The Rev. Canon Anne E. Kitch
Isaiah 49:8-16a, Matthew 6:24-34
As if! As if it were possible. As if it were possible simply not to worry about your life. But we have it straight from Jesus himself, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, what you will wear.” So now we all know. We have all heard it from the top. So that’s it then…no more worries. Right? As if!
Actually I prefer the translation, “Do not be anxious,” which is closer to the Greek text. Anxiety is more powerful than worry. Anxiety is what can knock us down flat, take over our lives, keep us up at night, or send us cowering in a corner. “Do not be anxious about your life,” Jesus says.
You know, yesterday was the perfect day for our youth car wash. You may remember that the first Nativity Youth Camp car wash was rained out. I was relieved, because it rescued me from a dilemma. The first date our car wash was scheduled, my daughters needed to be three places at the same time: here for the car wash and on two different softball fields at two different times for two different games. In addition, I had unwisely agreed to a sleepover the night before over in Allentown, which would make it a feat to get them here by the 8:30 am start time. That Saturday was also the day before the Bishop’s visit, so I had scheduled a baptism class and confirmation rehearsal here at the same time. After all, we were all going to be here anyway. It wasn’t doable. I was in a quandary. We had made a commitment to the car wash when we signed our kids up for camp--and we love the car wash. We had also made a commitment to playing softball. Yet, when we signed the girls up we did not know when the games would be scheduled. If we had never missed a softball game this season, it would not have been such an issue. But conflicts had come up more than once. I was anxious.
Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, a rabbi and fabulous children’s author, said in a recent interview that “society does a very good job teaching us how to be consumers and society does a very good job teaching us how to be competitors.” But she goes on to say that most parents also want to know how do we teach our children’s souls? Parents want their children to be “gracious and grateful, to have courage in difficult times, to have a sense of joy and purpose.” I think it is not only parents that want this for their children. I think it is what we all want: to be gracious and generous, to have courage in difficult times, to have a sense of joy and purpose. But we are so skilled at being consumers and competitors that we neglect to nurture our souls. One of the things we consume in our society is activity. As a parent I know the trap of getting involved in too many activities (all of them good ones mind you) and the stress of trying to get it all done. But it is not only parents who are caught in this trap. Society affords each of us with so many opportunities--wonderful opportunities. But we think we can and should have them all. We have little trouble choosing between a good thing and a not so good thing. If I had had to choose between the car wash and cleaning out the basement, it would have been a no-brainer! But when two opportunities we desire pull at us, the temptation is to try to do it all. But we cannot serve two masters and we soon find ourselves on the slippery slope of shifting priorities. How can I choose between the camp carwash and not one but two little league softball games? I can’t. So I try to figure out how to do both. Thus I am relieved when they are all rained out!
I’m sure I am not the only one who lives in this world. We can be so busy getting it all done, that we miss what is important. A wise mentor once told me about sorting out what is urgent and important. Envision a square graph with one axis labeled “important” and the other labeled “urgent.” Most of our activities fall into one of four quadrants. There are those things that are important and urgent, like applying first aid to a bleeding injury. We usually pay attention to these things and get them done. Then there are those things that are unimportant and not urgent, like cleaning all the dust bunnies out from under the chairs in the attic. We are generally good at not giving too much of our time and talent to these things. But it is the other two categories that are misleading. Some things are urgent, but not important. Like those advertisements that I get over the email that offer free shipping if I order now and I feel I have to act even though I hadn’t been planning to buy anything. Or a cell phone that rings in the middle of…(you fill in the blank) and must be answered even though it could wait. Things in this category seduce us into giving them much more of our time and energy than is really needed.
Then there is the final category: those things that are important, but not urgent. Things we back-burner, like finding time to have coffee with a friend, or visiting someone who never gets out, or spending time with God. These things are very important, but because they do not seem urgent, they are easy for us to neglect. As the list of undone things gets longer and our in-boxes more full, our worries increase. A rainy day doesn’t always solve the dilemma.
About the only thing that seems to make me less anxious is age. Some things just don’t worry me as much as they used to because I have lived through them. But is that all there is? Is knowing that I will survive the only rope to grasp when worries about “what next” overwhelm me? Not according to Jesus. He asks us to look around us. Look at the birds of the air. No, really look at them--see them--think about them. What can we learn? This is the power behind his words. Consider the lilies of the fields (and the word here is really wildflowers). Consider-- observe well-- learn something—stop—look—contemplate. This is not about taking time to stop and smell the roses. It’s not about noticing beauty that we may otherwise miss. It is much more profound. Jesus calls our attention to things that are accessible to us, things that are all around us, things that are simply there, like wildflowers. What can wildflowers teach us? Probably much more than we can imagine. In God’s amazing creation, simple flowers display a complex biology that gathers sunlight, converts it into food and energy, and releases life-giving oxygen into the air. And they look pretty nice too. So when we stop and notice wildflowers, we stop and notice God. When we notice God, become aware of God, we know God just a little bit more. After all, knowing God is what it is all about for us.
Jesus reminds us of this ultimate priority, this most important opportunity of all. Do not worry, saying what will we eat, what will we drink, what will we wear. Indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the Kingdom of God and all these things will be given to you as well. God is our best opportunity, our first priority, the source of our life. Worry distracts us from God. Anxiety distorts our relationships with others. It divorces us from who we really are. Anxiety gnaws at us, pulls us down into despair, mocks our desire to trust, and teaches us to fear as if fear is what is at the bottom of all life. But we do not profess a life based on fear. We profess a life based on the awesome love of God.
What does life look like when we remember that first and foremost we are loved? As long as we are noticing things, take note that Jesus did not say, “Don’t worry, be happy.” Combating anxiety is not that easy. After all, we are not promised that our days will be trouble free. Jesus doesn’t say, “Your troubles are over.” Rather he says there will be plenty of trouble, “Tomorrow will bring worries of its own, today’s trouble is enough for today.” Or there is the older translation, “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” But no evil overcomes God’s love. If we want to be gracious and grateful, to have courage in difficult times, to have a sense of joy and purpose in life, God is a good place to start. God who does not forget us. God who knows that relationship with us is important. God who promises, “See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.” In anxious times, in pleasant times, we do not walk alone. God knows us. God knows what we need. Consider not what is urgent, but what is important. Consider the wildflowers. Take time to contemplate God’s love for you.
