Listen to the audio of today’s Reflection:
https://soundcloud.com/hapearce/reflection-for-september-29
Do Not Worry
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
My suspicion is that most people who read these Reflections don’t really worry about getting enough to eat on a daily basis. My guess is that more of us are concerned about eating too much than about eating too little. And I doubt if many of our readers are worried about having clothes to wear. We might wonder if our clothes fit well or are wearing out, but not many of us are worried about having the clothes we need.
But having said that, it seems to me that this reading from the Gospel of Matthew is one that we should all think about from time to time – those of us who are followers of Jesus. I say that because my sense is that lots of us actually do tend to worry quite a bit about the things of this world, even though it’s not specifically food and clothes we’re worrying about.
We might worry about getting our bills paid. Or about getting our kids educated without putting them deep in debt. We might worry about retirement – or about stretching a limited income to cover expenses that seem to keep going up. We might worry about medical expenses. Or car repairs. Even though we’re OK when it comes to food and clothes, this world still provides lots of things for us to worry about.
This is another in our series of readings from the part of Matthew we call the Sermon on the Mount. And as we’ve said several times during these readings, the New Testament scholars say the overall theme of the Sermon on the Mount is that we followers of Jesus are supposed to be distinct from the rest of the world. We’re supposed to be like a kind of ‘Christian counter-culture.’
I suspect that if you went out on the street and started asking people what makes Christians different than others, you’d get answers like, “They don’t drink,” or, “They think you need to ‘get saved’ or you’ll go to hell,” or, “They don’t believe in abortion.” But I bet not very many people would say, “Christians don’t worry.”
Actually, now that I think about it, most people probably think followers of Jesus worry more than normal rather than less than normal. We always seem to be worked up about something. Which is kind of a shame, I guess. Because it seems to me that being worry-free is a characteristic Jesus really wants his followers to show.
The theologians say that most people of faith embrace one of two theologies – either a theology of scarcity, or a theology of abundance. People who embrace a theology of scarcity believe – whether they admit it or not – that God can’t really be trusted to provide for our needs. So we need to fight and claw to get as much as we can, and we need to hold on tight to everything we get. And, of course, people with a theology of scarcity aren’t that generous in sharing what they have, because they worry so much about how scarce things are.
But people who embrace a theology of abundance believe that the God we serve can be counted on to provide what we need. And not only that, but he’ll provide for us abundantly. People with a theology of abundance believe that God always has provided for our needs, and that we can trust he always will. So people with a theology of abundance don’t worry a lot about the things of this world. And they can be generous about sharing God’s blessings with those in need, because they trust that God will give them enough to share.
Some Christian preachers and teachers will tell you it’s wrong to worry – that it’s sinful, a form of disobedience to Jesus. If I really worked at it, I might be able to make some of you feel guilty about worrying. I’m pretty sure I could make myself feel guilty, too.
But I can’t help thinking that Jesus would think that was missing the point. Worrying about how much we worry doesn’t make much sense.
I think what Jesus would rather have us do is to pray for the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts to make us trust more and more in God’s abundant blessings. Because in this passage we have Jesus, whom we understand to be God in human form, assuring us that he is committed to seeing that we are provided for. And Jesus’ assurances seem pretty dependable. When someone says he will rise from the dead and then does it, we can probably believe him when he says God will provide for our needs.
Jesus doesn’t command us to stop working, or to wash our hands of responsibility for supporting ourselves. But there’s a difference between being responsible and worrying. And this word from Jesus says worry is unnecessary.
There’s a school of psychological counseling called ‘Family Systems theory.’ Those who practice that kind of counseling say that one of the most important things each of us can do for our companies and our communities and our families and our churches is to be a “non-anxious presence.” I think that’s what Jesus is hoping for those of us who are his followers: that we will be a non-anxious presence in the world. Imagine how much more powerful our witness would be if, when people were asked what the followers of Jesus were like, one of the first things that came to their minds was, “Well, for one thing, followers of Jesus are at peace – they don’t worry about things.”
Let’s pray. Lord, help us to be more trusting in the abundance of your blessings, so that we can live without worry. And trusting in that abundance, move us to share abundantly out of your blessings with those in need. Amen.
Abundant Blessings,
Henry
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