THE GOSPEL OF LUKE: - Vital Christianity

21THE FOLLY OF WORRYLuke 12:22-34“Worry is like a rocking chair--it will give you something to do, but it won’t get youanywhere.”--AnonymousA fellow was walking down the street and as he saw a friend with a troubled look on his face hesaid, “Your sure look, worried, John.” John replied with a scowl, “Man, I’ve got so many problems that ifanything bad happens today, it will be two weeks at least before I can worry about it.”“An advantage of a one-track mind,” someone pointed out, “is that you can think of only one ofyour troubles at a time.”Although worry plagues us all, according to Jesus it doesn’t need to. Worry, in fact, is just plainwasteful. Jesus said to his disciples:"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or aboutyour body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more thanclothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom orbarn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!”(vv. 22-24)UNREASONABLEJesus begins his argument that worry is unreasonable with the word “Therefore.” Whenever wesee this word in the Bible we must ask ourselves what it is “there” for. This word is always used to showthe connection with what is going to be said to that which already has been said. In the first part of thischapter (Lk 12:22-34) Jesus reasoned that since transitory earthly treasures do not satisfy but force us toforfeit the eternal pleasures of heaven (Mt 12:32-34), and since the hunger and searching for suchtreasures blurs our mental and moral vision (v. 33; Mt 6:22-23), and because a choice must be madebetween God and mammon (possessions or power of possessions—Mt 6:24); it only makes sense tochoose the incorruptible pleasures of heaven over the corruptible treasures of earth, the light whichenables us to see spiritual realities over the darkness that blinds us to it, God as our Master who frees us tobe all we are meant to be over mammon as our master who enslaves us by our own appetites.Once we are reasonable and make this wise choice, says Jesus, it doesn’t make sense to worryabout the less important things of life—the earthly things such as food, drink and clothing. To choosespiritual treasures, light and God over earthly treasures, darkness and mammon, is to set our prioritiesstraight. Once we choose the spiritual, says Jesus, it is illogical to become preoccupied with the earthly.