Advent Reflection: Matthew 6:25-34.
Brad Smith sat in his living room. Images on the television danced before him, but he wasn’t paying any attention
to them. His two children, a four
year boy, Eddie, and a two year old girl, Samantha, bounced joyfully next to
him, he didn’t notice them. His
wife, Beverly spoke to him from the kitchen, giving her the details of her day.
He heard her, but wasn’t listening. In fact he was fairly oblivious to the
goings on around him. He had shut out the external world. His mind had become
fixated on a single thought, as it had been for the last ten hours. The thought
was related to work. It concerned an account, and his mishandling of it, and a
potential loss for his employer. His mind poured over the details, disassembled
the situation, reconstructed different possibilities. Over and over again his
consciousness replayed events. Lying in bed, he stared at the ceiling,
imagining possibilities and outcomes, and dreading the seemingly inevitable conclusion that he would be
fired. Brad Smith went to work the
next day, sleep deprived, and riddled with anxiety. The case of Brad Smith is
not that unusual. Brad Smith was caught in a cycle of worry.
Many
human beings can relate to this story of worry, because worry is a common human
experience. How many people in this society can honestly say, that they have
not spent any time in worry? Very
few if any. Most people worry. And
there are good reasons. At this moment
people wonder where their next meal is coming from, wait for the results
of a medical test, wait for a
relative to make it through a life or death surgery. But how many cases
of worry involve these serious situations? How many cases of worry do not have,
at their root, some serious situation where life or limb hangs in the balance? How many cases of worry are
constructions of the human mind?
When Brad Smith returned to work
after a night of lost sleep, he discovered that he had not mishandled or lost
the account. His worry was based entirely on speculation. As it turned out, he
had taken a disapproving word of a client, and, in his mind, had blown it out
of proportion—had taken it as a sign that the client would be taking his
business elsewhere. He had not lost the big account. Be he had lost something.
He lost the previous evening. He had lost the opportunity to listen—truly listen
to his wife. He had lost time spent with his children. He had squandered the
God given gift of the present moment But Brad Smith, being Brad Smith, will go
on to worry about something else, because Brad Smith has always worries about
something. Brad Smith has and continues to lose out because of worry. Brad
Smith is a worrier.
When
we stop to think about it, there is no end to potential worries—there is an
endless list of worries to draw upon. But where does this worry lead? Our Lord
answers that question with a rhetorical question, “and can any of you by
worrying add a single hour to your life span?” Worry leads nowhere. Worry is a
stream into which all thoughts, all emotional and psychological energy flow to
no end or purpose. Worry can be a source of emotional and spiritual bondage.
Christmas
can be a time of excessive worry. This worry usually revolves around pleasing
people—buying the right presents, putting on the right party, serving the right
meal. Anxiety rather than joy is often the motivator for the Christmas host or
hostess—all of this on top of the other worries of life. And then, after
Christmas, the let down, the hangover—the realization that too much money was
spent, too much was eaten, too many decorations put up. Then a whole host of
new worries in the new year. How many people will spend time worrying about
credit card payments? Many, many, will.
Why
all of this worry? Where does this all come from? From a psychological and
emotional standpoint, some experts assert that the tendency to worry is rooted
in genetics, in our biological inheritance. Others argue that it is rooted in
learning, and habits of mind acquired in childhood, through negative messages
transmitted to children by parents, teachers, and other authority figures. There
is validity in all of these assertions, most would agree. But underneath all of this there is a
spiritual dimension to worry.
Worry
is related to responsibility, to control. Worry is related to trust, and to
mistrust. Worry is related to faith.
Brad
Smith Smith spent so much time in
worry because Brad Smith believed that he was totally in charge, and totally
responsible. If things go well, it is because of what he has done; if things go
badly it must be his fault. And if things go badly, and it is his fault, he
will be fired, and therefore condemned. No wonder he spent so much time
thinking about the matter, tossing it
around over and over again in his mind. But no amount of thinking,
ruminating and reflecting, can change reality. No amount of going over the past
can change the past. No amount of thinking about the future can change the
future. Underneath all of this worrisome thinking lies an illusion, an illusion
of control, an illusion that reality can be changed through thinking alone.
Underneath Brad’s episode of worry, lay kind of an illusion of divinity—an
illusion that he is ultimately in charge. The biblical narrative tells us where
this illusion of divinity stems from. We read about it in Genesis. When Adam
and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, they bought into the illusion, the lie of
their own divinity. Ever since human beings have struggled, and have distanced
themselves from God be their own desire to be gods, to want to be in charge.
And when we want to be in charge, we no longer trust the one who is in charge.
We then assume too much responsibility, and buy into an illusion of control.
In
this evenings reading taken from Matthew, chapter 6, Jesus tells his disciples
not to worry, not worry because they are not in charge. He reminds them of who
is ultimately in charge, and it is God. God is ultimately in charge. Jesus
reminds his disciples that the same God who cares for the birds and the lilies
of the fields will look after them. Now does this mean that hardship and pain
will never touch us? No it does not. Jesus speaks here not of physical reality,
but of spiritual reality. Jesus speaks to our souls. He makes this clear with
the pointed question, “Is not life more than food, and the body more than
clothing?” In chapter 28 of Matthew Jesus assures his disciples who is in
charge of their souls. It is God. The same God who created them, is the same
God who has redeemed them, and the same God who will sustain them. “And
remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” All worriers, in their
moments of worry, believe that they are responsible for their souls, for their
worth, for their value. The good news of the gospel is that we are not responsible for determining
our worth. Through baptism, God has claimed us, through faith, God justifies
us, makes us right and whole. It is God who has detirmined our worth.
So
as we move through the Christmas season and the worries begin to mount,
remember the heart of Christmas. Remember why
it is we celebrate; remember who it
is we celebrate. We celebrate the Saviour who came into the world to save us—so
that we are no longer the ones responsible for our ultimate destiny. We need
not feel condemned because we are not condemned. Jesus came into this world to
relieve us of our worries, to alleviate our fears, to heal us at the very core
of our being. God is there even
when we don’t think he is. God is there even when we worry. God loves us even
as we worry. Our destiny is in the
hands of the one who has created us, has redeemed us, and sustains us. Amen.
