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In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Today is “Rally Sunday” here at St John. In the past, some churches might have called it “Christian Education Sunday,” but more or less, as far as I understand, it’s basically the same thing. The point is that we take some deliberate time not only to recognize the beginning of a new year in Sunday School and Confirmation Classes, and encourage people to attend those things, but also that we think about the sacred responsibility of raising our young people in the Faith and the importance of diligently study God’s Word for ourselves.

And what a perfect text we have this morning to encourage us all to do that! In Matthew chapter 6, our Gospel lesson, we get to hear once again those famous words from Jesus that many of us probably know by heart, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

So, in this morning’s sermon I want to do three things based off of this verse. First, I’m going to explain what these words mean in general. Second, I’m going to give some concrete examples of the most basic ways that they apply to our daily lives, especially in the area of hearing and learning God’s Word. And to close the sermon, we’ll reflect a on the unique blessing and comfort that Jesus attaches to this exhortation.

First, though, there’s the general meaning. In its most basic sense, to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness means that we put the Word of God first in our lives, and devote our attention to heavenly things, instead of the things that are passing away. As Jesus says, we Christians don’t need to worry about what we will eat, or what we will drink, or what we will wear. Rather, our chief concern is always with the salvation of our souls. And no, that’s not because our bodies don’t matter, and God doesn’t care about them, it’s just because our daily bread is not nearly as important as the Bread that endures to eternal life. What matters most is whether or not you have righteousness of Jesus.

And where do we get that righteousness? How do we receive it? The Bible says that we receive it through faith alone. We get it by believing the gospel. As Saint Paul tells us in Romans chapter 1, “for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes… For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith.” When someone listens to God’s Word, and hears about what Jesus did for them on the cross, and how He lived, suffered, and died in their place, the Holy Spirit is at work to give that person the gift of faith, and credit them with the righteousness of Christ. Remember what it says about Abraham? He believed in the Lord, and it was counted to Him as righteousness. That’s how it works for us too. 

So, seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness means occupying your time above all with the things that make you believe. It means going to where God promises to give you the gift of faith and strengthen your faith in Jesus. And how does He do that? He does it through His Word and Sacraments. Here’s another verse that I bet you have memorized: “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing the Word of Christ.”

So again, that’s what it means to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. It means prioritizing the Word and the Sacraments and putting those things before everything else because that’s where God gives you the righteousness of Jesus. That’s where He gives you faith.

Now let’s talk about what it means in practical terms for your daily life and the lives of your family. There are at least three basic things that deep down I think we all know every Christian needs to be doing on a regularly basis to be following these words from Jesus. The first, and the most obvious one is that you need to come to church every Sunday. How can anyone argue that they are seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, if they repeatedly put other things in front of the most basic place where we get it? Say what you will, but Church is the main spot where God strengthens our faith.

This is the place where you remember your Baptism by confessing your sins and hearing the absolution from the pastor. The Bible says that when you get Baptized into Christ you put on Christ and His righteousness covers you like a garment. You need to be reminded of that all the time. This is also the place where you eat and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus, that cleanses you from your sin. You literally get a place in God’s kingdom, by receiving the pledge and promise of your inheritance in Christ. And this is where you hear the preaching about Christ too. This is the main place where His Word is opened to you and explained by the pastor that God has called and sent to you, so that you can know and believe in all that Jesus has done for you.

If it doesn’t bother you to skip church, you have a spiritual problem. And I know that everyone who is here this morning is in Church. But that doesn’t mean that we’re all here all the time. We have over 300 members on the roles at St John. And yet, our average attendance barely ever gets up to 100. In the summer time, it’s even worse. And I know that some people are out of town, or at the lake, or visiting family, but the numbers still don’t add up. And by the way, you can still go to church when you’re on vacation too. There are good, solid, Bible believing Lutheran congregations all over the country that would be glad to have you visit. It might be good for you to take a break from you job for a little while, but you don’t take breaks from Jesus. You don’t miss out on the important stuff that Jesus gives you for other stuff that in the end doesn’t really matter. Is staying up late to watch a football game more important than what you get in church? Is going fishing or hunting or golfing more important than what Jesus gives you in church? Is sleeping in more important than what Jesus gives you in church? Do any of those things strengthen your faith and can any of those things bring you the righteousness of Jesus? You know the answer. You got to go to church.

Next, there’s Bible class. I know that Jesus Christ did not institute Bible class like He did the task of preaching, or taking Communion, but He did teach His disciples all of the time, all throughout the week, and not just on Sunday’s. He went up on mountains and opened the Scriptures. He stood in boats and proclaimed the Gospel. He walked and talked with His disciples through the streets of towns and villages, constantly walking them through the Word.

You can’t always get everything done in a 20-minute sermon. That’s why we have Bible class. It gives us the opportunity to ask questions and to dive even deeper into the life-giving Word of God. Do you know why Sunday School was originally started? I was just looking this up this week. It wasn’t started for the kids who belonged to the church. It was started for the kids who didn’t have a church to go to.  But what does that say about us if we won’t even go?

I’m not going to be legalistic and say that its automatically a sin not to got to Bible class, or send your kids to Sunday School, but if we don’t, we should ask ourselves, why not? What’s the real reason? Maybe there is a good one, and that’s fine, but by guess is that for most of us there probably isn’t. I would say the most common reason people would give is it’s a time thing? Well, go home after church this morning and look at your weekly screen time average on your phone. Add up how many hours a week you spend watching television? We can’t find an extra hour there? I don’t buy it. Whatever age level you’re at there is something for you to do in this church. We have weekly classes for men, women, confirmation age kids, and high schoolers. Some of those are in the middle of the work week, I know, but there’s always Sunday morning. Anyone can come downstairs after the service for an extra 45 minutes. I promise that no one is going to starve if lunch takes a little bit longer to get on the table. It’ll be worth it to take in more of the good portion that endures to eternal life, which cannot be taken away from you.

And third, seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness in your daily life, definitely needs to include some sort of home devotions. I’ve made this point a lot as of late, but when the Word of God is just something that we hear on Sunday mornings at church, we can begin to think, or even worse, give the impression to our kids, that the Word of God only belongs in Church. It starts to look like our Christian identity is just one other identity in a big long list of them. But that isn’t true. Our life in Christ is supposed to permeate every facet of our life. The Word of God applies in every situation that we live in. So, we need to be in the Word every day. And that means reading it with each other, and parents, especially dads, talking about it with their kids.

Listen to this passage from Deuteronomy chapter 6. Moses writes, “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” That’s the proof passage for home devotions. You have to do something. And not because the mere act of doing it, and going through the motions, earns you credit by itself, but again, because that’s how we get credited with the righteousness of Jesus. That’s how God builds up our faith. He does it through the Word.

If you don’t know where to start with some kind of home devotions, just pick up a Bible and start reading it. Finish dinner and set a timer for five minutes. You’d be amazed how much of the Scriptures you can get through in just five minutes a day over the course of a year. Here’s some more advice. Get a catechism and leave it on the table too. Don’t get up without at least reciting some of it. See if you can get the six chief parts memorized again, or see if you still know them. If we don’t know the 10 commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, what Baptism and Communion are, we’re are in big trouble. Let those Word, which are life giving Words, become so familiar to you and your family that you know them better than your own phone number. Even if it’s hard at first. Even if you have days that you miss, or times that you don’t feel like it. Keep going. Start over. Don’t stop. Tell your sinful nature to “shut-up,” because Jesus is the Lord of your life, and no one else. There are things that only Jesus can give you. And He attaches His most important promises only to His Word.

That’s the last thing I want to talk about today and the most comforting. Yes, Jesus tells us to “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.” That means putting the Word of God first in our lives and doing the things that build us up in our faith instead of making us fall away from the faith: Going to church, coming to Bible class, doing home devotions. Stuff like that.

But we don’t just do that stuff because of Christ’s command, we do it above all because of His promise. First, like I’ve said a bunch of times in this sermon, this is how God promises to give us the righteousness of Jesus that saves us. It’s only a burden for someone to come to church and read their Bible if they don’t know what they’re getting out of it, or if they don’t think they really need it. But if you know that you’re a sinner, with no righteousness of your own, and that you should be dammed and lost because of it, but that Jesus gives you forgivness through the gospel for free, that changes everything. That changes the command of “go to church” into the sweet invitation of “you’re invited.” You’re invited to the feast. You get a place at the table. You get the righteousness of Jesus.

And that’s not all that you get. What else does Jesus tell us in our text. He says, “and all these things will be added to you.” Not just the things that you need for eternal life, but even the things that you need for this life too. If you have the most important thing that there is, if you have faith in Christ, and the righteousness that comes from it, you’ll also know that you have everything else that you need too. If God can take care of you in the big ways, like saving you from hell He will take care of you in the small ways too. You’ll have food on table, until you get to the heavenly banquet that has no end. You’ll have shelter over your head, all the way up till when you enter your heavenly mansion. Your body will be as healthy as it needs to be, even if you get sick and die, all the way up to when Christ raises your body from the dead on the last day. 

When you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness you get everything. You even get all the things that the Gentiles seek after too. You get them, because through faith, you get eyes to see that you already have them. You have everything that you need in Jesus. No matter what, you know that He is working all things together for the good of those who love Him. No matter what you know that He’s still sitting on His throne, and your place is right beside Him. What God wants is what you want, because you know what He’s does for you in Jesus. 

So, do what Jesus says, and seek His Kingdom first. Seek it for yourself, and show your loved ones how to seek it too. Don’t skip church unless you’re barfing. Come to Bible class and learn as much about God’s Word as you can. Read the Scriptures in your home and don’t go a day without talking about the Bible. I can’t promise you that it will always be easy, but I can promise you that you will be blessed. You’ll be blessed because Jesus says so. You’ll be blessed because that’s what He promises. As He says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” In Jesus’ Name. Amen.