“Worry warts”
Written by Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Thursday, November 25, 2021
Matthew 6:25-33 (Forward, p. 27) CEV p. 989
I don’t know whether this is actually true, but sometimes it seems to me that worrying is part of the human condition, part of our subconscious DNA. My mother was certainly good at it—often for things that never, ever materialized—but I suspect that most parents worry.
In contrast to this rather habitual and frequent activity, Jesus posits the ways of nature. The birds, He says, do you ever see them worrying? Never have I seen a worried crow or pigeon. And do they wonder where their food is coming from? The blue jays, sparrows and chickadees that frequent our feeders: they just ‘show up’, sometimes almost by magic. It would seem that they are on ‘high alert’, especially with regards to locations where there has previously been food put out.
And, what about clothing, Jesus says. The lilies of the field neither spin nor weave, and yet who is arrayed quite like them. Even Solomon in all his glory was not costumed quite like them. And yet, this beauty, the beauty of the natural world, is so fleeting, so temporary.
The end story is that God looks after both the birds and the flowers, giving them just what they need. So, Jesus asks, would not our Heavenly Father do the same for us, His people? Would He not do so all the more? Where, He asks, is your faith? Indeed, He says, such worrying and fretting are a sign that we don’t really know God very well and that we don’t really have much in the way of faith.
In contrast to this, there are two things that we must remember and adhere to: firstly, that God knows what we need, probably even better than we know it ourselves. And secondly, that God promises to provide this for us. In one sense, that’s His job. So, what we are to do (this is our job) is to seek first His kingdom, to seek it not firstly in order of importance, but to seek only it. And by seeking, He means not just looking for it, but also working to achieve it, to see it come to pass in our lives and in our world. And what that means, absolutely, is that we will trust Him, not only to see it to fruition, to completion, but also trust Him in and during this endeavour. We can count on Him to most definitely do His part even as we do ours. So, there is absolutely no reason for us to be worry warts. Amen.
Forward notes: “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’” (verse 31)
“Sometimes I wonder how certain actions by others have influenced me for years, if not decades. When I was in my teens, I remember watching a news report about a woman in Denver, Colorado, who served hot meals to the homeless out of the trunk of her car. I don’t remember is if she did this once a year on Thanksgiving Day or routinely, but I remember her dedication and that she cooked and served it all by herself.
“Along the way, I have talked and worked with people who ran soup kitchens and other meal programs and learned a great deal from these interactions. The hunger out there seems never-ending.
“Many years later, I helped found First Nations Kitchen in south Minneapolis in 2008. We serve hot meals and give away fresh produce to the community every Sunday. Feeding the hungry is both a Lakota practice and a gospel call. The people will be fed.”
Moving Forward: “Donate your time and treasure to a local food pantry this week.”
