25 “Therefore I tell you,
do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about
your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the
body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air;
they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly
Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27
Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry
about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not
labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in
all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that
is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and
tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe
you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying,
‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What
shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these
things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these
things will be given to you as well.
-- Matthew 6:25-33
It can be really tough to NOT worry about one's life -- especially when one's future seems so uncertain. Right now it feels impossible for me NOT to worry. The lectionary calls for the gospel passage above to be read on Thanksgiving Day. I am going to preach from it this Sunday. I can and must preach from it, not because I am free from worry, but because I am wrestling with it and because the people I am pastoring (for just six more weeks) are wrestling with it too.
Will we pause from our worries on Thanksgiving Day to give thanks for all that we have been given? Can we sustain that pause? Are we willing to trust God even -- maybe even especially -- when we can't trust ourselves? Are we willing to depend on God rather than pretend that we can depend on ourselves? Will we put kingdom things first and let God "worry" about meeting our needs, perceived and real?
This passage will be far easier to preach than to live out ...
Just saying.
No comments:
Post a Comment