Abridged Worship – September 22, 2024

Our command from Jesus to not worry—do not worry about your life, what you will eat, what you will drink, about your body, or what you will wear—hits each person who reads it a bit differently.

Now, some people take this, do not worry, and they see the line about clothing and think of modern concepts of fashion and luxuriousness, and then assume that what Jesus is speaking of is a critique of materialism. Don’t worry about materialism.  Many modern preachers will then use the idea to criticize capitalism and consumerism. And sure, you could make that case for this, but I do not think that was what Jesus’ initial point was.

Others seem to take this as an affirmation of a principle of blind faith leading to abundance. With God as your fairy Godmother, you can have no problems, God will take care of it all. In very nuanced ways there is a truth to this, like when Jesus says, ‘do not fear who can destroy the body‘, what we learn is that since God is the Creator of all things and he want what is best for us, even if our body gets destroyed by enemies, in the grand scheme of all time and beyond, we will dwell with God in eternity, so things like death and suffering can feel less terrifying because we trust in God’s promise.  However, even though that is great news, that our fate rests in God’s hands, and not the authority of the world, doesn’t mean we will have this carefree existence. Jesus, says we need to be cunning as serpents and innocent as doves, if we were going to have carefree coddled lives Jesus would have sad be as slow and calm as a bump on a log. So that is a long way of saying it isn’t about an easy existence.

Others might take this as a passage about embracing suffering and leaning into God’s strength to overcome, kind of like JOB.  Sure, there is something wonderful to be said for the ascetic practice of self-denial. Giving up, food, or luxury, or money to require yourself to trust and lean into God’s strength, it is a great lesson, plus a sacrificial practice or lifestyles echoes the life of Jesus, so from this angle, there is a lot of good stuff here.

But, I’m still not sure that’s exactly what Jesus is getting at either. Jesus’ words are more focused on worry, not suffering as a result of an outcome or a long ongoing misery.

Before I unveil what, I think Jesus is getting at, I would like to point out that the first three ideas are not terrible if held together with each other. A life of self-sacrifice balances out nicely with the idea of God gifting you with prosperity due to your faith. Those two ideas should be in tension with each other, God want you to be well and happy and worry free, but he also needs you to be steadfast and unshackled from worldly desires. And wrestling in that tension can pull you into a deeper understanding of faith.

But sadly, many Christians and non-Christians alike will take one of these perspectives and put it on a pedestal and that becomes the entire focus of their ministry or life.

So, now I’ll explain, where I believe Jesus is coming from, and I think you will understand why none of the concepts so far are complete or healthy without this central idea.

To get a clue to where Jesus is going with this, we have to look at verse 31 and 32, I’ll read them again.

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 

Jesus brings this comparison to the pagans in this conversation of not worrying and God providing. Why reference the pagans, well, one thing we know about a variety of pagan cultures in ancient times is that people would seek the favor of pagan gods. People would make offerings to the gods in the hope that the gods would return the favor by giving them a good harvest. Some cultures would believe that if you did not do particular rituals, wear clothing, or do particular ceremonies to please the gods then the gods would withhold their blessings. So, it put this season of anxiety into the people around food, security, resulting in many people having little idol statues in their homes, just hoping that if they ate the right things, and offered the right things, they would be provided for. And it wasn’t just for food or clothing, but it would be done for war, conflict, love, fertility, and more. In some pagan cultures, there was a house god or a god of your trade or station, so in addition to doing your work for family, community, and ultimately survival, you had to pay the gods for good fortune.

Now you might be thinking, well, didn’t Israel have the same thing? Didn’t they have a lot of laws that they had to follow to stay in good standing with the Lord? Didn’t they make sacrifices to God just as the pagans did for their gods?

There is a subtle, but major difference that, helps us to understand the nature of God and the principles of the law and ultimately why Jesus came to us as a gift of salvation.

Since Abraham, God chose Abraham, Issac, and Jacob to enter a covenant; a promise, to be faithful to each other.  Therefore, the children of Israel had a love of trust and fidelity upon them. When you look at the stories of the Old Testament, we see God keeping his promise, again and again, even when Israel rejects and forgets God, God continues to provide, support, and uphold his promise to them. And all those laws, both the ceremonial and the moral laws, were not about impressing God into liking us and providing for us, but the law was to prepare Israel to be able to be in the present of God. The Law was supposed to bring the people closer to God because he loved them, they were not hurdles to make them jump through to see if they were worthy of his love.

I believe when Jesus speaks of not worrying, he is saying that God has already committed his promise to you, a promise that is rooted in a love greater than we can imagine. He will provide what you need when you need it, so don’t worry about appeasing him for his favor, rather just seek him, seek his kingdom, seek righteousness, and you will begin to understand the favor, the fidelity, and the love which is already upon you. Trust in God’s promises to those who wrestle with God.

And yes, the other three interpretation can make sense too, God wants you to be less materialistic, and self indulgent, but not because little luxuries are inherently evil, but because in excess, we become slaves to them, and we begin to neglect the fidelity of the promises of God. And yes, God wants good things for us, even a season of prosperity or two, but the ultimate good thing God needs for us, is a trust in him, a trust that transcends fear, anxiety and worry, and trust that says, in all ways I know God loves me, and he is faithful to his promises.

Let us pray.

Lord, help us to come to trust in your love, in your promise, and in the pathway you put before us, to help us get closer to you. Help us to see that the love you have for the bird is great, but the love for you have for humanity is even greater. Help us trust in that love, and also live in that love, sharing your love with all those around us. Amen.