Conversation in Faith

Have you ever been told that as a Christian we shouldn’t worry about routine necessities? Perhaps they quoted Jesus, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?“

And yet this is our national reality:

“…new research from the Brookings Institution released Wednesday describes affordability by comparing the rising costs of essentials against family incomes. By that measure, the report found, in 2024 45.5% of U.S. households did not earn enough to cover their necessities. The report concluded that a mere $1,000 hike in the annual cost of living would leave another 3 million households unable to make ends meet.”¹

“Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”

“45.5% of households don’t have enough money to cover basic essentials. “

Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’

“[A] $1,000 hike in the annual cost of living would leave another 3 million households unable to make ends meet.”¹

Don’t worry. But honestly, who wouldn’t worry? Is Jesus telling us not to be concerned about meeting basic necessities? Is he telling us not to worry, because everything is fine?

There are chronically hungry people in this world who might take issue with the idea that everything is fine. Are they lacking in faith?

“No one can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you– you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the gentiles who seek all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” Matthew 6:24-34 NRSVue³

If we are not careful, this text can be used to shame people for worrying about life’s necessities. If this isn’t a call to not worry, then, what is it?

These verses come near the end of the Sermon on the Mount, which lasts for three entire chapters in Matthew. A significant amount of what Jesus said in that sermon has to do with a reordered, restructured life in the kingdom of God. “You have heard that it was said… but I say to you…” “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” . Jesus was most likely speaking to poor people. Jesus was concerned about the hungry and the sick. We know this because Jesus fed and healed people.

I think the clue to what Jesus is talking about is in the first and the next to the last verses.

“No one can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

These verses focus us on the kingdom of God. We must choose who we serve God or wealth. The traditional translation of “wealth” is “mammon”. Mammon is a word that holds a few related meanings and there isn’t a single English word to replace it. Mammon refers to money. And also to possessions. It also carries the idea that mammon has a kind of power. That power works in opposition to Jesus and the kingdom. Jesus tells us to choose where our allegiance is. God or wealth, possessions, power. We cannot serve both.

Jesus assumes that we will choose God and choose life in the kingdom of God. He tells us what life in the kingdom is like, worry free. We live as carefree as birds and flowers.

Then after all the talk about the birds and the lilies and the grass, and trusting God, we are charged, again, to choose the kingdom of God. Along with the kingdom God comes God’s righteousness. God’s righteousness is a way of speaking about God’s covenantal faithfulness. In the Bible righteousness and justice are closely related values. When we read “righteousness’ we need to always also read “justice”.

Jesus is telling us, if we choose life in the kingdom of God over enslavement to mammon, and if we live into and work for the kingdom of God, then no one actually will have to worry about having enough to eat or clothes to wear. The world will be a just place. God’s covenant faithfulness will be present. Life in the kingdom of God means there is enough. All are provided for, all are cared for.

We decide, not only as individuals but as communities and societies. We decide, we choose what sort of life we have together. Life full of worry. Or a life free from worry, because there is enough for all of us.

1. https://www.npr.org/2026/05/28/nx-s1-5836525/affordability-report-brookings-inflation-wages ↩︎
2. https://www.npr.org/2026/05/28/nx-s1-5836525/affordability-report-brookings-inflation-wages ↩︎
3. If you are a regular reader and you are familiar with the Revised Common Lectionary, you will have noticed this is not today’s reading. I managed to get my dates mixed up and misread the lectionary texts. ↩︎