Why, Oh Why, Do You Worry So?

It is a worrisome age we are in. We are worried about the government, the future, terror threats, retirement, our wealth, our legacy, our families, our homes, or whatever else causes us to grind our teeth and turn our hair grey. Sadly our worrisome age is encouraged, or rather fueled by the news media, politicians, Wall Street capitals, television preachers, and social media. The more you and I worry the more money they make and the more exposure they receive. If we didn’t worry about living the best life now we wouldn’t be buying books that tell us how.

Indeed it is a difficult time to be a Christian perhaps though not for the reasons we might think or nod our amening heads at. It is difficult in terms of how the church is challenged in opposing thought by her leaders. On one hand you have a group which encourages us to buy into anything their 24 hour news stations tell us to be fact while on the other another group encourages us to buy into anything their political party tell us to be fact. And as if our hands are not full enough we have a little book in which the words of the Messiah are recorded which tell us to buy into everything he is telling us to be fact.

Choices, choices, choices, with so many it is indeed difficult to know which voice is the right voice. Each one claim to be speaking for the voice recorded in today’s scripture, yet each one is speaking only a half truth or a half interpretation of the voice. So many voices to listen to, it is hard to hear the voice of Jesus speak even when he speaks so clearly. Who do we listen to?

Let’s give Jesus a try, it is Sunday after all.

“He said to his student, “That’s why I’m telling you not to worry about your physical life—what you’ll eat—or for your body—what you’ll wear. For life is much more than eating, and the body is more than clothing. Take a look at the birds. They don’t plant, they don’t harvest, they don’t store things away in cribs or barns. Yet God cares for them. You are considerably more valuable than birds. Besides, which one of you, by fretting and fuming, can make himself one inch taller? Well, if your worrying can’t change a little thing like that, why wear yourself out over anything else?

Now take a look at the lilies, how they do no knitting or sewing; yet I’m telling you that not even Solomon, in all his finest, was ever dressed as beautifully like one of them. Well then, if God so outfits a plant that one day is growing in the field and the next is used for fuel, he’ll do even more for you, you spiritual runts. The people of the world go tearing around after all these things. But your Father knows you need them. So set your heart on his Movement, and such things will be fully supplied.

Stop being so scared, my little flock. Your Father has decided to make you responsible for the Movement. Sell what you own and give it with no strings attached. Make yourselves wallets that don’t wear out, an unsurpassed spiritual treasure which thieves do not plunder, nor do worms consume. For your treasure and your heart are wrapped up together.” (Luke 12:22-38 Cotton Patch Gospel)

This passage follows a very direct parable in which a rich man is called a fool and “dies” the very night after building more barns to store his belongings as he retired to his lawn chair. Do you recall the story?

“There was a certain rich fellow whose farm produced well. And he had a meeting with himself and he said, “What shall I do? I don’t have room enough to store my crops.” Then he said, “Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll tear down my old barns and build some bigger one in which I’ll store all my wheat and produce. And I will say to myself, “Self, you’ve got enough stuff stashed away to do you a long time. Recline, dine, wine, and shine!” But God said to him, “You fool! At this very moment your life is being demanded of you. All these things you’ve grubbed for, to whom shall they belong?” That’s the way it is with a man who piles up stuff for himself without giving God a thought.” (Luke 12:16:-21 CPG).

It needs to be said that Jesus is not making a sweeping declaration against wealth, he is making a sweeping declaration of what happens when wealth, security for the future become our god, our focus, our treasure. The man is a fool because he is concerned with his house, his bank account, and his retirement pension. He is a fool for allowing the security of his wealth to become his sole concern. So Jesus tells the young man who has concerned about his brother splitting his inheritance with him to not place his heart in such treasures of the earth. We are not to concern ourselves with making sure we can retire in style because such thoughts, such desires will overcome our Christian call to live faithfully, sacrificially, and in generosity.

I would be a fool if I believed this to be a passage urging us to not concern ourselves with another’s economic situation. Jesus speaks to this when he follows his parable with the observation of the birds and the lilies, saying that God knows we need the basic necessities of life: food, clothing, shelter. He urges us to look at the Rich Man as an example of what happens when we allow our wealth, our possessions to become our treasures, become the matters and concerns of our hearts. When our wealth, our possessions, our desire to obtain more is our sole focus then our hearts become cold, our eyes become blind, and our ears become deaf to the voice of God speaking from the voiceless in our community. Poverty may not be a virtue (remember Jesus said the poor are blessed because theirs is the kingdom of heaven) but neither is wealth a virtue (remember Jesus said, “It will be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a wealthy person to enter the kingdom of God). When our sole focus it to obtain a secure future we become servants of that future and servants to the wealth it calls for.

Notice the man in the parable only speaks in first person, “I”, “Me”, and “Mine”. What he worked hard for was all his and his alone; yet it is the ground that produced the goods in which he profited, others helped gather in the goods in which he profited, everything he had obtained came from the work of another. His thoughts became only for himself and not for his neighbor. He became the rich man ignoring the poor Lazarus begging for food while he gladly feeds scraps to the dogs. 

In our worrisome age we are willing to do whatever it takes to protect what is ours. During our most recent election season the following amounts were spent: The presidential candidates spent nearly $1 billion on television ads and other campaign advertisements. The men who ran for our district's congressional seat raised close to $1 million for their advertisements to be elected. Several Christian organizations gave close $600 million for advertisements to try and get someone elected. Let us ask ourselves this serious question: Could that 1.7 billion dollars have been given to a better use? Could that amount of money gone to organizations like Habitat for Humanity or countless other organizations who work to ease the worries for the homeless, the hungry, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned? Could that amount of money gone to something that is more important than an election? That’s a lot of money to maintain the status quo.

If Jesus is right and where we store our treasures is where our heart is also, then we must admit we have become fools whose hearts are not set on God’s movement, for we no longer look to the birds or to the tiger lilies to see how God provides. We have placed our faith in the power of men and in the power of wealth in hopes they will provide for us a lush home on the golf course with a balcony to put our feet up and relax as others tee off. We are striving for things of the nation, things of this world, and not for things of the kingdom.

Why do we worry so?

When I was a child my Sunday school teachers taught me a very simple song to remind me of who is really in control, whose hands this world is really in. You might know this song too: He’s go the whole world in his hands; he’s got the whole world in his hands; he’s got the whole world in his hand; he’s got the whole wide world in his hands. Now it is true when I was child I thought and acted like a child but as I grew up I began to think and act like an adult. I miss one little connection on a flight to San Francisco and suddenly I am terrified of missing my flight. I doubt that is exactly what Paul was referring to in his letter but there is something to be said how we worry as adults about things we rarely worried for when we were children.

What I mean is this:

One morning Connor really wanted to go play on the playground. He dressed up in his costume, grabbed his Thor hammer and headed outside. He stood in the driveway as large dark ominous clouds began to roll in over the church. At the sound of thunder Connor raised his hammer to the sky yelling, “NO! I command you to move!” In his little mind he believed with everything he had he could convince the rain not to come. Sure enough, the clouds rolled on past and the sun returned.

When was the last time we adults had such faith?

Mark Yaconelli writes, “Anxiety is the inability to be present. It’s a state of agitation in which we lose our ability to emphasize, to love, to respond to the needs of others. When we’re anxious (worried) we become squirrel-like—nervous and wary, teeth chattering, eyes scanning for danger, muscles spring-loaded, waiting to scamper up the nearest tree at every sound. Anxiety comes from words that denote “to choke”. When we’re anxious we can’t breathe. We feel life closing in, leaving fewer and fewer choices. We find ourselves unable to discern real fears from reactive worry. We lose patience, and we’re unable to trust. We get suspicious, distancing ourselves from others, ourselves, and even God. We become lost in our heads, caught up in fearful thoughts and calculations. Our minds oscillate between the future and the past. We worry about what should have happened or fear what might take place. In anxiety we lose touch with what’s driving us. Our actions become self-protective, reactive, and compulsive” (Yaconelli, Mark. Contemplative Youth Ministry pg 35).

On my right there is a number that is posted every week that inadvertently causes anxiety and worry within the church. This morning that number is pretty high and most likely the anxiety level is down and perhaps we should just have a guest preacher every Sunday if giving goes up. There’s not a guarantee next Sunday that the number will be as high and when it comes to church budgets, anxiety and worry reign supreme.

A couple of months ago a dear friend lost his job at a church because they were behind on their giving and they were not sure they’d meet their budget. Similarly there are hundreds of other ministers, mainly associates, who will lose their jobs due to budget issues and they are not the only “items” cut from the budget. When our anxiety over the budget rises we begin to tighten our belts and the first “items” to go are staff, missions, youth, children, and any other “item” deemed of lesser importance. When a church’s highest line items are its pastor’s salary, building, and cemetery funds it says something about the church. It says the church is in danger of becoming like the rich fool, placing our faith, our hope, and value in the seen and tangible instead of placing it all in the hands of the intangible God. They become in danger of being unable to see how much more they are worth than the lilies of the valleys clothed in gold and the birds flying to and fro.

It is dangerous to concern ourselves with the question, “Will we be here in 30, 40, 50, 100, 200, 225 years from now?” for if we do we allow our worries to exasperate our fears and become believers that wealth and power will solve our problems. Jesus is wanting our hearts and minds to be set on things of the kingdom so that we can hear the tears of the teenager down the road as she cries in her room because her alcoholic father told her she was nothing. Our hearts and minds are to be set on things of the kingdom so that we can hear the laughter of the children as rustle about in the pews. Our hearts and minds are to be set on things of the kingdom so that we will show compassion to one needing food, clothing, or help with a bill. If our minds and hearts are not set to the kingdom, if we are constantly worried about what the future holds, or thinking if we just throw enough money at the problem it will be solved, we will miss the voice of Jesus.

Perhaps what we need now is not more money but more people willing to place their hope and faith in God’s movement. Perhaps what we need is to be reminded of the truth of the old spiritual we were taught as children, “He’s got the whole world in his hands. He’s got the whole world in his hands. He’s got the whole world in his hands. He’s got the whole wide world in his hands.” Perhaps what we need is to see we have enough and it is time to commit ourselves to the work of Christ for it is better to be a church flooded with loud voices and generous spirits than a beautiful building with an empty inside.

Let us listen to Jesus, the Son of God, once more:

“He said to his student, “That’s why I’m telling you not to worry about your physical life—what you’ll eat—or for your body—what you’ll wear. For life is much more than eating, and the body is more than clothing. Take a look at the birds. They don’t plant, they don’t harvest, they don’t store things away in cribs or barns. Yet God cares for them. You are considerably more valuable than birds. Besides, which one of you, by fretting and fuming, can make himself one inch taller? Well, if your worrying can’t change a little thing like that, why wear yourself out over anything else?

Now take a look at the lilies, how they do no knitting or sewing; yet I’m telling you that not even Solomon, in all his finest, was ever dressed as beautifully like one of them. Well then, if God so outfits a plant that one day is growing in the field and the next is used for fuel, he’ll do even more for you, you spiritual runts. The people of the world go tearing around after all these things. But your Father knows you need them. So set your heart on his Movement, and such things will be fully supplied.

Stop being so scared, my little flock. Your Father has decided to make you responsible for the Movement. Sell what you own and give it with no strings attached. Make yourselves wallets that don’t wear out, an unsurpassed spiritual treasure which thieves do not plunder, nor do worms consume. For your treasure and your heart are wrapped up together.”