This morning as I was listening to Macca on ABC radio a gentleman rang up and said,
I am currently staying at a caravan park full of those Winnebagos,
many worth more than a house
But just about everyone is ruining their holiday because they are all worrying about the cost of fuel.
Worry, it seems as if we are all born to worry.
It seems for some people they need something to worry about to survive.
Someone once told me that if their father had nothing to worry about he would be worried.
I heard the story of someone worrying that they always had a big bank account,
but every winter they would get sick and endure the cold
because they wouldn’t put their heater on because it would cost too much.
What causes you to worry?
Terrorism
War
Financial issues
Health issues
Environmental worries
Lack of work
Something else.
Many people think that the solution to their worries is more money.
But reading through the stories of people who have money or people who have won lotteries
it becomes very clear that whilst more money may address some worries it also creates another batch of worries.
One person said their life became miserable after they won the lottery because
they didn’t want to tell anyone about it fearing someone may ask them for a dollar.
Another person was so paranoid everytime they went to buy something, because they worried they would be ripped off.
Another one said I wanted people to know I had money but I became so worried that what I bought wasn’t good enough.
And then there is the story of two ladies who had inherited their parents estate,
they were worried so much that the other one might get something better than themselves that the only thing they could agree on was everything was to be actioned.
To do this day they have bitterness towards each other and regrets that they didn’t get some things of sentimental value.
The major danger with worry is it can consume life.
Worry about certain things has the potential to ruin people.
Ever been around someone who is worried to the max about something.
That that thing dominates their life,
They become miserable.
And they neglect other important things in life.
And most of our worrying will achieve very little.
Jesus told us this morning that worrying will not add one day to your life.
Also research suggests that
• 40% Of the things we worry about will never happen.
• 30% of the things we worry about we can not change
• 12% of our worries are made on the basis of misinformation, or not having all the details
• 10% is related to health, and the more we worry about health the sicker we become
• 8% is legitimate, showing that life does have some things to worry about, but as much as we think
So how do we deal with our worries?
Well the starting point is to be honest.
Be honest that we do have worries.
And importantly be honest with what our worries are and what is causing them.
In our Gospel reading today began with Jesus saying.
From Matthew 6:24,
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
No one can serve two masters.
In fact the wording in the original language means no one can serve two masters at the same time.
The beginning of many of our worries is that we are trying to please a number of masters at once.
In fact many of us have many masters.
When I look at my life potentially my masters are:
My own desires
God
The three congregations of our parish
My wife
My children
The government
The banks
What some other pastors think
What my friends think
What the people I like think
And the list can go on.
So who or what are the potential masters in your life?
Who is potentially in charge of your life?
In other words what is motivating you?
Someone else’s ideas
Money
Your own desires
Pride
And the question to ask is where does Jesus fit into this picture?
For our lives to make sense Jesus needs to have priority in all aspects of our lives.
And then some of the things that are causing major worries will reduce their impact on our stress levels.
In the Gospel reading we heard today Jesus say,
From Matthew 6:25, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t there more to life than food and more to the body than clothing?
And to put this into perspective we also need to hear verses 32 and 33
6:32 For the unconverted pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 6:33 But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Jesus is not saying don’t worry and do nothing.
He is not singing the Bob McFarrin song Don’t worry be happy and saying do nothing.
He is saying don’t worry primarily about your life on earth…
Don’t let your earthly life consume you.
Don’t let your earthly life be your number one priority.
In the 90s a number of people were determine to have big beautiful homes.
They wanted homes with big rooms, good looking carpets and fittings.
They were focussed on what they could see right away.
A display home company realized this and marketed big cheap homes that looked great.
Now stories are coming out that some of these homes are falling apart.
Whilst people put money into the houses looking good they skimped on the foundations.
They were not worried about one of the most important parts of their house.
And each of us face the same danger.
We become so consumed with many things today
that we neglect or push aside what is important.
We neglect allow Jesus to influence our lives.
We neglect listening to what God has to say to us about life.
We neglect seeking God’s kingdom for our life.
We neglect allowing God to influence all aspects of our life.
When God’s kingdom rules in all aspects of our life,
God will be the major influencer not just in our lives at church, but everywhere.
God should be influencing how we live at work, home, amongst our friends and neighbours.
So we should be listening to God.
Remembering that everything we have comes from him.
God’s kingdom ruling in our life means we see life as God wants us to see it.
We trust and rely on God’s ways.
And it means everything we do is orientated around loving God and loving others.
In the Alpha course there is a story of a person who became a Christian.
And at work he was confronted with a situation where if he hadn’t had God’s influence he would have acted differently.
Someone rang up the firm he was working for and asked to speak to the managing owner because the company was well overdue on their accounts to this firm.
On telling the managing owner this, he replied tell him I am not in.
The new Christian said you tell him yourself because I can’t do it.
The managing owner was furious and said why not you work for me, you will do what you are told.
The new Christian replied, look I am a Christian and think about this
if I am going to lie for you,
I would be just as capable of lieing to you.
Now worries are always going to be part of life,
because we will always have other things and other people as part of life.
In fact trusting God doesn’t mean that the things that cause us worry will disappear.
Trusting God means their influence on us will.
Their ability to bring us stress will.
Because trusting God, means putting our lives into perspective, God’s perspective.
And instead of our lives being filled with the worries of the world,
they become less dominate in our lives.
Because our lives are fill with the future and hope that Jesus gives.
And we see life and things as gifts from God.
And when we do we see Money as a tool ….not the goal.
We see death as not the end but a stepping stone to the future.
And we see the things to worry about being are we sharing God’s love and kingdom with others.
So how do we deal with worries.
We begin by having God has the major influencer in our life,
And when earthly worries seem dominate,
we stop and remember what is God’s perspective in this situation
and we hand the earthly worries over to him in prayer.
We seek his guidance and perspective on life.
Amen
