I hear a lot of worry these days—worry about tariffs and a trade war, worries for safety and security, over ongoing violence and war, especially in those parts of the world that have struggled for years and for generations.

In his sermon on the mount, when Jesus addresses worry, his main point is simple. What to do about worry? Don’t do it!  Don’t worry about food. Don’t worry about clothing. Don’t worry about how long you’re going to live. Don’t worry about anything that you need.

Stop worrying about tomorrow,
because tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.
—Matthew 6:34

To Jesus’ first hearers, this must have sounded both strange and impossible! Most were poor and struggling to survive. Between subsistence farming and the oppressive Roman taxes, they were hardly getting by. A minority might be middle class or even wealthy like the rich young man that Jesus would meet later in the gospel of Matthew, but the rest were understandably worried about how to feed and clothe their families.

Today, Jesus’ words might sound just as strange and impossible to us. Our standard of living is considerably higher, but many people are still worried. Those who are poor still worry about basic food, shelter, and security—those who are homeless need a safe place to sleep tonight, and too many children will go to school hungry this coming week. Those who are middle class worry about job security and the rising cost of everything these days—rent, food, gas. Even those who are well off might be anxious to preserve their wealth or get even richer—to have the latest clothes, to eat at the right restaurants, to live in the best neighbourhoods.

To all, Jesus says, Do not worry. Rich, poor, middle class—whatever our station of life, whatever our worries about the state of the country and the state of the world, whatever our worries about daily life, whatever worries we might have—Jesus’ call is the same: do not worry.

Instead of worrying, look at God’s provision in nature. Learn from the birds of the air that always seem to find enough to eat. Learn from the lilies in the field with all their natural beauty. Have faith in God, the great Creator and Sustainer of the birds and lilies, of you and me, and of all things.

Jesus does not deny our physical needs. He doesn’t argue that we don’t need clothing or that we don’t need food. He himself was accused of going to too many dinner parties where he ate and drank too much (Luke 7:34). His point is rather that we do not need to worry, because our needs are already well met. Not because we have already stored up too much in our own full kitchens and in our own full closets, but because God is faithful and will provide. “All these things will be given to you,” says Jesus (Matthew 6:33). It’s a ringing statement of trust in God who cares for the birds and clothes flowers with beauty.

But really? Does life really work that way?

If Jesus’ words about worry were his only words to us, we might well dismiss his teaching as hopelessly out of touch with the real world. After all, if we take a hard look around us, it’s clear that some plants and animals actually don’t survive. Entire species have died out and become extinct over the years. People continue to suffer as a result of drought and natural disaster, from human threats, injustice, oppression, and violence.

How then are we to understand Jesus’ teaching?

It’s helpful to remember that Jesus’ words to stop worrying about tomorrow are not his only words to us. The radical trust that Jesus speaks of is paired with radical prayer as he also teaches us to pray:

Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
—Matthew 6:10-11

Elsewhere he speaks of caring for one another by feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, caring for those who are sick, visiting those in prison (Matthew 25:34ff.).

Jesus’ teaching is not a simplistic and naïve belief that God will provide while we do nothing. His instruction not to worry is part of this larger context of his teaching, that as we place our trust in God to care for us, we are also called to engage in the work of prayer and the work of caring for one another. Instead of worrying about tomorrow, we need to engage today. As we look to God’s provision, we are also to care for creation and for one another, to pray and to set our minds and hearts on God’s kingdom.

Just before he talks about not worrying, Jesus tells his disciples, “No one can serve two masters. . . . You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24). In his teaching not to be anxious, he provides another application of that same principle:  You cannot serve God and worry. You cannot have faith in God and be anxious about food and clothing. You cannot strive after God’s kingdom and strive after material things at the same time.

In the Second World War, the British government distributed a poster with the image of a crown and the slogan Keep Calm and Carry On. Over the years, that original slogan has spawned many variations from the more serious to the trivial: Keep Calm and Drink Coffee, Keep Calm and Walk the Dog, Keep Calm and Go Shopping. More seriously, I saw someone wearing a t-shirt with the iconic crown and Keep Calm and Strive On.

In the words of Jesus, there is calm in the sense of not being anxious about tomorrow. Yet at the same time, his words are not an ode to laziness or to do nothing. There is also a sense of striving on for today—not after food, clothing, and whatever else we might think we need, but seeking after God’s kingdom. We see that in the life of Jesus as he prayed earnestly—sometimes all night long. He had compassion on the crowds and healed people. He went about preaching and teaching without a place of his own to put down his head. He and his disciples were sometimes so busy that they hardly had time to eat. Like Jesus, instead of worrying, we too, are to seek first God’s kingdom.

Writing/Reflection Prompt: What does seeking God’s kingdom look like for you today?