The Rev. Dr. Patricia Ramsden                        First Presbyterian Church

What?  Me Worry?                                                2/27/11

 

            I told a friend of mine that I was going to be doing this sermon on worrying and fretting about things and she said, “Oh, I know all about that.  I used to worry all the time.  In fact, I was so bad that if things were going really well, I’d worry about what I’d forgotten to worry about.  Then, I found the answer!  Every night, before I go to sleep, I turn all my worries over to God.  I figure He’s going to be up all night anyway!”

            She has a point.  Still most of us do worry.  It’s part of our nature – and some worry is actually good for us.  Worrying about the blemish on our cheek that keeps getting larger, leads us to the dermatologist.  Worrying about our future leads us to save for retirement.  And worrying about tomorrow’s test helps us to study.  These are all good things.  Worry --- normal, everyday worry --- that leads us to take care of things that need taken care of, that leads us to make plans for the future and carry those plans out, is a necessary part of life.  And that’s not what Jesus is talking about in today’s scripture. 

            What He is talking about is a different kind of worry, the kind of worry that keeps you up all night, the kind of worry that takes over your life until you can’t do anything else but worry, until you become like a hamster in a cage constantly running around and around on a wheel you can’t get off of.  It’s not the kind of worry that leads to finding a solution.  No, it’s the frantic, frenzied, worry that insists that there is no solution, no way out, and that the world as we know it will end today, right now, right this very minute because you don’t know how to fix what you think is wrong. 

Well, I‘ve got news for you.  There are very few things that we spend time worrying about that the world depends on, and in fact, you don’t have to worry about your world coming to an end today because it’s already tomorrow in Australia!

The reality is that most of what we worry about when we are lying awake at 2 a.m. falls in to the category of useless worry.  They’ve even done a study that has determined that 40% of what we worry about are things that will probably never happen; 30% concern the past; 12% is about other people’s opinions or what other people will do; 10% are about things we have no control over like the stock market.  Only 8% of all worries appear to fall into the legitimate category. 

So what’s a person to do?  How do we get off the merry-go-round of incessant worrying?

Well, Jesus gives us some very clear, very practical advice.  He starts by telling us to look at our priorities, to remember what is really important to us. 

The reality is at the end of our lives it will not matter how much cash we have accumulated, what kind of house we live in or what neighborhood.  No one will care how many hours we worked or what our job title was.  What they will remember is if we took the time to listen, if we shared what we had with those who needed it, if we showed up at the basketball game or dance recital, if we took the time to kiss the ones we love good night, every night, if we not only said “I love you” but showed our “I love yous”. 

What really matters isn’t money or fame, power or glory, high fashion or the cost of our toys.  What really matters is love --- the people we love – the God we love.  If we remember that, Jesus says, we’ll be amazed at how many of our worries will melt away and how easy it will be to not let the future overwhelm our present.

I like the way Tom Long puts it: “We are to come to the end of the day --- or the end of life – with the satisfaction of having stood for what is good, with the joy of having been loved and having loved well, with the memory of having shown mercy, and with the peace of having walked with God.”  If we can do that, we will rest easy with life and be content and at peace.

Then Jesus reminds us that we are to trust in God.  When we become frantic and think things must be done asap, we need to stop and remember that asap really means always say a prayer.   

Jesus clearly says, “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” 

I can’t say it any clearer or any better than that.   When I feel out of control trying to figure out what to do next, I always say the same brief  prayer:  “It’s you and me God.  Together we can handle anything. ”  Then I take a deep breath and sure enough, we handle it.

Too many times we get overwhelmed with worry because we forget who is in control --- and it’s not us.  It’s God.   That’s our heavenly assurance plan. 

So when you cannot get to sleep at night because of all the what if’s and why did I’s and the what do I do now’s in your world, here’s some advice from the great Physician:  Remember what’s truly important, take a prayer, and know He’ll be up all night taking care of things and when you wake up He’ll still be with you in the morning.