LECTIONARY 8 GLORIA DEI, ANCHORAGE
MAY 25, 2008 PASTOR SCOTT FULLER
IS 49:8-16a; PSALM 131; I COR 4:1-5; MATT 6:24-34
An Antidote for Anxiety
Prepare our hearts, Lord, to receive your Word. Silence in us any voice but your own that in hearing we may believe and in believing we may obey your will revealed to us in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dear friends in Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Six times in the ten verses of our Gospel lesson for today, Jesus mentions the word worry. He starts by saying:
-do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink (25).
Next he asks:
-can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? (27).
Then says the Lord:
-why do you worry about clothing? (28).
Once more the Master speaks:
-Therefore do not worry, saying “What will we eat/drink/wear?” (31).
Finally Jesus concludes by advising us:
-do not worry about tomorrow - tomorrow will bring worries of its own (34).
Hm…, I wonder what Jesus is trying to say? It’s almost like he’s out skeet shooting, or doing target practice. 6 times in 10 verses, Jesus tosses up a burden of worry…and six times in ten verses Jesus blows it out of the sky.
Worry, worry, worry…I’m not sure if any of you have to regularly wrestle with this particular problem, but I certainly do. At times I’ve worried about our faith family – you who make it up; who make it work; who make donations and pledges to keep our: programs running, our bills paid, our staff happy; you who, for Jesus’ sake, strive to make a difference in our neighborhood, our city, our Church, our world.
And I worry about other things, especially, it seems, those that I can’t do a darn thing about – issues that have both personal and global implications. The frustrating thing is that I’ve never been able to solve any of these, not one single problem…by worrying about it. But still I do it, and, I suspect, that’s true with many of you as well.
It doesn’t do any good, in fact, often make things worse by aggravating our anxieties and inflaming the unhealthy areas of our imaginations. So why are we so powerless to shed its shackles, to be free of its fetters, to un-do these ties that bind our hearts and souls so securely? Why is worry such a powerfully poisonous presence in our lives? In the end, I don’t know that it’s possible to explain why we worry. We just seem doomed to it – so the only question that remains is: can it be defeated?
This reminds me of the Greek myth of Hercules and the Hydra. Hydra was a seven-headed serpent that guarded the entrance to the waters of the underworld, a fearsome beast that Hercules is sent to kill. But something dreadful happens when he swings his blade and lops off one of the serpent’s heads: two more grow back in its place!
Now, doesn’t that sound a little like the beast of anxiety when it lies guarding the entrance to our hearts? We fight hard against worrying about one thing, then two more crop up to take its place.
Hercules, of course, finally overcomes his beast, but…the guy’s father is Almighty Zeus – so he’d better prevail! You and I, mere mortals, many of whom are both strong and smart as well, still worry and often feel powerless to slay this seven-headed serpent. So to whom can we turn for help from this persistent and plaguing predicament? It’s no surprise, I’m sure, to hear me say that we ought to turn to the Word of God to find a word of hope.
So, back to our Gospel lesson for today: it can almost seem as if Jesus is trying to sell us a simplistic solution to this superhuman struggle: Look at the birds, they’re taken care of…and consider the lilies of the field – they have no needs.
Is it really that easy? Can we, with the cast of the The Lion King, simply sing Hakuna matata? It means no worries for the rest of our days…It’s our problem free…phi-lo-so-phy… Hakuna matata… Or it could be Bobby McFerrin’s silly song, Don’t Worry, Be Happy! Or perhaps it’s as simple as that famous phrase from Ronald Reagan’s war on drugs: “Just Say No!”
Yet Jesus is anything but simplistic. He knows our human experience inside and out – all too well to simply toss us a catch-phrase, pat us on the head and send us off with a wave and a smile. In fact, in v. 33 Jesus offers us a sublime solution, a concrete key, a realistic and remarkable resolution. Says the Lord, Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
I’m convinced that there is nothing we can do to rid our hearts of the seven-headed hydra named Worry. We’re neither called nor competent to do battle with that pestilent pest on our own. Instead, Jesus calls us to repent, to turn our attention away from both the awful ambiguities and concrete consternations of life. And the Lord wants us to turn our attention toward the God who loves us deeply and profoundly, as, says Isaiah, a mother who loves her nursing child, a mother who loves the child in her womb.
Feast your eyes upon that glorious gift, says the Lord, and your heart will be filled with a peace that passes all understanding. Trust that the Holy Spirit is working in you, breathing with you, strengthening and inspiring you. Live as a servant of Christ: listening to and loving, helping and holding, praying for, protecting, and providing for God’s beloved children everywhere – within your homes and across the world.
It’s not enough to just say no, or hakuna matata, or Don’t Worry, Be Happy! Jesus shows us the antidote to our anxiety: that serpent called worry is put to death when we focus our attention, time, talents, treasures and trust…on God! It really is that simple, and that difficult: let go…and let God; love and serve the Lord with joy; and live as people who are free. Thanks be to God. Amen.