February 26, 2017
Epiphany 8A

“No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” Matthew 6:24-34

“Do not worry?? You’ve got to be kidding. Most days, life feels like one worry strung after another like lights on a morbid Christmas tree. Worries at work (a colleague who’s mad at me). Worries at home (a child struggling at school). Worries about…well, you name it (the economy, the book deadline I’m so far from reaching, the friend whose child was just diagnosed with cancer…). Do you see what I mean? Worries attend us like bees to honey. And I don’t think it’s just me. I think we live in an incredibly anxious culture. The evening news certainly depends upon worries at home and abroad to attract viewers. Commercials are constantly inviting us to worry about one more thing — usually about ourselves! — the sponsored product should supposedly solve. More and more houses seem to sport home security signs in their front lawns. And whenever I go to the airport I’m greeted outside by an electronic sign that reads, “See Suspicious Activity — Call 1-800…) and inside by an ominous voice informing me that, “The threat level, as determined by the Office for Homeland Security, is Orange.” (I don’t even know what “orange” is, but I’m betting it’s not good.) And there it is: everywhere you turn, everywhere you look, there are visible reminders of just how much there is to worry about. So how in the world, then, can Jesus possibly ask us — really, command us! — not to worry?” (David Lose, workingpreacher website, February 20, 2011, Picture this)

Being transformed by the love of Christ takes time – it does not happen over night. We are not to be the seed that falls on the rocky ground, and sprouts immediately, but withers in the heat of the day. Cultivating our “good soil” that the seed of G-d’s words is planted into takes time – and prayer. How do we cultivate that soil? By striving first for the Kingdom of G-d, or, better understood, living into and allowing the “reign of Christ” to change us – so that we learn to trust – learn to be grateful – learn to count our blessings – learn to share our abundance. Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister during WWII once said, “When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which never happened.”

How do we stop worrying? I don’t know. I just know that worry only accomplishes one thing – inactivity. When worry consumes us, it is easier to lie on our bed and become motionless then it is to live the active life of faith. The important thing is to find ways to get our minds off the things that worry us – and place our minds on the things which G-d has blessed us!

Worrying will not make us confident. What will give us strength is being confident that Jesus will today provide our daily needs, and, with that gift, we stop worrying and offer ourselves to G-d and to others. Oh, we may not stop all our worrying immediately, but one day, Jesus will change your thinking. One day, something or someone will do or say something that will open your heart and your mind to the realization that, In Christ, we belong to G-d, and G-d will provide, has provided, and will continue to provide our whole life through – so that we can truly live, in Jesus, with confidence.

Pastor Dave