...There are times when channel surfing I come across a TV evangelist and I stop to listen for a moment or two. While at the beach, probably during one of the days when the rain prevented me from going to the beach, or maybe it was early in the morning when everyone else was still asleep, I found a guy whom I had seen a number of years ago, and didn't even know he was still on the air. I guess some people still listen to him, still send in their money. What he was saying on this day - and his message hasn't really changed over the years - was that it was God's desire that people be rich. Just send in your money, buy the book, and you can become rich. I'm not sure what Bible it is that some of these guys read.

...Or do some channel surfing early in the morning. Infomercials fill the TV, most of them telling you how you can lose weight, or selling exercise equipment. There are others that tell you how you can make lots of money in real estate, how you can become wealthy, how you can reach your dreams of wealth even if you don't have much, if any, capital to invest. It's almost as though the evangelist is doing the same thing except with some religious language.

...Certainly all of this fits with our consumerist culture, as the goal in life for many people seems to be to acquire, to obtain, to, as we said last week, build bigger barns in which to store all our stuff. So people strive to achieve, they work harder and harder. They are sometimes consumed by the desire, and then the need, to make more money in order to get more stuff, or pay the mortgage or the additional car payment, and they are also increasingly worn out with care and worry and anxiety as they continue on that path of consumerism and seeking wealth.

..."Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear," says Jesus. "Consider the lilies of the field, or the birds of the air - they don't have to work hard, but look how pretty, how free, how well-cared for they are. Don't you think God will take care of you also?" Now, I understand that this statement turns the Protestant work ethic on its ear.

All the years of parents telling their children to work hard, to be a success in life, the stories of all the hard work we did, or our parents, or our grandparents, and it seems as though Jesus is telling us to stop telling those stories.

Just sit back and relax; God will take care of you. Don't worry.

Well, remember the parable from last week, the rich man saying he can enjoy a nice early retirement "relax, eat, drink, and be merry," and God said to him, "Uh, no, it's not going to work out that way."

...Work hard.

Jesus says, "Remember the lilies of the field."

...An honest day's pay for an honest day's work.

The ravens don't work.

...The pressures of work, of raising a family, of paying the mortgage or the rent, of wondering about college costs.

Don't be anxious about your life.

...Sometimes it is hard to figure out what is right and what is not right. And sometimes Jesus - who he is and what he teaches us - doesn't fit in with how the "real world" operates.

...It is easy to take this passage, and the similar passage from the gospel of Matthew, as an instruction to just kick back and take it easy. Everything will be given to you, everything taken care of. Yes, life is tough, there may be struggles and hardships, but "don't worry, be happy." That's the title of a song that was written a number of years ago - a fun song, with a kind of reggae beat that was a mega-hit for a man who is quite a serious musician. Here are some of the lyrics to that song:

Ain't got no place to lay your head, Someone came and took your bed, don't worry, be happy. The landlord say your rent is late, He may have to litigate, Don't worry, be happy.

Ain't got no cash, ain't got no style, ain't got no gal to make you smile, Don't worry, be happy. Cause when you worry your face will frown, and that will bring everybody down. Don't worry, be happy. (lyrics by Bobby McFerrin)

...A bit unrealistic, don't you think? There are some people who take Jesus' words as telling us simply to not worry about anything, to not be anxious about some things that often cause anxiety, that with enough faith we'll have our needs cared for, that we are to be happy in all situations, because all is going to be well in the end when we meet Jesus.

...I'm not sure that fits the rest of the biblical message. It certainly doesn't fit the message of Jesus about the kingdom of God being near. But I think we have to understand that we tend often to misinterpret that message, and certainly to misinterpret this passage. You see, much of Jesus' teaching and preaching had little to do with the self.

The focus of Jesus' message didn't have to do with our needs, with our desires, really with us.

The basis of Jesus' message is God, that the kingdom of God has come near, and the emphasis of the followers of Jesus, the emphasis of the church, is not the self but the kingdom of God.

And that kingdom deals with such things as compassion, grace, justice, and love, rather than individual achievement or gain.

...For us to say that the message of Jesus is "don't worry, God will take care of you, so you can rest comfortably," indicates that the focus is on ourselves. But later in the passage, in a statement that almost goes overlooked, Jesus says, "instead, strive for God's kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well." The emphasis, again, is on the kingdom of God. The emphasis is on service to God. The emphasis is on discipleship. And if one is faithful in service to Christ, if one is faithful in service to the kingdom of God, if one is faithful to God's call, if one is moving beyond one's self, then we need not worry about the rather routine things in life, for those things shall be added unto you, and we need not be anxious, we need not worry about them.

...The gospel of Jesus Christ is not about us. It is not about the church. It is about the kingdom of God, about the love of God that is showered upon all of God's people. It is about the mercy of God for all people. It is about the call of God to God's people, that they be a people of compassion and mercy. As Paul says in II Corinthians, "in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their sins against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us." We are instruments of God's peace, sowing love and healing and pardon and joy. And we find that as we are faithful to that call, then our life's needs are provided for us and to us, and we need not worry about our life's needs because God will provide those needs.

...Don't worry, be happy. That's not the gospel message. Instead, it seems to trivialize the gospel message. Don't seek things for yourselves, but instead seek God's kingdom and then your needs are supplied - that works better. It is not easy to live this way, though, because in our culture we are bombarded on all sides by the thought that we need this new product or our lives are just not as fulfilled if we're not driving that car. We are told that are wants are really our needs. We think we are what we own, or we are what others think about us, and they'll think better about us if we're upscaling and living beyond our means. And there are even TV preachers telling us that it's ok to be greedy.

...Jesus says no. Don't focus on those things of life, those things that are fleeting, those things that eventually will pass away. Focus instead on the things that are more vital for life, on the things that are really important in life - discipleship, relationships, growing in faith, learning more about who we are as a people of God, and being a servant of Jesus Christ. Seek first the kingdom of God.

...That is not just wisdom given to us as individuals. It is wisdom given to us as the church of Jesus Christ. Seek the kingdom of God. Seek to be a servant. Be an instrument of God's peace, an ambassador of Christ. Do that, and your needs will be met. So don't be anxious about the things of life - look more to life itself, and sharing that gift of life and love with others.

...That's what Jesus says to us.