Seeking Advent

Do not worry then, saying, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you. Matthew 6:31-33

Jesus draws a contrast between two possibilities, one of which we inevitably will seek and which will become the focus of our energies and efforts. More commonly, as Jesus says is notable among the nations (Gentiles), is a preoccupation with supplying one’s own self with all that serves our earthly life. Food, drink, and clothing are representatives of all which is involved in the physical human existence.

The less frequently chosen focus, the one which Jesus describes as seeking the reign and righteousness of God, is essential with regards to our aspirations for the season of Advent. If we desire to grow in hope, peace, joy, and love, while awaiting the coming of the Lord, our attention cannot be on the most basic and physical or material aspects of human life. Hope, peace, joy, and love will never be ours through sufficient or even excessive and abundant amounts of material things.

The hope that we need will not come from an adequate supply of our physical needs. Our peace is not derived from an absence of struggle in earthly matters, nor is our joy a happiness flowing from favorable circumstances. In love as well, we must be focused on what flows from God’s gracious rule over those who seek. Our Advent hope, peace, joy, and love spring from within the Divine presence which we strive to encounter. In all the ways in which we do abide in God, this becomes in us a richness indefatigable despite all challenges and struggles.

At the heart of Jesus’ teaching is the question of what is at the center of our lives, around which and toward which we direct our attention and intentions. If we fix our energies on earthly things, no matter how necessary they might be to our present lives, the eternal virtues which truly sustain and elevate a human being will remain unclaimed. Only by risking inattention to the earthly do we gain what is of God himself.