Do you remember the very first car you bought? I remember mine. I was living in Pasadena, responded to an ad I saw in The Reader, and drove out to West Los Angeles by LAX and saw her. I fell in love. A 1979 Volkswagen Scirocco with a really cool sporty wooden steering wheel and matching stick shift knob. I had looked at other cars, but when I sat behind “Sally,” she just felt right.
I bought the car from a graduate of Stanford and he had some wooden beads hanging on the mirror. (They were even cool!) I reached out and touched them, and he laughed and said, he had bought them in South America and they’re called worry beads. Remember that song … “Don’t Worry … Be Happy!”
I looked up worry beads in Wikipedia and read that though they resemble prayer beads, they have no religious significance. They’re used as an instrument of relaxation and stress management. Let me tell you, they came in handy driving in L.A. Maybe they weren’t religious, but they certainly were spiritual.
There’s a story in Matthew where Jesus is telling his disciples not to worry. “Don’t 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?”
If you think about it, there’s plenty to worry about? What you dwell on, that’s what you’ll see. If you dwell on your problems, you’ll see more problems.
How does Jesus respond? “Don’t worry.” And then he asks a really good question, “Do you think that any of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life?” But we still worry.
Think about it. When we’re pushed out of the dark, warm, comfort of our mother’s womb, our very birth is traumatic. We quickly pick up the anxiety of our parents – those big, hovering people who want the best for us, who want us to be the best and who also project all their unfinished anxieties onto us.
Who can forget the anxiety of that first day in nursery school or kindergarten? The anxiety of our first spelling test or our first time up to bat? Remember pop quizzes? And, especially when we didn’t do our homework the night before? Or what about that first job interview? And what about the anxiety of that inconclusive mammogram? Or the elevated PSA levels?
And these are just in our personal lives. What about the anxieties of a turbulent stock market? Uncontrolled debt? Job losses? An uncertain economy?
At first glance, Jesus seems to be psychologically naive. “Do not worry,” he says, as if this is really possible. He might as well be saying, “Don’t be human.” After all, psychologists tell us that anxiety is part of being human. Sometimes, anxiety can actually be good for us, fertile territory for growth and change and maturity.
Actually the Greek word Jesus uses isn’t referring to the typical worries of the day. No, it’s the word for extreme angst, for anxious worrying, for being so full of care for survival that the world shrinks to just “me, myself and I.” Oh me! Oh my!
The worry and anxiety Jesus is talking about is the exact opposite of faith. The exact opposite of trust and hope in a loving God.
To help us to surrender our worries to God, Jesus asks us to do two things.
First of all, we are to look at (consider) the lilies of the field. The word consider is “to look, study, scrutinize” nature around you. Look and learn. The lilies he refers to are beautiful wildflowers, bright poppies that flourish and dazzle. These flowers have one spectacular shot at living their lives, and in that fleeting flash there is beauty and meaning and joy. Each one of them is unique and irreplaceable, and they are part of something much bigger than themselves.
You are like a lily of the field. In other words, God is taking care of you – always. You are unique. You are beautiful and fabulous!
Life is a risk.
I remember the night before leaving Madison, Wis. to leave for college to take the 600 mile trip to Springfield, Mo. and move away from everything that was familiar to me. My mom sat on my bed as I put the last clean clothes that she had just washed for me in my suitcase. I asked her, “Mom, do you want me to leave and go so far away?” She said, “I’d love to have you nearby, but I don’t want you to be a wallflower; go and explore life. Don’t worry. You’ll be fine.” Life is full of risks. The key is to trust that God is with you in the risk taking.
There’s a promise that’s true for you and for me. God says to you, I will never leave you or forsake you. So, when you face those fears, admit your anxieties, expect God to go through life with you.
The next thing Jesus asks us to do is to live – just live. Show up! Woody Allen said, “90 percent of success is just showing up.” And when we live for God, Jesus promises, all these things we worry about will be given to us as well.
Death is facing you or a loved one? Live fully and deeply anyway. Live with no regrets!
You’re worried about the economy? Live generously and faithfully anyway.
Poverty and injustice seem to be gripping the world? Live with hope and love anyway, without judgment, without prejudice but with radical and eternal inclusion.
Creeping old age is diminishing your power and your energy? Live prayerfully and thankfully anyway. The relationships and dreams that have grounded your life are on shaky ground? Live with hope and expectation for the new thing God is doing anyway.
I have a “Life Verse” found in Philippians 4:6-7. It says, “Be anxious for nothing (don’t worry!). But in prayers and supplication, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace that passes all understanding will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.” What’s a life verse? It’s a reminder of God in your life. A touchstone. One person’s is “Let go and let God.”
Do you have one? Look for one. Ask for one.
Rev. Dan Koeshall is the Senior Pastor at The Metropolitan Community Church (The Met) in San Diego, California, themetchurch.org.
