We\u2019re living in pretty anxious times, it seems. We\u2019re probably used to news of tragedies in far away places and may even find some level of comfort in imagining that such things don\u2019t happen here. News closer to home, however, dispels this myth that we are somehow immune from catastrophic loss. Record-setting wildfires completely consume places that we know well. Torrential rains, that we hear will come more frequently, completely overwhelm cities where millions of people live, drowning individuals in their own homes and sweeping others away. The question of climate change, once thought to be a far-off possibility, now takes center stage and begs the question of whether humanity can find its way to a workable solution. And the pandemic? What we thought would be a long road to a permanent and viable solution seems to be developing into an almost endless journey, hampered by an intractable inability for us to trust the very institutions charged with our safety. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s no wonder that some of us try to push all of these stories \u2013 and more \u2013 to the back of our minds where they simmer like slow-cooking stew pots of uncertainty. We have other, more pressing issues to face. It\u2019s the day-to-day challenges that keep us up at night or make us wish we could just stay in bed. The challenge of a new school year where much of what we took as routine seems to need almost constant re-negotiation. A collection of responsibilities and projects to which we agreed that have now generated a to-do list that leaves us not knowing where to start. The nagging suspicion that others will judge us for our lack of excellence while we watch their carefully curated lives of beauty and accomplishment on social media. The grief of multiple losses that rides along almost silently in the back seat of our souls until it cries out at the most inopportune moment. Our anxieties. Somedays, it seems like we\u2019re in the business of collecting them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, when Jesus tells us in the sixth chapter of Matthew<\/a> \u201cdo not worry about your life,\u201d we might conclude that he was either not paying close attention to reality or \u2013 perhaps more charitably \u2013 living in another time when things were very different from what they are now. After all, the assurance that Jesus gives, that \u201cour heavenly Father knows our need and will provide,\u201d doesn\u2019t seem to pan out in every situation, does it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus starts this section of the Sermon on the Mount by setting a choice before us. We either worship God or \u201cmammon,\u201d as the King James translation has it. More contemporary translations make it \u201cwealth,\u201d \u201criches,\u201d or \u201cmoney.\u201d But \u201cmammon,\u201d which is not a translation at all but a rendering of the Aramaic word that Jesus actually used, almost sounds like a personification \u2013 like an idol. The word means \u201cassets\u201d or \u201cpossessions\u201d and, while we\u2019re uncertain as to the word\u2019s origins, some scholars believe that it derives from a Hebrew word which means \u201cthat in which one trusts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s this insight that breaks open what Jesus is getting at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus doesn\u2019t deny the necessity of all of food and clothing, shelter and health. He tells his original audience of subsistence farmers, fishermen and small shopkeepers that God is well aware of their need. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The question is not of need, but trust. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s not a question of need but of worship.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Every day, life teaches us that the things we value are fundamentally unreliable. Everything, even the most seemingly durable assets, come and go like the wind. This can leave us really anxious! In what can we possibly trust if nothing is trustworthy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is Jesus\u2019 point. Rather than building our trust in objects that come and go within creation, he calls us to trust the creator \u2013 the one whose investment is the whole of creation including our very lives. On days when the instability of it all threatens our joyful confidence, the Bible teaches us that our heavenly Father has already provided for our eternal needs, clothing us with Christ\u2019s righteousness in baptism and feeding us through his holy meal with his own body, a feeding which incorporates us into a holy community that practices God\u2019s gracious care in real time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, when you feel anxious because the things that you were counting on don\u2019t seem to be showing up or have been ruthlessly taken from you, I encourage you to not suffer alone. Take the risk of letting someone in on your secret and, together, may you find your way to a place of more confident trust that Christ Jesus knows your suffering and that all that is needful will be provided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n +++<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pr. Jim<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pastor Jim<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Pastor Kate<\/a>\u00a0take turns writing weekly devotions for the Chapel of the Resurrection.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n You can anonymously and creatively express any secrets, regrets, fears, desires, or talents you might otherwise hide, through PostSecretU on campus. It\u2019s a program intended to support and build positive conversations regarding mental health. Our university library has a semester-long project in which you\u2019re invited to create an anonymous postcard and drop it in a box; after review, the postcards will be displayed in the CCLIR gallery hallway. A box and extra postcards will be available soon in the Chapel narthex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And if you have something weighing on your mind that you\u2019d like to talk to one of the university pastors about,\u00a0Pastor Jim<\/a> and Pastor Kate<\/a>\u00a0are committed to providing excellent spiritual care for the\u00a0entire\u00a0University community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We\u2019re living in pretty anxious times, it seems. 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Have a secret you want to share?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n