are you worried?

Jesus says, "So do not worry about your life."  Are you worried?  Really?  Why?

You have insurance; homeowners, auto, health and life.  Yes life insurance, financial security for your family in the tragic event of your premature death.

And grocery stores full of food you did not have to labor over, grow, harvest, process, can, haul, or stock on shelves.  How much food is wasted daily because it was not purchased before its sell by date expired?  You have food, I suspect, in your house on a shelf or in a freezer, that you will not eat today or tomorrow.  I bet you have at least a week’s worth of food in your house right now, maybe more. I do. 

And closets and dressers with clothing you did not have to make.  Some that you do not or cannot wear.  I do. 

And a bank account. I do.

And a pension or retirement savings account.  You have investments. I do.   

And a credit card. I do.

And social security. Maybe I will?

You have what you need for today, maybe even for tomorrow. Knowing this, are you worried?  I am.  

We live in anxious times.  We feel insecure, threatened, afraid, uncertain.  We are told that we ought to feel this way because the world is dangerous and resources are scarce.  Money is tight.  Prices are going up.  Job security, health care costs, etc…etc…Be afraid, be very afraid.  And why not?  Our god is failing us.  Our god, the dollar bill.   Tbe dollar says, “IN God we Trust.” And the truth is that we trust in the god Jesus calls mammon or wealth. We trust in the security that we think money provides.  We trust in what can be bought.  We pledge our allegiance to our wallets and believe that the next pay check or lottery jackpot will bring us life.  We are financially secure.  And if we are not, we have some choices here.   A new TV series highlights are belief in wealth, its called Secret millionaire. Undercover wealthy people find local charities that are helping the poor and determine which ones are worthy of their philanthropy.  They write the winning charities a check.  The wealthy determine which poor people are valuable enough to receive their money.   Economic colonialism---as the wealthy lord it over the poor.  How degrading.  Economic disparity between the wealthy and the poor intensifies our fears.  We do not have enough.  Few do.  The rest are made to suffer.  With a little more money, things would improve though.  All we need is a little more money.  $75,000 a year is enough to make Americans happy, according to a financial study last year.    

Jesus is teaching in the first century and the economy is not like ours.  He is teaching people who are living in subsistence economics.  They work to survive, to produce what they need to have life—food, clothing, shelter.  Less than 150 years ago this was still the case for the vast majority of the human race. With the exception of royalty, the educated elite aristocracy, and the early industrialists, few people had basic securities.  It is still the case.  Over one billion people are living on less than a dollar a day.  About 50 million Americans are struggling to afford enough food for their household.  In a land of plenty, no one should be worried about food security.  But for so many Americans this is not a land of plenty.  At least not plenty of money and money is what makes our world go round.  We live in a monetary economic system.  Jesus’ contemporaries did not.  Money was based on the weight of certain metal coins.  It was not essential to live.  Land, livestock, the physical capacity to work—these were essential.  Could you plow?  Build?  Fish?  These were the things that sustained life.  Security was found in one’s ability to produce what was needed in that world.  Sheep, goats, fruit, wheat, fish, wine, fresh water. So much depended on things one could not control.  Favorable weather.  Peace from enemy attack, hostile overlords, or lack of good health.  People trusted in God to secure them from these uncontrollable threats.  They sought God’s assistance and protection against these things.  That’s why discipleship was a radical lifestyle.  It meant reliance on the grace of God and others for daily sustenance.  Give us this day our daily bread was a serious prayer that accompanied the daily reality of food insecurity they faced together. 

Jesus and his contemporaries were concerned about the very basics, the essentials.  So, what if you could not work?  What if you were sick or old or a woman or a child?  Poverty did and does plague the most vulnerable.  This kind of poverty can lead to death.  It can lead to starvation or exploitation and abuse at the hands of men who promise security but at severe personal, often physical and emotional costs.  Women were prostitutes was and still is about survival.  So Jesus’ offering of healing and forgiveness sets people free to work, to sustain themselves, to be part of the village subsistence economy.   Jesus words are comforting to those who are suffering under the many threats to survival that they faced.  Do not worry about food or clothing, look at the flowers and birds---turn to creation and see what God does for his creatures.  Life is pure gift, he is saying.  It is no wonder that the gospel message is being received with joy and thanksgiving in Tanzania, home of the fastest growing Lutheran population in the world and some of the world’s poorest.  It is also no wonder that the North American church is shrinking at an alarming rate.  We have secured ourselves financially.  We have what we need and more.  Peter’s porch is a sign of abundance.  We have more clothing and food than we can give away every single month. 

So do not worry about your life.  We are anxious and worried.  No matter how much insurance we have, how many pairs of shoes or pants, or jackets in the closet. No matter how big the bank account, we are still anxious.  My bank card is cracked and it worries me.  What if it gets stuck in an ATM machine or won’t scan at a checkout?  How will I access my money? We want to believe that trusting in the accumulation of money or wealth is the way to a secure life.  We want to believe that income will save us.  But it is never going to be enough.  If we are going to base our life on how much we have stored up for ourselves, we will never live.  We will die wishing for more of whatever it is we were still striving after. 

Maybe Jesus is right. Maybe we keep striving after the wrong thing. 

Seek first the kingdom of heaven and all these things will be added to you as well.  Go after a life with God first, then you will recognize that all you need is right there anyways.  No matter if you’re rich or poor, pursuing a life with God will put everything else in perspective and make you realize the most important thing of all;  God is with you.  Not because you earned it or deserve it.  But because God is good to you.  Life is a gift from God to be cherished and given away, so that others might also experience life as a gift from God.  Today I invite you to let go of your worries and anxieties, whatever they might be and receive the promise of God that you are more beloved than all the creatures on earth.  God will never abandon you.  You will always have what you need.  You will always have life because of Jesus.  You will always be secure in the hands and heart of God the father.  Trust Him.  Do not worry anymore.  Amen.