One of the challenges of preaching on special days is preaching to everyone.  There is a very real temptation on special days to narrow cast the message.  As this Sunday approached, I asked the Lord to show me a message that would not only be good for our graduates, but also for the congregation at large. That is my prayer anytime that I preach on a so-called special Sunday, because really every time that we meet should be special and every time we meet is really a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  So where did the Lord lead me?

Our graduates have already or will be participating in graduation ceremonies.  Eric has already graduated (Mom and dad say, “Praise the Lord!”) and Michelle and Jake will graduate this Friday evening (lucky for you.)  Ian will be graduating shortly as well.  Most of you are well aware of the typical graduation speeches which spur the graduates on to succeed in life.  What does it mean to succeed?  Some would say it means to make a lot of money.  Some would say it means to be happy.  Some would say it means to get a good education. Some would say it means to find the right someone to spend with whom you can spend the rest of your life.  None of these are wrong in and of themselves, but I would like to present an alternative.  This is an alternative lifestyle that Christians – that Christ-followers should be more than willing to embrace.  In the eyes of this pastor, what is the ultimate success?  To what should we be striving toward?  I think you will find it’s a much different answer than you will hear in most graduation speeches.

For the answer let’s turn to Matthew’s gospel, chapter 6.  Just to give you some background, this is part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  It starts in chapter 5 and continues in chapter 6.  This isn’t long after Jesus teaches those gathered how to pray.  In that prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray, “May your Kingdom come soon.  May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” Jesus taught about the Kingdom on a regular basis.  The Sermon on the Mount is about Kingdom building, and that is success in this pastor’s eyes.  Are will building the Kingdom of God as Jesus has taught us?  So what does Jesus teach us about building the Kingdom in Matthew 6 starting at verse 24.

24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life-whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God^[a] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

I don’t know about you, but I can say a big ouch when it comes to this passage.  Let’s go back to the beginning of this passage.  Jesus teaches us that no one can serve two masters.  Now, I understand that women are typically oriented toward multitasking more than men.  So I have to speak for myself here.  I have a hard time doing more than one thing at a time.  So I understand what it means that we cannot serve two masters.  One of the things that causes me great difficulty at times is talking and doing something else.  Many times at work, I can either talk or take care of the customer’s needs – not both.  The same goes for God.  It is very difficult to be a servant of God and a servant of money.  I’ve seen it more times than I care to count – people who were involved in church – got some money either because of an inheritance or because they worked so hard – and when they finally got success – they forgot about God.  This is not to say that you can’t be rich and serve God.  John Wesley said, “Make all you can, so that you can save all you can,  so that you can give all you can.”  The Kingdom of God needs those who have a gift of making money and giving it back to the Kingdom.  But money is a tough task master.  So the first question today is, “Who is your master?”  Is it God and his Kingdom or is it the world and its kingdom.  Make no mistake about it, there are two kingdoms and they are diametrically opposed to each other.  Whose kingdom will you serve?

Jesus tells us that when we are concerned about the worldly kingdom, we begin to worry about all the things we have.  Think about it this way.  How many have accumulated things and now have to worry about where to store them?  It’s an amazing phenomena in America that we have to have self-storage buildings.  We are building bigger barns just like Jesus warned us not to and one day we are going to be held accountable.  The other thing that happens when we accumulate all this stuff is we want to protect it.  After all, we earned the money that purchased it (or did we?)  Not a day goes by, when a customer does not come in looking for security stuff at the store.  We’ve forgotten who gave us the ability to acquire all this stuff in the first place.  We’ve forgotten that it really all belongs to God anyway.

Again, this is an ouch moment for me, because I tend to worry.  I worry if there will be enough money to make it from month to month and sometimes week to week.  This is one of those passages that reminds us that God really does love us and He desires to take care of us.  We are reminded how much God takes care of the birds of the air and the flowers of the field.  If God takes care of them, how much more will He take care of us.  The last two weeks, we’ve had reminders from Psalm 8.  The psalmist asks, “What are humans that you take care of them?  For you placed them just a little lower than the angels and crown us with glory and honor.  God really desires to take care of us, so why do we worry about the little stuff?

We are not to worry about such things – like what to eat, what will we drink, what will we wear?  God will take care of us.  The scripture tells us the heaven Father knows all of our needs.  So, what are we to do?  What is the measure of success in the Kingdom?

Seek the Kingdom of God^\ above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Wow! It all sounds so easy and really it is.  The secret to success in the Kingdom is to seek is and to live righteously.  Yes, we have to ask God to help us, because we can’t do it on our own.  Our righteousness (our rightness with God) is like filthy rags.  We have to ask the Holy Spirit to guide us and help us live the life that God requires – a righteous life.  When we seek God’s Kingdom first and live for Him, God will take care of us.  I’ve shared this story before, but there was a time while we were preparing for the ministry that food appeared on our doorstep when we had no way to provide for ourselves.  But that’s because we were taking care of Kingdom business and God was taking care of us.  Even to this day, Pam and I and our family seek after God’s Kingdom first – This is not for my glory and honor, but for God’s glory and honor – and in that God takes care of our needs.  We are reminded one more time that worry is a waste of time.  Why?

34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Isn’t that the truth?  My challenge to our graduates and the rest of the congregation is, “Are you seeking God’s Kingdom first?”  Are you building His Kingdom, are you seeking His Kingdom?  Are you seeking after His righteousness?  If so, you can consider yourself successful.  If not, maybe it’s time to reconsider your definition of success.  As we close, I want us to sing together a song of Kingdom building.  It’s a song about lighting our candle to those around us who so desperately need to hear about and see God’s love demonstrated.  As we sing, if God is speaking to your heart about your definition of success – maybe even of your definition of our church’s success and He is asking you to reconsider, come to the altar – that’s what it’s here for.