Do not worry.
Is this just one more chore Jesus is giving us in the Sermon on the Mount? Don’t be angry. Don’t desire things or people. Don’t hold grudges. Don’t pay attention to how others perceive you. And don’t worry. Is any of this even possible? Doesn’t it all feel like more religious burdens, more rules for us to follow, and fail to follow? Don’t we have enough “thou shalt nots” without adding “thou shalt not worry” on top? Aren’t we burdened enough with religious guilt already?
Or is there another way to hear this? As Jesus comes to the end of Matthew 6 with the exhortation to not worry about our needs being met, should we hear a stern, critical tone? Or should we hear a gentle and reassuring tone?
Don’t worry, because God’s got you. Don’t worry because God finds the most value and beauty in you. Don’t worry because God is happy to be generous to you. The birds don’t worry. The grass doesn’t worry. And yet God loves them, cares for them, and finds them immensely beautiful. If that’s who God is toward birds and grass, who do you think he is toward you?
Hear this gentle, reassuring voice. Hear it well, because there is plenty that makes us worry. We worry about our kids, about short term and long-term security, about a world that always seems to be getting crazier. Listen closely to the one saying, God finds you infinitely worth caring for. It was Isaiah who spoke for the God who, like a mother unable to abandon her child, will not abandon Israel. It is that same God who Jesus teaches us about in Matthew 6. God wouldn’t know how to not take care of you, Jesus is teaching us.
And with this gentle reassurance also comes a gentle rebuke. It is the gentiles, the pagans, the idol worshippers, who worry and chase and pursue and grasp. Yes, even for first century Israelites and 21st century Christians, Jesus can see a bit of idolatrous theology creeping in. The idol worshippers were always nervously grasping at whatever next thing might offer a bit more security in life, since the gods were not automatically reliable for it. This is the pagan consciousness that pervades our world, then and now. We are given so many reasons to believe that we are not safe, not cared for, not loved. There are so many voices telling us that we are in danger, that a despicable someone might take our wellbeing away at any time. We are surrounded by idolatrous ways of thinking.
Thankfully, Jesus gives us an offramp from the insanity, inviting us instead to be a non-anxious presence in our world, receiving God’s provision and helping one another receive it too. So, let’s listen to the gentle, reassuring voice of Jesus teaching us about the God who is happy and eager to meet our needs:
Don’t worry. The birds don’t nervously accumulate, so you don’t have to, either. The grass and lilies are beautiful without having to nervously toil, and you are even more lovely in God’s eyes than they are. The gentiles chase and chase and chase what they think they need, all the while your heavenly father already knows your every need. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and he will give you everything else, too. Your God wouldn’t know how to not take care of you.