"Don't Worry or Be Afraid"
Luke 12:22-40
In this world we live in, there’s so much to fear. Political speeches on various parts of the
spectrum have named a litany of things and people that we should be afraid
of. When we travel, we go through security
screenings. There are metal detectors at
big events, surveillance cameras in a growing number of places. Churches have security systems. They all that remind us of the possibility of
danger and possible loss.
In my email
inbox I get messages from Aviation Nextdoor and the local police with subject
headings like “Be on the lookout”, “Heed the Warning”, “Arrested for Home
Invasion,” “Secure your home and automobile.” From a
variety of voices, we keep getting messages:
“Be afraid. Be very afraid.”
Truth be
told, a lot of the news is grim. Terrorist
attacks. Mass shootings. Global warming. Economic
worries. Diseases. Fears of not having
enough.
Today, we
hear Jesus saying, “Do not be afraid, little flock.” Today’s gospel
lesson picks up right after the story of the rich fool that you heard last
Sunday when Bob Stead preached. Luke shares
Jesus’ teaching on anxiety. Look at the birds. They don’t worry about stuff, and God
provides for them. Look at the
lilies. They don’t worry about stuff,
and God provides for them. How much more
will God provide for you? It is God’s good pleasure to provide in abundance. Don’t
be anxious. Don’t worry or be afraid.
In the final part of today’s gospel
lesson, Luke suggests an important distinction between anxiety and
preparedness. Jesus knows that he is
headed to Jerusalem to die, and that time is short. He
wants his disciples to live with a sense of urgency and awareness. Life is short, and when we stop living as if
we have forever-- we can stop worrying
about the wrong things and chasing what’s unimportant.
Stuff,
Jesus tells us, is not to be collected and stored up. Stuff is to be shared… given away…used for
others. Sell your stuff and give it away
to those who are in need.
The kind of
life Jesus describes has to do with choosing to live more simply, choosing to
intentionally have less stuff, choosing
to stop collecting more possessions, choosing to discover our sense of
well-being in a just sharing of material possessions.
What Jesus
teaches about having a faithful relationship to possessions isn’t hard to understand. But it isn’t easy to follow. This is so counter-cultural, in a society in
which we are known as consumers… a society in which we are bombarded by
messages that try to convince us that we the things we buy and own can make us happy…secure…and
content.
I’ve become
more and more convinced that the greed and worry and fear that Jesus keeps warning
his disciples about is at the root of so much of the evil and the overwhelming
problems in our world today. We live in one of the richest nations in
the world. Yet we don’t seem to have the
will to make sure that the neediest of Americans have what they need.
We have enough food to provide basic nutrition to
everyone in our nation. There’s enough food in the world for everyone to have a
basic diet. It’s a matter of priorities. What are our highest priorities? To care for the most vulnerable in our
nation? To pay for wars? To give tax cuts to the wealthiest people?
Now, I believe that—deep down—a lot of us want to be more
generous and gracious. I think what gets
in the way for a lot of us has to do with chronic anxieties. We worry about whether we’ll have enough. We’re afraid we’ll be vulnerable or dependent if
we don’t build bigger barns or houses or retirement accounts, so we cling
tightly to what we have.
Jesus knows our
human condition. That’s why he spent a
lot of time teaching about how to be in a faithful relationship with material
possessions and how to have faithful priorities.
I love the way Eugene Peterson translates this passage in
The Message. Peterson hears Jesus saying,
“What I’m trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting--
so you can respond to God’s giving.
People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but
you know both God and how God works.
Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns
will be met. Don’t be afraid of missing
out. You’re my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom
itself.
“Be generous. Give
to the poor. Get yourselves a bank that
can’t go bankrupt, a bank in heaven far from bank robbers, safe from embezzlers,
a bank you can bank on. It’s obvious,
isn’t it? The place where your treasure
is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.
“Don’t worry
about your life,” Jesus says. “Don’t
keep striving for the things of this world…
Your Father in heaven knows what you need…. So strive for God’s kingdom,
and what you really need will be given
to you as well.”
“What you
really need will be given to you….It is God’s good pleasure to give you the
kingdom.”
Do we believe this?
Do we live like we believe it—like we trust God to give us what we need?
Imagine how freeing it would be if—instead of being
afraid, instead of worrying—we would stake our lives in trust in our great and
faithful God!
We live in an age of anxiety and fear. When we tune into the media, we hear about
cultural and political polarization and divisiveness… and scarcity… and
danger.
But through
our faith, we hear through the prophet Isaiah, “Do not fear, for I am with
you. Do not be afraid, for I am your
God.” We are not alone.
Jesus asks his disciples, “Why are you afraid?” If we trust that nothing can separate us from
the love of Christ Jesus our Lord,[1] then we don’t need to be afraid.
In the midst of all the voices of fear, we are called to
live fearlessly. Not because the world
isn’t scary. Not because we are
invincible. Not because we don’t
struggle with fear and anxiety. But
because we belong to God.
This may sound simplistic to some, but placing our trust
not in earthly treasures but in the treasures of God’s kingdom can be powerful
and transformative.
As Henri Nouwen wrote, “The more you feel safe as a child
of God, the freer you will be to claim your mission in the world as a
responsible human being.”
Living fearlessly in faith can free our
energy, our imaginations, our intelligence to live into the Kingdom. It can open our hearts and empower us to
embody God’s love in ways that the world so desperately needs.
The stock market and the value of our homes go up and
down. Governments rise and fall.
Corporations split and merge and restructure. Possessions can be stolen or destroyed. In faith communities, income rises and falls. The political scene is full of scary
scenarios.
But don’t worry. Don’t be afraid. God knows what we need, and it is God’s good
pleasure to provide us with what we truly need. Life is a gift—a gift to be shared, a gift
to be treasured.
So… may we learn how to relax…and not be so preoccupied
with getting or hoarding or trying to be in control-- so we can respond in faith
to God’s giving. May we learn to trust
that God will provide what we truly need. May we learn not to worry or be afraid, as we
learn to trust that God is good—all the time.
Do we believe
this? Do we believe that God is good and
that God delights in giving us what we need?
Do we trust in it?
I pray that we do.
I pray that we can affirm our trust: God is good. All the time.
All the time—God is good!
Thanks be to God!
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