Part II: What about Essentials? Matthew 6.25-34.
After teaching the evil of being preoccupied with earthly treasures, the Lord continues his discourse by addressing the essentials of life. This topic is the second part of the lifestyle pattern. Life is simplified when the anxiety that worldly ambition heaps upon us is judged unnecessary. By first pronouncing the last rites on treasures, the essentials will not appear so unobtainable.
Anyone who has had to reduce his possessions to a minimum will have noticed the freedom that resulted. When I joined the infantry, I gave my possessions away, boarded a train, traveled to Boot Camp, and lived off the army. Just knowing that all I owned could be got into a barrack box, a duffel bag, and a suitcase was a liberating experience. I could mobilize in an instant; I was free to move at once to fulfill the duties that were given me. I had gone down from treasures to essentials, and the liberty and romance of it thrilled me. I once heard a Hollywood star tell the story about how all his possessions were burned up in a fire in California. He had become a slave to the accumulation of treasures, he said, and he vowed never again to lay them up. He claimed to want nothing but essentials from that moment forward. A similar revolution needs to take place in our lives if we are unwilling to mortify the flesh that craves treasure. At the very least, might we not strive to be minimalists? If not, how do we feel about circumstances leading to minimalist living—circumstances beyond our control?
The passage on essentials reads like so: “Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, what shall we eat? or, what shall we drink? or, wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Matthew 6.25-34.) This passage may be paraphrased like so: “Do not worry about the essentials, like food and clothing. Life is about more than this. Your Father in heaven will feed you. Look at the birds. He takes care of them. And he loves you more than he loves the birds. To worry does not help. The lilies do not worry. Yet they are better dressed than Solomon was. God dresses grass with lilies. Will he not clothe you as well? Stop worrying about the essentials, like the unbelievers do. Don’t you have more faith than that? Your Father in heaven knows what your needs are. Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and your needs will be met. Do not add worries to the evils you already face. Live day by day.”
The transition from the subject of treasures to essentials takes place in the last sentence of verse 24 and the first phrase in verse 25: “Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, take no thought.” It is assumed by Jesus that the disciple does not want to end up being cold toward God by attempting to serve both God and mammon. Therefore he should be willing to go a little farther than treasure abstinence; he should take no thought for the essentials that sustain life.
It is for the disciple who lives in an affluent country to understand what his material needs are. Of what do essentials consist? Verse 25 reads, “Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?”
The essentials that are mentioned by Jesus are food and clothing. A roof is implied for those of us who live in harsh climates. Yet a citizen of the country in which we live is said to be entitled to much more than this. There is hardly a limit to what socialist parties say the citizens of a country are entitled to. But the essentials for us disciples are food and clothing. It is not essential for a disciple to be above the so-called ‘poverty line.’ A person can easily live below the poverty line and still have more than enough to eat and wear. I testify from personal experience that this is true. Whatever line of poverty has been suggested by one political party or another, I have been under it. But I have not suffered any lack. It is an easy thing to spend less than $100.00 a year on clothing. I have done this without effort as an adult in a post-2000 world. I remember thinking that I could have done better. It is not essential to own a house, to have bonds, and to have money in the bank. If you believe the essentials to be something more than Jesus says they are, your mind will be plagued with worry. ‘Take no thought for your life.’
