-load harder, and leads us to resentment directed at one (or both) of those supervisors.  

Jesus points out the results of being stuck with two masters: we’ll hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. Resentment intensifies our emotions in such a situation. The master we prefer gets the focus of our attention, while the master we resent gets bitterness from us. We do not like to divide our focus and we resist situations that seem to require it of us.  

It’s one thing when the situation of two masters is imposed on us by others. That does happen from time to time, and we have to find a way to prioritize the demands of those over us. But what about those occasions when we actually choose to try and serve two masters?  

Are we being honest about how well we can serve both? Even if emotional resentment and devotion does not enter into the picture, divided attention and focus does not generate the best quality work. And that is just when we are considering serving two human masters who can interact with us. 

Jesus drives home the point He is making with the final sentence: “You cannot serve God and wealth."  

Our first reaction is “Well, okay. I don’t have a problem with that.” None of us want to consider ourselves as being greedy. We feel that if we are judicious about money, not misusing it, not plugging into ostentatious display, that we’ve avoided the “serving wealth” pit-fall. But have we really done so?  

Certainly, Jesus was aware that many people are greedy and fall in love with the idea of having lots of money. Whatever the Having of Money represents to them, whether power or influence or endless comfort, such people clutch money to themselves and hold onto it “for dear life.” But is that the same as “serving” wealth? It comes close, but is not what I think Jesus is addressing at this point. 

What is it that we do when we choose to serve something? We answer to the demands it makes on our lives, in terms of use of time and energy. We subdue other desires and impulses, in order to serve “the Master” first. 

And how does that appear when we fall into serving Wealth (or Money)?  

Jesus has just been talking about our sense of vision, about choosing to take light into ourselves instead of darkness. He then makes this comment about serving two masters. He will then follow it with recommending that we trust God to provide for us. But in His sequence of points, He drives home how we tend to shape our lives and our outlooks: we worry about money. We worry about making “enough” money. We let our anxieties about meeting our financial obligations darken our vision and our hearts. 

That is such an easy thing to fall into! Our sense of responsibility tells us that we should be able to take care of our obligations, that dealing fairly with those around us involves paying our bills, paying for services received, buying our food. Are those not proper considerations? 

They are. But only so long as we remember that they are simply the means by which we conduct our lives. They are not ends in themselves. Having a home should not be an end in itself: it provides us with a place to rest, it gives us a base that allows us to extend hospitality to others, it provides regular shelter from the elements. But it is only the means by which we reach the goal of living – of interacting with others with rested ease, of using the talents the Lord has given us. 

Having money enables us to live with greater ease, but it is not Living in and of itself. Do we stop living if we have no money? There are certainly times when we feel that we will stop living if we don’t have money: how shall we get food to eat without money? How shall we get to work if we don’t have money? How will we clothe ourselves if we don’t have money? 

But if we don’t know how to live because we think living depends entirely on having money, we wouldn’t really know what to do with the funds if we really “had enough.” 

Look again: you are serving a Master, one way or another. What sort of Master are you serving? 

Master Money, what is he like? He cares nothing for you or your desires. He cannot love you. If he is small, he is never enough. If he is large, he consumes all your time in protecting him. If you fall in love with him, you devote all your time to expanding his size and power. But no matter how much devotion you pour into him, he can never love you, never approve of your works and talents, never smile upon you. 

Master God, on the other hand, cares deeply for you. He loves you. He smiles on your endeavors and is pleased to see you exercise your talents well. He is large beyond our comprehension, vaster than we can imagine. He needs no protection from us, so we need not be spending our energy on shielding Him. Nothing we can do can ever make Him greater than He already is, so His requirements of us are never geared toward filling Him up. 

What are those requirements He has made of us again? What service is it that this Master has asked of us? 

To be humble, to be peacemakers, to seek righteousness, to be merciful. To care for those around us, to offer prayers is secret, to be generous to others in secret, to not waste our devotion upon things that can be easily stolen or destroyed. 

Does this service require money to be accomplished? 

No, it does not. Still, we frequently get into the mindset of “If I had This Much Money, I could do all these wonderful things for the Lord!” But why, Jesus seems to be asking, do you think Money is required, when God is the Lord of the Universe? He never required “money” of you in the first place, but rather “the fruits of your labor.” It is our fixation on money that has turned the tithe into mere coinage. 

You cannot serve two masters. Choose the one who actually loves you.