Matthew 6:25-33
“What Matters”
November 21, 2021
Bobby McFerrin gets Jesus. Three decades ago, the
a cappella singer’s words in that beautiful accent seemed to be everywhere, “Don’t worry, be happy.”
I know, I know I just planted an earworm in many of your heads that you’ll be humming the rest of the day.
But not such bad words to have swirl around our brains for a while until maybe they make their way into our attitude.
We Americans worry…a lot.
In a study that just came out last month
40% of Americans say they have been worried about the future multiple times a week in the preceding month and 36% say they’re currently worried more about the future than they usually would be.
This worry is mostly about what will happen in the next 1 to 3 years.
Pretty understandable with COVID news seemingly changing everyday as well as the jobs outlook, the economy and all the health risks that seem to be everywhere.
And then there are the worries closer to home:
Will my child or grandchild be sent home from school because someone in their classroom tested positive for COVID?
Will Thanksgiving dinner with family turn into a political debate before everyone’s even finished passing the mashed potatoes?
Will the rising cost of gas mean we have to rethink those Christmas travel plans?
Life is chock full of worries which makes putting Jesus’ words into action so hard.
For plenty of our neighbors, their worries do include what will we eat or drink and will we have a coat and boots for this winter’s snow and cold.
Jesus is trying to make disciples by teaching that the will of God is supposed to be first on the list of priorities, knowing that all day-to-day worries are taking up precious space in the heads and hearts of human beings.
Let’s remember that Jesus was talking to folks of modest means who were worried about the basics like food and drink and clothing.
They lived through an economy where the vast majority of people had nothing extra to spare and yet were forced to pay huge amounts in taxes while just trying to survive.
Looking ahead to a different future most certainly would have felt like a luxury they could never afford.
Worry has always been with us and what seems to make it that much harder is how much we are inundated by marketing that tries to make us feel less than so that their product will fill the void of what’s missing from our lives.
It was St. Augustine who was known to have said that we were made to love people and us things and that it was sin that caused us to confuse these two.
To continually worry can definitely eat away at our ability to trust in God. We become more narrowly focused on just ourselves and feel like we are somehow inadequate by not being able to make it any better.
It’s then that we start seeing others as being in competition with us for limited resources instead of as fellow children of God with whom we are to share life.
Jesus reminds his listeners that God knows what their needs are.
But we want answers as to why so many needs of so many people go unmet.
Before we start questioning God because God isn’t providing enough resources for everyone to live a decent existence, we may need to rethink the scarcity mentality we have had ingrained in us.
What we instead may need to consider is that there actually is an abundance of resources and that we humans have yet to figure out how to consider the well-being of our neighbors.
As I write this surrounded by more books than I will probably ever to get to read, I am recalling the account from one of these books I’ve just finished called The Beauty of What Remains written by Rabbi Steve Leder.
In his chapter titled, “Nobody Wants Your Crap,” Leder talks about sitting next to a woman on an airplane who shared that her nationwide business is called “Everything but the House” and what they do is sell all the stuff left in people’s homes when they die.
On this Sunday when we give thanks for the lives of those we cared about and loved who have died, Leder reminds us about what really matters when he invites us to just take a walk through a cemetery and read the headstones on the graves.
Having spent quite a bit of time in cemeteries, I can attest to the fact that I have never seen someone’s net worth or the size of their home or the model of their car etched on a headstone.
Instead, what ends up there are words like beloved husband or wife or proud parent or good friend to many.
In the end all those things that we put so much energy into acquiring do not define who we are.
We can’t take any of it with us or as Leder’s grandmother put it, “A burial shroud has no pockets.”
Jesus here is pointing out that if our main goal in life is acquiring money and possessions, we will have lots of worries because we never have enough.
Instead, the alternative Jesus is inviting us into is the life God envisions for us where the priority is not what we have but the content of our hearts.
God’s kingdom is built on the idea that we are to live in community where we look out for each other by sharing what we have, taking what we need and then making sure there’s enough for others.
Getting back to worry, Jesus recognizes that we are creatures who worry but wants us to know that God will not abandon us, even when life throws curve balls at us.
We are not alone, even in our worry.
Let us then pray these words from David Lose:
Dear God, draw our eyes, first, to you, that we may be reminded of the abundant life you have promised and provide and, second, to our neighbors, that we may see and respond to their need. In Jesus’ name. Amen.