Luke 12:22-34
22 He said to his disciples, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 26 If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? 27 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. 28 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! 29 And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. 30 For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. 32 ‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Well, I’m going to be honest with you…. I had to scrap my whole or my mostly whole sermon on NOT WORRYING because, well… I was worried. I was worried you wouldn’t believe me, I was worried I would come across as a hypocrite, I worried it would be too short, I worried it would be too long… THEN… I got a little distracted and I started getting ready for tomorrow’s family trip up to Lake George. I worried the boat would NOT start, I worried that the electrical that was going in and out would not work. I was worried… WELL… it was enough to make a man just cower and cry.
NOW… It's not without good reason that ONE should worry about such trips. Just traveling to and from the mighty Lake George, I have had two blown tires, two axle bearings wear away, multiple knuckle gripping steering wheel rides, and well…just an assortment of fun. Add onto this running out of gas twice in the middle of the lake and one time the boat didn’t start and we were just about to pack it in and go to a motel when it miraculously started. I guess that’s why the two best times in a boater’s life are when they buy the boat and when they sell it! So, what are YOU worried about right now? Is it your health? Your finances? You spouse or significant other? Your Pet? The METS? I get it! We are all so worried about the unknown. So what can I, a mere mortal, impart to you about this passage in LUKE?
So this is a tough one… NOT TO WORRY! HOW does ONE NOT do that? Especially in these trying times? OH wait… aren’t ALL TIMES TRYING? I think …. I think we believe they are. Anyway, if you were listening and really tuning in to the words in LUKE 12 that John just spoke about, JESUS is telling his disciples to NOT WORRY!!! HE SAYS:
“Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about the body, what you will wear, for life is more than food and the body more than clothing”
As I was thinking about what to say to you today, I received a phone call from my brother-in-law who is remodeling one of our bathrooms, and, just a side note here, he is MORE THAN reasonable in his pricing to Barb and I, and he said that we have used up all the advanced moneys that we had paid him and he will need more. BIG GULP…. And I don’t mean the kind you get from 7-11! I mean the kind of GULP you get when you
realize you have more MONTH at the end of your MONEY…GULP…. BUT this passage is absolutely telling us to STOP THINKING of THINGS in terms of EARTHLY things. In fact, the money will come for the completion of the bathroom, the money will come for the mortgage, the money will come for all our needs, maybe JUST not for all our wants!
This passage from LUKE goes on to tell us NOT TO KEEP SEEKING WHAT YOU ARE TO EAT OR DRINK, “INSTEAD SEEK HIS KINGDOM, AND THESE THINGS WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU AS WELL”. Now that is a relaxing thought. Do NOT worry about food nor clothes nor gas prices nor grocery prices nor… well, just about EVERYTHING!!!!
But for ME, NOT TO WORRY is a challenge at best. I mean, when we die, I’m told, or at least led to believe, that WE CAN’T TAKE IT WITH US.
Take a look at Billionaire Warren Buffet. HE in fact has accumulated billions of dollars and has been, relatively speaking, the same man with the same values his whole life. He has pledged to donate 99% of his wealth to five different charities and as of today has been doing so for years. He is definitely NOT taking it with him. Here is also a man who presumably does not worry about where his food or clothes are coming from. Was he always this way? I don’t know.
The 24hour news that we get on a daily basis is successful because they tap into our FEAR - fear of crime, fear of losing money, fear of losing rights or our independence, OR, you name it. Mostly what NEWS sells is FEAR, and more BAD NEWS. Well, what if there was a GOOD NEWS channel? One that focused on ALL the positive events of the day?
Do you know OR remember that there was such a NEWS station years ago and no one watched it? Or at least not for very long. THAT GOOD NEWS idea was short lived and well, the BAD NEWS is that GOOD NEWS does not sell OR if you’re a NEWS station the GOOD NEWS is that BAD NEWS does sell.
One of the first things I thought of when I was given this reading on LUKE was a song by Bobby McFerrin hit song from the ‘80’s called... Does anyone remember? Right... “Don’t worry be happy”. I looked up the song on YOUTUBE the other day and I was shocked and surprised to see that that song had been viewed...any guesses on how many times? One thousand times? 100 thousand? A million? 10 million? How about almost 286 million views! What does that tell us? I know what it tells me. It tells me that people are so in need of positive news, positive feelings, HOPE.
I believe that they are in need of Christ and the messages from the bible. But some are afraid of organized religion or have had bad experiences with church or some of the heads of the church. It’s the same way you or I look at a video of someone doing something nice or what we assume is unusual or unique or sweet or unbelievably KIND. I have to believe that these types of events have been happening well before we could capture them on our phone cameras. I think there is good EVERYWHERE. Well, if there is GOOD everywhere then WHAT ARE WE SO WORRIED ABOUT? This passage points out that he birds don’t worry if they will be fed, the Lilies don’t worry how they will grow. WHY DO WE WORRY? Jesus wants us to, by his example, be his disciples, and I paraphrase here, develop and nurture our FAITH in GOD. TRUST in GOD and his power and DO NOT WORRY.
There is an expression that I am sure most of you are familiar with…. It goes like this: DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF!!! Which is then followed by: IT’S ALL SMALL STUFF! I can tell you that there have been major times in my life where I did in fact… WORRY. I sweated the small stuff. I doubted. I suffered from lack of faith. I will also tell you that at some other MAJOR times in my life where my life was literally on the line, I did NOT WORRY. One of those times happened a little over 5 years ago when I had some super major surgery. I remember the day before my operation was a Sunday and I was in church and after the service a Deacon at the time, Dave Scelba, led a small gathering of fellow parishioners laying hands on me and Dave said a short prayer. That prayer… My faith… My God… My surgeons… My family… My church family’s prayers… all saw me successfully through the day-long operation.
We all need more faith. You need more faith - I need more faith. I pray that you find PEACE and COMFORT in your struggle to NOT WORRY so much OR not at ALL. To seek GOD and to walk in faith.
May it be so, Amen.