Below is the sermon from Feb. 27 - it took a slightly different tack, as Caleb Taylor helped with the delivery by playing Jesus for the dialogue below. I invite you to think about when you read something like this section of Jesus' sermon on the mount, to really let those words resonate, and ask questions, and respond to Jesus' words honestly. Sometimes Jesus' words are hard to hear. But in teaching us and in the power of his words themselves, Jesus turns our response from "yes, but . . . " to "yes, yes"
Vicar Brett Wilson – Epiphany 8A – 2/27/11 – CELC Lancaster – Matthew 6:24-34
Jesus has been preaching on the side of this mountain for what feels like hours now. The sun is hot and your knees are locking from standing. This “sermon on the mount” has been mind-boggling – you're just a disciple who came to learn and hear. Jesus has rattled through his list of “blessed are the . . .” told us we are salt of the earth, the light of the world, talked about forgiveness, anger, divorce, adultery, murder. Where are the snacks? Where's the miracle with the loaves and fishes? Not here... Jesus has preached this one sermon with all these topics, including resisting evil, loving your enemies, being PERFECT! Ha! He taught us this prayer - “Our father. . . something something . . .” Well, shoot. . . It sounds like he might be finally wrapping this up -
Jesus: "You cannot serve God and wealth" (Mt. 6:24b).
You: Yes, but . . . well. . . Why not?
Jesus: "Because no one can serve two masters. A slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other" (6:24a).
You: Yeah, but, I don't know if I agree with that or not. Can't I have both?
Jesus: "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear."
You: Seriously? Isn't your advice a little naïve? I do need to plan ahead and know where my next meal is coming from and make sure my family is clothed.
Jesus: "Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?"
You: When you put it that way, yes, but . . .
Jesus: "Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (6:26)
You: Yes, but . . .
Jesus: "Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?" (6:27)
You: No, I guess not, but . . .
Jesus: And why do you worry about clothing?
You: Well, because I need to be appropriately dressed for various occasions and at least try to be somewhat up to date. Get real, Jesus – we live in a world that judges and celebrates the best dressed list . . .
Jesus: "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these" (6:29).
You: Why do you keep making these nature analogies? Those are flowers. I'm a person.
Jesus: "If God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, you of little faith?" (6:30)
You: It would be nice to think so, but don't you think worry serves a useful function sometimes?
Jesus: "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?'" (6:31)
You: All right. I get that you're not going to budge on the worry issue. But tell me this: what am I to do with all that mental free time I used to spend worrying?
Jesus: "Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (6:33).
Worry is perhaps the most universal of human emotions. Even if you are not by nature a “worrier,” you may still feel anxious when you read the newspaper, when you lose a job, when you see a toddler walking precariously along a height.
Perhaps you think you could escape worry. So if you got a phone call, and the cheery voice on the other end informed you – you have won an all expenses paid trip to the Caribbean, what would you think? You'd think “Yes! . . . but what's the catch.”
Even when we hear the gospel, our savior's words of comfort and grace, our sin leads us to worry. Jesus says “do not worry” and we think “yes, but . . .” My sin, my own turning inward, my own want for control, makes me worry, makes me think “yes, but...” even when I hear the gospel.
Jesus says “do not worry about your life” and our sinful self says “yes, but.”
We think - “'don't worry' – what about everything out there?! There are valid things to worry about.” But Jesus does not let this go - “Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? . . . So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today.”
Jesus is not uncaring about our worries. In this last verse he acknowledges that there are troubles and worries today. Don't forget Jesus was human, and knew them firsthand. As Tom Wright reflects, “Jesus isn't talking about a god who is distant from the world, who doesn't care about beauty and life and food and clothes. He's talking about the creator, God's own self, who has filled the world with wonderful and mysterious things, full of beauty and energy and excitement, and who wants his human creatures above all to trust him and love him and receive their own beauty, energy, and excitement from him.”
Jesus loves us enough to teach us. Earlier in the sermon on the mount, as we heard a couple weeks ago, Jesus taught “Let your word be 'yes, yes.'” In the gospel, in God's words of comfort and grace, we are broken of our sin which says, “yes, but. . .” and in the Holy Spirit instead say “yes, yes.”
Jesus is the mirror of the father's heart. The father, our God who does not dismiss our worries but actually breaks us free from them. When a child, gasping for breath, tears streaming, comes running into the parent's lap, comfort is found there. Between sobs the child confesses their worries and fears, the great troubles that seem to rise against them, and the parent holds the child to their chest and says, “don't worry.” Slowly, you, the child, are able to breathe easier and feel that there, on the lap of the parent, the words of comfort are true – don't worry. I love you. I will take care of you. This is the context within we hear Jesus' words today. The words “don't worry” come not from a competitor being dismissive, but from a loving parent, from the lips of the savior who dies for your sin. We heard today from Psalm 131 this effect of the gospel, the good news of “don't worry” spoken from God our parent in his lap, “But I still my soul and make it quiet, like a child upon its mother's breast, my soul is quieted within me.”
One of the deepest roots of our worry is that we'll be forgotten. In Isaiah we read “But Zion said, 'The LORD has forsaken me, my LORD has forgotten me.'” But God says “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.”
From the lap of the God who created and loves us, we hear good news, words of comfort and grace. Words like, do not worry. I will not forget you, which in their speaking, do something to us, as those spoken only from the the mouth of a loving parent can. Through God's Holy Spirit we are gifted with the faith that hears these words and responds, knowing that from the father's lap we can welcome others, reflect the love and assurance we feel in a God who will never forget you.
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