27 Feb 2011 “Consider These” Matthew 6:24-34

27 Feb 2011     “Consider These”       Matthew 6:24-34

 I read recently about a man named Anthony. Anthony was on the waiting list for a heart transplant. He awoke each morning with the knowledge that at any time, his cell phone could ring with the news that a donor heart had become available, and he would be whisked off to the hospital for transplant surgery.

 He also knew that at any time his seriously damaged heart might give out. Because his immune system was so fragile, Anthony was cautious about exposure to germs, since having even a mild infection would be enough to delay the transplant that he so desperately needed. Each day involved a carefully monitored routine of medication, diet, and limited exertion.

 For Anthony, life was a waiting game. He did what he could to follow his doctor’s orders and prolong his chances of staying alive until a heart became available. Anthony also lived with the gnawing awareness that his hopes for life would only come with the death of another person.

He certainly had much to be anxious about. Like anyone who faces a serious health issue, Anthony was concerned for the future. He worried about what would happen to him and what that would mean for his family. Only 48, Anthony had much to live for. He was looking forward to his son’s wedding and his daughter’s graduation from college. He was frustrated that he was unable to work, and longed for the day when he would have enough energy again to do the physical activities that he used to enjoy. He worried each day that he would receive a heart in time, yet he tried not to think about what kind of tragic accident might lead to someone losing their life for his.

 Anthony prayed, and he grounded his anxiousness in scripture. He kept an index card propped up against the napkin holder on his kitchen table. On it he had written these words from Matthew’s gospel: “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? 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? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?”

 Anthony found comfort and reassurance in those verses. He repeated them often, committing them to memory. Whenever the waves of fear or worry arose, Anthony recalled these words that he had come to know by heart. They reminded him that he was loved by God, and that no mater what happened, he could trust in God’s steady care for him. They reminded him that he was of infinite worth and value in God’s eyes, and that God would watch over him and be with him.

  Anthony also took comfort in Jesus’ teaching and promise, “Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

 The Reverend Julie Kanarr has written about this passage, to remind us, “In our living and in our dying, we belong to God; God will not abandon us to face our troubles alone. Indeed, our hopes for life do rest with the death of another. Jesus Christ. The suffering and death of Jesus on the cross brings life to us. Through his death and resurrection, Christ proclaims that death does not have the last word for our lives. Trusting in that promise, we can face our struggles with the confidence and hope that God stands with us, with grace sufficient for each day.”

  There are times when I wonder about the wisdom of this truth. I can certainly follow the line of thinking. I can agree with the reasoning behind not being anxious. But, I wonder, does Jesus not know about our modern world. Does he not know about our entire industry of helping drugs created because of our inability to avoid anxiety? Does Jesus not realize that Western economies depend on massive spending on things we do not actually need?

 Truthfully, aren’t some things worth being anxious about? Providing for ones’ family, securing a viable future for our children’s children, finding peace between nations, aren’t these things worth our anxiety?

 Jesus has a simple one word answer for us, NO. First, we must realize that this reading to “not worry” is not a suggestion, it is a command. Jesus really wants us to know, we are not to worry about our life. We are to fear nothing.

 I have read that this is the most often repeated command in the bible. When angels appear to announce the incarnation, they tell Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds, “Fear not.” When the disciples see the majesty of Jesus’ grandeur, he has to follow up very quickly with a caution against fear. When Jesus is taken from them, whether in his death or when he ascends to heaven, he comforts his followers against fear.

  While the command to not be afraid is the most often repeated command in the bible, it is also the least obeyed. Verse 32 tells us, “Do not worry, that’s what Gentiles do.”

I must confess, being simply told NOT to worry is somewhat irksome and a bit patronizing. Don’t our feelings count for something? Does saying, “Therefore do not worry,” take away the worry? No, it doesn’t, does it.

 Jesus, it seems wants to bring this troubling command to us personally. Just when we feel good about how we have developed an unmovable and frantic look about ourselves and hone in on our worry fixation, Jesus heads us off from within a bible verse.

 It’s as if he stands before us and cautions, “Now just a minute”. There is then a pause, a smile comes to his face and he allows our breath to slow down a bit and all of our attentiveness to be on him. Then he tells us why we need not worry, we hear Jesus’ revelation of perhaps the greatest mystery of the universe as he says so simply, “Consider the lilies.”

 A pastor colleague tells a story of shopping on a Saturday morning at a local flea market where she bought a silver bracelet shaped like a ring of lilies. Though it was more expensive than she could really afford and a little to big for her wrist she bought it anyway.

  She wore it for years. It clanked by her side, it flashed in the light, it could not be ignored when worn. Twice a day it captured her complete attention, when she took it off at night and when she put it on in the morning. And during these times prayer was easier.” Consider the lilies, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.” There is no worry in God’s created lilies.

 One day her Dad was admiring her bracelet and noticed there was no safety chain. He worried a bit and asked her, “But what if the clasp comes undone? The bracelet will fall right off, and you’ll lose it.” Boys being boys, Dad took the bracelet to a jeweler to ‘fix it.’ That’s what men do. We fix things. Obsessive, perfectionist behavior?  Perhaps. A loving parents way to overcome worry? Surely.

 At some point in our worry filled life we can no longer avoid facing what it really is that is keeping us up at night. We can no longer avoid what truly, at the deepest level in our being, worries us. The unnamed source must be named.

 Jesus meets us at this place of discovery in this mornings teaching with these questions that redirect us from ourselves.  Do we want to live in a world in which God is in control, or a world in which we are?  Can we let God be God, or do we really think that we have to take over God’s job?

 But, we say, to worry is to be faithful to our humanity. Perhaps, but how disingenuous. If we come this morning seeking justification of our humanity as our excuse for unfaithful living, well, I bring no such justification. I am sorry if you thought I would have finely honed and deeply life changing theological advice for us this morning. Advice that would pick up the missing pieces and complete our life puzzle, advice that would take away all sorrow and pain and fear and yes, especially worry. Obviously, I cannot say or do anything that will make that happen. Just as obviously, God can!

 Worry is a part of life. What isn’t a part of life, or what need not be, is the conviction that it is all up to us to ‘fix it,’ that we are responsible and in control, that if we do not worry on behalf of everyone and everything, we are somehow shirking our responsibility.

God is God. We are not. There isn’t anything else so beautifully clarifying. Consider the lilies, how they grow. We didn’t make them, did we?! Of course not!  So let it go, take a deep breath! Let the lilies grow and bloom without our worry.

 I think God can probably handle this, if we can stand to step aside and make a little room in our lives for God. To let God be God, God can bring the deeply rich teaching we so desire. God can fix this!

 Or, would a new bracelet help, one that would remind us to consider the lilies of the field? Would we need a safety chain with our bracelet?

 Yes, of course, we would. But, we need not go to any jeweler.  Our lives have already been fixed with that safety chain. It is a special gift from God.   It is our Lord and savior Jesus Christ who is our safety chain.

 Jesus Christ is why we need not worry, why we need not try and fix anything. There, in that baptismal font, there on that communion table, and there, on that cross, that is where we have been fixed, where our worry has been taken away, where our safety has become grounded. Grounded in Jesus’ love, Jesus’ grace and Jesus’ blessed forgiveness.

 Our safety has been secured for all eternity. We need not worry one bit. For, consider the lilies, and how they grow, they neither toil nor spin, yet they thrive in the most unlikely of places, here with us, in the kingdom of God.

 In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Additional helps:

“Christian Century”, Tom McGrath, May 20, 2008, pg. 20.

“The Minster’s Annual Manual”, Julie A. Kanarr, May 25, 2008, pgs. 372 – 374.

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