DO NOT WORRY ABOUT YOUR LIFE

A Meditation for the Memorial Service of Fay Hayes

October 4, 2008

R. Charles Grant, D.Min.

Bon Air Presbyterian Church - Richmond, Virginia

Text: Matthew 6:25-34

            A serious or terminal illness, a personal or family difficulty, the death of a spouse or mother or dear friend – these are the crises of life that challenge us the most.  Make us anxious about ourselves and those whom we love.  Lead us to doubt our faith, perhaps drive us to despair.  Our feelings are confused and thoughts become jumbled.  And we ask, “And what are we to do now?”

            Which makes these words from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount both timely and hard to hear.  “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?”  We need to hear these words today. We may find it hard to hear them, to believe them, to act on them.  Which is why we need to hear them again.

            “Do not worry about your life.”  These words of advice, this counsel of practical faith, come from the middle section of the Sermon on the Mount.  In chapter 5, Jesus lays out his program for holy living for his followers.  Jesus teaches what life in communion with God and in community with the neighbor is all about.  And it is a pretty demanding call.  Then in chapter 7, Jesus prepares his followers for the difficulties they will meet when they try to live by his teachings.  But here in chapter 6, Jesus offers gentle, encouraging, personal words for daily living.  He teaches his followers how to pray.  He teaches about the dangers of money.  He teaches about dealing with the daily trials of living.  How to enjoy life in all of its fullness. How to appreciate the beauty and wonders of creation and the joys of human relationships. And Jesus gives us words on how to face challenges like aging and terminal illness and death.

            Do not worry about your life.  You are always within God’s care.  Consider the birds of the air, Jesus says.  They neither sow nor reap, and they are doing fine!  Just listen to their spring songs!  Take in their colorful beauty.  Your heavenly Father feeds the birds, doesn’t he?   Are you not of more value than they?  “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me” the old spiritual says. “Blackbird has spoken, like the first day” the hymn says.  Model your life after the birds of the air, and you will do just fine.

            Look at the lilies of the field.  They neither toil nor spin, yet the flowers of the field display beautiful apparel Madison Avenue will never touch!

            We are anxious and we worry.  And what good does that do?   As Dr. Phil says, “And how is that working for you?”  Note Jesus is NOT saying, ignore your troubles, Jesus is NOT saying, life is easy.  Jesus IS saying, what good does worrying do for you?  Then he delivers his punch line:  “Strive first for the kingdom of God and God’s goodness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”  In other words, place your trust in God, and everything else will fall into line.  Yes, your troubles will still be with you.  But with your life entrusted to God, all of life’s troubles take on a new and different meaning.

            “So,” Jesus concludes, “do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own.  Today’s trouble is enough for today.”  Such was the faith of Fay Hayes.  And such is the promise of the gospel of God we have through Jesus Christ.  “Do not worry about your life!”  Entrust yourself to the God who knows you by name before you are even born. “Do not worry about your life!” Walk with the God who walks with you even through the valley of the shadow of death.  “Do not worry about your life!”  Open yourself to the goodness of God’s creation that surrounds you, and live within the beauty of the good earth God has given us. “Do not worry about your life!”  For in life and in death, we belong to God.  Thanks be to God!  AMEN.