Don't Worry, Be Thankful!

Isaiah 49:8-16a
8 Thus says the LORD:
In a time of favor I have answered you,
on a day of salvation I have helped you;
I have kept you and given you
as a covenant to the people,
to establish the land,
to apportion the desolate heritages;
9 saying to the prisoners, “Come out,”
to those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves.”
They shall feed along the ways,
on all the bare heights shall be their pasture;
10 they shall not hunger or thirst,
neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them down,
for he who has pity on them will lead them,
and by springs of water will guide them.
11 And I will turn all my mountains into a road,
and my highways shall be raised up.
12 Lo, these shall come from far away,
and lo, these from the north and from the west,
and these from the land of Syene.

13 Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the LORD has comforted his people,
and will have compassion on his suffering ones.

14 But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me,
my Lord has forgotten me.”
15 Can a woman forget her nursing child,
or show no compassion for the child of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.
16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands;


Matthew 6:24-34
24“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.
25“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? 26Look 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? 27And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 28And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30But 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? 31Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
34”So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

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I guess I’m a failure.

I worry. I worry about our older son who graduates in May. I worry about our younger son who’s trying to find a teaching job. I worry about the sermon each week. I worry about our church in the winter months when so many are away or unable to get out of the house.

Frankly, there are plenty of things to worry about. We worry about the economy. We worry whether our job is secure. Or we worry if we’re ever going to find a job. We worry about paying the bills. We worry as we watch prices go up, including the price of gas. We worry about our child struggling in school or hoping to get into college. We worry about a loved one who was diagnosed with cancer. We worry we will never be able to retire.

And the world feeds our worry. Our flight to and from New Jersey for study leave was a constant reminder of reasons to worry between regular announcements and passing through security checkpoints. The daily news bombards us with images of troubles from around the world, and here at home. Commercials invite us to worry about one more thing (usually about ourselves). They, of course, have the solution to our worries.

Nancy & I have a friend who works part-time at a retail clothing store. Recently all of the store’s employees were pulled into a meeting and told to convince customers they need to buy more, especially more expensive items. Yes, spending money is how to stimulate the economy. But he found that pep talk hard to swallow when he saw people with signs asking for food and money on the way home from work.

Yes, there are lots to worry about. And much of it is legitimate. We care about our families, our friends, our health, our future. So to hear Jesus say, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or … what you will wear,” well…

I’m annoyed. Jesus’ words just seem so unrealistic. I’d like to think life in the first century wasn’t so complicated, that they had less to worry about. But the truth is they had plenty to worry about. Just different things like disease, poverty, wars. I wonder how many of Jesus’ disciples rolled their eyes when they heard him say “Do not worry…?”

I’m also a little ashamed. We’ve all met people who have shared their stories of how God provided when they were down to their last dollar. And I suspect most of us can recall our own experiences of receiving God’s timely blessing. Nancy & I took a big risk leaving our jobs, following a call into ministry, and God has led us happily to this place. Why then is it so hard to worry less and trust God more day after day?

Perhaps, the reason is we hear conflicting messages. There’s Jesus’ message of trusting God to provide and there’s the world’s message of trusting what you can accumulate for yourself. Which message will we follow? That’s basically Jesus’ opening statement. “No one can serve two masters… You cannot serve God and wealth.”

Despite what you may have heard in the past, Jesus isn’t saying money is evil or bad. It’s a question of where we put our trust, our allegiance, and money turns out to be a poor Lord and master. Once we believe that money can satisfy our deepest needs, we discover that we never have enough. Money, after all, is finite. And so once we decide money grants security, then we find ourselves in a world of counting, and tracking, and hoarding. It’s a world based on scarcity. No wonder we worry – because in that world, there is simply never enough.

The alternative Jesus invites us to consider is putting out trust, our allegiance in God. The God who is infinite, whose love for us and all creation is infinite as well. Love operates from a different "economy" than money. Love – God's love – cannot be counted, tracked or stockpiled. And when you live in this kind of relationship of love and trust, you've entered into a world of abundance, a world of possibility, a world of contentment. In this world, which Jesus calls the "kingdom of God," not worrying becomes a real choice. We can choose to act in ways that witness to this world. Instead of images of scarcity, worry, and fear, we can choose to reflect abundance, trust, and courage. (1)

Many of you look out for our elderly neighbors, and bring them Thursdays to our Office for the Aging luncheon. Think also about being a mentor to one of our youth. Bring items for our food pantry next week when we celebrate communion. That was one of the early practices in the church. Instead of one person supplying bread and juice, everyone brought a portion of what they had, some of their harvest, some of their food, to the table. A portion was used for communion. The rest was given after the service to the poor in the community. These are ways we can be salt and light to the world, helping others to relax, to breathe, to count their blessings, and to trust in God's providence.

This is the world Jesus invites us into: a world of abundance, generosity, and new life. But it is also a world of fragility, trust, and vulnerability. The birds of the air and the lilies of the field can't defend themselves. They must trust God's providence and love.

Worry is a part of life. Even Jesus says, “Today’s trouble is enough for today.” What isn't a part of life is to believe it's all up to me or us, that I or we are in control. Do we want to live in a world in which God is in control or we are? Frankly, the latter scares me, exhausts me, and drains the life out of me. Jesus invites us to let it go, redirect your energies in ways that are life-giving, life-affirming.

Nancy used to attend a Thanksgiving eve service when we lived in Florida, and every year the text was this one: “take no thought to what ye shall eat, or what ye shall wear…” and I thought, “Who are they kidding! Every person in this church is sitting here thinking about tomorrow’s meal. Do I have enough mashed potatoes for everyone? What if Johnny brings his girlfriend? What if the cousins actually do show up? Is there a way to portion out the turkey so that everybody will get some?” Our heads were spinning with worry. But now I see that this text is indeed perfect for Thanksgiving eve- because it is about thanksgiving—because it reminds us that God is in charge, and not we, and that is something to be thankful for. Instead of “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” perhaps our live should witness to and sing out “Don’t worry, be thankful.”

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(1) David Lose from “Picture This” on workingpreacher.org