...“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.” ... Matthew 6: 25
You know, whenever I hear this particular gospel passage the first thing that pops into my mind is that silly song from back in 1988: “Don’t worry, be happy!” I’m really dating myself with that, aren’t I? Anyone else remember it? And then I get both annoyed and surprised at myself because my mind has equated that ridiculous song with one of Jesus’ teachings, it seems disrespectful and irreverent somehow. That gave me pause, and it occurred to me: that’s what we do almost automatically. The influence of our culture and the society we live in impacts us profoundly--even at a subconscious level! Being a faithful Christian means being aware of how society and culture influences us, particularly when those influences go against the teachings of Jesus. Because Jesus’ teachings are counter-cultural! They were in his day and still are today.
We live in a society that puts money, and the desire for it and its power ahead of everything else, along with the message that the more we have, the better our lives will be. And by purchasing such and such product you can actually save money—so you can spend that savings on something else and get even further ahead even faster. Our society revolves around the economy, our country’s economic prosperity hinges on how much we spend. And as we’re still coming out of a bit of a recession, even our government’s message is that life improves for everyone when we spend our way out recession. Advertisers bombard us with messages to buy our way into happiness. Is that real happiness? No, and consciously we know that, but the “power of spending” becomes ingrained into our psyches and it ain’t an easy message to resist!
Now, to be fair, money is a reality. We all need it, and for those who truly do not have enough, it’s a tough go, and there are increasingly more and more households that even with two wage earners, don’t make enough to earn a living wage to support themselves and their families, and those on fixed incomes. And in times like these, with costs going up daily it seems, for some, it’s hard not to be concerned about money. I do think it is fair to say that in today’s western society, for many, money really is our master. So for those of us who are trying hard to be faithful to Jesus’ teachings how do we reconcile what Jesus is trying to tell us, with what seems to be our reality?
Jesus tells his listeners: “So do not start worrying; ‘Where will my food come from? Or my drink? Or my clothes?’ … Your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things.” It does almost sound like ‘don’t worry, be happy’ doesn’t it? Is this really what Jesus is telling us? That we don’t have to work for the things we need –like food clothing, shelter, or that we don’t need to plan for the future? We can just sit back, relax, and live on faith that God will take care of our needs? Like the birds? Maybe birds don’t sow seed and store food in barns, but even the squirrels collect and store the food God provides them, so there must be more to it than that! On face value, it doesn’t make any sense at all. And it is a message that is poor solace indeed for the many, many in the world who are under-housed, underfed, or those living in abject poverty. Or is this another example of Jesus’ using hyberbole, exaggerated examples to get his point across?
Pondering this brought to mind the parable of the talents, the one whereby the master gave his three servants various sums of money, and the servant who did nothing with his money--buried it in the ground rather than chance losing it -- was berated for wasting the opportunity to make something from it rather than putting it to good use—even putting it in the bank to get a nominal interest was the example provided. So, are we getting two different messages then? What is Jesus telling us by using these almost silly and extreme examples in today’s gospel passage?
Ok, so, let’s go back to it for another look. Our scripture today begins with: “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.” And the next word is a key word here: “Therefore, I tell you do not worry about your life” etc....
Therefore is a big word in this sentence, therefore, for this reason, I tell you not to worry... For what reason? For the reason that you cannot serve both God and wealth. Our gospel reading is an excerpt from the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus was teaching those who came to him to learn, how to live like God’s holy people. He’s calling on them to check where their true loyalty lay; is it to God or wealth? Where was the primary focus of their lives? Who is their master, in other words, for whom or what were they working: for God or for money—for the desire to accumulate wealth and all that means? Because, you can’t serve two masters--- its God or money, they’re mutually exclusive, it’s one or the other, not both-and.
Twice Jesus says that “Therefore do not worry.” 32 “For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” Gentiles, the biblical word for those who didn’t believe. So if you choose to work for God and not for the almighty dollar, God will provide. Because if God provides even for birds, well, why would God not provide for God’s own people?
The faithful person, the one who believes, who lives to serve God, who’s life focus is on God’s will, knows they can depend on God. Because they know God will provide when they do God’s work. How does God provide? In many ways! For example, by providing us with gifts of talents and abilities so that we can work to make the money we need, enough for ourselves and to give to those who are in need. God provides to us through others, when necessary, God provides to others through us.
God provides for all our needs, God’s there to help us when we need it, whatever the need. So, if your focus is on what God wants for you, on God’s work, God’s way of life, you don’t need to worry—because God provides for our needs. When we worry, the subject of our worry becomes the overwhelming focus of your thinking, impinging on how we live our lives. Worry is “mental distress or agitation resulting from concern”[1]; to ‘be anxious... to obsess’. [2] Worrying means you’ve turned your concern, your fears inward onto yourself, which can manifest as anxiety or obsession. And that can take over our lives. And we lose sight of God in that mix. If our worry about money becomes first in our lives—it masters us—instead of letting God being our master!
Jesus wasn’t saying throw your cares to the wind. Instead, take your worries, your anxieties to God, give them to God, “So, do not worry (do not fear) about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (vs 34) In the Lord’s prayer Jesus taught his disciples to pray: “Give us today our daily bread.” Not, “Give us today enough bread for the next couple of weeks.” During the Exodus, when God’s people were crossing the desert and they had no food, God provided manna every day—except the Sabbath Day. The day before they were to collect enough for two days so they could take the Sabbath day off from collecting food, and focus on re-connecting with God. The message is clear, God provides for God’s people, because our God is a good God who loves us, the people of God’s creation. We show our thanks and our love, our faith to God when we do God’s work. And when we do, God provides. Not always as expected, or maybe not as we would like it or want it! Yet, when we serve God, our God provides, and provides abundantly. Verse 33 Jesus reminds us: ... strive first for the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. What a great message for a Thanksgiving Sunday!
[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/worry accessed October 5, 2021
[2] https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/worry accessed October 5, 2021