Rev. George Miller
Sept 13, 2026
Matthew 6:25-39
Today we honor those who lost their lives
on 9/11, those who gave their lives to save others, those whose lives were
forever changed, the 1st responders, and those who died from the after-effects…
“Worship God in such a way that people
want to be present.”
This is a phrase that emerged a few weeks
ago; a Holy Spirit bit of inspiration.
As our Finance Committee meets and Council
faithfully oversees opportunities ahead, there is a thought to hold- What are we,
St. Lucas UCC, called to do and be?
What is our identity? A business?
A non-profit? A do-it-all agency? A ministry?
Are we something else; something we can’t
quite really define, but you know; you just know when you feel it, when
you walk through the doors and leave to go home.
This thought keeps coming back- “Worship
God in such a way that people want to be present.”
How is that done? Trendy pomp?
Checking off a list? Or is it about
authenticity, calm, joy, tears, making learnable mistakes?
How do we worship God in a way that people
want to be present?
Honesty and vulnerability go a long way. Welcoming that says “Hey! I see you; all of
you.”
When honesty and vulnerability are present
and allowed to flourish, it’s easy to experience God, feel Jesus at your side,
and the Holy Spirit ready for a surprise.
Last week we were in Samaria with the
woman at the well. She had 5 husbands,
living with a 6th.
How did she feel? Knowing she was married 5 times, experiencing
some form of abandonment 5x?
Did this cause her to have a sense of
worry? Was there a part of her anxiously wondering if she’d come home and man
number 6 would be dead or gone?
When she meets Jesus at the well, did she
experience a sense of fear, a hint of caution?
After that time spent with Jesus, discussing
Living Water and wisdom, did she experience a sense of calm; a desire to worship?
Worries and anxiety. How much they shape our lives. Concerns about family, focus on the future,
and all the what-ifs it can bring.
Today, our scripture is Matthew
6:25-34. It is the kind of reading that we can say is
“Good News…Until It is Not.”
It is a poetic masterpiece that emanates
calm and positivity- Do not worry. Don’t
worry about food or drink or clothes.
Look at the birds , how God feeds them; at the lilies, how God clothes
them. Do not worry; seek righteousness.
This is the kind of teaching that when
life is right and you’re feeling good you’re like “yes!”
But…when life “lifes” and things go
wrong and you do have to worry about tomorrow, it is not only a
scripture that can feel hard to live, but it can also feel like a measuring
stick in which you are simply going to fail.
Imagine receiving a phone call from a
loved one on 9/11 and telling them not to worry?
Would anyone go to Nepal and tell families
who lost everything “Don’t worry about food, fresh drinking water, or clothes”?
Matthew 6 sounds so good, yet if used the
wrong way, it can really hurt someone and make it feel as if God is cruel and
far away.
“Worship God in such a way that people
want to feel present.”
Worry and anxiety. What a choke-hold they can have, as if one
can’t breathe. How they can make us
fixate, ruminate, stay up late.
How these feelings can morph into anger and fear. Look at elections- how much do candidates
rise and fall on the worries of the people?
Pay attention to church meetings- are they
guided by hope and faith, or mired in anxiety and morph into anger, avoidance,
scape-goating and micro-managing?
Yet scripture tells us not to worry, be
brave, trust, seek righteousness.
How do we do that? Is there a way to not feel anxious?
My Mom had her own way to deal with worry-
don’t think about it.
She’d say “Don’t worry about tomorrow
because a plane could land on the house tonight.” Or “Well, everyone is worried.” Or “There are people who have it worse than
you.”
I dislike them all, as they basically suppress
and shut down any emotion, which creates more anxiety with a side of shame.
Here is what I believe- when you’re in
pain, when you’re worried, there is no one in the world in more pain, or
more worried.
Your hurt, your anxiety is yours,
and at that moment, it is the worst that can be
felt.
In that honest vulnerability is space for
the Holy Spirit to move in, do its restorative work and begin the process of
healing.
There are gifts God has given us to deal
with our anxiety so we are not feeling so scorched.
Music and dance: Madonna singing “I get up
again over and over.” Taylor Swift cooing
“I’m still bejeweled when I walk in the room.”
The Pawesome Love we receive
from our pets, how they look at us as if we are all that matters and seem to
know when we need their love, laying beside us, offering their bellies to rub,
tails to hold.
Modern medicine, wrapped up in centuries
of research and wisdom. What a gift from God.
Some may say taking medicine for anxiety
or depression is a sign of weakness or poor faith; just pray, believe, show up
every Sunday.
Some Christians may feel shame about seeing
a therapist or taking antidepressants, but why?
Do you feel shame for replacing the batteries
in your TV remote, putting gas in the car, or oil on your beard trimmer?
In Matthew 6, Jesus is so poetic; it
sounds so good when life is right.
But, I do believe Jesus was well aware of
how difficult life is, and he wasn’t asking us to completely overlook it, but to
find a way to rise above our worries, not let them define us, break us, or steal
our soul, or feel like we have to face them completely alone.
I think Jesus valued us being honest,
being vulnerable. Honest with ourself, honest
with God, honest with those dearest to us.
The honesty and vulnerability to say “I’m
tired. I’ve done the best I can do; I
can’t do no more. I need help; I need assurance;
I need someone by my side.”
These words can open our hearts, welcome
Christ into our story and start a transformation.
The woman at the well in the heat of day...
as she talked to Jesus, how worried was she?
How much anxiety existed in her life?
How many woes were in her heart?
We don’t know, but perhaps after she encountered
Jesus she felt a sweet, sweet spirit.
Not a spirit that negated her experiences
or shamed them into silence, but a spirit of calm, a spirit of being seen, a
moment of living water that quenched her thirst.
After that time at the well, she would
still need to pay her bills, do her daily chores, and go back for more
water. But perhaps the next day there
was a bit more joy, a little less anxiety, a sense of blessed assurance.
In Christ it is well with our souls not
because all is perfect, or every issue is resolved, but because Jesus is in our
tomorrow and we have one another.
For that let us say “Amen.”
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