This text is either the wisest or the silliest speech we can imagine. Jesus tells us, “Don’t worry.” Don’t worry! Worrying is what we do better than anything else. We worry about our health and our jobs (or classes) and our families, our retirement and our community and our country and this list could be extended almost indefinitely.

And these anxieties are real. Sparrows do starve and it seems to me that robins are hard at work most of the time and the lilies would worry if they had any sense at all.

So, how can we understand this text? Let me offer a few thoughts. One is that worrying doesn’t solve anything by itself. Worrying sometimes represents an attempt to control the uncontrollable in a superstitious way. If we worry, then we aren’t doing nothing, we aren’t just moving blindly ahead. No, we’re worrying. That’s worth something, isn’t it?

No, not really. Worry may motivate hard work or problem-solving or prayer and all of these can be helpful, but the text tells us that worry by itself is not only not helpful but may actually be harmful if it paralyzes or sickens or discourages us. When we place our worries above our trust in God, we idolize our fears.

Speaking for myself, I know that I frequently worry about things that never come to pass, but fail to attend to things that are right in front of my nose. Let me give you an example. Back in an earlier life, the company I worked for did tests to see whether people had the talents to be good teachers. One test was as follows: Johnny comes to you and tells you that Nancy fell down in the schoolyard and scraped her knee. What do you do first? The answer? Thank Johnny for telling you! An obvious thing, I suppose, but whether or not you are present in the moment, thinking about the little boy in front of you and not only the little girl you’re imagining, that says a lot about your priorities.

Second, the text tells us what our priorities are – seek ye first the Kingdom of God. For a congregation of the people of God, this is job #1. We are not called first to protect buildings or positions or programs, but rather to help God bring the Kingdom. Now, we believe that all of these things will help support the Kingdom – that’s the only reason we do them – but the Kingdom and equipping the saints to help bring it into being are the main business of the church on earth.

This text comes to us as a part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, right after Jesus tells us that we cannot serve two masters. And we cannot. We can either worship our fears and our need to control or we can worship the God who can make good things out of anything. Put that way, we all know what our choice is.

And one last thought, courtesy of Father Tim in the Mitford series of books by Jan Karon. We know that there is one prayer that is always answered -- “Thy will be done.”

Pastor Greg

A postscript: Kay Aronhalt has announced that she will be stepping down as Director of Christian Education at Saint Nicholas in January 2007. Kay has been a wonderful leader of our strong education ministries at Saint Nicholas for nearly 5 years and has been an enormous help and support to me in my work here. Kay has assured me that she will remain active and involved at Saint Nicholas in many ways, and I fully intend to take her up on this offer. A better Christian, a better person and a better friend would be very hard to find. When you see her next, please thank her for all she has done to make Saint Nicholas a warm and caring place.