Pentecost 19 - October 7, 2007
Luke 17:1-10; Psalm 37, 1-10
Play "Don't Worry, Be
Happy" song from You-Tube. Start at 15 second mark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESbvqyDF2-s
"Here's a little song I wrote, you might want to sing it note for note - Don't Worry, Be Happy
In our life we have some trouble, when you worry you make it double - Don't Worry, Be Happy"
"Don't Worry, Be Happy." This lighthearted little song by Bobby McFerrin won "Best Song of the Year" at the 1989 Grammy Awards. But, he's not the first one to sing on this theme. Our psalm for today -- Psalm 37 - is also a song about not worrying. "Do not fret yourself" is a recurring phrase -- found three times in the first nine verses alone. But, what exactly do we learn about worry from this psalm?
The first thing we learn is simply that we do it. Human beings worry. The writer wrote this psalm as a response to what he saw the people around him going through. The people were worrying over the injustices they saw in the world. Evildoers were prospering. People were succeeding in evil schemes. Good things were happening to bad people and it wasn't fair, so people were worrying.
Times haven't changed all that much. Worry remains prevalent for us today as well. Like the people in the psalm, we worry when we see other people cheat, scheme and cut corners, allowing them to prosper, while we live life by the book, with a higher moral compass, yet struggle.
We worry as we realize the injustices that exist in the world -- that some children don't have enough food to survive, that medicine is unevenly distributed among the nations of the world for deadly diseases like AIDS. We worry as we watch our health or the health of someone we love decline. We worry about our relationships. We worry that we're not good enough for the task or time that is before us. We worry about tests, job reviews, being late for a meeting, disappointing someone we love. I could go on and on. The bottom line is we worry. If we don't have anything to worry about, we make something up.
Just as the people in ancient times needed to hear this message of "Do not fret yourself," we need to hear it today. It's much easier said than done, though. Isn't it? So the psalm writer goes even further as we continue to learn about worry from him. He tells us why not to worry -- what the consequences of it are - and he tells us what to do instead of worry. Let's look at these one at a time.
The psalm writer is warning us not to worry because worry never travels alone. It travels with partners that rarely lead to any good. Anger is one of these partners, as the psalm writer points out in verse nine. "Refrain from anger, leave rage alone; do not fret yourself; it leads only to evil." What the psalm writer is saying here is that worry creates a hole in our lives. It carves out space - not physically, but emotionally and spiritually. A space that ultimately will be filled with something. He mentions anger and rage specifically, but there are a whole lot of other things that will vie to fill that spot as well: Sadness, despondency, impatience, hopelessness and desperation just to name a few.
So, what do we strive for instead? One of the messages from the psalm writer is that we fill the hole created by our worry with living. "Dwell in the land and feed on its riches," he writes in verse three. Enjoy what you have instead of worrying about what you don't. Be grateful for what you've already been given instead of impatient about what has not yet resolved itself. The best opposition to worry, however, is trust. Trust in the Lord.
Bobby McFerrin would have us believe that the opposite of worry is happiness. But, the psalm writer knows better as he tells us the opposite of worry is not happiness, but trust. Faith in the Lord.
I recently heard a woman speak who shared a story about coming across an old prayer journal as she was cleaning out her home. In this journal, she had entrusted God with her prayers -- her worries, hopes and dreams -- and now reading it all these years later, she was struck by all the worries that had consumed her.
She was amazed at how so many of the things she had written about had been resolved in time as she entrusted them to God - as she had faith that God could handle the things she couldn't.
"Do not fret yourself. . . trust in the Lord." Don't worry. . . have faith.
It's often easier said than done, yet in the Gospel for today, Jesus has a good word for us. In his ministry with his disciples, Jesus continued to lay our expectations for them in their discipleship. The latest from the Gospel for today included continual forgiveness. The disciples replied like many of us do when expectations are put on us. They didn't think they had what it took to do it. So they asked Jesus, "Increase our faith."
It's in Jesus' reply that good news came not only for the disciples, but comes for us today as well. Some meaning is lost in the translation from the original Greek language to the English, so I'm going to insert some words to help us get the clear meaning.
Jesus replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed (and you do have it), you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you." Jesus was affirming their faith here! He was telling them they had enough faith for the task set before them. All they had to do was use it.
That's the message for us today as well. We have enough faith to handle all that is before us. We simply have to use it. It is our job to put our faith into action. It is our faith in action that emerges as trust, love, care, courage and compassion.
I want to close with a prayer I found in some of my study time this week. It goes like this: "O God, I don't pray for enough faith to move mountains. I can get enough dynamite and bulldozers to do that. What I need and ask for is enough faith to move me."
This week and in all the weeks to come, may your faith move you. May all your worries be overtaken as you put your faith to work - as you put your trust in the Lord. Amen.
Jesus talks about a little seed in the Gospel lesson for today. He tells the disciples who follow him that their faith is as tiny as a mustard seed - so tiny that something it almost seems like nothing. And he says that even having that little amount of faith can help them do amazing things - things like forgive each other and show love to their neighbor.
I've been doing some planting at my house lately. I'm not planting any mustard seeds, but I am planting these bulbs. I put them in my flower beds this fall and then in the spring they will come up as flowers. It's pretty amazing that this round little bulb will be a flower someday, but it will. It'll take some water, cold, warmth and a lot of patience, but I'm excited to see what I get in the spring.
I want all of you to have a bulb. Have your parents help you plant it in your yard or flower garden and see for yourself what comes up in March or April. It's amazing what God can make out of a small little bulb or seed or even a person!
"Here's a little song I wrote, you might want to sing it note for note - Don't Worry, Be Happy
In our life we have some trouble, when you worry you make it double - Don't Worry, Be Happy"
"Don't Worry, Be Happy." This lighthearted little song by Bobby McFerrin won "Best Song of the Year" at the 1989 Grammy Awards. But, he's not the first one to sing on this theme. Our psalm for today -- Psalm 37 - is also a song about not worrying. "Do not fret yourself" is a recurring phrase -- found three times in the first nine verses alone. But, what exactly do we learn about worry from this psalm?
The first thing we learn is simply that we do it. Human beings worry. The writer wrote this psalm as a response to what he saw the people around him going through. The people were worrying over the injustices they saw in the world. Evildoers were prospering. People were succeeding in evil schemes. Good things were happening to bad people and it wasn't fair, so people were worrying.
Times haven't changed all that much. Worry remains prevalent for us today as well. Like the people in the psalm, we worry when we see other people cheat, scheme and cut corners, allowing them to prosper, while we live life by the book, with a higher moral compass, yet struggle.
We worry as we realize the injustices that exist in the world -- that some children don't have enough food to survive, that medicine is unevenly distributed among the nations of the world for deadly diseases like AIDS. We worry as we watch our health or the health of someone we love decline. We worry about our relationships. We worry that we're not good enough for the task or time that is before us. We worry about tests, job reviews, being late for a meeting, disappointing someone we love. I could go on and on. The bottom line is we worry. If we don't have anything to worry about, we make something up.
Just as the people in ancient times needed to hear this message of "Do not fret yourself," we need to hear it today. It's much easier said than done, though. Isn't it? So the psalm writer goes even further as we continue to learn about worry from him. He tells us why not to worry -- what the consequences of it are - and he tells us what to do instead of worry. Let's look at these one at a time.
The psalm writer is warning us not to worry because worry never travels alone. It travels with partners that rarely lead to any good. Anger is one of these partners, as the psalm writer points out in verse nine. "Refrain from anger, leave rage alone; do not fret yourself; it leads only to evil." What the psalm writer is saying here is that worry creates a hole in our lives. It carves out space - not physically, but emotionally and spiritually. A space that ultimately will be filled with something. He mentions anger and rage specifically, but there are a whole lot of other things that will vie to fill that spot as well: Sadness, despondency, impatience, hopelessness and desperation just to name a few.
So, what do we strive for instead? One of the messages from the psalm writer is that we fill the hole created by our worry with living. "Dwell in the land and feed on its riches," he writes in verse three. Enjoy what you have instead of worrying about what you don't. Be grateful for what you've already been given instead of impatient about what has not yet resolved itself. The best opposition to worry, however, is trust. Trust in the Lord.
Bobby McFerrin would have us believe that the opposite of worry is happiness. But, the psalm writer knows better as he tells us the opposite of worry is not happiness, but trust. Faith in the Lord.
I recently heard a woman speak who shared a story about coming across an old prayer journal as she was cleaning out her home. In this journal, she had entrusted God with her prayers -- her worries, hopes and dreams -- and now reading it all these years later, she was struck by all the worries that had consumed her.
She was amazed at how so many of the things she had written about had been resolved in time as she entrusted them to God - as she had faith that God could handle the things she couldn't.
"Do not fret yourself. . . trust in the Lord." Don't worry. . . have faith.
It's often easier said than done, yet in the Gospel for today, Jesus has a good word for us. In his ministry with his disciples, Jesus continued to lay our expectations for them in their discipleship. The latest from the Gospel for today included continual forgiveness. The disciples replied like many of us do when expectations are put on us. They didn't think they had what it took to do it. So they asked Jesus, "Increase our faith."
It's in Jesus' reply that good news came not only for the disciples, but comes for us today as well. Some meaning is lost in the translation from the original Greek language to the English, so I'm going to insert some words to help us get the clear meaning.
Jesus replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed (and you do have it), you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you." Jesus was affirming their faith here! He was telling them they had enough faith for the task set before them. All they had to do was use it.
That's the message for us today as well. We have enough faith to handle all that is before us. We simply have to use it. It is our job to put our faith into action. It is our faith in action that emerges as trust, love, care, courage and compassion.
I want to close with a prayer I found in some of my study time this week. It goes like this: "O God, I don't pray for enough faith to move mountains. I can get enough dynamite and bulldozers to do that. What I need and ask for is enough faith to move me."
This week and in all the weeks to come, may your faith move you. May all your worries be overtaken as you put your faith to work - as you put your trust in the Lord. Amen.
Children's Sermon
Jesus talks about a little seed in the Gospel lesson for today. He tells the disciples who follow him that their faith is as tiny as a mustard seed - so tiny that something it almost seems like nothing. And he says that even having that little amount of faith can help them do amazing things - things like forgive each other and show love to their neighbor.
I've been doing some planting at my house lately. I'm not planting any mustard seeds, but I am planting these bulbs. I put them in my flower beds this fall and then in the spring they will come up as flowers. It's pretty amazing that this round little bulb will be a flower someday, but it will. It'll take some water, cold, warmth and a lot of patience, but I'm excited to see what I get in the spring.
I want all of you to have a bulb. Have your parents help you plant it in your yard or flower garden and see for yourself what comes up in March or April. It's amazing what God can make out of a small little bulb or seed or even a person!