Don't Worry

Matthew 6:19-34
Pastor Greg Schaefer, University Lutheran Church
 
For years, this gospel text has kind of annoyed me. Not all of it; just the part about not worrying. Has that advice ever helped you? You're all worked up about something, and someone tells you not to worry, and you think, “Why did not I think of that?” I don’t mean someone saying, "Oh, don’t worry about it” when you make a small error. Jesus is talking about some pretty heavy stuff here: what we will eat, or drink, or wear, and we might add worries about work, or school, or family, relationships. Some of you have heard me say, (and I don't want to brag) that when it comes to worrying, I'm pretty awesome at it. So I don't know if this text a lot annoys me as much as it eludes me; Why doesn't it work? I realized this past week that it's probably partly because I've been hearing it incorrectly.
 
There's the story of two people playing golf, and one persons ball goes off into the rocks. She takes a club, takes a big swing, there are rocks flying everywhere, the bottom of the club is all scratched up. Her partner asks, “What club did you use?" She says, “Your 4 iron!” The point here is that I’m not going to treat poorly something I care about and have invested in.
 
“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be,” Jesus says in today’s Gospel lesson. First, be sure to hear that in the right order; it doesn’t say where your heart is, there your treasure will be. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be. It occurs to me that, despite the seemingly-involuntary movement of the heart toward the treasure, there’s also some volition, becuase I can control where my treasure is. And that’s about more than just gofl clubs – If I want my heart to be with a particular place or cause or organization, and I know that my heart follows my treasure, I can start with the treasure and use it to train my heart.
 
The health department says I should eat 2 servings of fruit and 3 servings of vegetables every day. They say it will improve my health and my shape and my spirit. But, I don’t do it. I know I should, but I just don’t.
 
Have you ever tried to think your way into a new practice? Waiting until something makes complete sense before doing it? I don’t find that to be very effective for me.
 
There’s a principle in Christian theology: Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi. It means that what we pray is what we will believe. That prayer shapes belief, and liturgy shapes theology, not the other way around. Put simply: We learn by doing. The phrase lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi takes it a step further: what we pray shapes what we believe which shapes how we live. In other words, we don’t think our way into a new practice, but we practice our way into a new way of thinking.
 
Where your treasure is, there your heart will be. It’s as if Jesus is saying, Lead your heart to where want it. If you want it to be with your family or church or society or justice or education of whatever, it will follow your treasure, so lead with that. Practice your way into a new way of thinking.
 
What if we were to hear the don’t worry passage the same way? Lead with what you can control; not your thoughts but your practice. Live as if you’re not worried, even if that doesn’t fully make sense yet. Live as if God’s providence and mercy are enough for you. Strive first for the Reign of God, Jesus says, which, by the way, also is like that – live as if it already is and we live it into being.
 
This is, after all, the way of God; As we learn from the story of the Prodigal, God lives as if the best possible thing is true, and treats us better than we deserve. A principle of the Reign of God is that there is enough – let’s live as if there is enough. There is grace and mercy – let’s live as if grace and mercy is all there is. There is justice for all – let’s live justice for all.
 
There is plenty about which to worry. But, it’s not going to solve anything. What can we do, how can we live, that makes a difference for the vulnerable and worried in the world and makes real the truth that there is enough in the world and that God's love is for all?
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There were several extemporaneous comments that I made that I can’t remember now.