God's Got It Covered!

Rev. Debbie Cato

Matthew 6:24-34

Peace Presbyterian Church

November 16,2014

God's Got It Covered!

Under the current administration, the economy is prospering. Wheat, olives and wine exports have never been more significant or profitable. The fishing industry is booming. It has even expanded to include dried fish - which everyone seems to love.

About 200,000 – 300,000 people live here. The powerful business leaders and politicians are growing wealthier every day. Along with the rich upper class, there is a middle class just like most communities have. They are able to take care of their families without any problem as long as the businesses in the community are thriving. But by far, the majority of the population is lower class. In fact, the gap between the upper class and the lower class is growing. Most of the low-income citizens in the community work hard every single day. They are tenant farmers, day laborers, laborers on fishing boats. You know, they do the kind of jobs that the rest of us take for granted but would miss if they weren’t being done.

Yes, Galilee during the time of Jesus' ministry is a rich prosperous community. Life is good – very comfortable. But the people that crowded around Jesus that day were not the wealthy or even the middle class people of Galilee. Things were not “good” for Jesus' audience. The folks listening to Jesus’ teach are poor. They are the working poor. They work as hard as they can but still struggle to meet the basic needs of their families. And Jesus tells them “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.”

You probably thought I was describing the United States didn’t you?! It’s interesting how similar the economies are. As a nation, we have enjoyed prosperity for many years. But there's another side to our story; a dark side.

We live in the world's wealthiest nation. Yet 14.5 percent of U.S. households—nearly 49 million Americans, including 15.9 million children—struggle to put food on the table.¹  The price of food is increasing at alarming rates and those numbers are going up and not down. The housing market is struggling to recover after thousands of hardworking families lost their homes. Gun violence continues to take the lives of our children. Our politicians spend more time fighting with one another than solving critical issues in our country. And Jesus tells us, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.”

God spoke this passage into my life for the first time about 25 years ago. I was a single mom with a baby and a 3 year old. I was a CPA working full-time, well-respected in my community. Yet because of circumstances in my life, we struggled – big time. One night in particular, driving home from work with my babies in car seats in the back, I realized I had nothing to give them for dinner. They had finished the last of the milk at breakfast. They had eaten the last of our food for dinner the night before. Our cupboards were bare. As I got closer to home, praying all the way, I heard God say, “Do not worry. I know what you need.”

As I pulled into my driveway, I cried when I saw bags of groceries sitting at my front door. I don’t know who left them but Tracy had her favorite baby food for dinner that night and Jessica and I ate hamburger, green beans, and bread for dinner. The girls had milk to drink. God knew what we needed.

In spite of God’s amazing provision – and I have many similar stories - I still worry. I can worry better than anyone else! In fact, I worry when I don’t have anything to worry about!

Do you worry? Why is it that we can have experiences where it is absolutely clear that God met our need and yet the next time we are in crisis we don’t believe He will help us? You see, worry is a form of disbelief. Worry is a mental and emotional response of concern or fear to vague or unspecified threats. What will I do if? What happens if? What if? Worry is a response to something that not only hasn’t happened but might not happen at all!

Worry interferes with our comfort and peace of mind. How many hours of sleep have you lost because you were worried about an appointment the next day? How many vacations have you spent worrying about what was happening at work without you, rather than relaxing and enjoying your time away? How many times has your quiet time or prayer time with God been interrupted by worry?

You see, to really understand this passage, to really get it - we must fully appreciate that Jesus’ is directing his words to people who do have to sow, and reap and toil and spin. He wasn’t telling them to stop doing those tasks; he simply wanted them to understand that their lives were a lot more than the sum of their work. He wants us to know that our lives are more than the sum of our work.

Jesus gives us an alternative to worry. Jesus ties his call to not worry to the Kingdom of God. Just as he told the crowd of Galileans he tells us. Do not worry. Rather, seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Jesus is teaching us that our primary concern must be the Kingdom of God. Our number one priority must be God. Jesus is teaching us a way of looking at life where God is at the center of all that we are, everything we can be and everything we need. It's about the most essential relationship in our lives. It's a relationship that changes how we look at everything in our life. It's a relationship that promises us life eternal.

Today’s gospel teaching is about reminding ourselves that God IS first. It's about reminding ourselves that God is in charge of life. It's about reminding ourselves that God is the creator and we are the created. Why wouldn’t God perfectly provide for someone he so lovingly created?

Today is Stewardship Sunday – the day we submit our financial pledge toward the ministries of this church for the coming year. Today we say to God; this is what I pledge to give back to you out of gratefulness and trust, for the growing of your kingdom here on earth. I trust you were prayerful about your pledge. I hope you trust that God will provide for you – he promises that he will. “Do not worry, he says.”

Jesus is calling us not to be distracted by worry. At the root, worry is a shortage of hope and trust. But God, who gave us life, will provide for our needs. We can be sure that the Father who provided for us yesterday will also provide for us tomorrow.

None of this is to say that we won’t have some normal worries. We can’t love someone without worrying about threats to his or her well-being. We cannot be sensitive persons without occasional concern that we haven’t done all we should. We cannot listen to the news without some uneasiness about the direction many things in the world appear to be going.

We are human and our limited understanding of God gets in our way of really, really getting it. God knows our needs and He will provide. Jesus tells us that if we stay focused on God, if we keep our thoughts on Him, we won’t be preoccupied with worrying.

Having concern or interest in someone or something that is important to us is one thing. But to expend our energy on anxiety, to spend our time fretting, to be “unduly concerned” about something doesn’t help us. God is in control. God loves us more than we can imagine. God knows our needs. God has it covered. If we focus on the things of God, we’re able to relax and have confidence in God’s providential care.

There is a story about a far away land that was ruled by a vicious king. His iron fist reached into every corner of his subjects' lives. Every corner, except one. Try as he might, he couldn't destroy their belief in God. In his frustration, he finally summoned his advisors and asked them: "Where can I hide God so the people will forget about him?"

One advisor suggested hiding God on the dark side of the moon. His idea was debated, but it was voted down because the advisors feared that their scientists would one day discover a way to travel into space and God would be discovered again. Another suggested burying God in the deepest part of the ocean. But there was the same problem with this idea, so it was also voted down.

One idea after another was suggested and debated and rejected. Until finally, the oldest and wisest advisor had a flash of insight. "I know," he said, "why don't we hide God where no one will ever think to look? If we hide God in the ordinary events of people's everyday lives, they'll never find him!"

And so it was done. They say people in that land are still looking for God, even today.

Will you take time this week to find God in the ordinariness of your life? Where is God meeting your needs that you aren’t recognizing? How is God providing for your needs but you are missing it because you are so caught up in worry? Perhaps we focus too much on expecting extraordinary provision when all along, God is in the everyday, ordinariness of our lives.

God is sovereign. God created us, he loves us, and he knows our needs. God will take care of us. God knows what we need. God has it covered.

May His kingdom come on earth, as in heaven. Amen.

1http://www.bread.org/hunger/us/