Writing sermons can be challenging. I’m sure you all know that. Sometimes it keeps you up at night.  And then one starts to worry about being awake.  But I don’t worry about being up anymore because I learned that there is biblical precedent for this.

You see, Bathsheba, King David’s wife, went to see the doctor. She said, “Doctor, I'm a bit concerned about my husband David. He stays up late into the night writing things to God.”

The doctor said, “Not to worry, it's nothing too serious - just a case of in-psalm-nia.”

And then of course we pastors worry about how the sermon is received.

The newly called pastor led his first service at the church and then stood with a deacon at the door greeting parishioners. They came out uniformly praising him and the sermon, except for one man who came up and said, "You must not have gotten very high marks in preaching.”

Another group of folks with compliments flow through praising the service and the sermon, and behold, the same man appears in the line again, this time remarking, "boy, if you can't teach I guess you preach,"  and walks off.  The pastor was somewhat non-plussed over this, but soon another bunch of compliment carrying folk came through the line to greet him, so he felt better--until the same guy showed up a third time and said, "I bet when Jesus went out fishing, he tried to throw you back!” 

This time the pastor turned to the deacon and said, in an exasperated voice, "Who in the world is that man who keeps coming through the line?"  "Oh," says the deacon, “him!  Well, don't pay any attention to him, he's the village character, and only repeats what others are saying!"

All that worry for nothing… Why should we worry? What does worrying get us? I’m a first class worrier. But by worrying can I change one thing, one action, one future event? No. It’s a colossal waste of time, energy and heart. Jesus says to us do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?”

But we worry about a lot of things. Like how we will die or when we will die. I tell you I have a statistically proven plan that will extend your life, almost death proof you:

1. Avoid riding in automobiles because they are responsible for 20% of all fatal accidents.

2. Do not stay home because 17% of all accidents occur in the home.

3. Avoid walking on streets or sidewalks because 14% of all accidents occur to pedestrians.

4. Avoid traveling by air, rail, or water because 16% of all accidents involve these forms of transportation.

5. Of the remaining 33%, 32% of all deaths occur in Hospitals.  Above all else, avoid hospitals!

You will be pleased to learn that only .001% of all deaths occur in worship services in church, and these are usually related to previous physical disorders. Therefore, logic tells us that the safest place for you to be at any given point in time is at church!

Come to church and the odds are with you. Pretty good deal, don’t you think?

Jesus says, don’t worry. Can we add one year, one minute, one second to our life by worrying? No, we can’t. And even thought Jesus wasn’t up to date on the latest science of the twenty-first century, we know now, if anything, worrying reduces our life expectancy.

Worry is a part of every stage of life. Children worry because they don’t understand things:

On the way back from a Cub Scout meeting, my grandson innocently said to my son, 'Dad, I know babies come from mommies' tummies, but how do they get there in the first place?'  After my son hemmed and hawed awhile, my grandson finally spoke up in disgust, 'You don't have to make up something, Dad.  It's okay if you don't know the answer.'

Or children worry because perhaps kids understand things too well: Working as a pediatric nurse, I had the difficult assignment of giving immunization shots to children. One day, I entered the examining room to give four-year-old Lizzie her needle. 'No, no, no!' she screamed.  'Lizzie,' scolded her mother, 'that's not polite behavior.'  With that, the girl yelled even louder, 'No, thank you!  No, thank you!

Jesus tells us not to worry about what we eat or what we wear. That we will be taken care of by God who knows that we need these things. We can stop worrying so much about the details of life, about our dinner, or how to get ahead in our next job, or the state of our 401K or or or... Worrying does us no good anyway.  But just in case we think that Jesus is offering us an easy out—“don’t worry about the world, God will take care of it”—he ends by saying “strive first for the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness.”

In other words, if you are looking to God for direction in your life, you are going to be focused on justice work and peacemaking and loving your enemies. And suddenly those other worries are going to fade in comparison.

A priest, a pastor, and a rabbi went for a hike together.  It was a hot day. They walked by a stream and, being all men and friends, they decided to skinny dip. When they emerged from the water a group of women from town walked down the path between the clergy and their clothes. The priest and the pastor covered their private parts and the rabbi covered his face. Later as they were dressing the rabbi said: "I don't know how it is in your congregations, but in mine the people know me by my face!”

Focus on what matters, right?

We worry about our computers and their incomprehensible behavior. We can feel at our wits end but God is surely present even then. Three professionals were sitting in a bar arguing over whose profession was the oldest. The doctor said hers was the oldest because in Genesis it states that God took a rib from Adam to make Eve and this was a medical operation.

"Ah no" said the architect- "before that it states God made order out of chaos and that's an architectural operation."

"Well" said the Computer Programmer "Where do you think the chaos came from?"

“In the beginning the spirit of God moved over the chaos…”

And we worry a lot about our health. Getting sick, being in the hospital, getting a diagnosis. It is scary. And truthfully these are the times when worry only serves to make us more ill. It is truly in trusting God to carry us through no matter what that we find any solace for in those times the day’s trouble in more than enough for the day.  And when I pray with folk who are ill, I always include a pray for peace of mind and release from worry.

But sometimes we take things into our own hands.

Brittany, age 4, had an ear ache and wanted a pain killer. She tried in vain to take the lid off the bottle. Seeing her frustration, her Mom explained it was a child-proof cap and she'd have to open it for her. Eyes wide with wonder, the little girl asked: 'How does it know it's me?'

"I was married 3 times" explained the woman to a newly discovered bridge partner, "and I'll never marry again.  My first 2 husbands died of eating poison mushrooms and my 3rd one died of a fractured skull."  

"That's a shame." said his friend , "How did THAT happen?"  

"He was a fussy eater and wouldn't eat the mushrooms."

Being sick, being in the hospital can be scary, and frustrating, and we worry about all the rules we have to follow. One woman shared that “Hospital regulations require a wheel chair for patients being discharged. However, while working as a student nurse, I found one elderly gentleman already dressed and sitting on the bed with a suitcase at his feet, who insisted he didn't need my help. After a chat about rules being rules, he reluctantly let me wheel him to the elevator.

On the way down I asked him if his wife was meeting him.

'I don't know,' he said. 'She's still upstairs in the bathroom changing out of her hospital gown.'” 

To worry about all the changes in our lives, all the things we cannot control, is the path to misery. Some things are inevitable. No matter what, life is always moving and changing. And we are changing, too.

A man came back to work 15 minutes late from lunch. The boss noticed and asked where he had been.

"Getting a haircut." The man said

The boss said, "On company time?"

"It grew on company time,” he replied

"Not all of it," retorted the boss.

"Well, I didn't get it all cut off."

I think in particular we spend a lot of time worrying about getting old. What if I lose my memory? What if I am dependent on others to care for me? How will I look? What will I wear? Where will I live?

In Jesus’ day, getting old was a rarity, near miraculous, and folks thought it meant you were particularly blessed by God.  In our day we spend an awful lot of time and energy pretending we won’t get old, and then ignoring those who are old as if this can inoculate us. So much worry. We can even take offense at those who notice.

A grandson was visiting one day when he asked, "Grandma, do you know how you and God are alike?" She mentally polished her halo and asked, "No, how are we alike?"

"You're both old," he replied.

Or the granddaughter who asked her grandfather, "Were you on the ark with Noah?"  The grandfather chuckled to think that he looked that old to the girl and said, "No, sweetheart, I wasn't on the ark with Noah."   "Well, then," she asked, with impeccable logic, "Why weren't you drowned?"

Not that growing old isn’t scary. It is. Perhaps not the increased numbers of candles on our cake, but the fears of losing our independence or control over our bodies. But there are so many things about aging that are wonderful and rich. Sometimes we just don’t see them but others do.

A grandmother was telling her little granddaughter what her own childhood was like. "We used to skate outside on a pond. I had a swing made from a tire; it hung from a tree in our front yard. We rode our pony. We picked wild raspberries in the woods." The little girl was wide-eyed, taking this in. At last she said, "I sure wish I'd gotten to know you sooner!"

As the psalmist tells us, know that the Lord is God. God has made us, we are God’s people… the Lord is good and steadfast and loves us all from generation to generation.  Make a joyful noise to the God that has held us in God’s hand our wholes lives through whether minutes long or a century long.

A little boy got lost at the YMCA and found himself in the women's locker room.  When he was spotted, the room burst into shrieks, with ladies grabbing towels and running for cover.  The little boy watched in amazement and then asked, 'What's the matter, haven't you ever seen a little boy before?'

Why worry about what you will wear—will not God who so clothes the grass of the field, clothe you?  Don’t worry. Strive first for the kingdom of God and all these things shall be given to you as well.

For as we live into God’s love and we seek to live out God’s love, in our childhood, our middle years, our elder years, we have the power to manifest that love in another. And in turn be blessed ourselves.

An elderly woman and her little grandson, whose face was sprinkled with bright freckles, spent the day at the zoo. Lots of children were waiting in line to get their cheeks painted by a local artist who was decorating them with tiger paws.

"You've got so many freckles, there's no place to paint!" a girl in the line said to the little boy. Embarrassed, the little boy dropped his head. His grandmother knelt down next to him "I love your freckles. When I was a little girl I always wanted freckles", she said, while tracing her finger across the child's cheek. "Freckles are beautiful!"

The boy looked up, "really?"
"Of course," said the grandmother. "Why, just name me one thing that's prettier than freckles."

The little boy thought for a moment, peered intensely into his grandma's face, and softly whispered, "Wrinkles."

Strive first for the kingdom of god and God’s righteousness and all these things will be given to you.

Amen.