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Matthew 6:25-33
Jesus says "Don't worry about how you will live." Hakuna Matata! You know what that means. The phrase was popularized by the Disney movie "The Lion King." Hakuna matata is a Swahili phrase that is commonly translated as "no worries" but literally translated as "There are no worries here". In the movie the hero adopts this carefree philosophy of life. Jesus says Hakuna Matata: "no worries." "Don't worry, be happy." "Here's a little song I wrote, You might want to sing it note for note, Don't worry, be happy �"
Time out! Does Jesus really say "Don't worry, be happy?" How unrealistic is that! I don't know about you but I have plenty to worry about. I have two daughters growing up in a world that is increasingly hostile to Christian values. How am I going to send them to college on a preacher's salary? Then there are things like nuclear proliferation, global warming, the ozone layer, global destroying meteors� Hakuna Matata?! Is it really wise to take on a "no worries" attitude in our world?
Jesus is not saying that we should just take on a Pollyannic attitude that ignores the very real problems and dangers of our world. However he does tell us not to worry. At the same time he tells us not to worry for a reason. He gives some very good reasons. Let's take a look at them
So what reasons do Christians have for not worrying? One is that life is more than food and the body more than clothing. We know that there is something greater than this material world. We know that there is spiritual reality that is deeper and more meaningful than these things. We know that things like love and faith and hope are more basic to human existence than mere food and clothing. So we don't ignore the dangers that we may lose the physical things we need. Rather we look beyond those physical needs to more basic things.
We also know that there is a life beyond this one. I can't imagine how people who don't believe in an after life face death. To them the prospect of starvation must always loom over them. If the world were to come to end by nuclear war or natural disaster, to them that would be the end of their existence. But we know that there is more to life than this mortal existence. There is an eternity of life after this body turns to dust.
Don't worry. What is the worst that can happen? The world economy falls apart and we starve. But we know that the source of love and hope and faith, Jesus Christ, is not dependant upon things as fragile as the environment. God will always be there for us. And when we die, whether by violence, natural disaster or extreme old age, we have an eternity of peace and light waiting for us. That sounds like a good reason not to worry!
Jesus gives us another good reason not to worry. In fact he seems to make the same point twice in this passage. First he says, "Look at the birds. They don't worry about their next paycheck and yet they have plenty to eat." God takes care of them. If God is going to go to the trouble of feeding the birds that are a dime a dozen, isn't He going to care for us? Then he says, "Look at the wild flowers. They don't read fashion magazines or run to the mall all the time; they don't get chemical peels and face lifts and tummy tucks, but they are more beautifully clothed than all the movies stars in Hollywood." God made them beautiful. If God goes to the trouble of making mere grass beautiful how much more will he cloth you in beauty?
The point is: God will provide. God made you. He will provide for the material things you need. You may not have all the luxury items that the world likes. But what God provides will be more beautiful and meaning in its simplicity.
Now let's be realistic. Christians do occasionally starve to death or die of exposure. It has happened in the past and will happen in the future and is probably happening somewhere as we speak. It would appear that God didn't provide for them! But remember the first point: life is more than the body. God provides the needs of our bodies while we live, and then he provides eternal life and glory when we die. Either way living or dying God provides!
Then Jesus gives us his last and most practical reason for not worrying. He said, "Who my worrying can live longer?" Worrying often accomplishes nothing. In fact it just seems to make matters worse. If you worry about being sick you will make yourself sick. If you worry that your life will not have meaning or good quality, you will rob yourself of quality and meaning in life. Worry is useless.
Now I think this is a good time to make a distinction between worry and concern. There are definitely things to be concerned about. We should be concerned about what we eat and how we will eat and have clothing and shelter. But if we have concerns we should act on these concerns and do something about it. The problem is we often have concerns about things that we can't control, like rouge nations or the global environment or economy. And so we worry about those things.
If you can do something about a concern then do it. Buy insurance, eat healthy, get involved with the youth in your community. If you have a concern and you can't do anything about it, then give it to the Lord. He is bigger than any problem you are worried about. He can handle global warming, nuclear proliferation and the hole in the ozone layer before breakfast. Do what you can about the small things with God's help, and let God worry about the big things.
Hakuna Matata "no worries": as irresponsible and unrealistic as it sounds this can be a Christian attitude. If we put life in the proper perspective, we have every reason and right to not worry. After all the material things we most often worry about are not ultimately what's important. Faith, hope, peace, love � and all those other intangibles are what really make life worth living. And God has provided for us so far, why should be doubt that he will care for us tomorrow or the next day. And in the end what good does worrying do. If you can do something about it then do it, if not then worrying will only make matters worse.
So "Don't worry, be happy." Not because you ignore the realities of this troubled world. But because you have faith in the one who made the world. Not because there are not things to be concerned about in the life. But because the author of life is your God and He can handle the big stuff for you; and the little things too!
So this Thanksgiving, don't worry. Even thought the world seems to be tearing itself apart. Even if your turkey is as dry as the Sahara. Even if your relatives fight over the remote. Even if your dressing turns into a brick. Give thanks, for God has provided for you. So just say, "Hakuna Matata": "There are no worries here," because your God is bigger than all your problems!
Joel 2:23-27
As we approach Thanksgiving one question always occurs to me: What about the people who have nothing to be thankful for? You know we are rich! I doubt there are many here who will lack for food on Thanksgiving Day. In fact most will eat more than they should. Most of us have a decent place to live, family and friends to celebrate the day with. And even the poor in America are rich by third world standards.
But there are many people who are not so blessed. Today there are many in our country and our world to don't have a place to stay on this day. There are some that face chronic illnesses and even immanent death. As a child I learned a prayer called Burns' Grace. It says, "Some have meat and cannot eat, and some there be that want it, but we have meat and we can eat so say the Lord we thank it." There are some that have food but because of their health they can't eat and there are others who don't have the meat to eat. And then there are those for whom Thanksgiving is just another day of loneliness.
How can they give thanks? How can people give thanks for nothing? How can the persecuted, starving, lonely and ill give thanks to God? What would they give thanks for? What about the people who have nothing to be thankful for?
Perhaps a brief history lesson on the origins of Thanksgiving Day will help us answer this question. The day that we in the United States celebrate as Thanksgiving originated with the Pilgrims. They were persecuted for their Puritan religious practices in England so they sought to come to the New World to find freedom. In the process of coming to the New World they got lost and landed at the wrong place. The New World was flowing with milk and honey, but it was also a rugged country. They were isolated and alone except for the Native Americans who taught them how to work this rugged land.
Some might say that they didn't have much to be thankful for. They had work hard and some had died. They were a world away form their loved ones and were isolated from their country. They were unwelcome in their homeland and they were facing a long cold winter.
Yet they gave thanks! Not only did they give thanks and feast themselves they even invited others, the Indians, to feast with them. And out of this ragged groups of survivors grew a tradition that has become a national passion. A day of feasting and giving thanks for all that God has given us. A National holiday for counting our blessings.
I have discovered that giving thanks of often at it greatest when life is at its worst. People give thanks best when they seem to have nothing to be thankful for. A case in point: the hymn "Now Thank We All Our God." Let me just read it to you:
The surprising thing is that this hymn was written in the midst of the 30 years war. The author of these words was Martin Rinkart. He was serving as the pastor of a church in Eilenberg. During his time there the city was overrun by armies at least three times and was constantly dealing with large numbers of refugees. In 1637 there was a plague in which 8,000 people died. At one point Rinkart was the only pastor left and was performing 40 or 50 funerals a day!
Suddenly the words of his hymn take on new meaning: "Thank we all our God...who wondrous things has done...countless gifts of love." In the midst of such great human suffering; pain, loss, illness, that such a hymn as this could be written is a miracle. Many of us, as blessed as we are, could never offer up a prayer of thanks like that! Yet out of this womb of human suffering the great hymn of thanksgiving was born.
Why can people like Rinkart and the Pilgrims give thanks in the midst of such troubles? How can they give thanks for nothing? They can give thanks for nothing because Christ is their Lord! Jesus himself had been where they are and worse. Before he was crucified Jesus was dragged before Pilate. He had been abandoned by his friends and is being persecuted by his own countrymen. He was about to be stripped of all human dignity to be tortured and then to experience true alienation and finally death.
Pilate looked on this pitiful creature and asked, "Are you the King of the Jews?" The world would laugh and say, "He is no king for he has no kingdom - no power." But Jesus replied, "My Kingdom is not of this world." If it were of this world he would have an army to try to defend him but the only armies he commanded were the hosts of heaven. And they didn't need to defend the homeland because it could not be touched by the Romans or any earthly army.
It is this realization that gives people the ability to give thanks for nothing. Even when so much is lost, people who claim Christ as their Lord know that the things of this world are really nothing to begin with. When Rinkart wrote of countless gifts of love, he was not thinking of his earthly home or health or food. Those things had been destroyed. He was probably thinking of his home not made with hands; eternal in the heavens. When the Pilgrims gave thanks, they were not merely giving thanks for the food that might see them through the winter. They were also giving thanks to God for the eternal blessing that he had given them.
In fact I think this explains why people give thanks best when life is at its worst. It is at those times that we realize that what we have in this world is really nothing. It is then that we begin to realize the richness of God's blessings. It is in those moments of hardship that we can thank God for our earthly nothing and our heavenly something.
Can you give thanks for nothing? Count your blessings this year: both the material and the spiritual. We all have much to be thankful for. What do you have to be thankful for this year?
If you had none of the earthly things mentioned, could you still give thanks? If you were homeless and alone and sick, could you celebrate Thanksgiving? If you were persecuted and in prison, could you rejoice at the greatness of God's gifts to you? I know I would have trouble. But with God's help I hope I could.
If you can't give thanks for nothing, then ask yourself: Is Christ really your King? If you answer "no" or if you can't find an answer, then make Christ your King. Then you too can celebrate a real Thanksgiving this year!