Third Sunday after Pentecost. Octoechos Tone 2. The Holy Martyr Leontius (69-79).
Apostles’ Fast.
Romans 5:1-10; Matthew 6:22-33.
Read Matthew 6:22-33
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
There is a saying that an army marches on its stomach. Without the wealth to feed
soldiers and provide all the other necessities of defense, a nation and its army are
sitting ducks. When God set the nation of Israel on a revelatory course, calling them to be faithful to Him and His holy, loving, gracious, and just dealings with others, that way of life could appear weak next to the glorified aggression of the nations around them. It takes courageous faith to observe the sabbaths, sacrifice the first and best of your agricultural yields, support the poor and weak, and dispense justice even to the
powerful and strong when your neighbors are working 24-7 with disregard for right-and wrong to be more powerful than you. The nations surrounding Israel did such things in the worship of “gods” they thought would bring seasonal rains, abundant crops, material prosperity, and military strength.
The Apostle Paul distills much of the moral theology of Old Testament revelation into the succinct statement, “Greed is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5) – to give in to the temptation of materialism is to be ignorant of or ignoring the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and trusting in other “gods”. To depend on a way of living other than obedience to and trust in the character of God is to be, in effect, worshipping another “god”.
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus applies the truth of this to our lives: “For the Gentiles
seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.” That is why we cannot serve both God and mammon.