Ormond Beach Presbyterian Church - Sermon May 20, 2007

                                                        First Things First
                                                       Matthew 6: 24 - 34
                                                          May 25, 2008

          Jesus said, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear.” To that list Jesus could have added these things that we should not worry about:

          Do not worry that the 2008 hurricane season is one week away.

          Do not worry that gasoline will soon be $4.00 a gallon.

          Do not worry, that another terrorist attack on America is a question of when and not if.

          Do not worry about salmonella poisoning from the breakfast you enjoy after worship this morning.

          Do not worry about cancer, heart attack, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, arthritis, hemorrhoids, premature hair loss, athlete’s foot, ingrown toe nails, warts and a host of other diseases.

          Do not worry that all the worrying we do may be part of the reason that we suffer from many diseases and may contribute to the rising cost of health care.

          This morning I was tempted to conduct a survey and see what we worry about and which things are “no big deal.” In that survey I was hoping to find out how many of us are big time worriers - how many of us are middle of the road worriers - and how many say they do not worry at all - which to my way of seeing things means they are already people of great faith or they are not paying attention. For those of you who are willing to admit to some degree of worry - who now and then experience sleepless nights, this sermon is for you and is the result of years of wrestling with a text that begins, “Do not worry about your life.”

          Perhaps we should begin by asking the question, “Why do we worry?” Why do we worry about hurricanes and the economy and terrorism and our health and a host of other things - what we will eat and what we will drink and what we will wear? The answer that comes from years of living is that life is risky and that bad things happen every day. We have seen what a hurricane or a tornado can do to a community in a matter of minutes. Some of you remember the great depression of the 1930’s and all of us have watched in recent days as the price of gasoline keeps going up with no end in sight. We have seen the terror of 9/11. We have watched how disease and illness slowly rob us of our strength and then our hope and finally our life. So it is not helpful to hear someone say to us “Do not worry,” even when that someone is Jesus. We know the risk.

          Jesus also knew the risk. He faced storms on the Sea of Galilee. He knew the economic hardship of peasant life in Nazareth and often found himself confronted with huge crowds and shrinking resources - 5 loaves and 2 fish. He lived with the constant terror of Roman rule that had the power to crucify on a whim. And he was daily surrounded by multitudes of people who reached out to him for healing from the terrible diseases that reduced their life to hopelessness. So when Jesus said, “do not worry” he was not saying, do not worry because everything is going to be fine - nothing bad will happen to you. What he meant when he said “do not worry” is - do not let your worry become the central focus of your life. Do not let your worries become all that you think about, talk about and pray about because it all too quickly can become your idol and your obsession.

          Instead of saying “do not worry” Jesus invited people to follow him and discover a way of living that gave them something bigger to think about, talk about and pray about. One day Jesus showed up at Matthew’s tax collecting office. Matthew was obsessed with money and as a result of his obsession he was very rich. The only downside of his obsession was that there was absolutely nothing that Matthew would not do to make a buck. Jesus said to him, “Follow me” and he got up and followed him. Now to those of us who are not rich and who worry from month to month which bills we are going to pay this story may sound strange. Why the sudden decision to leave his lucrative tax collecting business for a non-paying volunteer job with Jesus? To understand the impulse that makes people like Matthew accept Jesus’ invitation to follow, you need to recognize how easy it is for the everyday worries to become our constant obsession and our idol. Once the love of money becomes our central focus and obsession we never have enough. A survey was done a few years ago asking a wide range of people if they felt financially secure. You might be surprised who responded as being the most insecure about their financial security. It was not the poor but the very rich - those who reported incomes in the seven figure range. The next group of folk that responded as being insecure about their financial security was middle and upper middle class folk like you and me who have enough to sustain us but seem to have an enormous appetite for more. We are the socio-economic group in America that is the focus of every commercial on television. We are the ones with the enormous appetite that the government is counting on to go out and buy more stuff with our economic stimulus check to boost the economy.

          So why do we follow Jesus? In a world of worry and obsession Jesus offers Matthew the tax collector and he offers you and me something bigger to think about and talk about and pray about. Jesus refers to this big picture as the Kingdom of God - “Strive first for the kingdom of God.” Instead of allowing our worries about money, security and even health to be the central focus of our life, the kingdom of God becomes the central focus and all of our worries take on a new meaning in light of our striving for the kingdom. When the kingdom of God becomes the central focus of our life most of our worry is addressed with the assurance that our Father in heaven knows what we need and will supply that need. If God knows and cares for the birds of the air, does it not make sense that God knows our need to feel secure, God knows our need for food and water and clothing - God knows our deep need for healing?

          The way in which we keep the kingdom of God in focus is through prayer, and bible study and worship and fellowship with other Christians. Even the act of stewardship is a fundamental way in which we keep the kingdom in focus. Each week our first gift - our offering is an offering of thanks to God for everything that we have received from God. When we pray we invite God to help us view the many things that we worry about through the lens of the kingdom and God’s purpose for our life.

          I have yet to meet one person who stopped worrying because Jesus said, “Do not worry” or stopped being afraid because someone said “don’t be afraid.”   What we need is someone who shows us how to not worry - how to live beyond our worry and our fear. What God has given us in Jesus is that someone who invites us to follow him and in the following shows us how to trust and how to live. What I have heard people say - what I have heard many of you say at difficult times in your life - I don’t know how I could have gotten through this without my faith in God. That is why we focus on the kingdom and that is why we invite others to join us in focusing on the kingdom. Following Jesus and focusing on the kingdom does not mean that we are protected from worry and trouble but it does mean that we have the faith and the trust to deal with everything that may come our way - one day at a time.