Source:  American Anglican Council

The following was first published in the August 21, 2009 edition of the AAC's weekly email update. Click here to sign up for the free update.

By The Rev. Phil Ashey, J.D.

"Do not worry" - a devotional and a testimony

Dear Friends in Christ,

There's a lot of worry in the Anglican world these days, and especially here in North America.  "What will happen to the orthodox in TEC if we decideto stay?"  "Will Canterbury act to provide a place for the orthodox to sign the Covenant and be on the 'inside track' without retaliation from 815?"   "Will my bishop inhibit and depose me for even thinking about leaving?"  "What if we lose our buildings-how will we carry on the ministry?"   "What if the recognition of the Anglican Church in North America by two thirds of the Anglican Communion provinces takes longer than expected?"
 
Jesus said "So do not worry, saying 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well."  Matt 6:31-33

I shared these wonderful words of our Lord last week at the prayer vigil for Christ Church Savannah.  As I've had time to reflect, Jesus' gracious words about worrying are an invitation and a challenge to a broader audience-to all of us, in fact: Anglicans in TEC and in ACNA, those who are staying and those who are leaving, those who are in litigation and those who are not.  But before we go any further, let's observe a few things about Jesus' invitation to not give in to anxiety.

First, it is prefaced and finds itself in the context of a choice:  In v. 24, "You cannot serve both God and Money."  Jesus is drawing a line in the sand here and saying, "You have to make a choice - who are you going to serve - God, or stuff?  God, or money?  You've got to relax your grip on the things of this world and let go of them in order to get a grip on God. You can't have it both ways."  Jesus might just as well have said to us: "So who are you going to serve: God or the institution?"  "So do not worry saying 'Where shall we worship if we lose the buildings?" or "How shall we survive if we lose our bank accounts?" or "How can we continue as a church and a ministry if we are displaced from this historic site in the heart of our city?"

Secondly, Jesus' words on worry are not a polite invitation or suggestion.  They are a COMMAND:  "Do not worry. . ." he says-THREE TIMES (Matt. 6:25, 31, 34) .  Please understand what Jesus is saying here.  He's not telling you to be reckless.  He's not telling you and me not to plan ahead.  Jesus is commanding you and me to stop WORRYING. There's a difference.  The word Jesus uses here for "worry" and "worrying" is the same word used of Martha who was distracted with much serving; the same word used of the good seed sown among the thorns which was choked by the cares of life; and the same word used by Paul in his command in Phil 4:6 to have no anxiety.

Jesus is talking here about distracting, choking, self-tormenting anxious care, perpetual unease, and  fear of future that has no place in the life of those who take their baptismal vows seriously by putting their whole trust in His grace and love.

The real problem with worry, says Jesus, is that it is not trusting God with your future. Worry is almost entirely future-focused; it's almost always about things that might happen, or things that will never happen, or things that can't be changed even if they did happen. And because this fearful focus on the future robs us of the thrill of plunging wholeheartedly into Jesus and his mission right NOW, he says "So do not worry about tomorrow. . ." 

And then to make sure we get it, he adds this: "So do not worry. . .for the pagans run after all these things. . ."  (Matthew 6:32, 34). Jesus says, "Worry isn't just a little weakness that you and I give in to from time to time.  We don't get a 'pass' for it.  Worry is PRACTICAL ATHEISM."  It's what PAGANS do - NOT TRUSTING GOD WITH YOUR FUTURE. It's an affront to God and it has no place in the life of a fully-devoted follower of Jesus.

Fortunately, Jesus doesn't stop here and leave us in a place of shame or condemnation. . . in fact, from verses 23-33 he explains WHY we don't need to worry, and why we can trust God for our future-wherever that may be in our Anglican world.

First, he says, you can trust God with your future because your life is more important than your body: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?"  (Matt. 6:25 NIV)

Listen to what Jesus is saying here:  He's saying "Look, if you were just physical bodies, if that's ALL your life was made of, you would have good reason to worry about what to feed your body, how to clothe it, and how to shelter it, because in 70 or 80 years, it's gone."  But Jesus says "Look, you are far more than just bodies - the Father and I gave you a heart and a mind and a personality and feelings and a conscience and aspirations and affections and incredible creativity, and the capacity to love sacrificially. The Father and I breathed our life into you, and these days we are paying attention to what's going on INSIDE of you."  And his reasoning goes like this: if the Father and I have gone to such enormous trouble to create, love, romance, redeem, and renew your inner person, would it make ANY SENSE at all for us to neglect the outer person-the details of food, drink, housing and clothing-the trivial stuff?

So how can you imagine a God who has poured out His life and grace for you personally, and for your church, blessing upon blessing, miracle after miracle, inside of you personally, and inside of your congregation, and imagine that he would not provide you the "clothing" - a mere building,  or a Covenant connection with historical Anglicanism, or a new missional Anglican province to worship in and carry on Christ's ministry?

Secondly, Worry doesn't generate any constructive deliverables. "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"  (Matt. 6:27 NIV)  Jesus is saying to people like you and me who worry a lot, "Just tell me, give me a little feedback here. . . when you commit yourself to the ministry of ferocious anxiety and worry, does it work?... does it produce good things? Can you manipulate events, can you change stuff if you really worry hard?"
 
During the 14 years I lived in Northern Virginia, my commitment to a ministry of ferocious anxiety and worry had NO DISCERNIBLE IMPACT on the cars in front of me when I was stuck in gridlock on the beltway - how about you?  My worry hasn't moved one car, hasn't hurried one traffic light, hasn't moved one accident or breakdown off the road. The ONLY deliverable it produced was higher blood pressure, frustration, and a poorer witness to the drivers around me! So take a deep breath and say "thank you God, my life and my timing are in your hands; Thank you God-our church's life and timing are in your hands," and let the worry go.
 
Thirdly, You have a loving Father who knows your needs, "So do not worry saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them."     (Matt. 6:31-32 NIV)

Some of you may remember the story that rocked the front pages of the newspapers just over a year ago: how a mother and her children slipped through the safety net of governmental services in Washington DC, how her children disappeared from school, how social workers and teachers knocked on the door and were turned away, and how those children were found, all of them, dead and decaying in their mother's home.
 
Please hear what Jesus is saying: Jesus is looking you in the eye today, saying, "Your Father is CONSTITUTIONALLY INCAPABLE OF RUNNING A HOUSE OF NEGLECT, ABUSE AND DEATH.  He's not wired that way. He has the heart of a perfect heavenly father who loves you, with an infinite amount of love and an infinite amount of resource that he can pour into our lives, including a place to worship and do ministry, if we live like children, trusting him fully."

Finally, Your Father will fulfill his promises to care for you: "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matt. 6:31-32 NIV)

What's his promise?  You put God first, you put his purposes first, you put his Kingdom first, and you will be FIRST PLACE ON HIS PROVIDING AGENDA.  All the things that are mentioned in this text, "All these things will be added unto you."  WHAT THINGS?  The necessities of life. Food, clothing, shelter, daily bread, appropriate clothing, appropriate housing, the basic provisions of life so that you don't need to worry-and that includes everything your congregation needs to do the mission and ministry God has called you to do-including a place to worship, pray, and care for others!

Let me close by sharing the story of a friend, the Rev. Matt Kennedy (known to many of you through StandFirm) and his congregation, the people of Good Shepherd, Binghampton, NY. Good Shepherd fought to leave TEC with their property and lost in the courts.  They had to leave the church, the rectory and their memories behind them.  The Diocese and TEC were so unkind to them in the process, that when they came in to take possession of the buildings, they removed Good Shepherd's signs directing the poor and the homeless to the new location of their soup kitchen!

But God had so much more provision, so much more in store for Matt and the people of Good Shepherd. The local Roman Catholic priest heard that Matt, his wife Anne+ and their four children were being evicted from the rectory and had no place to go, so he offered them the rectory of a vacant Roman Catholic church right there in town!  The old rectory at Good Shepherd Episcopal had only 3 bedrooms, one bathroom upstairs (for a family of 6), and no air conditioning.  The new rectory they moved into has 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and air conditioning.

But it gets even better.

Matt was praying about the vacant Roman Catholic church and within days of his prayers, the priest called him up and offered the church, the storage facility, the parking lot, and the attached school to the people of Good Shepherd rent-free.  The whole campus was appraised at $720,000, and Matt and the people of God Shepherd had saved up only $150,000 to purchase a place to worship.  Buying the property seemed out of reach.  They did not know this, but the priest was also on the finance committee of the Roman Catholic diocese.  He came back to Matt and said, "We can't offer you the building for $720,000 - we are going to knock off $200,000 and offer it to you for $500,000... and with the equity you will have in the building, you should have no problem getting a loan for the balance of $350,000."

And that's exactly what Matt and the people of Good Shepherd did.  So right now, within four months of losing their court case and being evicted, they are worshipping in a church with a sanctuary that is four times the size of their old one, a parking lot that can accommodate 100-120 cars (as opposed to the 10-car parking lot they used to have) with a huge storage space, a rectory that is finally comfortable for Matt and his family, and a day school whose income is paying for their mortgage!

And as a result, their church is growing.  They are attracting 20-30 college students from the local college every Sunday.  They are growing in numbers, and in faith!

And so will you, as you put God first, you put his purposes first, you put his Kingdom first, you too will be FIRST PLACE ON HIS PROVIDING AGENDA.

With love in Christ, 

Phil+  

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