Sunday, February 27, 2011

Sermon: February 27, 2011

Worry Is Never Kingdom Work
Preached by Linda Jo Peters ~ February 27, 2011
Scripture: Psalm 131 read responsively and Matthew 6:24-34

INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE READINGS
Psalm 131 read responsively
The psalmist uses the image of a weaned child no longer frantic for its mother’s attention but at peace in her arms. This song of Assent sung by pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem was a witness to the assurance found in the Lord.

1O Lord, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.
2But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.
3O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time on and forevermore.
Matthew 6:24-34
In William Loader’s commentary on this passage he writes: “The issue for Jesus was what - who - ruled one's priorities… The challenge (is) to seek God's rule, righteousness and justice. Does worry rule your life or does trust? Listen to the NRSV. The familiar lines at the end give us a little twist to think about.

24“No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 28And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

SERMON
Let’s be honest we all worry about something. We worry about grades in school, if people like us, how to get or keep the right job, approaching deadlines and shrinking budgets, bills and expenses, rising gas prices, insurance costs and paying taxes. Have you ever worried about having your home in perfect condition for "company," and within seconds of their arrival, the house is turned upside down and no one even notices.

What do we accomplish by all this worrying? We get distracted from God’s will for our life. None of our anxiety will make us safer, richer, healthier or happier. So why do it? Habit! We are creatures of habit. We practice worrying very early in life. Way before we are pushed to get good grades, we are pushed to be like the perfect brother, sister or cousin in our families. We are told not to talk to strangers. Now worry is rooted in our very natural emotions around fear. Fear is quite useful to pump the adrenalin through our bodies that we need to our run a wild animal that wants to eat us. But fear of the monster under the bed is not helpful. Any way we can learn how to face our fears without constant worry, will free us to be more attuned to God. Years ago when we lived in Hanover Park, a northwest suburb of Chicago, a neighbor boy became so anxious that he refused to go outside alone. It took a lot of work to discover the reports of the Atlanta Child Murders in 1979 & 1980 had generated his anxiety. He needed to be free of this worry.

You have probably seen the Windows Phone 7's launch commercials that dramatizes people obsessed with their cell phones, and ignoring their real lives. John Wilcox, BetaNews blogger writes: the commercial resonates with my worldview, which is that more people should get off the phone and get to really living. This is my worldview too. We should turn off things and turn on to God. We need to turn off our worry button and pay attention to God in our lives and our relationships.

If you are watching or listening to anything that is making you more worried and anxious, turn it off. Our media today is worry driven. More of us need to reclaim the children’s story of “Chicken Little.” Even if the sky is falling, there is very little our worrying about it will accomplish and there is so much wonder and beauty our worry will distract us from noticing.

It is easy to say stop worrying but it much harder to do. Like any habitual behavior we usually have to replace it with another better activity.

Christian writer, Mary Fairchild has this simple formula to follow so the energy we spend worrying can be put to a much better use. Worry replaced by Prayer equals Trust.

Replace your worry habit with a prayer habit. Every time you are afraid and begin to worry, just stop and pray. Keep the pray simple and honest. Lord I am afraid/worried about_____. Please help me let go of my fears and worries and trust you to guide my choices and life. Amen.

Kyrie eleison’ is even simpler. This is the Greek refrain often used after confession which means “Lord, have mercy.”

Those of us habituated to food, often find journaling a helpful tool for breaking the hold food has to satisfy our anxiety. So write down what you are worried about. Then at the end write: “Lord free me from these worries to trust you.”

Consider one worry that keeps you from paying attention to God. Every time it comes into mind, say “That one belongs to God!”

Remember the scene from Harry Potter where they are learning to defeat the scary creatures called Boggarts with the "Riddikulus" charm. By using humor the fear mongering spirit is defeated. So use humor to show just how ridiculous your worries are.

I asked Wilber Ellis for help and he said that years ago he had a very demanding job and he was worrying all the time and then one day he drove by a cemetery and realized that all the worries each grave represented could not turn over the first shovel of dirt. So he decided that from then on he didn’t have problems to worry about but situation to face and handle as best he could.

As a church we worry about where the resources will come that we need. Such worry distracts us from God’s direction and purpose for our shared ministry. This past year I have been president of United Campus Ministries. We took a terrible financial hit when over a third of our budget was cut. We have fretted and worried and now just recently we have faced our situation and laid claim that this mission is too important to our campuses and communities that we serve, so we have dusted our self off and begun to face the problem with trust that God will provide and guide our living. You see our job is to proclaim the kingdom of God. Worrying about how that will come about is not in our job description. We can plan for the future, we can work to accomplish our goals, but worry just distracts us from what God has called us to do and be. We represent the kingdom of heaven here on earth. What a terrible representation we would be of God’s reign, if all people saw us do is spin our wheels and fret and worry. People need to see a community of people who are unafraid to take risks because they trust wholly is God’s redeeming grace.

Paul wrote to the church in Philippi: Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.(NLT -Philippians 4:6-7)  Amen.

RESOURCES:
 http://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~loader/MtEpiphany8.htm  Emeritus Professor at Murdoch University, Perth, Australia.
http://christianity.about.com/od/whatdoesthebiblesay/qt/reasonnot2worry.htm

“Really? New Windows Phone 7 commercials rock” by Joe Wilcox Published October 11, 2010, 6:14 PM
4 Reasons Not to Worry: What Does the Bible Say About Worry? By Mary Fairchild, About.com Guide
See Presbyterian Book of Order #G-1.200