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"That's fantastic! How much does your professional worrier charge for his services?", his friend asked.
"$50,000 a year."
"$50,000 a year? Where are you going to get that kind of money?"
"I don't know", the guy said. "That's his worry."
Worry affects each and every one of us. If I were to ask by a show of hands who has worried about something in their life in the past hour, I wouldn't be surprised if at least half of us raised our hands. Worry is something that exists in all of our lives; in some cases it even threatens to destroy us. Instead of letting worry take the lead in our lives, my hope today is that worry will be seen for what it really is -- a losing proposition!
A story is told about a man who came face to face with the dangers of worry: Death was walking toward a city one morning and a man asked, "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to take 100 people," Death replied.
"That's horrible!" the man said.
"That's the way it is," Death said. "That's what I do." The man hurried to warn everyone he could about Death's plan. As evening fell, he met Death again.
"You told me you were going to take 100 people," the man said. "Why did 1,000 die?"
"I kept my word," Death responded. "I only took 100 people. Worry took the others."
That little tale portrays so well the fact that half of all the people in America's hospital beds are constant worriers. 43% of all adults suffer health effects due to worry and stress. 75% - 90% of all visits to primary care physicians are stress-related complaints or disorders. Worry has been linked to all the leading causes of death including heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis and suicide. An estimated 1 million workers are absent on an average workday because of stress related complaints. 43% of all employee turnover is related to job stress. Add to the list the mental fatigue of nights without sleep and days without peace, and we get a glimpse of the havoc worry plays in destroying our quality and quantity of life.
So let's take a look at what Jesus says about worry in our reading from the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus is speaking to a large crowd of people. In verse 25 he says, "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?" Jesus makes a bold statement in saying, "Do not worry about your life."
Some of us think, " I know Jesus said it, but that's impossible". Does the fact that Jesus said these things mean that we shouldn't eat or wear any clothes? Of course not! What Jesus is saying is that we get too caught up and fretful about such things.
The Greek word translated as "worry" literally means "to be drawn in different directions." Worry pulls us apart. Until we as humans interfere, everything in nature works together because all of nature innately depends on God. People, however, are pulled apart because we try to live our lives by depending solely on material things and our own abilities.
Jesus was saying that God has built into Creation the means by which all things are cared for. The birds don't store up great amounts of food because they diligently work with what God has provided to maintain their lives. The flowers of the fields grow daily through a natural process. Therefore we as individuals need not be anxious about our existence.
And yet, worrying has a big affect in our world and on us here today.
Now if I stood here and simply told you, "Don't worry!," many of you might equate that with not taking action. For example, if you said "I'm not going to worry about what I will eat – what I will wear – my house, my job," it doesn't mean you shouldn't prepare meals or that you should walk out of the house naked or that you don't take care of your house or you just decide, "That's it; I'm not going to work tomorrow." Not at all. "Don't worry," means that you stop fretting over your life – stop letting all the things in this life pull you in a dozen directions and take over your mind.
Consider verse 27. "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?" The bottom line is that worrying changes nothing. Worrying about a situation cannot control the outcome.
There was a family traveling out of town for vacation. As they were traveling down the highway, the mother remembered that the family had traveled this highway two years ago when they went on vacation. She recalled a certain place where they were detoured because a major bridge was out along the way, so for the next hour she worried the family and herself about how they might be delayed because of the bridge being out. She kept going on and on. "I hate that we'll get detoured and waste a lot of time because the stupid bridge is out". As the family neared that area where they had trouble before, they could make out a large sign and the mother said, "See! I knew it!" As they got closer they realized that the sign read "Newly Constructed Bridge – Open for Your Convenience". Whether the bridge was out or not was not affected by that mother's worrying.
When we start fretting and worrying about what are we going to eat, what are we going to wear, how are we going to make it, I need this, I need that, what if such and such happens -- we reveal that we are people who rely on ourselves instead of God.
Worry is, and always will be, a fatal disease of the heart – for its beginning signals the end of faith. Worry intrudes on God's compassionate ability to provide. When we allow our problems to overshadow God's promises, we unknowingly doom ourselves to a defeat that was never part of God's plans.
We are to look to God first, then do our part in life, and all our needs will be provided for. The reason we have so many worries is because we're seeking everything but God first. We're too concerned about what does the bank account say, what does the doctor say, what does the boss say, what does the horoscope say. We need to be concerned about what God wants us to do and be and then, and only then, can we have the right perspective on our lives.
Verse 34 says "therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own". This verse tells us that we don't have to worry about tomorrow as tomorrow will get here when it gets here – and there are enough trials and troubles we'll have to face today. By God's grace, we need to deal with what is before us right now. Note that it doesn't say we ought to worry about today either, but Christ is saying why look ahead and worry about things that haven't yet happened and that you can't even control...because you don't know if you'll make it through this day.
If the events of last September 11th taught us anything, it was that. People who simply got up and routinely went to work were the ones killed or injured. Nothing would have been added to their lives if they had been worried about something awful happening, just as nothing is added to our lives by worrying about whether something like that might happen again. That doesn't mean our government shouldn't be vigilant or that we should be naive about the presence of evil in the world. But holding our individual – and collective – breath only takes away from the quality...and possibly...the quantity of the lives we have been given.
When we're tempted to worry about things in our life, we need to look at Philippians 4:6 – it reads, " do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God". We need to be praying about every need, situation and problem in our lives and in our world. But remember: "praying" is not wringing our hands and saying, "O God, O God, O please God!" When your job is in danger or your health is compromised or when any other material or relational worry starts to take over your thoughts and energy, pray: give thanks to God for God's presence and power; ask God to give you the strength and guidance you need to deal with today's challenges and ask God for peace in the midst of chaos. "Seek first the kindom of heaven...and all these other things will be given to you as well."
What are you worried about this morning? The possibility of another "Sept. 11th?" The future of this church or your job or your family? Decisions, choices, possibilities yet unknown? Resolve not to disengage from the needs of life but to give your worrying over to God. You can get peace of mind...and you may also stay healthier, physically and mentally, because God promises to guard your heart and your mind.
In a sense, we do have a professional worrier, like the man in the story I told you, because 1Peter 5:7 says, "Cast all your worries on God who cares for you." Release the regrets of yesterday...refuse the fears of tomorrow...and receive instead, peace for today. Worry is no match for the power of God. My hope is that we will recognize worry as a losing proposition and let Christ be the leader of our lives! Amen.
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