Sermon “Why Worry?” 

 

A few years ago a popular song hit the airwaves, “Don’t Worry Be Happy.”  Bobby McFerrin (slide) made the song popular in 1988 and it won a Grammy in 1989 for best song of the year.  Most people don’t know it was first used by Meher Baba an Indian mystic as a phrase he used to disciple his flock in the West.

 

Of course Disney in its movie the Lion King in 1994, used a similar phrase, “Hakuna Matata” In the movie, Timon and Pumbaa, a meerkat and warthog, teach the little lion cub Simba , the song “Hakuna Matata”, in order to forget the memories of his past and focus on the future. 

 

And the song they sing which my son sings all the time, you just can’t get out of your head, is “It’s a problem free philosophy…Hakuna Matata”.  It actually is Swahili and means, “There are no worries”, or “no worries”.   It has been translated in America as “No Problem!!!” 

 

Although we have these great songs about worry, we know that worry/anxiety is a big deal in North America.  The National Institutes of Health tell us:

• 6.8 million Americans have Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
• Approximately 40 million Americans suffer from all anxiety disorders combined.
• Approximately 6 million American adults ages 18 and older have panic disorder.
• Approximately 15 million American adults age 18 and over have social phobia.
• Approximately 19.2 million American adults age 18 and over have some type of specific phobia.

At the beach party a couple of weeks ago, we asked a few of our members what they were worried about.  Here’s what they said,

(DVD CLIP)

Apparently we haven’t gotten the “Don’t worry be happy” thing down yet. But at least we are all kind of worrying about the same things, our kids and economy!  

Not ironically, Jesus also confronted this topic right in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount.  Although this is probably a collection of Jesus’ teachings, or else that would have been one long sermon (see you think my sermons are long!!!), Jesus describes what life in God’s kingdom is like. 

 

 

Jesus reinterprets the Old Testament laws by saying, “You’ve heard it said”, and then proceeds to give the true meaning of the law.  He said, “You’ve heard it said don’t murder.  Well I say if you call your brother a fool is ready for judgment.”  You’ve heard it said, “Don’t commit adultery.  I say if anyone looks at someone lustfully they’ve committed adultery in their hearts.” 

Then in summary Jesus says in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

 

A lot of people think with the advent of Jesus all the Old Testament rules just kind of go away.  Jesus says not so fast, those Ten Commandments were from God.  But I am going to help you to truly fulfill the spirit of what they originally meant. 

 

In the middle of this Jesus confronts worrying about material things and by application we can apply this to anything that causes us fear.  Jesus gives us a command in verse 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. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?”

 

What’s funny about this is that Jesus is not saying, “Don’t worry about the weather”. Or, how you look, or that you are keeping up with the Jones’ (who are they anyways!).  Jesus talks about important stuff like food, clothing, and our health.  If there were anything to worry about these would seem to be legitimate. 

 

What I love about this passage is that Jesus doesn’t just tell us not to worry.  You know how people say, “Aw don’t worry about it!”  Jesus gives us a prescription for not worrying.  It’s all about our focus. 

 

1.)    Look at the birds and lilies.  (slide)

 

First Jesus tells us to focus on what is around us.  Just look around.  Can’t you see that God provides all the time in nature?  The birds are fed, the flowers are clothed, aren’t you worth a little bit more than that. 

 

In a similar teaching in Luke right after what is called the “Sermon on the Plain”, Jesus says, “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:7)

 

Now for some of us that number may be diminishing, but that is beside the point.  God is good at subtracting too! 

 

The bottom line is that God knows us better than ourselves.  My daughter has had high fevers again lately, and I have watched as my wife has cared for her not letting her out of her sight.  Staying up almost 3 nights in a row to make sure she didn’t have another seizure.  I am amazed at that quality in her and her love for our daughter.

 

Then I go back to the point that Jesus called God, our Father.  Because God is our heavenly father and He cares for us.  Just as God provides for the things in nature, He provides for us the jewel of His creation.  Why are we His jewel?  Because we are made in His image.  Even our ability to worry about things comes from that.

 

You don’t see many birds worrying about things, or dogs (unless you don’t feed them!)  But our heavenly Father knows what we need and cares for us.

 

2.)    Look One Day At A Time

 

Jesus says, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

 

Here Jesus gets very logical.  He says what can today’s worry do to affect tomorrow!

 

George McDonald, a Scottish author, poet who eventually had tremendous influence on C.S. Lewis, wrote the following about worry. "No man ever sank under the burden of the day. It is when tomorrow’s burden is added to the burden of today that the weight is more than a man can bear. Never load yourselves so. If you find yourselves so loaded, at least remember this: It is your doing, not God’s. He begs you to leave the future to Him, and mind the present."

 

It isn’t an accident that the Twelve Step recovery movement, which includes A.A. and other recovery groups, uses this as its main motto.  “One Day at a Time is heard frequently at meetings and is the chief advice a sponsor gives to the recovering addict to get through tough times.  A shortened version is “Just for today”. 

 

Why is that so important for an addict?  Because they get so worried about tomorrow they feel they need to medicate their worry.  And when it gets out of hand, the medication becomes so destructive, they put themselves in a position where they are not even able to cope with tomorrow. 

 

At the heart of the twelve-step movement is a trust in God for one’s daily needs.  It is a daily surrender to God with another motto, “I can’t, God can, I think I’ll let him”.

 

3.)    Finally, the jewel of these verses is Matthew 6:33.  “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

 

I know without a shadow of a doubt one of the biggest challenges I face as your pastor is time.  I know personally what this is like having a 1 and 5 year old that is starting to get involved in sports and other activities.  I think there is a higher than average feeling for families in Irvine to get their kids going at an early age.

 

As I mentioned in Irvine Pony baseball alone, there were 26 teams this year.  This is 3 ½ and 4 years olds playing tee ball. 

 

And of course the last thing I am going to say that any of that is wrong, or any other extra curricular activities that you may pursue for your own or child’s enrichment.  But as we all seek to get off this very fast moving treadmill of getting ahead and keeping up with the Jones, and now with an economic downturn headed our way, these words are golden to keep our anxiety level down. “Seek me first and all this stuff will be taken care of!” 

 

What a promise?  This is the true problem free philosophy.  We’ve probably all seen the analogy of the walnut and the rice.  When we put the rice in the jar, we can’t fit the walnut in.  But if we put the walnut in first all the rice fits in.

 

I find in my life when I am most stressed out in my life, that things I do to put God first in my life, “Prayer, Reading His Word”, going to church (oh I have to go to church I am the pastor) have taken a backseat amidst the pressure and busyness.

 

The question at the end of the day is do you believe this?  I can talk until I’m blue in the face, but the proof is in the pudding.  I invite you this week if you are not already doing so to put God first.  Maybe it is by praying or reading a few verses first thing in the day, or committing to that thing God has been bugging you about. 

 

You see the bottom line is that God would say the same thing, “Don’t worry, be happy”. But true happiness comes as we see ourselves the way God sees us.  As we take one day at a time and trust God daily for our needs.  And finally as we seek Him first and then all these things will be added as well. Let’s pray together…(slides with hand/palms up and down!)