Empty Glasses?
Thanksgiving, October 7, 2012 (Matthew 6:24-33)
Malady – To be overly concerned, to care too much, to be anxious about realities which though they are important are penultimate. (food, clothing, drink – contemporary live, drive, others think). This deflects us, can even keep us from abundant life.
MT – God has taken care of and does care for us. See Jesus. Therefore live with His underlying love for us and concern for others. Such love, such seeking the "kingdom" comes from and has its source in God. This cannot be defeated or "ended".
Happy Thanksgiving. Blessed Thanksgiving! I am truly glad, thankful that we are here – together. And what a beautiful display (here in the chancel). Thanks to all who donated, who helped fashion our display.
On this Thanksgiving Day, in the light of today's Gospel, I have to ask – do you ever worry? ... It's a ridiculous question, isn't it? Such a question goes to the core of the human heart. It's probably easier to delineate what don't we worry about, than to identify everything we do worry about. But this is a sermon – a time to reflect deeply on who we are and who God is, so I have to ask – what/whom do you worry about (engage them to quickly respond)...
Here's my confession. I worry about our kids – sometimes their mental state, their faith, their employment, sometimes their relationships. At other times I worry about you – your faith, your relationships. Sometimes I worry about your physical health as you wait for tests, for treatments and as you undergo tests and treatments. At other times I worry about how we are or aren't getting along. Sometimes I even worry about our congregational finances – whether we will have enough to do the things we are discerning or sometimes that I am discerning that God is calling us to do. Can you identify with any of my worry?
Today, on Thanksgiving Sunday no less, God encounters us with this text from Matthew. Jesus is speaking. "Therefore I tell you, do not worry 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?"
One might think that it may be easy for us – for we who have more than enough to eat, to drink and wear to not to be consumed with or obsess about food, drink or clothing. And yet..... if we make Jesus' words applicable to our culture and our mostly middle class status he may say today, "Do not worry about your life, where you shall live or what you shall drive or what others may think about you or even about your health." How about that? Do we ever obsess about such things? Do we ever devote inordinate amounts of our time and energy to such realities?
Whenever someone speaks to us, it is very important to consider who that person is. In our text from Matthew's Gospel it is Jesus, God's own Son who is speaking. This is the same One who later teaches his early followers to pray to God to give them daily bread, that is everything THEY NEED to live. So, we and our physical needs are important to God. It isn't that food and drink, lodging and even transportation aren't important to us or to God. But it also deeply matters – that God wills for us and for all people a FULL AND ABUNDANT LIFE, now and forever. It does matter that God loves all of us and wants us to be enabled to live with joy, meaning and purpose, NOT ENSLAVED to things, ourselves or others. All of this matters GREATLY!
We know that all of this matters to God, because Jesus speaks of these realities. In fact He gives His life to usher in such reality, the "reign" of God not only over and through us but over and through all realities.
Now Jesus doesn't pile up an endless lists of commands just for the sake of giving us more to do. Nor is Jesus in His commands primarily attempting to show us just how hopeless we actually can be: hopeless in the sense of not up to being able to love, or forgive or obey THE WAY GOD INTENDS, THE WAY GOD ENVISIONS.
Instead Jesus issues these commands, for example, NOT TO WORRY, to shed light to the possibility THAT BEGINS NOW IN HIM.
Let me say some more. Take for instance this glass. (Hold up an "empty" water glass). Is it possible to remove all the air from the glass? I can turn it over, roll it on its side, even vigorously shake it. Nevertheless some air remains in the glass.
However if I fill the glass with some other substance – for instance water, then much of the air that was once in the glass necessarily vacates. So it is with worry. The worry that can consume us, that keeps us focused primarily on ourselves, obsessing about how little there is or what we don't have, or what might be going on with others, must be removed by something other than worry, indeed by someone WITH THE CAPACITY TO FILL US WITH WONDER, JOY, LOVE AND HOPE.
A former parishioner has the incredible gift of sculpting, particularly with wood. One Christmas he gave me a cherished hand sculpted gift. I hold it before you. For those of you not close enough to see it, there are a large pair of hands, holding a tiny person. The title of this work is "HELD". I prefer to think of it as "BEING HELD". WE ARE BEING HELD, as people, individuals, congregations, CHURCH, indeed all of creation IN THE HANDS OF GOD. God's hands are loving, sometimes correcting, but always caring for us, for all people and all creation, with purpose!
The powerful symbol at the very front of our worship space (of Christ on the cross) is the most direct reminder for us of God's care for us. God loves us! God knows our needs! God provides us with gifts and skills, with other people. God provides so that our needs and the needs of others may be met. We do not need to worry. Truth be told, what does, what can our worry achieve?
And yet, we still do worry. How we worry! But, with God's help, with the very life, death and resurrection of Christ inscribed on our hearts and minds, we can be turned from our obsession with ourselves, with all that might or might not happen. We can be turned to the love and care of God in Christ for all! From that amazing and wonderful reality may we hear Christ's call for us to follow Him in all the "stuff" of our lives, being mindful of the gifts and resources he entrusts to us. May we be enabled to let go of focusing on what we want, to see the actual needs of others and ourselves.
In this reality of Christ's sacrificial love we can be lifted from the morass of worry to deep thanks and appreciation – first to God and then to others. We can live with joyful hearts and minds, open to how God is calling us to live and serve here and now. God's possibilities are endless.
Would you join me in prayer? (Turn in the red hymnals to p. 304. Join with me in praying the very last prayer printed on the page.
O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.