Tedd Pullano
Matthew 6:24-34

Focused

I will never forget Prof. Carpenter. As much as I have tried, I just can't do it. You see, he was one of two Analytical Literature Professors at SUNY Binghamton, where I earned my Bachelor's Degree in English. My first encounter with him came before I actually met him. It was when all of us students were all signing up for classes, and I was deciding what English Literature classes I would take during the Fall semester. Since I had transferred in, I did not know anything about any of the teachers. So, in seeking advice, everyone single person I spoke with said the same thing: "do not take Carpenter!! Wait for the other professor to take the Analytic Literature course", which was required a required course. Unfortunately, being a transfer student, I did not have the necessary latitude in my schedule. I could not wait until the next semester to take that class. So I dreadfully signed up for Carpenter's class. I had heard so many stories about how difficult he was, how tough he was and how much work he demanded. I spent the entire summer worrying about this guy and the class. And in the fall, when I returned to class and started his course, I quickly found out that all those students were exactly right. He was a brutally demanding teacher.

I have often wondered why more people did not follow Jesus. Out of all those who saw him and spent time with him, who heard about him, how come everyone did not just fall in line behind him and follow him? After all, in our Scriptures, he appears to be charismatic, a great preacher, a wonderful Rabbi and teacher, caring and wise, and importantly, someone who could do all sorts of wonders: raising people from the dead, multiplying food, changing the weather. I mean, after seeing him do this, after being with him, wouldn't you just fall in love and follow him where ever he went and whatever he did?

Prof. Carpenter turned out to be the most demanding, exacting, precise, methodical, focused professor I ever have studied with. He required a huge amount of weekly reading -- and of difficult stuff too, not fluffy writers. We plowed through George Bernard Shaw, Joseph Conrad, Ernest Hemmingway and many others. He would grill (and I mean grill) us in class to see if we really had read -- not just read the words, but read what the author was saying. He asked pointed questions about everything from themes to specific words. I remember one time we were answering some questions in class and the question was about a critical part of the story, the "crenels" of the castle. Prof. Carpenter asked us what they were. No one answered; because no one knew. Then he asked if anyone had looked it up. To which no one replied. Then he asked if anyone owned a dictionary. To which everyone raised their hands. And then he asked why, if we all had dictionaries and no one knew what the word meant, we had not looked it up. He did not say it that nicely, believe me. That was how demanding and focused he was -- look up every word you do not know. Write and rewrite your papers. On some of our papers we wrote, he did more writing than we did. Let me tell you, it was one long, demanding, draining semester.

You know what? I think that Professor Carpenter was related to Jesus, because the more I study Jesus, the more I read his words and watch his actions, particularly today's passage, the more I realize how demanding he was -- just like my trusty English professor from Binghamton. Throughout the gospels, Jesus is asking, really demanding, a lot from those who would be followers -- which include us. I mean think about his first and foremost rule: love God and love your neighbors. That is pretty radical, pretty crazy stuff. I mean, love my neighbor? You mean I have to love the guy who just cut me off on the road; you mean the woman who is slowing down the grocery aisle when I am in a hurry; you mean the little kid who is making so much noise I cannot think? Love them? Time out. That's asking a lot. And what about the rich young man who came to ask Jesus a few questions -- remember how it wound up for him? "If you want to follow me, sell all you have and then come follow me." Ouch. That is tough, and demanding. Or what about the guy who wanted to follow him, but whose father had just died. Remember what he told him: "forget about that. Let the dead bury the dead. If you want to follow me, drop everything and come now." Wow, that is demanding. Prof. Carpenter would have been proud.

Today's passage, which, as I mentioned before is from the Sermon on the Mount, is incredibly demanding. Just look at it. "Seek God first and foremost in life." "You cannot serve two different masters, for you will love one and hate the other." Jesus clearly recognized that we all serve something in our lives -- whether we recognize it or not. None of us is freed from that. The question is what that thing is. The real question is: what is the focus in your life? It is going to be either God or something else -- whatever that something else is: money, possessions, drugs, alcohol, sex, freedom, whatever.

In his ornery way, Prof. Carpenter demanded that we stay focused on being students of literature. He constantly reminded us of our quest it be English majors and continually brought us back into focus. He knew that if we worked hard, followed his guidance, we would all succeed in the end. He was demanding upon us not for his own sake, but for our benefit. And when we all walked away from his class -- exhausted and relieved -- we all were wiser, better prepared, and excellent writers. There was a reward to the demands and the commitment. The following semester, a professor commented on the quality of my writing and my analysis and encouraged me to submit some of papers to school wide essay competitions. I owe a great debt to Prof. Carpenter. He kept me focused and helped me grow and mature.

Let's be clear about this journey we are on together. Christianity is not always easy. Jesus places some powerful demands on us. Serve God and God alone. Seek first the Kingdom of God. Jesus wants us focused on God and the Kingdom of God. He leaves no doubt about that. Seek first and foremost the Kingdom of God. "Thy Kingdom come" he taught us to pray. That is radical. That is crazy. This is why many people have trouble with following Jesus. Because to do so is more than just saying a few prayers and coming to worship on Sunday. Following Jesus is about a lifestyle which encompasses each moment of your life. It encompasses the way you think and speak and react. Following Jesus means doing and deciding everything based on how it affects the kingdom of God. It does not make you a robot, but it requires careful on thought on everyone's part. That is a lot to ask. It is hard.

And fortunately we do not go alone. We go empowered, filled and blessed by God. Just like he said in our passage this morning, when you seek the kingdom of God first, all the other things you need will come -- all the basics and all the necessities. My friends, that is a promise I urge you to claim: "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other things will be added unto you." But, you have to be willing to put God first.

I close with a story from Rob Bell I just heard this week. He tells of a time when he was walking on the beach with his wife and two boys. The boys were picking up seashells along the beach and carrying them. Suddenly, the older son saw a huge starfish floating in the ocean. He ran out in the water to get it, went about up to his knees and then came running back. He was crying, and his family encouraged him to go get the starfish. He ran out again, seeking the big prize, and got about waist high in the water, closer to the starfish, but then came running back again. Encouraged by his family, he made a third trip out, got right up next to his prize, but came crying back without it. His family could not understand why he had returned without it. In tears, as he held up both of his fists clenching all that he had picked up along the beach, he replied, "I couldn't get it, because my hands are full of shells."