August 8, 2010
Luke 12:22-34
“So I tell you, don’t be afraid, little flock. Don’t worry about your lives….”
Sometimes easier said than done. We so easily fall prey to worry and anxiety. “Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S. with 19.1 million (13.3%) of the adult U.S. population (ages 18-54) affected [healthyplace.com]. And of course many, many more of us are affected by anxiety as we get older. Not to mention all those occasional episodes of free-floating unease and worry that, like a low-grade fever, sap our energy and steal our joy. Personally, I’ve always figured if you’re not, right now, worrying about something, you’re probably not paying enough attention.
So these words of Jesus are for us, right now, at the close of this first decade of this 21st century: “Don’t be afraid, little flock. Don’t worry about your lives, whether you have enough, whether you are enough. You are so much more valuable to God than you realize. You can relax…God knows what you need.”
In the context of our busy, overloaded lives, or our less-than-enough lives, our worried, troubled lives, isn’t this a powerful word? Maybe we would do well just to sit with it for a moment or two, trying to really take it in: “Don’t be afraid, little flock…. Don’t worry about your lives … whether you have enough … whether you are enough…. You are so much more valuable to God than you realize…. You can relax…. God knows what you need.”
These are good words for us to dwell in and draw nourishment from. They remind us that we are not human doings, charged with getting as much accomplished as possible before we die. We are simply beings, of the human variety. Not unlike beings of the bird variety, beings of the flower variety. We don’t have to get twisted up over our wants and needs, all that we have and haven’t accomplished, all that we “might have been.”
But this life lesson that Jesus is teaching his followers is also about something more than just their personal state of being. Jesus knew that these friends of his weren’t just a little frazzled, having a bit too much on their plate. No, he knew that identifying themselves with him was literally a threat to their lives. Not only because Jesus himself threatened their old ways of living by calling them into ever-increasing trust, calling them to leave behind the realm of this world and to enter, right now, the heavenly realm, but because life in this earthly realm threatened them as well. Identifying with Jesus didn’t increase their chances for happiness; it actually decreased the likelihood that they would have easy, happy, safe lives. For us, the hope of having an increasingly happy life, all the way through our lives, is of foundational importance. I mean, if we’re Americans, the pursuit of happiness is one of our fundamental rights, isn’t it?
But the pursuit of personal happiness wasn’t one of the things Jesus seemed to be offering folks. Jesus didn’t ask questions like, “How are you feeling lately about yourself? Are you happy? Are you enjoying your life?” Instead, he said, “Lay down your life.” He said, “If you save your life, you’ll lose it.” He said, “Pick up a cross, and follow me.” Go ahead and pick up a cross because most likely that’s where this is all leading. And, in fact, he was right. They faced the continual threat of persecution, torture and crucifixion. We exalt the image of Jesus on a cross when the truth is, all the apostles except John were crucified for their proclamation of the faith.
So it wasn’t just idle chit-chat when Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid, little flock.” It was encouragement to stay on the path of moving more fully out of the realm where fear dominates and into the Realm of Love. Even in the face of almost certain torture and death, your loving parent, the one who thought you up in the first place, sees you and knows what you need. Don’t worry about your life. We today might not be facing martyrdom, not yet, but we, too, carry all kinds of stresses—concerning our finances, our relationships, our jobs, loneliness, illness & death, potential losses of all kinds. Even when we have a roof over our heads, Fear, or one of her many children, comes scratching at our door in the middle of the night, whispering her lies. We so easily forget that we are cared for as much as the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. Just as the birds nestle into the branches of the trees and rest at night, just as the flowers fold up their petals and rest, we too can trust that we are being watched and cared for tenderly. We so easily forget that we have value simply because we are; we please God simply because we are.
The problem with Fear is that once she moves in, there’s not much space for anything else. Haven’t you noticed in an airport or bus or train station how hard it is to simultaneously gaze at strangers with gentle eyes and open hearts AND fulfill our duty as citizens by scanning for those who look “suspicious”? We can’t do both. We weren’t intended to do both. So wouldn’t it make more sense to have security announcements that remind us to take note of, and respond in like manner to, any friendly gestures we receive from strangers; reminders to offer to watch one another’s luggage while we go to the restroom; instructions to report unusual displays of kindness so that they can be replicated? Won’t kind acts more likely thwart “acts of terrorism” than suspicion and fear? But instead, we have a tendency to go along with Fear’s agenda. We keep living with our feet firmly rooted in a lesser realm, which depends on fear in order to survive. The price we pay, personally and communally, is high.
“ Don’t be afraid, little flock…. Don’t worry about your lives, … whether you have enough, … whether you are enough…. You are so much more valuable to God than you realize…. You can relax…. God knows what you need.”
Jesus longs for these men and women he loves so deeply—he longs for us—to move from believing in the Realm of God to be living in the Realm of God. “It pleases God to give you the kingdom.” Does it please us to receive it? Or will we stay firmly planted in the land of “afraid,” the land of “not enough”? It is our free choice.
… whether you are enough…. You are so much more valuable to God than you realize…. You can relax…. God knows what you need.”
Jesus longs for these men and women he loves so deeply—he longs for us—to move from believing in the Realm of God to be living in the Realm of God. “It pleases God to give you the kingdom.” Does it please us to receive it? Or will we stay firmly planted in the land of “afraid,” the land of “not enough”? It is our free choice.