Do Not Worry

A very rich man had a conversation with God just before he died. “Lord,” he said, “I’ve been blessed with a lot of wealth, more than I know what to do with. You know that I have been very generous and gracious in sharing it with my community and with my congregation as well. I’ve supported missionaries and missions, and all this I have done gladly. I hate to leave it all. Isn’t there some way that I could bring it with me?” After much back and forth with God, they finally reach an agreement. The man can bring one suitcase. But he can only bring what he can fit in that suitcase. With so many currencies to chose from, which would be the best to take to heaven? Finally he decided on gold. When the time came and the man found himself standing before St. Peter, St. Peter said, “Sorry, my friend. You’re not allow to bring anything with you.” The man explained how he was very wealthy and the deal he had made with God and after Peter checked it out he asked to see what the man brought. He proudly opened his suitcase filled with gold and Peter said, “Pavement!? Why did you bring pavement?”

Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Therefore do not be anxious.”

Yeah, right. For me, I hear these words and it almost feels like one of those moments when an angel will suddenly appear out of nowhere, scare the living daylights out of whomever they happen to be appearing to and then say, “Don’t be afraid.” Really? Don’t be afraid? Well it’s a little late for that. Really? Don’t be anxious? Don’t worry? Well, it might be a little late for that.

After all, there is plenty to worry about. What do you worry about? What is it that keeps you up at night? What is it that makes your stomach uneasy? What is it that will move you to pace back and forth hoping, wishing that the situation would just be gone? Are you worried about money, jobs, something going on at school, what about your relationships, your loved ones, your friends, health, the future? Are you worried that this sermon will be long and boring?

There is certainly much to worry about, and then we hear Jesus’ words. “Don’t worry.” And then we say, “Oh. Ok. Sorry. My bad. I thought we were supposed to be worried about things. But I’ll just go ahead and stop doing that right this moment.” Right? I think there is a tendency to hear Jesus’ words and we realize how much we worry and then we, because we are Lutherans, and Lutherans are good at this, we start to feel guilt about worrying and then we begin to worry because we worry too much and feel even more guilty.

So what do we do with these words? How do we understand them? I would say there are two things to keep in mind here. But before I get to those, remember that we are still in the season of Epiphany. So we are celebrating God revealing himself through Jesus, and how the people of God live their lives. This is still part of the Sermon on the Mount and should be heard in that context.

But there are two things to keep in mind as we here Jesus’ words. The first is understanding that these verse are brining into light something that we are very good at hiding and keeping in the dark. These verses are exposing something that we don’t like to talk about or admit to. We know that it is there deep down, but we’ve become really skilled at convincing ourselves that it is not a problem and not something that needs to bother us. Yet, we also know that it isn’t right and that is what these verses are exposing, and that’s why they can be really hard for us to hear. Because what these verses are ultimately getting at is what is most important in our lives, what is it that we place our trust in? What is the god that we serve?

Luther said that a god is that from which we expect to have all good and what we take refuge in, in all distress. Now remember we do a good job of hiding this even from ourselves, but what is it that we place as gods in our lives? Is it our bank accounts? Status? Health? Our families? Having the latest greatest gadgets? Work? Religion? Church? Food? Knowledge? Being right? Because whatever it is that we place as more important in our lives than our God is a false god. None of those things, which are not bad in and of themselves, but none of those things will be able to save us. All of those things are part of the creation; they are no substitute for the creator.

Now I am not saying that we give up everything and start acting carelessly. We are to be good stewards with what God has entrusted to us. We are to love and care for our families, so of course we want the best for them. We are to use the money that God has given us to serve him and support the work that he is doing in our world. We are to seek to grow in our study and understanding of God’s word. All those things are very good, but they are no substitute for the one true God.

This is the God who loves us more than we can comprehend. This is the God who became a human being, he lived a sinless life, took our place on the cross, rose victoriously from the grave, so that we could be restored to him. Because of and for the sake of Jesus we have forgiveness, life and salvation. We are reconciled to our God and in Jesus we have life. We have life abundantly. We get to experience life in God’s kingdom. Nothing else can give us these things. Therefore we cannot put our trust in anything else.

Not only is there life in Jesus, but there is also freedom. Have you ever woke up in the morning and said, “Wow! What a beautiful morning! I can’t wait to start worrying. I wonder what I should worry about first?” Worrying is often not a pleasant experience. And this brings us to the second thing that is happening with these words of Jesus, while they are revealing and showing to us those things that we have made idols in our lives. They are also inviting us to be able to be free and to live free from that worry. What a great gift.

Now, this is not easy. We like to be in control. We like to think that we can change things if we worry about it enough. We like to want our way for everything to work out. But in Jesus’ invitation, again we are not talking about being lazy and unintelligent, but we are talking about knowing our God and his love and care for us and for his creation.

God is not something that we have to just think about for an hour on Sunday and then we can go home and get on with our lives for another week. But he is to be God in every area and aspect of our lives. And not because he is a wicked ruler that likes to be in control, but because he loves and cares for his creation. Look at the birds of the air or the flowers of the field, you are so much more valuable than they. And if God cares for them, then he will certainly care for you.

So we hear these words. We look for those things in our lives that we are placing as more important than God and we ask for forgiveness, do a 180 and ask God to free us from the burdens of worry, and to put our priorities in line with his. This is a life that is truly blessed. This is live lived in the Kingdom of God. This is life as it was meant to be lived and better than anything we can imagine.

The hard thing is that it is very different from what we have been taught to value. The world will tell us we have to have stuff to feel good. We have to have money, health, toys, knowledge, you get the idea. And yet Jesus invites us not to worry.

When Jesus extends this invitation to us, it is an invitation that allows us to live our lives with God, without the burden of the things and worries that weigh us down and it is also through these things then that our God teaches us something. And so the question to ask is; what is God teaching me right now in this moment? Perhaps He’s taking something away in your life, could it be because He is asking you not to depend on something else more than him? Could it be because He is challenging you through this taking away to take that next step, that leap of faith as you grow in your maturity of your relationship with Him. Or maybe, maybe he’s taking it away in order to call you back to those glory days where you lived your life so much differently in your faith. To remember your first love, so to speak.

I want to offer you a challenge. It will not make God love you more. You will not add to your salvation, neither does your salvation depend on it. However, it is a challenge that is very much in line with the way God called us to live. I want you to consider three things.

First, I would like to challenge you in serving your community. There are different organizations here today with opportunities to serve. This is simply doing something nice for people that God loves and showing that love in the nice things we do. Pick one. Try one, one time. That’s the challenge.

Second, I would like to challenge you to participate in the Outflow series during the season of Lent. It is not very long, you will not be by yourself in doing it. It is very worthwhile and I know that you will both enjoy and be blessed by it.

Third, I want to challenge you to give financially in support of the work that God is doing in our world. In these tough economic times there are missions and missionaries that are having a very, very hard time making ends meet. Support them. Give as a way of showing what is most important. Give a onetime kind of gift. Get together as a family and talk about where we want to give and what we want to support. It could be here, but this is something over and above your regular tithes and offerings. But it is being done for the sake of the mission and seeking first God’s kingdom.

When we seek first God’s kingdom, and align our priorities with his, well, everything else has a way of falling into place. God can certainly and indeed does handle it and take care of it. And as we accept and live out these challenges we are letting our light so shine before others that they will see our good works and give glory to our Father in heaven. And that makes sense. After all, you are the salt of the earth. Seasons Greetings. Amen.