Message Delivered at Christ Church

May 24th & 25th, 2008

TEXT:  Matthew 6:24-34

Delivered by Paul A. Johnson

 

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            There’s a Roman Catholic priest named Anthony de Mello who wrote a book called Sadhanna:  A Way to God.  De Mello wrote lots of books about prayer and the spiritual life, but this one is different because it’s actually a book of prayer exercises; forty-seven different exercises that build upon one another to help the reader move towards a quiet, and gentle, and peaceful way of prayer.

              One of the early lessons, which when I read it caught me a bit by surprise because it seemed a bit odd, is something like this…and you can try this at home.  De Mello invites us to close our eyes; and sit in a comfortable position; and for about five minutes, to use our mind to go on a tour of our body; to focus on our body, and what it feels.  So, for example, you sit, and for a moment, you think about your hands…what your hands feel like.  If they’re folded, what they feel; if they’re resting on your lap, what they feel; if they’re on the arms of the chair, what they feel.  And then, move to another part of your body…your back, and then your shoulders, and then your feet.  And so on, and all around, from head to toe.  His instruction is to stay still, so that if there is a part of your body that becomes sore, let it stay sore.  Just let it be, and feel it, and for a moment, focus on it and experience it.

              And the reason behind the exercise is this…Prayer is all about the presence of God.  And to experience the presence of God, we have to be willing to be present.  And the only way to be present to God—or really, to anyone else—is to be in the present.  And the key to prayer—and maybe, the entire Christian life--he would suggest, is making contact with the present and staying there…and a way to practice presence is through our body, and what we experience, and what we sense with it.

              It’s an early exercise in the book because it seems that we get distracted away from the present quite often.  To be “present averse” seems to be part of the human condition.  Not for children, of course…you know, the reason children don’t want to go to bed at night is because today and right now are so good, they don’t want to miss it.  It’s just us adults who have this problem.

We all have pasts, and we all hope to have futures.  And it seems to be our lot that we are tempted to spend a lot of time in both of those places.  We allow the regret of past mistakes to get the best of us; or the guilt of past sins weigh us down; or we refuse to let go of past injuries done against us by others and refuse them the mercy we, ourselves, desire so much.  Or we relive past achievements, as if they have consequences for today. 

Or we dream of future events, or anticipate future joys, which is one thing.  Or more likely, dread the possible calamities that could come with tomorrow.  We all know all the things that could go wrong tomorrow.  It’s a pretty big list.  And so the worries about what could go wrong tomorrow—worries about what has not yet happened--creep into today and we give them more power than they deserve.  We imagine how bad things that haven’t happened could get, or how disastrous things that haven’t happened could be, and we end up doubling our suffering.  We worry, and we get anxious.  For a lot of us, that’s the way life sometimes is.

Am I telling the truth here?  Do we ever find it difficult to disconnect from the unproductive parts of our past?  Or find ourselves worrying over the things that haven’t gone wrong yet?  Am I alone on this one, or does someone else here know what I’m talking about?

Well, there’s this story about a guy who was an all-star worrier.  If there was something to worry about, he knew how to do it.  He was really good at living anxiously.  He held the weight of the world on his shoulders better than anyone else, and if there was something that could possibly go wrong, he was the person who could imagine it.

              Well, in a fit of self-awareness and insight he realized that he didn’t want to live that way anymore, and that it was time to change.  So a little bit later this friend of his said to him, “You know, something’s different about you.  You don’t seem to be worrying about things as much; and there’s a spring in your step; and you’re smiling more and standing taller.  What happened?”

              And the first guy said, “I’ve always been a worrier, but I just got this sense that it wasn’t good for me to live this way anymore, so I figured out how to take care of it.  I’ve hired someone to do my worrying for me.”

              “Really.  How much does a professional worrier cost?”

              “About 1000 bucks a week.”

              “Yeah, that’s a lot.  How you going to pay for it?”

              “That’s his worry…”

              Now that’s the best “worry” joke I know, everybody.  And my hunch is that if you go to CareerBuilder.com there aren’t too many job openings for professional worriers. 

But I’m here to give you a witness that there is someone whose shoulders are broad enough to handle what it is that worries us.  And that for those who have eyes to see, the evidence is all around…right now, and today…just look at the lilies; just look at the grass; just look at the trees; just feel the warmth of the sunshine; listen to a bird sing, or the laughter of children playing in a swimming pool.

              My experience is that people love these words from Jesus.  Ask folks to tell you their favorite passages from scripture, and this one is often on the list. 

              So here’s what’s going on in these words…

              Jesus offers these word in the context of a broader teaching on the proper place of wealth and possessions in the faithful life.  In particular, right here, he tells us that we can’t have two masters.  As he often does, he uses hyperbole to make his point here…we can love one and hate the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other.  That’s his way of saying we can’t have two “number ones.” We can only have one number one in our heart.  Everything else is number two, or three, or fifty-nine.  We can’t have it both ways, because it’s impossible to live a double-minded life.

So despite what we might think, we can not serve both God and wealth.  The lure of wealth and possessions is powerful, which is why Jesus talks about it so much.  If there is one thing that will tempt us away from seeking God’s kingdom first, it’s the illusion that more money and more possessions will keep us secure and solve all our problems.  The lure that “just a little bit more” will do the trick is the symptom of our illusion that we can control what happens to us; takes us away from today and turns tomorrow into a burden rather than a joy; and leaves us bent under the weight of believing that our salvation depends on us and that we have to do it alone. 

But Good News, everybody!  It doesn’t have to be that way.  There’s a path to freedom, he tells us, and it looks like this:  Try giving today a shot.  Give life just today a chance, and see if our fears about what tomorrow might bring don’t shrink.  Take of tour of our life today.  Live our life this day, he tells us, and surrender the rest.  If we want to be anxious about tomorrow, we can.  We are free human beings, and it’s our choice.  But we don’t have to be, because God’s got our back.  Focus on the kingdom today; be present, and focus on the presence of God today, because it’s as close as the lilies and the grass; give tomorrow over to God, try living faithfully today according to God’s will just for today, and just see if everything else doesn’t fall into place.  Maybe not fall into place perfectly, but well enough.  Maybe not fall into place according to your plan or my plan, but fall into place according to God’s.  And isn’t that the plan we want to follow?

And that’s beautiful stuff; and makes us smile; and why this is such a beloved passage of scripture.

But I would suggest that while this teaching is simple, it’s not easy.  Seeking the kingdom first, and trusting God to take care of tomorrow works against our tendencies as human beings to want to control.  It’s easier to swim than it is to float.  And without a doubt, surrender and giving over is one of those things we kick against.  At least I do.  Maybe it’s different for you.

Well, here’s what he’s not saying:

He’s not saying don’t keep a calendar.  But he is saying that we may more likely experience God’s presence in the interruptions than we do in obeying the schedule we think we’re supposed to keep.

He’s not saying don’t make plans.  But he is reminding us of the old joke that our plans may be God’s greatest source of humor.

He’s not saying don’t buy insurance, or don’t have a retirement plan, or don’t save for our children’s education.  He’s just reminding us that a meaningful life is not a function of what college we go to or how well educated we are; that happiness is an inside job, between us and God, and not a function of any material thing out there; and that we all want a richer life than one in which the greatest accomplishment we claim on our deathbed is that we have managed our resources so well that we haven’t died yet.

And he’s not denying that sometimes, people do, actually, starve; that sometimes there isn’t enough to eat.  His words here are poetic imagery, not a theological treatise on suffering.  But I do think he is suggesting that maybe if each of us sought first the kingdom in our lives today, maybe if we truly put first things first and had only one master today, there wouldn’t be as many starving people.

He’s just telling us that all the stuff we worry about; all the people we worry about…that we can hand them over; it’s safe to do so; we can surrender it; and we can let God do that heavy lifting.  Because it’s going to be okay.  God’s not going to drop us…me individually, you individually, this community together, every faithful Body.  It’s all good.

And I guess I could make it more complicated than what I just said, but I don’t see any reason why I should.  Seeking the kingdom first today, and its righteousness, and we’ll be amazed at the miracles God does with the rest.

So if a life lived without anxiousness is something that sounds attractive, here’s a suggestion…just try what Jesus is talking about, and just try it today.  Just try it, and practice it.  Because I think living the kingdom in the present is something most of us have to practice.  See what happens when we take our focus off yesterday or tomorrow, and put it on today and how God is present today.  Because today is what we got.  Where is the blessing today?  What’s one blessing today in your life?  Because it’s there somewhere.  And it doesn’t have to be big to be real.  Lilies and grass…they aren’t big things.  But they show us something of who God is, and that God is, and that God is present, right now.  I’m pretty much convinced that if we’re willing to look for God, God is willing to be found; even in those places where we don’t think we’ll find

him. 

And I’m not talking today generically.  I’m talking today, specifically.  Don’t worry about what we’re going to do about kingdom living tomorrow.  Tomorrow will come when tomorrow comes, and it will give us a new set of problems we haven’t thought about.  But even better, when tomorrow comes, it becomes a new today, and we have the chance to start all over.  Think of it!  Every day the slate starts clean!  Every day is a new opportunity! 

So we just try today, and let God take care of tomorrow.  So that when the anxieties and the worries and the compulsive future-living enters our minds…and it will; it will happen…we say “I’m kingdom living today.  Be gone.” And when they come back, we say “be gone” again.  And when they come back again, we say “be gone” one more time.  You see, we practice taking all those worries about tomorrow, and we place them in God’s lap.  And it’s probably that we’ll have to do it more than once each day.  “Here, Lord.  You have a problem to solve about tomorrow.  I’m just going to follow orders and focus on faithful living and trusting you today.”  Just today. 

And the more we practice, the easier it becomes, and the more we’ll see the miraculous things God does with the stuff we worry about; so that really, maybe it wasn’t worth being worried about at all.  And we become free, and grow tall, and smile more often, and experience the goodness of this day God has given us.

And if all that sounds good, I’ve got even better news:  It doesn’t cost $1000 a week.  It’s all free…as close as the tips of our fingers, as simple as the lilies and grass of the field.