Matthew 6:19-34
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 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? And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the gentiles who seek all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today. Matthew 6:19-34 (NRSVUE)
Don’t worry!
It’s good advice but it doesn’t really drive out worry, does it? It’s like being told to be thankful. Or being commanded to say you are sorry. We can spit out the words in such moments, but actually being thankful and actually being sorry and actually not worrying . . . well, how do we get there?
Only through repeated promises.
When I was in Honduras last month, I got to see the homes of The Children’s Home Project, one of our mission partners there. Due to a hurricane and its damaging flood waters, TCHP moved from an institutional setting to home settings for the kids in its care, and this move changed how food was served. In a home, the kitchen was just open to the kids, a difference from the cafeteria style meals they were used to. Cupboards in the kitchen were kept stocked with healthy snack options. These cupboards were unlocked. Available. The same was true for the refrigerator. Hungry? Have something to eat. There were no open hours or closed hours, there was just food provided, as was the job and commitment of TCPH to the children under their care. A promise. It took some getting used to for the kids to believe it. No need to hoard, or stock away among their own belongings. Just a kitchen with the promise to always have food.
In Matthew 6, Jesus is in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, which begins in Matthew 5 with the Beatitudes. For about three chapters, Jesus teaches, giving a lot of instructions – things to do – but also a lot of promises. It is through God’s promises, revealed so well in Jesus, that faith is made.
Worry dissipates in the presence of faith.
As Jesus tells us not to worry, his command is given alongside generous promises – as God feeds to the birds of the air, so does God feed you. A promise. As God grows and clothes the lilies of the field, so will God clothe you – who are worth way more to God than grass that is here today and gone tomorrow! God, Jesus promises, provides for you. Generously so!
When we forget God’s promise to us, worry has this way of entering into our hearts. But worrying does nothing for us! Jesus returns us to God’s promise, which, unlike worry, gives us faith, drives out fear, and frees us to live unconcerned about our lives because they are in the care of God. For as God saw us through yesterday, so will God see us through today. And tomorrow! Even if today or tomorrow includes sin and death, the promise of God is that God will carry us through even those things. What do we have to worry about? Nothing! For God provides. Generously so!
Questions for Reflection:
- What worries you?
- How has God seen you through your worries in the past?
- How is God seeing you through your worry today?
Prayer:
Gracious God,
You know my heart and my worries. Give me the treasure of faith, that where my treasure is, there my heart will be, too! In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Login To Leave Comment