"Don't Worry, Be ... Helpless?"

Matthew 6:24-34

Pentecost 2 - A ORLC 5-25-08

Some of you might remember the 1988 song by Bobby McFerrin entitled, "Don't Worry, Be Happy". "In every life we have some trouble, but when you worry you make it double, don't worry, be happy." Ain't got no place to lay your head, somebody came and took your bed, don't worry, be happy." Or maybe, especially if you have had young kids or grandkids during this VCR/DVD age, you remember Timon the meerkat and Pumbaa the warthog from Disney's "The Lion King." "Hakuna Matata" was their song, "Hakuna Matata! What a wonderful phrase. Hakuna Matata! Ain't no passing craze. It means no worries for the rest of your days. It's our problem-free philosophy ... Hakuna Matata!" ... "There are no worries." ...

But that's easy for an animated meerkat and warthog to sing, isn't it? Not so easy in the real world. I mean despite all the pop psychology self-help books; despite Timon and Pumbaa telling us to adopt their "problem-free philosophy", despite Oprah coming along to be our spiritual and emotional savior - yeah right - truth is we live in an "age of anxiety" as forces beyond our control threaten to take away our peace and security. I mean sit and watch the evening news for half an hour - you literally feel drained afterwards. Not to mention just the everyday worries of raising kids, fretting over our grandkids' future, stressing over the health and well-being of our loved ones, struggling to just make ends meet in an environment of inflation and political uncertainty. It is enough to cause even the most contented amongst us to worry.

So what do we do as Christians? Well I suppose we could sell all our stuff and go live a hermit's life in the woods of Idaho, right? Or maybe join a monastery? Although I imagine worry would still follow us - after all, it seems to be a part of that fallen human nature. 

So here's a better idea than moving to Idaho or a monastery. And that is, repent. That's right, repent. After all, what is the first commandment? "You shall have no other Gods." Or, as Luther states in the explanation of the first commandment, "We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things." What's worrying? Well, it's basically NOT fearing, loving, and most especially it is NOT TRUSTING in God above all things. For when we worry, we are basically saying one of two things about God.  We're saying either that God is not powerful enough to help us, or that God is powerful, but doesn't care. Either way we are saying that we cannot rely on God and must therefore rely on ourselves or on our stuff. Either way, we are committing idolatry - breaking the 1st commandment. And so no doubt there is a great need of repentance for all of us, I'm sure; to confess our sin of worrying and receive God's good and perfect gift of forgiveness for Jesus' sake. That gift as He has given us together here earlier this morning through His word of absolution. Repent and be forgiven for Jesus' sake.

But there is more - there is more. For in Scripture it says, "God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." (1 Cor. 10:13b) You see not only does God command, "Don't worry - trust in me above all things." But He also gives a way out of that temptation - an antidote to worry, we could say. And of course His entire Word is of great comfort as He teaches us to trust in Him above all things. But also, in that Word - and specifically in our Gospel text for this morning from Matthew, chapter 6, Jesus addresses this subject of worrying. And as we look at how Jesus tackles this subject I think we can see that after we repent, the answer to our worry, it's not so much what we are to do, it's not just telling ourselves to "be happy", rather it's what we are to consider. For in the face of the temptation to worry, Jesus basically says, "In view of who your God is, there is no reason to worry." "Considering who your God is, worrying over the this and that of life, it really makes absolutely no sense."

"I mean look at the birds of the air," Jesus says. "They don't sow or reap or store away in barns. They don't have little bags of seed and drive little bird combines and put it all in little bird silos. No! That's ridiculous. But yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" … "Yes consider who your God is. If He takes care of the birds like this, isn't he going to take care of you, oh you of little faith?"

"Or take the lilies of the field." Jesus continues. "They do not labor or spin. They don't sit on their little lily spinning wheels. But yet not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how your God clothes the grass of the field which is here today and burned up tomorrow, isn't He going to take care of you, oh you of little faith?" … Yes consider who your God is. …

Now we should probably pause here for a moment and clarify a couple of things. And first we must remember that Jesus isn't calling us to a life of laziness - sitting in our Lay-Z-Boy just waiting for the Lord to drop our dinner down from heaven. No. He gives us talents and abilities that we might work through which He may give us our daily bread. He gives us one another to help one another in every need.

And second, we must keep in mind here that Jesus is speaking of real need. Most of His audience that day He spoke this Sermon on the Mount were people who lived hand-to-mouth, not knowing where tomorrow's meal might come from. Which actually is how a significant percentage of the world today still operates. I heard something the other day that might seem strange to our American ears but it holds a lot of truth. But they said, that if you own more than one pair of shoes and you get to choose what you'll eat, well then, you're wealthy by most of the rest of the world's standards. In a letter from Beth Heiney, wife of our Together-In-Mission partner, Rev. Tim Heiney, she said the cost of a bag of rice in Guinea right now is a month's wages for most people. Think they get to choose between Italian or Mexican for dinner? I don't think so. Jesus is speaking here of real need - not whether or not we can afford a trip to the mall this week or not. And we look to him to satisfy that need according to His good and gracious will - according to His time, His plan, His purposes, His wisdom.

And also, we must highlight the fact that Jesus is not being naïve here. He is not promising as some pseudo-preachers today suggest, "trust God enough and you will never go without." "Trust God enough and you will never know need." No, that's ridiculous. You see Jesus knows some of His future followers would die of starvation; He knew some believers through the ages would die of exposure due to lack of proper clothing. Jesus knows that needs such as food and clothing, will not always be met in this present evil age. He knows.

He knows that is going to be a reality in a sin-fallen world until the day it ends. But that is why it is important to consider Jesus' main point here in all of this. He says in our Gospel reading, "Do not worry, your heavenly Father knows what you need. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well." "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness." In other words, consider God's kingdom, consider God's righteousness." And what's this about? Well, where do we see God's kingdom at work? Where do we see the righteousness of God revealed in all its glory? Where do we see most clearly just who our God is and what He is about? …

Well, we see God's kingdom at work, we see God and His righteousness revealed most clearly, at the cross, right? And at the empty tomb. Want to see God's righteousness revealed in a sin-fallen world? Then look to the cross of Jesus - hear the message of Christ crucified for sinners. Want to see God's righteousness satisfied? Then look to the empty tomb and hear the good news, "He is risen!" Jesus came to fulfill all righteousness - Jesus came to bring God's kingdom of grace and mercy and forgiveness to a sin-fallen world - and it took the cross to do that. Jesus shed His blood on Calvary for your sin. He went into the grave to conquer death that you might now have eternal life. You think your God has done all that - that Jesus would suffer unto death on an instrument of shame and torture only to abandon you now? "O you of little faith." Do not worry - trust in Him.

St. Paul puts it this way, "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" He can do no other. Because of His great love - His undeserved love for us, yes us sinners - He can do no other than to give to us as He knows best.

Yes the cross and the empty tomb, they are the ultimate revelation of who your God is. And so focusing on the cross, trusting in our crucified and risen Lord and Savior, considering who your God is, you can know that "nothing - not trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword. Not death nor life, not angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." And notice Scripture never says those things won't happen - hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, sword. What it is saying is that none of that can ever take away God's gifts to you of the cross and the empty tomb. Nothing. …

And that brings us to the title of this sermon for today. As you might have noticed in your bulletin that title is, "Don't Worry, be ... Helpless?" Yes that's right, "helpless". What happened to "Don't worry, be happy!" Well our Christian life is not one of walking around with a fake smile while life throws its trials and troubles at us, is it? No, rather it's a life that knows that even in the midst of those trials and troubles, whether in plenty or in need, we are really but beggars, we are helpless, dependent upon our good and gracious God. And that is good news. That is good news. For He has not gone to the cross only to abandon us now. He will in this world and he will in the world to come gives us - graciously give us as He knows is best. And so with a God like that - there is no need to worry. Indeed with the God of the cross and the empty tomb, we have all that we need. Amen.