Matthew 6:24-34

I Corinthians 4:1-5

Isaiah 49:8-16a

            There once lived an ant and a grasshopper in a field.

            The ant worked hard every day, from the first morning light until dusk, all summer long through the heat of the day, hauling food to store away. Some of these food chunks were many times its own weight. The ant struggled with each load, dragging it into safe storage. As soon as one load was put away, it headed back out to collect another load, without ever stopping to rest.

            The grasshopper watched all this and shook its head. “I get tired just looking at you,” it said. “Hey, stop and smell the roses. It is such a beautiful day; why waste it slaving away? Take the afternoon off with me. We can play and sing, or just rest if you want. Live a little.”

            The ant paid no attention to the grasshopper. If anything, it responded by scurrying even faster as it went about its work. The grasshopper just laughed. “You crazy little workaholic, what is the matter with you? Drop that load and dance with me. Forget about the job for a few hours. Enjoy the summer.”

            But the ant paid no attention to the grasshopper, who finally just shrugged and hopped away through the fields dancing and singing a merry tune.

            This went on all summer, until finally the daylight grew short, and the weather turned cold. The north wind blew, and sleet and snow began to fall. The grasshopper no longer went about skipping and singing and dancing. It shivered in the cold because it had not built a house, and it starved because it could find no food.

            Then it remembered the ant and all the food that it had been storing up all summer—enough to feed an army, it seemed. The grasshopper hopped to the ant’s home and called out, “Ant, let me in! I am starving and freezing to death. Will you let me come into the warmth of your home and give me something to eat? I’ll be happy to sing for my supper.”

            The ant did not even bother to answer the door. It just called out, “All summer long, when you should have been preparing for winter, you just loafed around having a good time, singing and dancing and laughing at me while I worked and prepared for the future.  Well, who’s laughing now, grasshopper?

“Beat it. Find somewhere else to sing. There is no food for you here!”

Moral of the story: It is wise to worry about tomorrow today.

            The Gospel according to Aesop.

            Talk about mixed messages this morning. In our Gospel reading from Matthew, Jesus says, “Do not worry about your life or what you will drink, or about what you will wear. Is not life more than food?”

            His conclusion, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

 

            All right, which moral do we follow?

 

It is wise to worry about tomorrow today.

 

Or

 

Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own.

 

            To fret or not to fret, that is the question.

 

            It seems like Jesus is coming down pretty solidly on the side of the grasshopper. He even takes a shot at Aesop in this passage. “Do not worry, saying, “What will we eat? or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear? For it is the Gentiles, (you know, Greeks, like Aesop) who strive for all these things.”

            What I find intriguing is that there is a chance Jesus may actually have had Aesop’s ant and grasshopper story in mind when he said these words. Aesop’s fables had been around for at least 500 years before Christ, translated into several languages. Maybe Jesus knew the story.

 

            What do we make of this? We come from a Gentile kind of place, where a strong work ethic is important, and here comes Jesus just kickin’ it back and keepin’ it real. We’re used to taking our religion more seriously. There are legitimate problems in this world. Real worries. Are we supposed to just put it all in God’s hands and sit back and let God run the show? Where’s the sense of responsibility?

 

            We get even more of this carefree attitude in the passage from Corinthians. Paul writes, “You can’t judge me. I answer only to God. And the same goes for you. Don’t judge others or let them judge you. Leave that to God.”

 

            Again, this is uncomfortable talk. I once had to deal with a pastor who did not like the terms of the contract she had signed with the congregation. She claimed that the contract was not valid because God was the one who called her, not the congregation. That really gets awkward.

 

            Where’s the accountability in the system? How do we hold people responsible?             We have to make judgments all the time, just for our own survival. Who’s trustworthy? Who knows what they’re talking about? Who is offering us the best deal? What is right job offer? Where’s the best place to go to school?

           

But today, we have two readings today telling us to chill:

            Don’t worry about the future.

            Don’t judge people.     

Just be cool and roll with it.

            You wonder if we are talking about the Gospel here or a frat party.

 

            There are two possible ways to get at the message of these passages. One of them is to consider the words of Ecclesiastes:

            For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

            A time to be born, a time to die

            A time to plant, a time to reap

            A time to mourn, a time to dance

            A time for action and intensity, and a time to chill.

 

            These could be viewed as a couple of those balance passages. Aesop takes the “all play and no work is bad” angle; Jesus counterbalances that with the “all work and no play is bad, angle.” Both are right.

            Same with Corinthians. On one hand, we need to make responsible judgments in our lives. On the other hand, Paul warns us not to get too heavily into judging our neighbors.  

 

            There’s an alternative explanation, though. If we read these two lectionary passages side by side, and then add in the Old Testament reading, we find something interesting going on.

                                                                                   

            Corinthians does not advocate a kind of live-and-let live anarchy, where anything goes, all behaviors are equally valid, and no one has to take responsibility for anything. In fact, it’s just the opposite.

 

            Paul was writing to a congregation torn apart by dissension, infighting, backbiting, and mudslinging. Yes, many of them were doing shameful things that deserved criticism. But everyone in the congregation was so busy finding fault and condemning everyone else that nothing was getting done. The Gospel was not being proclaimed. The work of the kingdom of God was not being done. Love was nonexistent.

 

            When Paul tells them to stop judging; and leave that to God, he’s not letting anyone off the hook. He is trying to focus their attention on their own lives. It’s difficult enough making the right choices and judgments in your own life without trying to make them for others. Don’t get distracted by judging how well your neighbor is measuring up to the standards of loving the neighbor. Don’t despair at how imperfect others are. Don’t be consumed by anger over the failures of others.

            Focus on what you can control, says Paul. Stop judging, and stop worrying about others judging you. Get rid of all that anger and resentment and despair that saps your energy, and stay focused on God’s grace to you.

 

            Paul’s version of the ant and the grasshopper story would go like this:

 

            There once lived an ant and a grasshopper in a field. At the beginning of the summer, the ant worked hard to store food for the winter. Until it noticed that the grasshopper spent most of its time singing and dancing and playing. This infuriated the ant, who lit into the grasshopper and told it what a lazy good-for-nothing fool  it was.

 

            But the grasshopper refused to listen.

 

            The ant grew so upset it couldn’t sleep. It started following the grasshopper around and monitoring its activity. The ant got madder and madder at the grasshopper’s laziness, and was determined to change its ways.  Whenever the grasshopper began to sing, the ant jumped all over it to quit. When the grasshopper played, the ant tried to stop it.

            The grasshopper was furious with the ant for trying to run its life. Day after day, the two screamed insults at each other.

            This went on all summer until finally the daylight grew short, and the weather turned cold. The north wind blew, until the temperature dropped belong freezing, and sleet and snow began to fall.

            Suddenly, the ant discovered it had spent so much time hounding and policing the grasshopper that it had forgotten to store food for itself. Now it was too late. 

            The ant and the grasshopper both starved.

Moral of the story: Let God judge; focus on the work that God has given you.

            Now look at the Matthew reading. What is the sparrows and lilies passage really about? It’s not about responsibility or planning, or effort, or work. It is about worry.

 

            Worry is lack of faith. Worry is following the example of the Israelites in our Isaiah reading, who despite living in God’s grace, can’t stop worrying. “The Lord has forsaken me,” they cry. “The Lord has forgotten me.” They subscribe to the Murphy’s Law clause that says when things appear to going well, you have obviously overlooked something.

 

            Worry is living in the shadows of doubt and fear. Worry is living outside the light of God. Worry sucks the energy out of life.

 

            The issue is not planning ahead, having a vision for the future, and working hard. Those are good things.

            The issue is living as if God were not a part of things. As if I am all on my own in this universe. As if God were not interested in what I am doing and had no part in my life. 

            “What are you thinking?” God asks the miserable worryworts in Isaiah. “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb?”

            Highly unlikely. “But it does happen,” say the worriers.

            God answers, yes, in very rare cases that can happen with humans.

            That will not happen with God, not ever. God cannot act that way.

 

            The message is to live in confidence.

 

            Problems will come. Financial problems, relational problems, career problems, health problems. Do not live in fear of them. Deal. Cope. Don’t walk around carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. Walk with a light step remembering God’s promises. The Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his suffering ones. 

 

            Jesus’ version of the ant and the grasshopper story might go like this:

 

            There once lived an ant and a grasshopper in a field. As soon as the summer began, the ant started working overtime to store up food for the winter. It had no time at all for the grasshopper who spent most of its time singing and dancing and playing.

 

            No matter how much food the ant dragged into storage, it was never enough. It was always worried about running out. It had to have more, just in case things went wrong. Every morning it woke up thinking, “Oh no! Winter is a day closer! What am I going to do?” It woke up earlier and earlier each day to get started on food collection.

 

            The ant never enjoyed one minute of its existence. It never spent any time with the grasshopper, who desperately wanted to be its friend. The ant became so exhausted with worry and with trying to gather more food  that it grew weak. The weaker it became, the less work it could do, and the more it worried about the coming winter. The more it worried, the more exhausted it became, and the less it accomplished. 

 

            Just as summer was drawing to a close, the ant collapsed of exhaustion and died. And when the cold weather arrived, the grasshopper simply hopped south to warmer weather.

 

Moral of the story: Do not let worries about the future ruin your life.

 

            The Matthew passage invites us to live, not in fear, but in confidence that the God who loves you and is with you always. Dial back the fear and anxiety, and rest easy knowing that God has your back.

 

            The Corinthians passage say, “Do not live your life in anger and suspicion, focused always on the choices other people are making. Rather than getting upset and angered by the failure of others, chill. Let that stuff go, and focus on something you actually have control of—the things you can actually control. 

 

            These mellow messages are not often the image we present of Christianity. The usual focus is on action. Are you doing enough? Are you giving enough? Are you following all the rules? We’ve got to save the world from all these idiots. As I had to remind myself after a public hearing with the county board earlier this week, my only responsibility is to be faithful, to fight the good fight, to do what I can do. The rest is out of my hands. It is freeing and energizing to remember that.

 

            Constant stress is not what new life is about.

 

            Jesus did not come into our world so we would live lives in fear and anxiety and in judgment, but so that we could live in confidence that whatever comes, be it good or bad, or indifference, we know that God is with us. So that we can plan in confidence, work hard in confidence, play in confidence.

           

            The church that Jesus invites us to join is not a high-stress place. It is both a peaceful refuge and high energy place, where new life is given and new life is shared.