Why Worry?
Sermon
It's News To Me: Messages of Hope for Those Who Haven't Heard
Cycle A Gospel Sermons For Advent, Christmas, Epiphany
Object:
We were told that one of the major trends of the latter part of the twentieth century was anxiety. Many people were worried about the new millennium, and there were concerns about Y2K, and how it would affect our lives. It was hard to find a newscast that didn't make at least some mention of it, and there were numerous interviews with people who had stocked up supplies of food and water, batteries and blankets. Some had even stored guns because they believed a state of anarchy would reign!
I saw a show where the reporter was interviewing someone in the government who was responsible for seeing that all governmental agencies were Y2K compliant. She said they weren't in very good shape. As a matter of fact, she stated that it was so bad that -- heaven forbid! -- they might have to go back to using paper and pencil to do their work! There was a chance that some offices would even have to shut down because of the Y2K thing! That might not have been all bad!
Perhaps it was not Y2K that you and I worried about, but I'd be willing to bet that most of us have worried about someone or something within the last 24 hours! That just seems to be a normal human thing. Our daughter recently had to spend a few days doing something brand new for her job. Fortunately, she only found out about it the day before, but she did her fair share of worrying before the job began.
I was chatting with a friend whose significant other is an airline pilot. There had been an airline crash the day before, and she had a very concerned look on her face. Immediately, she started talking about how worried she was when her pilot friend was flying, and this mishap only served to compound her worry. How many of us have done something like that -- worried ourselves sick about someone we love?
The truth is that most of us worry about all kinds of things --from the profound to the mundane. Along with worrying about the safety and well-being of those we love, we worry about things like walking into a room of strangers, looking foolish, or seeming stupid when we ask a question. Sometimes we're worried about what people think of us, but Olin Miller was correct when he said, "We probably wouldn't worry about what people think of us if we could know how seldom they do."1 That's certainly some food for thought.
Let's stop to think a minute about what worry actually is. It's significant that it comes from an Anglo-Saxon word that means "to strangle" or "to choke."2 That means that worry can actually get a strangle hold on us, and literally cut off the air supply that allows us to breathe! Worry, anxiety, concern and apprehension -- all synonyms -- really keep us from living our lives to the very fullest because we are always filled with fear that something awful is about to happen. Arthur Somers Roche once said, "Worry is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained."3
The bottom line is that worry is not a very beneficial activity, and there are several reasons to say that. For one thing, worry can actually be damaging to our health. Dr. Charles Mayo says, "Worry affects the circulation, the heart, the glands, the whole nervous system."4 Worry can totally consume us, and if it doesn't cause us to die physically, it can certainly keep us from enjoying life on a daily basis.
Worry can lead to some rather unsavory results. Apparently, movie actor David Niven was a terrible worrier and that was manifested by his habitual nail-biting. As the story goes, Niven received a postcard one day from his friend, Noel Coward, who was traveling in Italy. The card showed a picture of the famous Venus de Milo and said, "You see what will happen if you keep biting your nails?"5 That's just one of the unpleasant consequences of constant worrying.
There's more. Worry really wastes a lot of time and energy. Do you realize how few of the things we worry about actually happen? A recent survey says that forty percent of the things we worry about never happen, and another thirty percent of our worries are in the past, and we can't do anything about them. Twelve percent of our worries concern other people, and are really none of our business anyway. Another ten percent are about sickness, which we can do very little to control. Only eight percent of the things we worry about are said to be worth worrying about.6 Worry is really a useless activity.
So, what do we do with all our worries? That's where the Bible passage for today comes in. This is part of the wisdom Jesus shared with us in the Sermon on the Mount. It tells us not to worry about things like clothes or food or drink. Those are not the most important things in life, and we can trust God to take care of us and give us whatever we need to survive. As a friend of mine likes to say, "God will provide."
So many of the things you and I worry about really don't matter much in the whole scheme of things. Maybe the next time we catch ourselves worrying about something, we should stop and ask ourselves, "Is this really going to matter five years from now? Or even next week?" Often I suspect our answer will be "No." No one will know or care about the issue that seems so critical to us at this very moment. We just need to learn to weigh things a little differently when it comes to our worries, and sort things out. Then we need to let go, and put our trust in God who does truly provide, and even in some wonderful, surprising ways.
Let me suggest a couple of things that we might do to begin to let go of our worries. First we might start trying to remedy the situation rather than just fretting about it. Astronaut Jim Lovell was in command of the Apollo 13 spacecraft when it experienced an explosion on its way to the moon. Their oxygen was almost gone; their electrical system was out, and their spaceship was plunging toward lunar orbit. It looked as if they were destined to be lost in space, thousands of miles from home.
During a press conference after their safe return, Lovell was asked, "Were you worried?" and he gave an answer that surprised almost everyone in the room. "No, not really." He continued, "Worry is a useless emotion. I was too busy fixing the problem to worry about it."7 Maybe we would be better served by putting our energies into finding a solution to the problem rather than just worrying about it.
There's another thing, too, that can help us let go of some of our worries. I heard about a guy who handled his worries in a creative fashion. Because there seemed to be so many things to worry about, he decided to set aside one day each week in which to worry. So, as worries came to him, he would write them down and put them in his worry box. Then, on the day he had chosen, Worry Wednesday, he pulled out each worry and read it. He discovered that most of the things he was disturbed about had already settled themselves or been taken care of in some other way. He learned that there was seldom a real reason to worry, and he began to eliminate worry from his life.8
Maybe you and I can try that -- writing down all our worries and putting them in a file or a box, and only dealing with them one day a week. We just might come to the same discovery -- that the things we're so concerned about have a way of working themselves out.
There's another thing that might work when it comes to dealing with our worries, and that's praying about them. As someone said, "If our worries aren't worth praying about, they aren't worth worrying about."9 How true that is! It helps if we turn to God in prayer, and let go of our worries. The problem with most of us is that we pray about them, but we don't let go. We have a tendency to take them back and continue to worry.
However, if we genuinely turn our worries over to God, I believe we'll find that the process of praying about them can ease the anxiety and maybe even plant a few notions in our minds about how to address them. Prayer works, and it works because God does. It works because we can trust God to be there, to care for us, to provide for us. That's the Good News, so why worry?
Closing Word
When it comes to our worries, we have access to an anti-worry potion that never fails. It's God, who can allay our fears, calm our anxieties, and allow us to let go of our worries. So as you leave here this morning, know you can trust God, and go in peace. Amen.
____________
1. Olin Miller, Quotable Quotes (Pleasantville, New York: Reader's Digest, 1997), p. 16.
2. Glenn Van Ekeren, Words For All Occasions (Paramus, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1988), p. 393.
3. James Hewitt, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1988), p. 496.
4. Dr. Charles Mayo, "Worry," Dynamic Illustrations, JAS 1999.
5. David Niven, "Worry," Dynamic Illustrations, JAS 1999.
6. Ekeren, op. cit., pp. 392-393.
7. Mort Crim, Second Thoughts (Deerfield Beach, Florida: Health Communications, Inc., 1997), pp. 153-154.
8. Ekeren, op. cit., p. 392.
9. "Worry," Dynamic Illustrations, JAS 1998.
I saw a show where the reporter was interviewing someone in the government who was responsible for seeing that all governmental agencies were Y2K compliant. She said they weren't in very good shape. As a matter of fact, she stated that it was so bad that -- heaven forbid! -- they might have to go back to using paper and pencil to do their work! There was a chance that some offices would even have to shut down because of the Y2K thing! That might not have been all bad!
Perhaps it was not Y2K that you and I worried about, but I'd be willing to bet that most of us have worried about someone or something within the last 24 hours! That just seems to be a normal human thing. Our daughter recently had to spend a few days doing something brand new for her job. Fortunately, she only found out about it the day before, but she did her fair share of worrying before the job began.
I was chatting with a friend whose significant other is an airline pilot. There had been an airline crash the day before, and she had a very concerned look on her face. Immediately, she started talking about how worried she was when her pilot friend was flying, and this mishap only served to compound her worry. How many of us have done something like that -- worried ourselves sick about someone we love?
The truth is that most of us worry about all kinds of things --from the profound to the mundane. Along with worrying about the safety and well-being of those we love, we worry about things like walking into a room of strangers, looking foolish, or seeming stupid when we ask a question. Sometimes we're worried about what people think of us, but Olin Miller was correct when he said, "We probably wouldn't worry about what people think of us if we could know how seldom they do."1 That's certainly some food for thought.
Let's stop to think a minute about what worry actually is. It's significant that it comes from an Anglo-Saxon word that means "to strangle" or "to choke."2 That means that worry can actually get a strangle hold on us, and literally cut off the air supply that allows us to breathe! Worry, anxiety, concern and apprehension -- all synonyms -- really keep us from living our lives to the very fullest because we are always filled with fear that something awful is about to happen. Arthur Somers Roche once said, "Worry is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained."3
The bottom line is that worry is not a very beneficial activity, and there are several reasons to say that. For one thing, worry can actually be damaging to our health. Dr. Charles Mayo says, "Worry affects the circulation, the heart, the glands, the whole nervous system."4 Worry can totally consume us, and if it doesn't cause us to die physically, it can certainly keep us from enjoying life on a daily basis.
Worry can lead to some rather unsavory results. Apparently, movie actor David Niven was a terrible worrier and that was manifested by his habitual nail-biting. As the story goes, Niven received a postcard one day from his friend, Noel Coward, who was traveling in Italy. The card showed a picture of the famous Venus de Milo and said, "You see what will happen if you keep biting your nails?"5 That's just one of the unpleasant consequences of constant worrying.
There's more. Worry really wastes a lot of time and energy. Do you realize how few of the things we worry about actually happen? A recent survey says that forty percent of the things we worry about never happen, and another thirty percent of our worries are in the past, and we can't do anything about them. Twelve percent of our worries concern other people, and are really none of our business anyway. Another ten percent are about sickness, which we can do very little to control. Only eight percent of the things we worry about are said to be worth worrying about.6 Worry is really a useless activity.
So, what do we do with all our worries? That's where the Bible passage for today comes in. This is part of the wisdom Jesus shared with us in the Sermon on the Mount. It tells us not to worry about things like clothes or food or drink. Those are not the most important things in life, and we can trust God to take care of us and give us whatever we need to survive. As a friend of mine likes to say, "God will provide."
So many of the things you and I worry about really don't matter much in the whole scheme of things. Maybe the next time we catch ourselves worrying about something, we should stop and ask ourselves, "Is this really going to matter five years from now? Or even next week?" Often I suspect our answer will be "No." No one will know or care about the issue that seems so critical to us at this very moment. We just need to learn to weigh things a little differently when it comes to our worries, and sort things out. Then we need to let go, and put our trust in God who does truly provide, and even in some wonderful, surprising ways.
Let me suggest a couple of things that we might do to begin to let go of our worries. First we might start trying to remedy the situation rather than just fretting about it. Astronaut Jim Lovell was in command of the Apollo 13 spacecraft when it experienced an explosion on its way to the moon. Their oxygen was almost gone; their electrical system was out, and their spaceship was plunging toward lunar orbit. It looked as if they were destined to be lost in space, thousands of miles from home.
During a press conference after their safe return, Lovell was asked, "Were you worried?" and he gave an answer that surprised almost everyone in the room. "No, not really." He continued, "Worry is a useless emotion. I was too busy fixing the problem to worry about it."7 Maybe we would be better served by putting our energies into finding a solution to the problem rather than just worrying about it.
There's another thing, too, that can help us let go of some of our worries. I heard about a guy who handled his worries in a creative fashion. Because there seemed to be so many things to worry about, he decided to set aside one day each week in which to worry. So, as worries came to him, he would write them down and put them in his worry box. Then, on the day he had chosen, Worry Wednesday, he pulled out each worry and read it. He discovered that most of the things he was disturbed about had already settled themselves or been taken care of in some other way. He learned that there was seldom a real reason to worry, and he began to eliminate worry from his life.8
Maybe you and I can try that -- writing down all our worries and putting them in a file or a box, and only dealing with them one day a week. We just might come to the same discovery -- that the things we're so concerned about have a way of working themselves out.
There's another thing that might work when it comes to dealing with our worries, and that's praying about them. As someone said, "If our worries aren't worth praying about, they aren't worth worrying about."9 How true that is! It helps if we turn to God in prayer, and let go of our worries. The problem with most of us is that we pray about them, but we don't let go. We have a tendency to take them back and continue to worry.
However, if we genuinely turn our worries over to God, I believe we'll find that the process of praying about them can ease the anxiety and maybe even plant a few notions in our minds about how to address them. Prayer works, and it works because God does. It works because we can trust God to be there, to care for us, to provide for us. That's the Good News, so why worry?
Closing Word
When it comes to our worries, we have access to an anti-worry potion that never fails. It's God, who can allay our fears, calm our anxieties, and allow us to let go of our worries. So as you leave here this morning, know you can trust God, and go in peace. Amen.
____________
1. Olin Miller, Quotable Quotes (Pleasantville, New York: Reader's Digest, 1997), p. 16.
2. Glenn Van Ekeren, Words For All Occasions (Paramus, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1988), p. 393.
3. James Hewitt, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1988), p. 496.
4. Dr. Charles Mayo, "Worry," Dynamic Illustrations, JAS 1999.
5. David Niven, "Worry," Dynamic Illustrations, JAS 1999.
6. Ekeren, op. cit., pp. 392-393.
7. Mort Crim, Second Thoughts (Deerfield Beach, Florida: Health Communications, Inc., 1997), pp. 153-154.
8. Ekeren, op. cit., p. 392.
9. "Worry," Dynamic Illustrations, JAS 1998.
