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“Don’t Worry”
Matthew 6:25-34
A Sermon Preached by the Rev. Douglas M. Donley
Three weeks ago, as the rain
subsided and the levies broke in
We have seen people without food,
without water, without clothing, without sanitation, without homes, without
restraint—because if you have ever been without food or water or sanitation or
a home, your tolerance of others goes way down.
What another day would be a minor annoyance becomes a life and death
situation. Tempers rise and people see
that empty words are worse than empty stomachs.
And too often the emptiness is
filled by religious folk with platitudes of “it’s all right.” “Don’t let things get you down.” Or as one former First Lady
said, “It’s actually a step up for these people living in the Houston Astrodome;
they’re doing a whole lot better than they were before the flood.”
In spite of all of that, we have
responded like we always do when disaster strikes. We have poured out our hearts and given of
ourselves. We have sent money and
supplies down. We have offered our homes
to people affected and displaced. We have asked the right questions about how this
could have happened and how it could have been prevented. And I don’t only mean the part about shoring
up the levies so they wouldn’t burst, I also mean doing something about global
warming which helped make Katrina a larger storm than it needed to be what with
the higher temperature of ocean and gulf water and the continual melting of the
polar ice cap. I also mean that we need
to address the dirty little secret that the
And the word comes to us from the
Sermon on the Mount. Again, Jesus says
to the people words that surprise. He
says, “Don’t worry about what you will wear or what you will eat or what you
will drink. You people spend too much
time worrying.” It’s true. Many of us do spend time worrying about food
and clothing and beverages. It’s one of
the luxuries of having stuff. We get to
worry about our abundance. It’s just a
self-help tip that Jesus gives to the likes of us. “Don’t worry so much about food, drink or
clothing.” But these words are offensive
to people who are poor or who have lost jobs or are looking for work, or are down
to their last penny. It sounds like a
“let them eat cake” statement.
The people who were there to hear
the Sermon on the Mount were not folks who had very much of anything. Right after the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus
fed 5000 people with two fish and five loaves of bread. The people hearing the Sermon on the Mount
were hungry. Half of the people in
Jesus’ day died before they were age 2.
Most adults didn’t live past 40.
On top of this there were taxes to the Roman occupying army, tithes to
the priests, field rentals, let alone caring for sick family members without
health insurance.
To these people, Jesus says, “do not
worry about your life, what you will eat, drink or about your body what you
will wear. Your life is more than food
and your body more than clothing.” Jesus
says that the lilies of the field are clothed beautifully and God so clothes
and cares about each of us. We’re no
good if we simply worry.
But if we don’t worry, then what do
we do? We still don’t have the food and
the water and the clothes. That’s where
the community of faith comes in. Faith
is the antidote to worry only if that faith inspires action. Actually the antidote to worry is the faith
community being its subversive self and getting the job done that needs to be
done.
We don’t worry, because God will
convict the people of faith to do something about the abject poverty.
We don’t worry because we know the
community of faith will come together and organize rebuilding trips.
We don’t worry because we know the
community of faith sees through the smiling lies of those who say things like,
“I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
We don’t worry because if there are
enough people thinking and acting like the people of God, then there will be
enough to eat and drink.
He said to the poor people not to
worry about their food and drink because the day would be coming soon when
enough of the people of the world will say, “enough of
this!” and will send the aid that is needed.
Forty years ago, the pastor of UBC
Ken Huyke joined thousands of others to go down to
And while the good people of faith
recover their hearts and find their calling, the poor people are still to not
worry.
They are still called by Jesus not to be anxious.
They are still called by Jesus to be careful with their
frustration.
They are still called by Jesus not to take out their worrying on each
other.
Instead, they are to seek first the
It’s so common and so acceptable to
worry about things.
But worrying doesn’t really make the
situation any better. Like a rocking
chair, worry gives us something to do, but it doesn’t get us anywhere. If we spend all of our time worrying or
anxious about things, then we might miss some other opportunities that may be
staring us in our faces. Now that is
again the word for us more well-off folks.
But what about those who have real
worries about food and water and clothing?
Isn’t it okay for them to worry?
Yes, but anyone can worry. Jesus says, even the gentiles do this
(meaning the rest of the world). But
Jesus says, be different. Maybe Gandhi
was paraphrasing Jesus when he said, “be the change you seek.” Seek first the
The striking Northwest airline
mechanics were wondering how to eat and how to clothe their children and the
larger Union community in the name of the United Auto Workers sent them a check
for $880,000.
A year ago, Lynn Welton
gave her powerful testimony to the Regional Policy Board. When they again rejected her ordination
recognition, she told me in her calm manner, “It will happen. Not today, but it will happen.” She spoke as someone who was not going to let
anxiety have the last say. She spoke as one
who knew that the long arc of history bends toward justice. She spoke as one who knew that whatever
decisions get made by the power brokers, her community still had her back and
would not forsake her.
When we get on board God’s plan,
then we find ways to help each other out.
I heard someone say that the best way to rebuild in the South is to
start with the church. It will be the
anchor of the community. Faithful
community is the antidote to worry and anxiety.
The slave folk knew this. The hymns sung in code and in the fields and
in the church talked about a different kind of righteousness than simply
following the orders of the slave-owners.
They sang about the shelter from the storm and the feeding of the 5000
and the fact that all God’s children got a home. “Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow
will bring worries of its own. Today’s
trouble is enough for today. And today,
I’m going to sing a new song to God.
My old preaching professor at
Seminary Jim Forbes liked the follwinig poem so much, he said it at his installation service at
“There’s a song inside
of me.
I can hardly wait to see
What it is I have to say
Or the music I will
play.
It’s been so long in
coming—
First
the thought and then some humming.
But before I find my
key,
Something stifles it in
me.
What keeps my song from
being sung?
Past hurts, deep fears,
a timid tongue?
What makes my freedom
come so hard?
A
self-made, live-in prison guard?
Meanwhile the song still
groans in me.
I can’t be me ‘til it is
free.
Debating, hesitating, getting ready to sing,
The song could die like
a stubborn thing.
“Release your song”,
said the Spirit to me.
“Be
free! Be free! It’s Jubilee!
Cast out each fearsome
song patrol;
Proclaim deliverance to
your soul!”
The Spirit of life
flowed through my blood.
I said “yes;” something
broke;
It came like a flood.
Up from within, down
from above:
A kingdom built on the
power of love.
Thank God my song has
been set free.
The rhythm and the words
are right for me.
I’m finally ready to
sing out strong.
My soul is saying, “This
is my song!””
When the church finds its voice and
sings its song, then the worries of the poor will be heard and addressed and a
new day will arise when we see all of God’s people as sisters and brothers who
seek to live a life free of worry.
The word for today is not don’t worry at all. For we will worry as humans.
The word for today is don’t let worry be your last word.
Don’t let worry bog you down.
Don’t let worry stop you from singing your song.
The antidote and the opposite of worry is faith.
This faith becomes evident when we find our voices,
sing our songs and seek God’s kingdom and God’s kin-dom
on earth as it is in heaven. In heaven
there is no need to worry.
May God’s message ring loud and clear.
We see through the lies and the neglect and the misdirection.
We see the hurting and worrying people and we are not going to let
their worry be the last word.
We are going to sing our song, so that they
may sing their and that we might all join in that angel chorus.
“Thank God my song has
been set free.
The rhythm and the words
are right for me.
I’m finally ready to
sing out strong.
My soul is saying, “This
is my song!””
Don’t let worry be the last
word. Sing your song. Set yourself free.