Worry

“Let the worries of today be enough for the day” said Jesus (Matthew 6:34). We do not expect pragmatism from Jesus, especially when so much of his teaching, at first reading, seems to be idealistic. Turn the other cheek, give up your anger, live without hypocrisy looks unreal to the world we live in. Yet, it is not. Jesus means his teaching about anxiety and other topics to be practical because it turns out the life the nations choose in anxiously and continually storing up wealth (6:19) is what is unreal. It is not that he is saying we should not work for a living, the birds of the field work for their daily food (6:26), or that we should not be concerned for our economic needs (6:32) or even that somehow Christians are removed from the worries of life (6:34).

What he asks is that we not add to the anxieties of life the worried and restless striving the nations of the world pursue. They do this because they feel they need to hold their own lives in their own hands, they do this because their master is wealth (6:24) and that turns out to be a cruel god, they do this because their treasure is in what they can see, touch and own (6:21), they do this because this is the guiding light they have to live their lives by (6:22), they do this because they leave God off the balance sheet. Jesus says, human life is much more than that (6:25). Human life is more valuable than that. Life is held by a good Father who wants to provide for us as his image and especially as his people.

I really enjoy how practical Jesus is in dealing with worry. He does not say: ‘stop worrying’ - he give us something practical to do, a new focus, a better treasure to set our hearts on, a better light to live by, a better master to serve. Strive, in all we do, to seek first his Kingdom and his rightness not merely to heap up for ourselves on earth. Live and work for a bigger purpose and trust him with the rest. Trust him to provide the grace that is needed for today - not for everyday ahead of us, but for this day. Now.

This is more humane than the anxious economics we see around us. This is more sustaining for the days of trouble ahead. This is realistic because, unlike the busy work of the nations, it does not leave God or our purpose and humanity out of the equation.

Mike Flynn | Vicar