A few years ago the words from a song began to appear on bumper-stickers all over Brisbane, "Don't Worry! Be Happy!" Sounds a good philosophy - what do you think about it?
Perhaps some of you have been to see the popular Disney film, "The Lion King". Simba, the young lion who is heir to the throne, gets banished from the kingdom by his Uncle Scar. He is accused - and believes himself guilty - of causing his father's death. But it is all part of Uncle Scar's plot to take over the kingdom himself. Far away from home he makes friends with a warthog and a meerkat whose philosophy is summed up in two words, "Hakuma Atata" - don't worry!
He is being called on to forget the past with its failures and disappointments, to ignore the future and whatever obligations it might have held for him. Just enjoy yourself and live for the present. But when news comes of the devastation caused by the reign of Uncle Scar and his hyena friends, when the call comes to return to the kingdom and take up his rightful role as king, he is faced with questions of responsibility - to the disappointment of his new friends. What about the story of his supposed guilt which Scar has promised to make widely known if he returns? How can he go back? And yet how can he continue to live "hakuma atata"?
Worry can be caused by many things. A number of years ago, a panel of psychologists declared, as a result of their study, that 40 percent of our worries are over things that will never happen, 30 percent over things in the past, and 22 percent over petty trifles, leaving only 8 percent over rightful cares which demand concern. Our problem is that worry gnaws away at our soul and spirit and tends to immobilise us from the creative thought and action in which we should be engaged. One of the ways we deal with worry is to escape - if we can! It has been thought that some key Nazi officials may have endeavoured to escape into a quiet anonymous life elsewhere. Certainly, Ronald Briggs, the great train robber, did that, but was still a man on the run. Christopher Skase has tried to escape from worry in the life of a bankrupt in a four-million-dollar Spanish villa.
It is an escape into the realm of make-believe. It feels good for a time, but somewhere out there the truth is waiting to catch up with us. Perhaps we are dreaming about a re-run. You know the health-insurance advertisement that stops, rewinds and dubs in a new ending - with health cover, of course! Have you ever wished for that sort of re-run - employing the wisdom of hindsight?
The Greek New Testament has a fascinating word for worry (merimnavw). It comes from another word (merivzw) which means to divide - to separate into parts, cut into pieces, to split into factions. The latter word is used several times to describe the divisions that have occurred in the church, where people with their own particular experience or teaching or ego-trip have tried to pull the body of the Church their way. In such situations the Church has been pulled apart and seriously distracted from its true mission.
Worry is what you have when this happens within the individual. It is the result of competing and conflicting thoughts and feelings that pull us apart and distract us from doing what we can and should do.
Jesus told his hearers, "Don't worry!" But he was not suggesting an escape from reality and responsibility.
Life wasn't easy for them in first-century Palestine. They were under foreign rule and had been for some time. Just now it was the Romans. The signs of occupation were everywhere to be seen - it was an inescapable fact of their life. The Roman authorities didn't only demand taxes - they also expected the best provisions of every kind. Even in a hard season they had to be provided for. We complain about taxes too, but can hardly begin to grasp what that meant for those living much closer to the bread-line.
But the call of Jesus not to worry had nothing to do with an escape from reality or responsibility. Rather it was a call to trust God in their situation. "Don't be all upset, always concerned about what you will eat and drink." Food and clothing are important, but "life is much more important than food, and the body much more important than clothes." Our Father knows that we have these basic needs and we can trust him that they will be met. The central focus of our life is to be on his Kingdom. "Be concerned with his Kingdom, and he will provide you with these things."
Jesus' call not to worry but to trust God follows immediately after the parable of the rich fool (vv.13-21).
This man makes his way through the crowd who are listening to Jesus, comes right up to Jesus and says, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide with me the property our father left us." He probably had some just cause. Under the laws of inheritance, the eldest son received a double portion, but the others were entitled to their share.
Jesus had not come to be the arbiter in such cases - the man would have to go through the proper processes himself. But the Teacher had some important principles for them all - "Watch out and guard yourselves from every kind of greed; because a person's true life is not made up of the things he owns, no matter how rich he may be."
What does he say in our reading? "Life is much more important than food, and the body much more important than clothes."
So the rich man with his plenty - and his greed for even more - and the poor man with his worry about basics face the same danger - of missing out on the real nature and purpose of human life.
Jesus told the parable of the rich man whose land bore bumper crops and was about to take life easy and enjoy himself. But God said to him, "You fool! This very night you will have to give up your life; then who will get all these things you have kept for yourself?" And Jesus concludes, "This is how it is with those who pile up riches for themselves but are not rich in God's sight."
At the heart of our life is the need for a relationship with God, rather than with our bank manager! Are we rich in God's sight?
Jesus' call not to worry but to trust God is immediately followed by these words, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the Kingdom. Sell all your belongings and give the money to the poor. Provide yourselves purses that don't wear out, and save your riches in heaven, where they will never decrease, because no thief can get to them, and no moth can destroy them. For your heart will always be where your riches are" (vv.32-34).
That is a rather radical call. I do not take it that Jesus is calling us to irresponsibility in providing for life and family. But where does that begin and end in a world where there are such vast discrepancies between rich and poor? Even our most generous giving still maintains our own security!
Jesus is emphasising that the Kingdom has to have our top priority and we can trust God with all of our lives. He is calling us all to give in a measure that will lead all of us - the rich and the not-so-rich - to a life of trust in the heavenly Father who knows and will provide all our needs. Our human life is meant to be lived by faith in our heavenly Father. Don't get caught up in the pressures and anxieties about possessions and greed! Don't get caught up in the idea that your own cleverness or good fortune is your guarantee for the future! The Lord has given bountifully to you - give freely and trust him with your life!
Today is Stewardship Sunday in our parish. We are being called to review our giving to the Lord's work.
Too often our question has been, "How much can I give without disturbing my present life-style, to leave myself comfortably provided for?" Even though our giving is completely private - not even those who count the offering know which envelope is yours! - we don't want to give too embarrassingly little! What's reasonable these days?
But our question should be, "How much has the Lord given me?" Have I really faced the significance of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross for my life? The apostle Paul, writing about the issue of immorality in Corinth, says to the Christians there, "You do not belong to yourselves but to God; he bought you for a price" (1 Cor.6.19c-20a). Is that how you look at your life?
We talk so easily about the Lord Jesus Christ. The concept that Jesus is Lord appeals to us, especially when we think about trouble spots and injustices and evil throughout the world. We look forward to when he will fix it all up! But is he Lord of my life?
At the close of our service we will be singing,
Stewardship has to do with bringing our all to him, making all that we have and are available for the work of his Kingdom. Part of that stewardship is in what we give for the Lord's work.
Listen to how King David prayed as he called on people to give for the work of the construction of the Temple - "Lord God of our ancestor Jacob, may you be praised for ever and ever! You are great and powerful, glorious, splendid, and majestic. Everything in heaven and earth is yours, and you are king, supreme ruler over all. All riches and wealth come from you; you rule everything by your strength and power; and you are able to make anyone great and strong. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and we praise your glorious name. Yet my people and I cannot really give you anything, because everything is a gift from you, and we have only given back what is yours already" (1 Chrom.29.10b-14).
Our giving is not only to be an act of loving submission to the one who has given his all for us, who has bought us with a price. It is to be an act of confident trust in his loving provision for our needs.
"Hakuma atata!" That is the philosophy of not worrying by escaping from responsibility. But, when Jesus tells us not to worry, he is calling us to a life of loving submission and confident trust in the heavenly Father.
He came to save his people from their sins, so the past is dealt with. It doesn't have to be denied, but it is forgiven.
Yes, we do have needs - for food and clothing and many other things. Our Father knows about those needs. As we live within his Kingdom, we are to trust him - those needs will be met!
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