7^th March 2011

Rev Dr Max Champion at St John's UCA Mt Waverley Sunday 27 February 2011

Lessons -- Isaiah 49:8-15; 1 Corinthians 4:1-5; Matthew 6:24-34

Therefore, I tell you (said Jesus), do not be anxious about your
life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body,
what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than
clothing? (Matthew 6:25 NRSV)

Easier said than done! Doesn't this seem rather flippant to people who are starving, desperate to find shelter, traumatised by earthquakes or terrified by the savagery of tyrants. If Jesus is saying to such people, 'Don't worry, be happy,' then he is being uncharacteristically callous.

As always, we must not take the text in isolation. Remember! Jesus fed the 5000 and urged people to meet to the needs of the hungry, the thirsty, the outcast, the sick and the abused. Failure to act in a compassionate, straightforward way incurs God's judgment! (Matthew 25:31ff)

But he also insisted that, whilst meeting our physical needs is vitally important, it is not ultimately important! He rejected the temptation to turn stones into bread, not because he did not care about the hungry, but because 'we do not live by bread alone but by the grace of God' (Matthew 4:1-11). Jesus teaches us to pray for 'our daily bread' (Matthew 6:11) but only after we have prayed that God's name be honoured, God's Kingdom come and God's will be done 'on earth as in heaven'.

Jesus makes it clear that food, drink, clothing and bodily well-being are gifts of the Creator to be enjoyed -- provided we are alert to the needs of those who do not enjoy life's necessities. Here, though, he identifies a problem that arises when we treat our physical and material well-being as, not only vital, but ultimate! 'Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?' (v25b)

The problem is not that we do shopping, take care of our appearance, look after our health, financial security and so on. When these vital things become ultimately important we become 'anxious' and 'worried'. The Greek word 'merimnatw' means 'to be so anxious and disturbed about our bodily needs that we do not trust God to provide what we need and are distracted from faithfully doing God's will'. (para F Filson, The Gospel according to St Matthew, 100-101. ) It is the word used by Jesus to Martha, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing.' (Luke 10:41,42)

The clue to understanding what Jesus means is found at the beginning and near the end of our text. 'Don't worry yourself sick about your life'
(v25) is compared with 'Seek first God's Kingdom and righteousness'. Pre- occupation with ourselves blinds us to God's presence. If, above all else in life, we seek our own security we shall be incapable of seeking the one thing necessary to fullness of life!

That one thing -- that one person -- is Jesus Christ in whom God's righteousness is uniquely displayed. When we see the splendour of God's goodness and mercy in him, then we are free to follow him in single- hearted and open-hearted obedience. This does not mean that we should turn our backs on the world (and ignore our vital need for food, clothing and health). We are to live in the midst of the world knowing that our ultimate security is to be found in the gracious purposes of God -- Creator and Redeemer of all -- who 'knows our needs before we ask' (vv 8,32).

The crucial question is what we set our hearts on: our security or the righteousness of God? If it is the former, then we will inevitably be anxious. In this life we can never fully satisfy our physical needs. Even if they are not very large, the more we get the more we want.

Jesus highlights the radical difference between seeking God's Kingdom and being anxious about ourselves by making three common sense points:

* Although birds fiercely defend their territory, they act without
consciously thinking of their own security. They have a certain
unselfconscious freedom. Yet , because God provides for their basic
needs (v26), we should act with similar freedom knowing that, being of
greater worth than the non-human creation, God will meet ours.

* In v27, two translations of the Greek are possible. It could mean
increasing our 'stature' or 'longevity'. Both would fit what Jesus
says. He asks a rhetorical question. Can anxiety about our height make
us grow taller? Can anxiety about death lengthen our lives? Of course
not! Well then, what is the point making ourselves sick with worry
about things we cannot change! We have more than enough to do 'taking
one day at a time'. (v34)

* When it comes to clothing we are not to be beguiled by the fashion
industry. Lilies do not spend their lives in front of a mirror. And,
even though they have a very short life, their God-given beauty is a
joy to behold. So, says Jesus, do not be anxious about what to wear.

With these few words and memorable images Jesus exposes some of our deepest anxieties. We think that the most important things in life have to do with making ourselves and our families secure: having plenty of money, food and drink, looking great, being healthy and extending our days. So much so we are easy prey to advertisers who exploit for commercial gain our restless anxiety. In such a high-powered environment it is easy to overlook the fact that these important concerns are not the most important things in life.

Now, there is nothing wrong with enjoying life, looking after our health and choosing nice clothes. Jesus is no killjoy or stick-in-the-mud teaching a drab, frugal, humourless life. We are to enjoy beauty and health. And we are to take part in festive occasions which are marks of the Kingdom of God.

This brings us to the heart of Jesus' teaching on anxiety. When we seek first the Kingdom of God and God's righteousness then we experience the freedom to receive all that we have -- much or little -- as the gifts of God to be enjoyed -- not to be anxious and distracted about material security. Our priorities are put into perspective when we first 'hunger and thirst after righteousness'.

Now being 'righteous', as we have already seen in the Sermon on the Mount, does not mean being sanctimonious, unworldly or prim and proper. It means following Jesus in being peace-makers, seeking justice, showing mercy (even to enemies), standing against all that dehumanises our lives, grieving over the state of the world and acting toward our neighbours with a purity and simplicity of word, thought and deed.

This points us to the proper context -- which is usually forgotten -- for understanding what Jesus says about anxiety. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is teaching his disciples (5:1,2). What he says about not being anxious is to those who have left secure jobs and embarked on an exciting but risky adventure in his company (4:18ff). He encourages and warns them not to be distracted from their primary task to invite others to 'seek first the Kingdom of God and God's righteousness'. In being joined to the One whose righteousness led him to the Cross, we are called to do what is most important in life: preaching, healing and teaching the Good News of God's victory over evil, affliction and death -- without becoming anxious about the necessities of life.

Seen in this light, Jesus is encouraging disciples to trust God for what lies ahead -- to not be 'sick with worry' about the success of their insecure mission. If they are 'distracted by anxiety' by important but not ultimate things, then they will not really be trusting God for what lies ahead.

This is a timely word for us in the Church today. Like the exiles in Babylon (Isaiah 49:8ff), we are experiencing a growing sense of anxiety about the future of faith in Western societies like ours. There is much anxiety about the 'future of the church', whether it be Christianity itself, or the Uniting Church in Australia or St John's.

Moreover, in a world where brutality (Libya), calamity (Christchurch), persecution (e.g. Egypt) and personal disappointment still mar the humanity for which we have been created, it is also natural to be anxious about the coming of God's Kingdom and righteousness. If we do become anxious about what is most important in life then we will also be distracted by less important matters. It takes our minds off what we are called to do as disciples of Jesus: to bear witness to God's righteousness embodied in him and to stand against public decisions which, in the light of his humanity, demean ours.

Isaiah reminded anxious exiles that, despite stiff opposition from outside and apathy from within, God does not abandon the covenant. Similarly, Jesus reminded his anxious disciples that God can be trusted to bring in his Kingdom of righteousness. So, as Paul says, they are free to be 'servants of Christ and stewards of the mystery of God' (1 Corinthians
4:1) without being anxious about their own security or worth.

There is much to be anxious about! What Jesus says is not a flippant response to tough times in life or in the Church. Nor is it a call for Christians to feel guilty about enjoying the good things of life. Rather, he exposes the restless anxiety that we experience when we mistake the important things of life for the most important thing. When we invest our material goods, our health, our longevity and our sense of worth with ultimate significance then we cannot help but be 'sick with worry'. For, in seeking our own security, we cut ourselves off from the 'care-free'
freedom of 'seeking first the Kingdom of God' in company with the One who, in the whole of his life, death and resurrection, embodies God's righteousness and calls us to share in God's mission in a world where unrighteousness and self-righteousness still wreak so much havoc.

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Rev Dr Max Champion is minister in the St John's Uniting Church, Mt Waverley, Victoria, Australia. Dr Champion is Chair of the Assembly of Confessing Congregations within the UCA.