NOT ONE SPARROW (46 OF 52)
Scripture: Matthew 6:25-34
This content is part of a series.
Not One Sparrow (46 of 52)
Series Discipleship Part Two
Christopher B. Harbin
Matthew 6:25-34
We often hear what we want to hear. We generally hear what we expect to hear. We hear what we have been told before. Hearing what someone actually says, however, is a different exercise. It takes an effort in listening we may not normally give our communications. When Jesus tells us not to worry about our basic economic concerns, what does he mean? Does he really promise what we want to hear? Is that promise sufficient?
When it comes to worrying, some of us are professionals. One parishioner told me she worried about everything she could imagine, because she knew that nothing she worried about would ever come true. For her, worry was an insurance policy. If she worried about it, it would never happen. Her problem was there were things she lacked the imagination to worry about that did come to pass. Her worry imagination was never complete enough. Simply put, we can never fully predict the future. We know enough to be concerned when someone says, ''Hey, y'all, watch this!'' Beyond that, we don't do really well predicting impending disasters. We worry about the wrong things and never seem to worry about those things that actually will go wrong.
Worry becomes wasted energy. If that were the end of the matter, however, it would not be a big deal. We waste plenty of energy on all sorts of things Jesus never bothered to address. The problem with worry runs far deeper than wasting mental or emotional energy. It is much more than a concern over our failure to adequately predict and prepare for the future. Jesus was concerned with addressing the spiritual ramifications of worry. After all, when he talked about worrying, he pointed his listeners to their relationship with God as Father. There is a reason for that.
At it's deepest level, worry betrays our lack of confidence or trust. It is triggered when we perceive our needs as greater than the resources at our disp ...
Series Discipleship Part Two
Christopher B. Harbin
Matthew 6:25-34
We often hear what we want to hear. We generally hear what we expect to hear. We hear what we have been told before. Hearing what someone actually says, however, is a different exercise. It takes an effort in listening we may not normally give our communications. When Jesus tells us not to worry about our basic economic concerns, what does he mean? Does he really promise what we want to hear? Is that promise sufficient?
When it comes to worrying, some of us are professionals. One parishioner told me she worried about everything she could imagine, because she knew that nothing she worried about would ever come true. For her, worry was an insurance policy. If she worried about it, it would never happen. Her problem was there were things she lacked the imagination to worry about that did come to pass. Her worry imagination was never complete enough. Simply put, we can never fully predict the future. We know enough to be concerned when someone says, ''Hey, y'all, watch this!'' Beyond that, we don't do really well predicting impending disasters. We worry about the wrong things and never seem to worry about those things that actually will go wrong.
Worry becomes wasted energy. If that were the end of the matter, however, it would not be a big deal. We waste plenty of energy on all sorts of things Jesus never bothered to address. The problem with worry runs far deeper than wasting mental or emotional energy. It is much more than a concern over our failure to adequately predict and prepare for the future. Jesus was concerned with addressing the spiritual ramifications of worry. After all, when he talked about worrying, he pointed his listeners to their relationship with God as Father. There is a reason for that.
At it's deepest level, worry betrays our lack of confidence or trust. It is triggered when we perceive our needs as greater than the resources at our disp ...
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