"Don't Worry - Just Give Thanks" (Thansgiving Eve)

Scripture: Matthew 6:25-33

In 1988, Bobby McFerrin released a song titled “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”. Essentially, the song advances the thought that no matter what happens in your life, you can be happy by just ignoring all your troubles. The song says that if you worry, it will just make you sadder, and will make everyone else sad with you.
The song was quite popular and actually made it to the top of the charts, but quite honestly, it has nothing whatsoever to do with the reality of life. When our lives are heading down hill, we can’t, and in most cases probably shouldn’t, ignore the issues, and happiness will always continue to be illusive.

But in our text today, Jesus, in his Sermon on the Mount, also tells us not to worry, but in this case, he says not to worry about the necessities of life. So let’s go to scripture, and see what the Lord has to tell us about life and worry.

Read Matthew 6:25-27

First, note that Jesus doesn’t say that we should just leave everything up to him! Some would love to read this passage as “You don’t have to work or earn a living or buy food or care for yourself or own property and possessions – God will do it all!” That attitude is the last thing we should learn from these words! But this is about those who base their entire life in their work and the accumulation of “things”.
He offers an analogy based in wildlife and the provision of their needs. Have you ever seen a bird or wild animal that didn’t gather seeds, or hunt for their food? They wouldn’t last long if they did. But do they have to have employment to earn a living? Do they have to plant seeds to raise a crop? Do they have to build bridges and roads and skyscrapers to advance their culture and provide for their families?
Of course they don’t – God has provided them with all the abilities and instincts that they could possibly need to not only survive, but to thrive. And the Lord tells us that he has given us all of the abilities and instincts that we need, too.

Do we need a million dollar home to live in? Do we need to work 7 days a week to establish position and authority in our jobs? Do we need to attend the finest university, to obtain the most prestigious degree so that we can succeed in this life? Do we need to be chair of every committee we serve on and president of every organization we belong to?
Of course not – life should be far more than this. Life isn’t about creating a name for ourselves, or about looking to the things of earth to bring us happiness – it’s about discovering a sense of worth that is personal and fulfilling. Remember Jesus Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:16-21)? The man was totally focused on raising more crops, and gaining more wealth, and decided to build bigger barns, so he could store more of his crops, and then feel safe and secure in all that he had accumulated. Then he said “I can take life easy; and eat, drink and be merry.”
But God told him that his plans and efforts and wealth would all be wasted, because he was going to die that night. So much for happiness!

Read Matthew 6:28-33

What is wealth? What is beauty? What is success? What brings us true joy? The Lord talks about the flowers that grow wild in nature, and the beauty that they exhibit. In the spring, the slope behind our house becomes covered with wild flowers. I used to keep it mowed down, thinking that a neat slope looked far better than one covered in weeds. But one year, I didn’t get it mowed early enough, and was amazed at the color and beauty that those “weeds” brought to my life and to our home. Today, I’m not so quick to create my own “beauty”, and have avoided destroying the glory that God has put before me. I’ve saved myself some work, and in doing so, have discovered some of the beauty that my Lord has placed in my life.

God knows what the true beauty of this life is all about, and he wants us to give him a chance to show it off.

From Homiletics:
Some years ago, during the depression, a government agent traveled through the Tennessee Mountains making small allotments to impoverished farmers for seed, stock or needed improvements.
He found one woman who lived alone, scratching out a bare living on two acres of barren ground. “If the government should allot you $200, what would you do with it?” he asked her.

The woman thought a moment. Her cabin had no floor, its windows were covered with tar paper, light came through the broken walls.
Finally, she looked up and said, “Reckon I’d give it to the poor.”

From The 30th Anniversary Reader’s Digest Reader, The Vanishing
American, F. Emerson Andrews in the Atlantic Monthly, Doubleday
& Company, Inc., Garden City, NY 1951.

That woman knew what wealth and glory and beauty were all about, and while her life wasn’t one “happy” moment after another, she did have joy, and success, and all the wonders that the Lord had provided her.

Jesus finishes this passage with his advice on where and how to discover true beauty and joy. It all comes by seeking the kingdom of God and receiving his righteousness. But where do we find that?
Back in Matthew 5:6, we read that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled. And in Matthew 5:10, Jesus says that those who are persecuted for righteousness sake will be blessed, and the kingdom will be theirs. But what is it and where do we get it?

In Romans 1:16-17, we read that righteousness will be revealed by faith and trust in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Righteousness, and the joy that it brings, is never found in the things we create or say or do – it is exposed by believing in the Good News of God as revealed in his Son Jesus Christ. Nothing more than that is required on our part – just faith. And when we consider the generous nature of Almighty God, and trust in his generous gifts, what could possibly be left to worry about?

McFerrin thought that worry obscured our efforts to find happiness, but the truth is that happiness isn’t all that it’s made out to be. Joy is what we should be striving for – joy that comes in the knowledge that, by faith in Christ Jesus, we will have all that we will ever need – both now and forever.

So tomorrow, as you gather around the dinner table with family and friends, don’t worry about all the things you don’t have, and give thanks instead - and not for what you have gained in this life, but for what you seek, and what you know that the Lord has, and will continue to provide for the rest of your life.