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News -> Pastor's Column Wednesday, June 4, 2008
 
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"Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday"

By Rev. Duncan Johnston, Pastor
St. John's Episcopal Church in Fremont

“Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia.” So said Charles Schultz, the mind that dreamt up the Peanuts cartoon. And he had a point. Jesus put it well, too. “Don’t worry about tomorrow - it’ll bring enough worries of it own!”

Welcome to the epidemic disease we call ‘worry’. And welcome to Jesus, PhD, who has developed a cure for the common worry that is so effective that if we use it to medicate ourselves we can see a dramatic and immediate drop in our discomfort, and so live with peaceful minds, the way God made us to.

“Look at the birds - they don’t get fouled up about what they’re going to eat - God gives them their food. And look at the flowers - they don’t worry about what they look like - God gives the their beauty. And make no mistake”, he says, “you’re worth much much more to God than birds and flowers are. So don’t worry”, Jesus says, “just leave it to God, trust him as number one in your life and he’ll make sure you get what you really need.”

Easier said than done, though. Do you know the worst thing you can say to a worrier is? ‘Don’t worry’. That’ll do the trick (not). If it was as easy as that then wouldn’t we have done it by now? So I find myself imagining a conversation with Jesus and saying to him, “OK - I understand what you’re saying, you are asking me not to worry. But how? What’s the solution?”

And Jesus, in this imaginary conversation, asks me a question in return. He says “where are your eyes fixed? Because if they are fixed on your problems and the things of this earthly life then you probably should worry. These things are unpredictable; they are not worthy of your trust. But,” he says, “if you’re looking to your heavenly Father who will not let you down, then you can afford to relax. You can breathe a sigh of relief that he will give you what you need.”

You see, if we think the universe is governed by chance, and out lives are subject to random events outside anyone’s control, then we should indeed worry. If our lives are determined by an out-of-control stock market then we would be right to worry that we won’t have enough money to live on. If our lives are shaped and dictated by the words and actions of others then, again, we probably would be wise to worry. But if our lives are hidden in the palm of God’s hand, and if he is the all-powerful creator and sustainer of the world, then what happens to us is not meaningless. We’re not the result of chance. Accidents don’t happen. Events are not random. Our loving Father is in control, and he will see to it that we get what we need for each day.

Our word ‘worry’ comes from the Old English word ‘wyrgan’, which meant “to strangle.” As time passed it became the Middle English word, worien, and that meant “to grasp by the throat with the teeth” or “to kill or injure by biting and shaking”, just as a wolf might attack a sheep. And it still has that meaning today. Worry - strangle. Worry - to bite the neck and shake. Now I find that quite telling, because worry does bite and strangle, doesn’t it? It grips us like a wolf around the neck and renders us powerless. We become paralysed. We can't concentrate on anything, we can’t sleep, sometimes we can’t even eat due to our worry.

Maybe the reason we find it hard to trust him is that we have sometimes pushed him to the very edges of our lives. We are in control. We manage our affairs. We make the decisions. God is involved, somewhere, but we’re so much in control that we don’t really need to trust him for anything. So when the props we have built to hold up our lives begin to creak a little we react by worrying, because we are just not accustomed to trusting God for the things we need. Maybe before we can learn to trust him, we need to allow him to have the driver’s seat of our lives. So let’s nudge over into the passenger seat, let him drive and don't worry. You’re safe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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