Don't worry... Alleluia
ss=MsoNormal>I speak to you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen
Consider the Lilies of the Field…
Look at the birds of the air…
Today in our Gospel passage from Matthew - a segment taken from the Sermon on the Mount - we are called to Consider… and Look at God’s creation
And what better time in the year – then today? …
Well, maybe every other time of the year is better than now
With our snow and high winds on Friday and our warmer weather today and rain forecasted for tomorrow
It is, maybe, the time of the year that most needs our imagination to consider and look at the beauty in the natural world - all around us
But all around us it is beautiful - just Thursday when I was walking in from my car, the sun was shinning, the snow a fresh wonderful carpet on the ground and there were song birds singing and flying about in between the evergreens
We here, at Farringdon are blessed not only with a beautiful worship space but also with a beautiful location - beautiful in the all the seasons
Fall happens to be my favorite time of the year
When I was growing up - on Sunday afternoons
After a family lunch of cold cuts and fresh bread and pickles, olives and a variety of cheeses – spread out like a banquet of abundance
We would go for a hike out on the escarpment - on the Bruce Trail
And spend most of the afternoon considering and looking … and being part of God’s creation
To smell the fresh air and the special unique odor of leaves drying and changing colour
And to see the handiwork of God’s paintbrush
- With the many shades of green, brown, yellow, orange, and red
We live in a truly magnificent part of the world - place that provides richness in all four of the seasons
But it is fall and harvest time that I like the best
It is because, in part, the physical beauty - but also because it is the time of Harvest
Now I know that today in our grocery stores we can get products grown in greenhouses from all over the globe which keeps us from the natural cycle of the seasons
But somehow the locally harvested vegetables in season still have their effect
The produce section, in the harvest time of the year, is telling a different tale then the usual
o The potatoes varieties are not limited to the browned-over tougher skin, that can travel or store well, but includes the fresh ‘new potatoes’
o Corn spills over
o There are squashes of many shapes and colours
o And in general is there is a message of abundance
I love to think of God’s creation in the harvest time with all the abundance…
Spring too, is a season of great beauty, the grass has returned to growing after its winter hibernation, the bare branches are replaced first with buds and then quickly with a wonderful canopy of leafs.
Then there are the spring flowers, colours from every shade of the rainbow.
I, personally, am really looking forward to this spring – the first spring for the landscaping project in the front of the church.
The drawings give us a glimpse of the beauty that awaits – but seeing it in person, I am sure will be a great pleasure
And it is spring with the first flowers that Jesus spoke to us in our gospel passage of today
I imagine Jesus picking a single stem of a wild lily and saying, “Look carefully at this wild flower of the field.”
As we look and marvel at its fragile beauty, He challenges us by saying effectively “Are you too busy to look carefully at the wild lilies of the field?”
Are you too caught up in your hurried and harried life so that your heart is no longer captured by the beauty and intricacies of wild flowers?
That is the first lesson of today
Life is more then just… us - stop and smell the roses - consider them
But if you are like me - like most of our Bible study group
We meet Tuesday mornings at 10am and the Ladies Tuesday evening at 7pm - newcomers always welcome
Your focus of the gospel passage was not on the lilies or the birds but on what Jesus is telling us about “worry”
The word ‘worry’ comes up 6 times
This is a very popular and important passage that so clearly speaks of the subject
Knowing that anything repeated in scripture is something that we should be very careful to observe and understand
And here Jesus is telling us ‘not to worry’:
About food - or drink - or clothes
When I hear and read this passage, my mind immediately goes to two songs
The first is by Bob Marley called ‘Three Little Birds’ the main chorus repeatedly says
"Don't worry about a thing, 'Cause every little thing gonna be all right.
The second is by Bobby McFerrin called ‘Don't Worry Be Happy’
And the message is, regardless of what life throws at you – homelessness, no money for rent, no girlfriend – whatever the troubles in life – “Don’t worry, be happy”
Both are catchy tunes – that once you have heard them they stick in your head and leave you feeling… well, happy
For that reason alone, I like them both
However is that what Jesus is saying
Is Jesus really telling us to simply ‘not worry’ – everything will be all right and just… be happy?
I can tell you that have heard more than one preacher go on a rant about how silly this attitude is
It is the source of great frustration for some, that in ten verses with 274 words, some people only hear two
I won’t go on a rant – but Jesus is teaching us more than the two Bobs
Then as now, Food and drink, are of course necessities of ‘life’
And clothing is vital and representative of many things - at its most basic level - security - protection against the elements
Is Jesus saying that we are not supposed to be concerned with life and security?
Well, like so often when we have questions about scripture, we need to look deeper - to do some homework
Like for instance coming to Bible study – Tuesday morning or evening…
With questions, we need to look at what Jesus is really saying
Let’s consider it at the word level first
“worry” – this is a valid translation but it means more then we might tend to understand it as – where we think of worry primarily as ‘anxiety’
The Greek word used means be preoccupied with or be absorbed by…
Now when we consider that we are not to be preoccupied or absorbed with something - even vital basic necessities
We are given a new layer beyond mere anxiety
Jesus was not telling His audience to become carefree and irresponsible. He was, instead, exhorting them to set priorities for themselves:
Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?(Matthew 6:25b)
If we were to stop there - we would have some sense of what God wants us to do
We would - by ‘reading through the lines’ understand that:
- life is more important then to be preoccupied with materials things
- the food we eat
- or what we drink
- or where we live
- and what we drive
- that we should slow down and consider and look at God’s creation
- The passage does not mean, that food, drink, clothing, and other such necessities will come to the disciple automatically without work or foresight. It addresses only the problem of preoccupation about these things.
o For Christians of every age, anxiety is incompatible with a lifestyle focused on God’s kingdom. Indeed, anxiety and worry need not rule the disciple who “has known the grace of God”
Stopping there gives us lots to think about and to act on…
But that is not where Jesus ends
And as a side note - anywhere in the bible where words like:
But – Therefore – or However
Anytime these words show up - get ready for the heart of the message
For the fiscally minded ‘The payout’
In our second last verse Jesus states:
“But strive first for the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33)
All this talk about birds… and lilies… and worry…, all of it - leads up - to ‘what we are simply called to do’
Strive first for the kingdom of God and His righteousness
We go to the greatest of all commandments – as Jesus said “the first and great commandment…”
And the reoccurring message through-out the Old and New Testament
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind” (Luke 10:27)
We are told the two parables: of the birds of the air, and the lilies of the field - to bring home the message of why God created us
How we are not to be preoccupied with things before God
That ‘worry’ is being preoccupied with something else…first
That it is an action of a lack of trust and faith in God
Jesus asked as recorded in Matthew 16:
“For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)
THEREFORE - we are to strive also for His Righteousness
This is the part of the reading that doesn't always get proclaimed when people focus on the lesson about worry
However, all the rest of the teaching have been leading up to this point
When I reflect on this verse, a childhood memory of church comes to mind
During the communion time at the church that I grew up going to, Hymns would be quietly played and sung by the worship team
This was one of the main ones:
Seek ye first the kingdom of God And His righteousness, And all these things shall be added unto you, Allelu, alleluiaAs we, the community of God, gathered and were sharing in the heavenly rehearsal, in the thanksgiving banquet of communion, we were remind that we are to seek God… first And in communion we were doing that That our responsibility is on-going – in the relationship with God That it is active – and not passiveThat by orienting ourselves to God’s kingdom and righteousness …by doing, we will be blessed by God There is a Latin saying – Lex orandi, lex credendi
For those of you that understand Latin, you may recognize it as an important saying of the church
For those that don’t understand Latin – aren’t you impressed that I know some Latin?
It is roughly translated to mean:
"The law of prayer is the law of belief"
And refers to the relationship between worship and belief, and is an ancient Christian principle which provided a measure for understanding the development in the faith
As we pray – as we order our life of worship
We are ordering our belief
We are growing in belief by our worship
It is the reason that the worship service is structured as it is
Beginning with an invitation, then prayers of confession as we enter into God’s nearer presence
Followed by teachings by God’s word – and an exposition of word known as the sermon
We pray and ask for God to be part of our petitions and intercessions
Spread throughout are Hymns – all chosen to match the teachings of the Bible
And as Luther has said “when you sing, you pray twice”
And finally concluding with being sent out into the world beyond the walls of the church building with The Blessing in the name of the Holy Trinity and concluding doxology
Through-out it all we are worshiping and growing in faith and belief by our worship
Lex orandi, lex credendi
Strive first for the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33a)
Order your life around the kingdom of God and His righteousness
"Righteousness" in the Bible is not ethical, moral or legal behavior; Rather, righteousness is fulfilling the demands of a relationship with God and with humanity
It means doing what God wants without regard to how it might make us look.
Jesus' obedience receives much attention in Matthew.
His Righteousness is not primarily about being ‘right’,
But about doing what God wants and that is always connected to God's saving, compassionate purpose.
Righteousness is obedience to God’s will and ways - being a disciple - a student of Jesus
Living life as a witness - freely choosing to follow and live out a life respectful and honourable to God – as we order our life
Saying in the relationship … I will learn your ways and ‘live them out’
‘God first’ means striving for His Righteousness …
So… consider the beauty of creation – all provided by God
Don’t place anything before God – don’t be preoccupied – placing concerns before righteousness
Strive for the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness
And God will in turn, who knows your needs – not your wants, but your needs
Will provide - Amen