Divine Providence Revisited

“Revisiting Providence”
Matt. 6:25-34
by Rev. Everett Mendoza, D. Theol.

Introduction: The fundamental task of Christian theology is to give an orderly, consistent, comprehensible and credible account of the Christian faith according to God’s revelation in Jesus Christ as attested by the Scriptures. One of the most contentious theological teachings with complex pastoral implications is about divine providence. In traditional Christian doctrine, it refers to God’s sovereign rule over all things by which God sustains and directs creation as it moves towards its final consummation according to a pre-ordained divine plan. It also means that God causes every single thing to happen in life and in the world. In its basic biblical sense, however, it is about God’s unfailing care for the well-being of every creature.

In its historical development, the weight of interpretation has tilted more heavily on the side of God’s governance than on God’s care. The text from the Gospel of Matthew may serve as a corrective to this historical development and restore the original (biblical) and simple meaning of the teaching about divine providence.

The Text’s Pastoral Thrust

A first reading of the text easily shows its pastoral intent. It is addressed to hearers or readers who are constantly worried about daily survival: “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear” (6:25a). It reveals a particular kind of audience – those who are materially deprived and marginalized in society. It was not for the rich, who would not find the message of any value to their existence. For the poor, believing in God naturally involves material security and the assurance of the constancy of God’s concern for their material well-being. This is not a message for everybody but intended for those who worry about physical survival on a daily basis.

The message is misunderstood and misused when it is appropriated by the exploiting segment of society to soothe the discontent of the exploited poor about their situation. The admonition not to worry is not the same as not to be angry. The more appropriate response to involuntary or enforced poverty is to feel discontented and indignant. Mere worrying or being anxious about the situation is a generalized passive reaction to an objective external threat. It makes people helpless, if not paralyzed from making positive action. Jesus’ counsel is that instead of withdrawing into passivity and helplessness, they should actively seek God’s justice – “But seek [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness!” (6:33a); for in God’s reign of justice, “all these things will be given to you.” (6:33b).

God’s pastoral concern involves not only giving comfort to the troubled ones but also encouraging them to actively find solutions to their problems. Relief from misery, in particular the lack of life’s basic necessities, is not going to come to them delivered on a silver platter but has to be vigorously pursued. Mendicancy is incompatible with the message of God’s coming reign of justice. The poor are mistaken if they think that mere survival through alms given them by the rich is enough to be human. On the contrary, Jesus promised them abundant life. But the promise is also a challenge to obtain it by actively seeking the realization of God’s kingdom of justice.



God Cares for the Needy

Instead of living the day in anxiety over what to eat or wear, the people should live daily in the assurance that their daily needs are matters of great concern to God. They have learned from religion that those whom God favors he showers them with power and wealth. The priests say that those who are sorely lacking in life are like that because they exist outside God’s favored circle. God owns all the riches and powers of the world and distributes them to his favored ones. All their life they have been told that the poor don’t deserve God’s attention.

Jesus spoke of a God who is different from what religions say. He said that God even feeds the birds and clothes the grass (vv. 26-30). And they are more than birds and grass. They are persons created in God’s image. God is very much concerned that people have food and clothes and access to what make a decent human life. That is to say, their daily struggle for food and clothing is not outside of faith but, on the contrary, is God’s very own work in the world. Despite what religions say, the struggle of the poor for a decent life is not less than worship in the temple in the eyes of God. Seeking justice in order to enjoy the necessities of life is also doing the will of God. God is there with people in their daily struggle for life, even closer than those who are worshipping in the temple.

Divine Providence and the Poor

The notion of divine providence that attributes the distribution of wealth and power in society to God’s will is an invention of the dominant and exploiting classes. They justify their despotic rule as resembling God’s sovereign will. Having great wealth understood as divine reward to the so-called Elect is a Calvinistic nonsense derived from the Reformation’s historical alliance with revolting feudal princes and an emerging bourgeoisie. This understanding ascribes to God the very characteristic of the property-owning and privileged classes of the time. It is a reading of the gospel by the wrong social classes.

God’s governance over the whole creation should be seen as a function of God’s care for the needy rather than a justification for the existing order of things. God rules in order to ensure the triumph of God’s reign wherein the hunger for food and justice is fully satisfied. Divine providence means that God will see through the triumph of the cause of justice and freedom for the poor and oppressed.