"Worry Wart"
05-25-08
I have a joke for you. What twitches and lies at the bottom of the ocean? A nervous wreck! There have been a few times in my life that I have been a nervous wreck. I have been accused of being a terrible worrier. I know these words from Matthew well…they’re beautiful, they speak to me, they challenge me. Don’t worry Jesus says. Don’t be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or wear, what you shall drink, about your body. God will feed you and clothe you and heal you. God will provide. Life is more than food; the body is more than clothing. What good does worrying do? Worry won’t add any time to our life. A more accurate translation…worrying will not even add enough time for you to walk another foot and a half. God provides for the birds of the air and lilies of the field, God clothes the grass. Seek first God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness and all these things shall be yours as well.
This passage is full of good wisdom. But let’s face it, we live in a time and a world that provide us many opportunities to worry. Society seems at times unstable, our economy at times is unstable, our families at times are unstable, our church communities at times are unstable. This is a scripture that some of us may have a hard time wrapping ourselves in, a hard time visualizing the beauty it offers, a hard time believing it is possible. When hearing these words how many of us respond with mental skepticism, thinking that this is all idyllic talk about carefree birds and lazy lilies. Let’s get real! We live in a world of monthly bills, medical charts, expensive prescriptions, and fluctuating markets. And we have a perfectly logical way of addressing these anxieties: an Ambien or Somonex at night, No-doz or Coca Cola at noon, and Alka Seltzer after the evening meal. Been there done that! We are worriers!
So how could Jesus offer us this message in such calm confidence? After all, when Jesus counseled us not to be anxious, he was certainly not oblivious to his own existing circumstance. Jesus was homeless, transient, and dependent upon the generosity of those who affirmed his message. His entourage of twelve had abandoned their successful careers and families to follow a man they had known for minutes. Yet Jesus speaks with a calm confidence and security. Jesus speaks from a knowledge that our spirit is a precious mystery linked with the eternal. And as we struggle throughout life to fulfill our nature, God provides. Yet to worry is human…to worry is easier….to worry is less risky than a radical trust in the loving care of a gracious God.
William Marshall, an author, tells a story of a woman who for several years had trouble getting to sleep at night because she worried about burglars in the house. Well one night her husband heard a noise downstairs in the kitchen, so he groggily got out of bed and went downstairs to investigate. When he got there, he did indeed find a burglar. "Good evening," said the husband. "Man am I glad to see you. Come upstairs and meet my wife. She has been waiting 10 years to meet you."
You know studies have shown that for the average person, nearly half of all our worries are about things that will never happen. Another large percentage of our time is spent worrying about things in the past. Some of our worries are about criticism by others, mostly untrue. Some of our worries are about health issues which get worse with stress. A small percentage of our worries are about real events that will happen, but we cannot change. And finally, a very small percentage of worries are about real events on which we can act.
About 96% of our worries are God’s worries, worries about things that our out of our hands. About 96% percent of the time we worry we can give over to God. Most people are addicted worry, we want control. And Matthew’s words this morning reminds us that we should practice surrendering something to God. You see, my friends, I talk about worry this morning, because when we surrender our lives to God, we are free to give thanks for what we have, free to enjoy what we have, rather than dwell on what we don’t have. We can either be worried or thankful…it is hard to be both at the same time.
Today most of us worry about money, the money we don’t have. We may worry about people who aren’t with us, or time we don’t have. We spend so much time, and so much energy worrying about what we don’t have, rather than being thankful for what we already have.
My friends, if you hear nothing else of this message, I would like you to hear this: the quality of our active lives depends heavily on whether we assume a world of scarcity or a world of abundance. Let me ask you a question. Is our God a God of scarcity or abundance? Jesus tells us that God is a God of abundance. This created world is a world of abundance. Yet as a whole, as a society, even as a church we so often allow the assumption of scarcity to dominate our thinking, we act in competitive ways that destroy community and commerce. We waste a lot of time being anxious and feeling unsatisfied. We worry our prayers to God, adrift at sea, keeping all of options opened. We worry prayers to God, prayers born out of scarcity and survival. Why, friends, are we so unsatisfied? You know studies have shown that those people who make more than $70,000 a year are less satisfied with their wages than those who make less. Why do you think that is?
Even though our trained hearts and minds sometimes resist God’s word, God is a God of abundance, always has been, always will be. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provision. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. God is a God of abundance, and God cares for each and everyone of us deeply.
God will provide not from baskets lowered from the sky, but through the hands and hearts of those who love God. We all have and all will struggle with anxiety and fear, be overwhelmed by the perceived scarcity around us. This does not make us bad, faithless people. It does make us miserable, make us tired, and make us ill. God wishes for us a loving confidence, not unhappy, exhausted, ill lives.
I think so often we live for the "good" instead of the best. We live for the snippets of satisfaction, the comforts we can afford with more money, instead of living for the Kingdom. The result is emptiness, and it is so difficult to be thankful when we are empty. You see, when we are thankful for the little things in life, for the grace-filled moments in life, then we will always feel abundant. We will feel the presence of our abundant God, who will fill us with gratitude and joy. You cannot feel abundance and scarcity at the same time.
We must be thankful that we serve a God of abundance, abundant in grace, abundant in love, abundant in revelation and mystery, abundant in forgiveness, abundant in desire for us.
Let us remember, to always put God at the center, to offer our valid and real worries to God. And there will be freedom. Give thanks for the many blessings in your life and for all that God is.
We must remember that Thanksgiving isn’t merely a holiday, it’s a way of life. So spend time between breakfast and bedtime, in the midst of worry and reality, to reflect on your life. Reflect on those things each day, which you are truly thankful for. You will discover many blessings. God cares for us so richly and so deeply. God’s grace is abundant here and now. God’s love is abundant here and now. God’s salvation is offered here and now. Our God is a God of abundance, let us be filled and live abundant lives. God provides, and I say thanks be to God. Amen.
Blessings,
Melissa