8th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Cycle A
March 2,
2014 7:30 and 9:00am
Saint Margaret Parish, Bel Air
We Do Worry
I have
to admit: at times I worry and feel anxiety.
I also
suspect that most of us, maybe all of us have some worry and anxiety at
times. Sometimes I worry about how to
relate our Church more effectively to youth and young adults.
Sometimes
I feel anxious about growing older and eventually having to deal with more
health issues and less stamina. Some of
you have shared with me your anxiety when you are out of work and looking for a
job and wondering how to pay all the bills.
Some of
you have shared your worry about a doctor’s diagnosis that could mean
cancer. What I am saying is that
probably all of us feel some worry and anxiety at times.
It
seems to be part of being human. It
seems normal.
Jesus: Do Not Worry
And yet, Jesus says
several times today: “Do not worry.”
I am tempted to
say: is he kidding? And if he isn’t,
what does he mean?
I prayed on this
passage a good bit this past week. I’ve
got several ideas and let’s see if they make sense.
1. Seek First the Kingdom
First, in this
passage Jesus makes another crucial statement.
He says: “Seek first the kingdom of God.” Notice that he doesn’t tell us to seek only
God, because we will have to be busy about other things too.
But he tells us to
make our relationship with God a priority – to put it above everything
else. Maybe this sounds trite and
obvious, but I have to say it.
This means to make
prayer, trusting, regular, daily prayer – to make prayer a priority. It means to make the space – mental space, and
maybe physical space – to make the space for an inner relationship with God a
priority.
Making God first also
means making relationships a priority.
It means to work at compassion, forgiveness, truthfulness, and humility.
All of this is
part of seeking first the kingdom. And
this has a way not of eliminating worry and anxiety, but of keeping it in
check, at an appropriate level.
2. Serve God not Money
And then it is interesting
that Jesus connects his caution about worrying with some teaching about money
and possessions.
He says: “You cannot serve both God and money.” You know, it’s easy to get caught up worrying
about money and things.
How much is
enough? Do we ever have enough?
How can we be
assured that we have a secure future?
These questions – and they are questions that roll around in our heads –
they can lead us to be absorbed in worry and anxiety.
So when Jesus says
“Seek God first,” he’s giving us a
way to deal with this. “Seeking God first” will help us to be
less centered on ourselves and more centered on others.
Our absorption in
getting more or in having enough will be kept in check. And then our worry and anxiety will kept in
check and kept at an appropriate level.
3. Trust God
Finally, in this passage Jesus calls us to trust God.
He asks: if God gives us our very life, and if God takes care of the
birds, and if God adorns the flowers, will he not take care of you? And once again, it all comes down to making
God first.
I believe that for me and you and all of us, there will be some rough
days and sufferings and challenges that we wish we did not have. They will be part of our human journey.
And once again, if we make God first, if we do this on the good days,
then we will have a strength and a refuge for the bad days. We will have that relationship with God –
personal, intact, steady and abiding within us.
We will be able to trust that God is with us and will see us through
whatever is going on. And that again
will keep our worry and anxiety in check and keep us spiritually healthy and
holy.
