Worry

Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?   Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?   Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

So why do you worry about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;  and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For after all these things the Gentiles seek.  For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. - Matthew 6:25-34

Sometimes, when I read the Bible text and then read Tony's writing I lose the relevance between the two.  Today is one of those days. 

The Scripture text is about not worrying and trusting in our Heavenly Father to meet our needs.  I find it striking that Jesus took significant time and conversation on the matter.  This tells me that this one aspect of living is very important and something we should listen to carefully.  The phrase "do not worry" is used four times.  Jesus is telling me that my Heavenly Father is capable of meeting my needs; He can be trusted.  Wringing my hands and letting my job (my earthly way of providing food and clothing) weigh me down and dominate my personality, to take my optimism for my future, to obstruct my ability to serve Him, or to rob me of my joy for living is not how I'm supposed to live.

My job is to seek Him first, not second or third or later, but first and let God meet those physical needs.  I'm not supposed to seek my job first, success first, a clean house and yard first, a nice car or truck first, the best clothes first, the finest foods and drink first, or the best family first.  I am to seek God first and His righteousness, that is, the way He determines I should live.  This lines up completely for me in how Jesus lived.  He sought God first, then He was only concerned with the spiritual condition of others, and He let God supply His physical needs.

My cousin Anthony once told me, "Worry is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do but it doesn't get you very far."  I always remember worry in this context.

...... Back to the writings now ......

I really like this statement by Tony, "I know that when a young man feels no one really cares about him and his life has no value, it's easy for him not to care about anyone else.  Then ... someone else's life doesn't seem like that big of a deal."  I think this isn't limited to just young men but to everyone. 

The defining attribute of Emmaus is showing people a glimpse of how much God loves them and the people of God love them.  This is what changes lives.  This is what allows for a person to value their own life and the lives of others.  They will not call a sin, a sin, and accept it in their life and their need to be forgiven until they know this.  They will not show compassion for others until they know this.  They will not connect into their church or community until they know this.

The value we place on all of the "others" in this world and the compassion we show to them must be the defining attribute of us Christians.  All of our work should be rooted in our compassion to show them how much God loves them and has extended an invitation to know Him.  If we do anything that does not have a way to lead to this tip of the spear of compassion, it is idle busyness for our own satisfaction.  

Performing Christian service with no compassion for others is "like sitting in a rocking chair, it gives you something to do but it doesn't get you very far."  May this not be the definition of our service or our church's service to those Jesus died for.