Do not worry!
Matthew 6:25-34
‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life’.
This might seem rather unrealistic advice.
I did an assembly on this passage on Tuesday and I asked the children what they worried about. I suggested a couple of things somebody might worry about – to give them an example: dad not picking you up at the end of school on time, or not finding a friend to play with at break. And then I said, what do you worry about? A boy put up his hand and said, ‘the end of the world’. Another child, a girl, said, ‘the possibility of war’. I would like to follow that up. It would be a fascinating conversation.
We can worry about so many things: perhaps we worry about the big things: where is our world and our country going, or we worry about our health, our children, our parents, being scammed, decisions about jobs or where we live – what if I make the wrong decision, about whether I should be with someone, or not having enough money, or being alone.
Michel de Montaigne, a French Renaissance philosopher wrote, “My life has been full of terrible misfortunes, most of which never happened.”
Jesus is a speaking to his disciples, his followers. That is important.
He is speaking to a community of people many of whom had very little. There were times when they must have wondered where the next day’s bread was coming from. When he teaches them to pray, ‘Give us today our daily bread’, on many days that was a real heart cry.
And Jesus is speaking to a community of people who are going to suffer. Indeed, tradition has it that all but one of the twelve apostles gave their lives for their commitment to Jesus.
But it is to them, and to us, his followers today, that Jesus says, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life’.
1. Worrying is foolish
I think there is a difference between worrying and considering risks. Risk assessments are useful, although the bureaucratisation of risk assessment is a bit wearisome. We want to do what we can to keep people safe.
But worrying in itself does nothing.
‘And can you by worrying add a single hour to the span of your life?’ (verse 27)
Indeed worrying, if anything, reduces the span of our life.
The problem is we know that worrying is foolish, and causes us trouble, and we can end up worrying about the fact that we get all anxious.
Erma Bombeck, an American author of the last century, wrote “Worry is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere.”
2. Worrying means that we haven’t really begun to understand how much God loves us.
Jesus tells his disciples to look at the common birds.
They don’t do the hard work in the fields, and yet God feeds them. He provides for them.
And Jesus says, ‘Are you not of more value than they?’
We might respond and say, yes but many of the birds perish from hunger or from being caught and eaten.
Interestingly, in another similar sermon (in Matthew 10) he tells them to look at the sparrows.
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows." (Matthew 10:29-31)
Do you notice that.
Jesus is not denying that we live in a world where there is suffering and death. But he says that even when the sparrows die, they will not fall to the ground ‘apart from your Father’. God is with even the sparrow when it dies.
And then he says, ‘Do not be afraid; you are of more value – you are more precious to God – than many sparrows’.
And Jesus tells his disciples to look at the flowers, at how beautiful they can be. And he says, ‘not even the best dressed person in this world is dressed like them’.
And yet they are here today, gone tomorrow.
How much more will he watch over and guard you.
There is so much here that I would love to speak about.
- Jesus is speaking these words conscious of death. These flowers are here today, gone tomorrow: thrown in the oven, even
- The one who says do not worry about what to wear, will one day be stripped naked and hung on a cross.
My word, if anyone should have worried, it should have been him.
But the key thing is that he is saying to them that God who gives life to and cares for the birds, and God who clothes the flowers – loves them so much more.
And when we begin to know that love of God, then it really can set us free from anxiety. It is not that bad things will not happen to us. Of course they will. It is however that sense, that awareness, that God will give us what we need, when we need it, because he loves us.
For the last few weeks, I have been reflecting on words from John’s letter, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18).
It is not speaking of my love for God, for that is far from perfect. But it is speaking of God’s love for me, for us. He loves us with a perfect love. He desires the absolute, eternal best for us. He is God with us. It is as we realise how precious we are to him, how much he loves us, that we can begin to let go of the worry, of the fear.
Someone told me a few weeks ago that they had been into hospital with a life threatening health condition. They said that they had a great sense of peace. They felt that whatever happened, he was with them and they were in his hands.
3. Worrying probably means are priorities are wrong
Jesus says, ‘Do not worry’, but first seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.
If our priority is what we look like, how people treat us; if it is to impress other people or exercise power; or if our priorities is for stuff, the nice house, the classiest furnishings, the best wines, getting and keeping money, then of course we will worry.
We will be like the person who opens the wardrobe door, which is full of clothes, and worry, ‘But I have nothing to wear’. While that is usually not my particular issue, I do have an issue with multiple coats: ‘Will this be the right coat – warm enough, too warm, too smart, not smart enough, not water proof enough?’ The more you have, the more you worry. If I had just one coat – wear it and stop whinging!
Jesus is not saying that food and drink, and what we wear is not important. God knows that we need them. But he is saying that if we set our heart on seeking him and knowing him, and on his things, then we will be set free from so much anxiety.
I finish with some astonishing words that I discovered last year from a very unexpected source. Some of you will have heard me quote them before. They come from Navalny – the Russian opposition figure who had exposed corruption among figures at the heart of the government, who was poisoned with Novichok by the FSB and recovered in Germany, and who took the decision to return to Russia – where he was promptly arrested and imprisoned. His diary was published, and I’m assuming it is his editor chose to end the book with these words.
‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life’.
This might seem rather unrealistic advice.
I did an assembly on this passage on Tuesday and I asked the children what they worried about. I suggested a couple of things somebody might worry about – to give them an example: dad not picking you up at the end of school on time, or not finding a friend to play with at break. And then I said, what do you worry about? A boy put up his hand and said, ‘the end of the world’. Another child, a girl, said, ‘the possibility of war’. I would like to follow that up. It would be a fascinating conversation.
We can worry about so many things: perhaps we worry about the big things: where is our world and our country going, or we worry about our health, our children, our parents, being scammed, decisions about jobs or where we live – what if I make the wrong decision, about whether I should be with someone, or not having enough money, or being alone.
Michel de Montaigne, a French Renaissance philosopher wrote, “My life has been full of terrible misfortunes, most of which never happened.”
Jesus is a speaking to his disciples, his followers. That is important.
He is speaking to a community of people many of whom had very little. There were times when they must have wondered where the next day’s bread was coming from. When he teaches them to pray, ‘Give us today our daily bread’, on many days that was a real heart cry.
And Jesus is speaking to a community of people who are going to suffer. Indeed, tradition has it that all but one of the twelve apostles gave their lives for their commitment to Jesus.
But it is to them, and to us, his followers today, that Jesus says, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life’.
1. Worrying is foolish
I think there is a difference between worrying and considering risks. Risk assessments are useful, although the bureaucratisation of risk assessment is a bit wearisome. We want to do what we can to keep people safe.
But worrying in itself does nothing.
‘And can you by worrying add a single hour to the span of your life?’ (verse 27)
Indeed worrying, if anything, reduces the span of our life.
The problem is we know that worrying is foolish, and causes us trouble, and we can end up worrying about the fact that we get all anxious.
Erma Bombeck, an American author of the last century, wrote “Worry is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere.”
2. Worrying means that we haven’t really begun to understand how much God loves us.
Jesus tells his disciples to look at the common birds.
They don’t do the hard work in the fields, and yet God feeds them. He provides for them.
And Jesus says, ‘Are you not of more value than they?’
We might respond and say, yes but many of the birds perish from hunger or from being caught and eaten.
Interestingly, in another similar sermon (in Matthew 10) he tells them to look at the sparrows.
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows." (Matthew 10:29-31)
Do you notice that.
Jesus is not denying that we live in a world where there is suffering and death. But he says that even when the sparrows die, they will not fall to the ground ‘apart from your Father’. God is with even the sparrow when it dies.
And then he says, ‘Do not be afraid; you are of more value – you are more precious to God – than many sparrows’.
And Jesus tells his disciples to look at the flowers, at how beautiful they can be. And he says, ‘not even the best dressed person in this world is dressed like them’.
And yet they are here today, gone tomorrow.
How much more will he watch over and guard you.
There is so much here that I would love to speak about.
- Jesus is speaking these words conscious of death. These flowers are here today, gone tomorrow: thrown in the oven, even
- The one who says do not worry about what to wear, will one day be stripped naked and hung on a cross.
My word, if anyone should have worried, it should have been him.
But the key thing is that he is saying to them that God who gives life to and cares for the birds, and God who clothes the flowers – loves them so much more.
And when we begin to know that love of God, then it really can set us free from anxiety. It is not that bad things will not happen to us. Of course they will. It is however that sense, that awareness, that God will give us what we need, when we need it, because he loves us.
For the last few weeks, I have been reflecting on words from John’s letter, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18).
It is not speaking of my love for God, for that is far from perfect. But it is speaking of God’s love for me, for us. He loves us with a perfect love. He desires the absolute, eternal best for us. He is God with us. It is as we realise how precious we are to him, how much he loves us, that we can begin to let go of the worry, of the fear.
Someone told me a few weeks ago that they had been into hospital with a life threatening health condition. They said that they had a great sense of peace. They felt that whatever happened, he was with them and they were in his hands.
3. Worrying probably means are priorities are wrong
Jesus says, ‘Do not worry’, but first seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.
If our priority is what we look like, how people treat us; if it is to impress other people or exercise power; or if our priorities is for stuff, the nice house, the classiest furnishings, the best wines, getting and keeping money, then of course we will worry.
We will be like the person who opens the wardrobe door, which is full of clothes, and worry, ‘But I have nothing to wear’. While that is usually not my particular issue, I do have an issue with multiple coats: ‘Will this be the right coat – warm enough, too warm, too smart, not smart enough, not water proof enough?’ The more you have, the more you worry. If I had just one coat – wear it and stop whinging!
Jesus is not saying that food and drink, and what we wear is not important. God knows that we need them. But he is saying that if we set our heart on seeking him and knowing him, and on his things, then we will be set free from so much anxiety.
I finish with some astonishing words that I discovered last year from a very unexpected source. Some of you will have heard me quote them before. They come from Navalny – the Russian opposition figure who had exposed corruption among figures at the heart of the government, who was poisoned with Novichok by the FSB and recovered in Germany, and who took the decision to return to Russia – where he was promptly arrested and imprisoned. His diary was published, and I’m assuming it is his editor chose to end the book with these words.
Navalny is writing about two techniques about how to survive in prison.
The first technique is to think of the worst that could happen, in his case death, and accept it.
"The second technique is so old you may roll your eyes heavenward when you hear it. It is religion. It is doable only for believers but does not demand zealous, fervent prayer by the prison barracks window three times a day (a very common phenomenon in prisons). I have always thought, and said openly, that being a believer makes it easier to live your life and, to an even greater extent, engage in opposition politics. Faith makes life simpler. The initial position for this exercise is the same as for the previous one. You lie in your bunk looking up at the one above and ask yourself whether you are a Christian in your heart of hearts. It is not essential for you to believe some old guys in the desert once lived to be eight hundred years old, or that the sea was literally parted in front of someone. But are you a disciple of the religion whose founder sacrificed himself for others, paying the price for their sins? Do you believe in the immortality of the soul and the rest of that cool stuff? If you can honestly answer yes, what is there left for you to worry about? Why, under your breath, would you mumble a hundred times something you read from a hefty tome you keep in your bedside table? Don’t worry about the morrow, because the morrow is perfectly capable of taking care of itself. My job is to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and leave it to good old Jesus and the rest of his family to deal with everything else. They won’t let me down and will sort out all my headaches. As they say in prison here: they will take my punches for me."
The first technique is to think of the worst that could happen, in his case death, and accept it.
"The second technique is so old you may roll your eyes heavenward when you hear it. It is religion. It is doable only for believers but does not demand zealous, fervent prayer by the prison barracks window three times a day (a very common phenomenon in prisons). I have always thought, and said openly, that being a believer makes it easier to live your life and, to an even greater extent, engage in opposition politics. Faith makes life simpler. The initial position for this exercise is the same as for the previous one. You lie in your bunk looking up at the one above and ask yourself whether you are a Christian in your heart of hearts. It is not essential for you to believe some old guys in the desert once lived to be eight hundred years old, or that the sea was literally parted in front of someone. But are you a disciple of the religion whose founder sacrificed himself for others, paying the price for their sins? Do you believe in the immortality of the soul and the rest of that cool stuff? If you can honestly answer yes, what is there left for you to worry about? Why, under your breath, would you mumble a hundred times something you read from a hefty tome you keep in your bedside table? Don’t worry about the morrow, because the morrow is perfectly capable of taking care of itself. My job is to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and leave it to good old Jesus and the rest of his family to deal with everything else. They won’t let me down and will sort out all my headaches. As they say in prison here: they will take my punches for me."
Comments
Post a Comment