2nd Sunday after Pentecost
Lectionary 8
Matthew 6: 24-34
Do not be anxious
24* “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
25* “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
26* Look 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?
27* And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life?
28* And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin;
29* yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30* But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith?
31* Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or’What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
32* For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
33* But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.
34* “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.
Grace and peace to your from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen
I heard about a ninety-five year old woman at the nursing home who received a visit from one of her fellow church members. The visitor asked her, "How are you feeling?"
She said, "I’m worried sick!"
Her friend said, "What are you worried about? You look like you’re in good health. They’re taking good care of you, aren’t they?"
She said, "Yes, they are taking very good care of me."
"Well, then, what are you worried about?"
The elderly lady leaned back in her rocking chair and said, "Every close friend I ever had has already died and gone on to heaven. I’m afraid they’re all wondering where I went!"
We can laugh at the illustration, but isn’t that the truth, we will all find something to worry about. But our gospel lesson this morning tells us not to worry as the text says: 25* “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
26* Look 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?
27* And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life?
28* And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin;
29* yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30* But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith?
31* Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or’What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
32* For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.
If God takes care of the lilies of the field or the grass in the field won’t he take good care of us, too. That means you can take care of today and not worry about tomorrow for it is in God’s hand. Jesus is telling us to relax and place all our cares and everyday worries in his hands and he will take care of them for us.
Because we can relax and allow Jesus to take care of everything for us, we can then seek the kingdom of God in our in our lives. The first thing for us to do is to believe in the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ then all these things will be our. The text says: 33* But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.
If we are in God’s kingdom, then all the worries about what we shall eat, drink and wear will be taken care of for us. We need to first seek his righteous, then all these things will be taken care of for us.
Jesus to telling us not to worry about the future and fret over the past, but be in the moment of today, that is enough for us to take care of along with Jesus.
A poem says it well:
"Why Worry About Tomorrow?"
Why worry about tomorrow
And the rising of the sun,
Of anguish over past mistakes
That cannot be undone?
Why waste life’s precious moments
On things that bruise the heart
When today is ours to fashion
Into a work of art?
Today comes but once, my friend,
It never can return--
So use it wisely while you can,
There’s a lesson you may learn.
Let history record the past
And tomorrow come what may.
Be content to do your best
With what you have today!
Poet: Clay Harrison
We need to live in this moment allowing the past to be the past and the future to be the future. We need to live for today, be content with what God has provided for us today.
But that is difficult for us to live with contentment as seen by the business man in the following story:
One day a fisherman was lying on a beautiful beach, with his fishing pole propped up in the sand and his solitary line cast out into the sparkling blue surf. He was enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun and the prospect of catching a fish.
About that time, a businessman came walking down the beach, trying to relieve some of the stress of his workday. He noticed the fisherman sitting on the beach and decided to find out why this fisherman was fishing instead of working harder to make a living for himself and his family.
"You aren’t going to catch many fish that way," said the businessman to the fisherman, "you should be working rather than lying on the beach!"
The fisherman looked up at the businessman, smiled and replied, "And what will my reward be?" "Well, you can get bigger nets and catch more fish!" was the businessman’s answer.
"And then what will my reward be?" asked the fisherman, still smiling.
The businessman replied, "You will make money and you’ll be able to buy a boat, which will then result in larger catches of fish!"
"And then what will my reward be?" asked the fisherman again. The businessman was beginning to get a little irritated with the fisherman’s questions. "You can buy a bigger boat, and hire some people to work for you!" he said.
"And then what will my reward be?" repeated the fisherman. The businessman was getting angry. "Don’t you understand? You can build up a fleet of fishing boats, sail all over the world, and let all your employees catch fish for you!"
Once again the fisherman asked, "And then what will my reward be?"
The businessman was red with rage and shouted at the fisherman, "Don’t you understand that you can become so rich that you will never have to work for your living again! You can spend all the rest of your days sitting on this beach, looking at the sunset. You won’t have a care in the world!"
The fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said, "And what do you think I’m doing right now?"
The fisherman knew what was important in life, to live in God’s kingdom and everything else would be taken care of. The business man only wanted more and more never being content and never finding the kingdom of God through Christ Jesus.
We are to not worry about the future for that is in God’s hands. We are to live for today because that is in God’s hands also and he will provide for us as he sees fit. We are to live for today in the kingdom of righteousness.
As we live for today, it means that we must be good steward of what God has given us. We cannot just sit back and say that God will take care of me and so I don’t have to do anything. I don’t have to work, I don’t have to take care of my family, I don’t have to do anything because God will provide.
It doesn’t mean that we don’t have to be good stewards of today and just lay around waiting for God to take care of today and tomorrow for us. We do have a responsibility to be good stewards of what God has given us to control. We can just do nothing and then say it is not our fault that I am hungry or thirsty because God did not provide.
God provides for us through the natural order of things and that order tells us to be good stewards of what God has given us. If he has given us the talent to be a good teacher then we must be a good teacher. If God has given us the talent to be a farmer, then I must be the best farmer I can be. You get the point. God will provide, but we must do our part also. For God works through our talents to provide for us.
We must not be like the clock in the following, worrying about tomorrow so much that it could not take care of today.
Once there was a handsome clock that became preoccupied with worry about its future. It began thinking about the number of times it would have to tick: twice each second, 120 times per minute, 7,200 times an hour, 172,800 times a day, 63,072,000 times a year. When it realized that in the next ten years it would have to tick, 630,720,000 times, it had a nervous breakdown.
The clock went to a watchmaker for therapy. While under the watchmaker’s care, the clock began to realize that all it needed to do was to tick one tick at a time. Soon it began to tick again, and it continued ticking, one tick at a time for one hundred years. And everyone loved that old grandfather clock.
One tick at a time. One moment at the time. One day at a time, One week, one month one year. We to are to live one tick at a time in the kingdom of God and not worry about tomorrow and let today rest in God’s capable hands.
34* “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.
Amen
Written by Pastor Tim Zingale May 19, 2008
You may freely use this but please give credit. Not for commercial use.
