Matthew 6:25-33
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? 26 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? 27 And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life? 28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30 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? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For it is the gentiles who seek all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Are you familiar with the song Don’t Worry Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin?
Here's a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
In every life we have some trouble
But when you worry you make it double
Do you think Bobby might have ever read this passage from Matthew’s gospel? We know that he was inspired to write the song from Guru Meher Baba who apparently often used the expression "Don't worry, be happy". We often hear many spiritual leaders across time and faith traditions tell us not to worry about life. Some people are able to embrace this wisdom so naturally, as if being calm and cool like a cucumber is their default setting. But for a lot of us it is hard to take this advice seriously when it feels like there is so much to worry about. Some of us worry about getting homework done, or how our children are doing, or about the ability to pay next month’s rent or what the future holds with a rapidly changing climate, a U.S. election weeks away and escalating wars taking place around the world. It feels like there is so much to worry about in life.
Like us, the disciples in our gospel reading this morning find themselves with much to worry about too. Jesus has been giving his sermon on the mount, a very long sermon that provides new rules for his followers, guidelines that ask them to give their money and possessions to the poor, to pray and fast only in private so that they can’t be praised by others, and to reject any worldly idea of power and wealth so that they serve God alone. This is a lot for them to take in and a demanding lifestyle to adopt. In their lives, they had oppressive powers that ruled over them with the potential of war breaking out at any moment, they struggled to make ends meet in their economy, and they had families depending on them for support. Like humans of every age, they had much to worry about.
Yet knowing that they and we worry about all these different aspects of life, Jesus wants to assure us that there is no need to worry about any of it. How can this be? How can he assure us that with all the chaos and stresses we experience that we should not worry?
Now I don’t want to stand up here this morning on Thanksgiving Sunday when I will go home to a warm house and eat a big dinner with family tomorrow and tell you all that Jesus is saying that you just need to have enough faith, that by believing in God you will no longer worry about eating or having a place to stay. For some of us eating and clothing is a real worry and reality, and in a lot of ways my own privilege plays a big role in allowing me not to worry about basic humans needs. I can take to easily to heart the command to not worry about where my food, shelter and clothing will come from. My own privilege allots me hours to spend seeking after the kingdom of God without worrying about things like a bomb going off near my house or losing my rights to marriage and so on. Those of us who have similar privileges cannot help but hear this passage differently than those who do not. So I humbly offer you this one of many possible reflections on this challenging passage.
Jesus illustrates his command to not worry about life by pointing to birds and lilies. He remarks that although they are things that need food and clothing, they do not worry about them, they go about finding their food or growing into their clothing because it is provided to them by God in the natural world. A bird is meant to fly and eat, and so that’s what it does. A lily is meant to grow and take on a beautiful flower and so it does. And it is not to say that birds or lilies never experience stress, a sever drought or forest fire destroys a birds ability to eat, a cold bitter frost can wilt or kill a lily. All of life can experience stress that comes from outside forces, stress it has no control over, but despite this, birds and lilies don’t spend their existence worrying, they spend their time living into the true natures that God gave them, striving for the life that they are meant to have.
I think Jesus is encouraging us humans to do the same thing. We, like birds and lilies, cannot control the external forces of threat and stress around us. If a plague of locusts ruins our crops like it did during the time of the prophet Joel there is nothing we can do about that. But we, also like the birds and lilies, have a nature that God has given to us, and this nature is one that is meant to not be seeking after food like the nature of birds or to be growing into clothing like the nature of lilies, it is meant to be always seeking after the kingdom of God. Before we seek anything else on this planet, Jesus is telling us that our species is meant to first strive for the kingdom of God. After we do that, then all other things will come our way. When we seek the kingdom of God we recognize the blessings that God has surrounded us with. When we seek the kingdom of God we acknowledge our neighbours, other humans, as children of spirit, each one worthy of kindness and support. When we seek the kingdom of God, we become connected to the Spirit that moves us to act with justice and humility in the world. If we can direct our lives to live into our true natures as the universe has created them, then we experience love in action, and do not need to worry. And as Jesus reminds us, not only can worrying do nothing to stop the stresses of this world, but it also doesn’t know what we need better than our loving parent in heaven does.
So on this Thanksgiving Sunday, may we be moved to embrace our true natures, which seek ever after that sacred eternal mystery of love, and may we remember that
In every life we have some trouble
But when you worry you make it double
Amen.
-Rev. Cynthia Reynolds
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