Part of the "Design of A Disciple" series
2nd November, 2008
I love YouTube. I get to find old things. The Muppet Show, old David Attenborough documentaries, Star Wars bloopers. I am a nerd at heart.
I re-discovered Bobby McFerrin the other day. Who remembers Bobby McFerrin? In 1988, this really simple a capella song turned up in the soundtrack of a movie called Cocktail. It was called Don’t Worry, Be Happy.
It was a great song. It really made you smile. Some of it had to do with the fact that McFerrin is a very, very gifted musician and composer. But the other part was that 1988 was a very worrying year.
In October 1987 the world stock-markets took a massive hit, and for the first time since 1929 people began to seriously lose confidence in the whole financial system. Unemployment figures grew wings, inflation figures inflated, the Australian Treasurer, Paul Keating, did the unthinkable and called it for what it was – "the recession that we had to have" – and all over the country, everyone was frightened stiff about something they couldn’t really see, hear, touch or smell…
And in waltzed this song… Don’t worry, be happy.
You couldn’t help yourself. You had to smile. It really was a breath of fresh air, and… people smiled a lot. It was the circuit-breaker.
So here we are. 2008.
And in waltzed this song… Don’t worry, be happy.
You couldn’t help yourself. You had to smile. It really was a breath of fresh air, and… people smiled a lot. It was the circuit-breaker.
So here we are. 2008.
The world stock-markets have taken a massive hit, and for the first time since 1987, people are seriously losing confidence in the whole financial system.
Inflation figures haven’t started showing it yet, but how many people have noticed prices rising on even the staple things? There’s still a drought that hasn’t really broken, there are leaders from all around the world trying desperately not to mention the “R” word.
And all over the country, everyone is frightened stiff about something we can’t really see, hear, touch or smell…
And it’s at times like this when we feel like we need a circuit breaker. How do you feel reading Jesus’ comments here… Therefore I tell you do not worry about your life… Do not worry about what to eat and what to drink and what to wear… therefore do not worry about tomorrow… It’s a pretty good circuit-breaker, isn’t it? It can come across as being like Bobby McFerrin – Don’t Worry, Be Happy.
And it’s at times like this when we feel like we need a circuit breaker. How do you feel reading Jesus’ comments here… Therefore I tell you do not worry about your life… Do not worry about what to eat and what to drink and what to wear… therefore do not worry about tomorrow… It’s a pretty good circuit-breaker, isn’t it? It can come across as being like Bobby McFerrin – Don’t Worry, Be Happy.
It’s nothing of the sort.
It’s one of Jesus’ hardest teachings. Listen to the difference. If you prefer Bob Marley's famous Three Little Birds, "don’t worry about a thing, Every little thing’s gonna be alright…"
Matthew 6:34 Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Don’t worry. Do not worry. As a word of command, Jesus’ words are… odd. Unsettling. They are a command, they are active orders. Do Not Be Anxious. There’s evil out there today, there’s evil in tomorrow. As for you, do not worry. And that, I think, is a whole different kettle.
We’re looking at Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, we’re looking at how Jesus defines a truly righteous life, a life defined by grace, compassion and forgiveness – the design of a disciple. What does this tell us?
It’s one of Jesus’ hardest teachings. Listen to the difference. If you prefer Bob Marley's famous Three Little Birds, "don’t worry about a thing, Every little thing’s gonna be alright…"
Matthew 6:34 Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Don’t worry. Do not worry. As a word of command, Jesus’ words are… odd. Unsettling. They are a command, they are active orders. Do Not Be Anxious. There’s evil out there today, there’s evil in tomorrow. As for you, do not worry. And that, I think, is a whole different kettle.
We’re looking at Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, we’re looking at how Jesus defines a truly righteous life, a life defined by grace, compassion and forgiveness – the design of a disciple. What does this tell us?
It is, I think, impossible to grasp Jesus’ command to not worry without understanding that he is asking for us – as people of God – to put our faith and our trust and our confidence in him. Alone.
Here we come down to faith, down to trust, down to confidence.
Here’s irony for you. Money works purely on faith, trust and confidence. I asked someone yesterday how much he thought $100 note was worth. He screwed up his face for a second before coming up with the answer of 0.005c. Now before you assume that this anonymous gentleman had lost his mind from too much happy-18th-birthday-Riley-cake… he’s probably about right. A sheet of polymer, with some odd inks, cut into lots of little pieces, chances are that each note would be about that. So I said to him, “If it’s that worthless, how would you feel if I took any that you had.” And, to be fair, his face said it all… just try it! But… why do we believe that a piece of paper, which probably is worth no more than 0.005c, is actually worth $100? We… just believe it is.
Here we come down to faith, down to trust, down to confidence.
Here’s irony for you. Money works purely on faith, trust and confidence. I asked someone yesterday how much he thought $100 note was worth. He screwed up his face for a second before coming up with the answer of 0.005c. Now before you assume that this anonymous gentleman had lost his mind from too much happy-18th-birthday-Riley-cake… he’s probably about right. A sheet of polymer, with some odd inks, cut into lots of little pieces, chances are that each note would be about that. So I said to him, “If it’s that worthless, how would you feel if I took any that you had.” And, to be fair, his face said it all… just try it! But… why do we believe that a piece of paper, which probably is worth no more than 0.005c, is actually worth $100? We… just believe it is.
Faith, trust, confidence. I have faith that this paper is worth what it says it is. I trust that if someone is paying me in this form, I’ve actually been paid. Confidence that, when I go to Coles or the petrol station or Smiggle or St Vinnies (best place for t-shirts!), I can redeem the value of my labour and obtain goods and services. And while all is well, that works.
Here’s the problem.What happens when something goes wrong?
If faith in the value goes out the window, we get something like what’s happening in Zimbabwe, with 231,000,000% inflation, and a 100 billion dollar note has been issued – it’s got the buying power now of 20c.
If confidence is rattled, people want to hang onto their money, just in case. Money doesn’t get spent, other people down the line don’t get paid… unemployment, bankruptcy and economic paralysis.
If confidence is rattled, people want to hang onto their money, just in case. Money doesn’t get spent, other people down the line don’t get paid… unemployment, bankruptcy and economic paralysis.
Money is a dangerous, dangerous thing to put faith and trust and confidence in.
But more dangerous – far more dangerous – than any of these horrifying economic situations, is what happens to a heart if our faith, our trust and our confidence rests in money. If you were here on Thursday for the confirmation service, you might have picked up on what Al Stewart was saying, and I think he was right on the pulse there – if you’re not trusting in Jesus here, you will either fall to greed or fall to anxiety. And both of those are absolute markers of our society today. Greed or anxiety. Advertisers know those two buttons, and they push them. Hard.
But more dangerous – far more dangerous – than any of these horrifying economic situations, is what happens to a heart if our faith, our trust and our confidence rests in money. If you were here on Thursday for the confirmation service, you might have picked up on what Al Stewart was saying, and I think he was right on the pulse there – if you’re not trusting in Jesus here, you will either fall to greed or fall to anxiety. And both of those are absolute markers of our society today. Greed or anxiety. Advertisers know those two buttons, and they push them. Hard.
Next: What does Jesus say? Money, treasure, trust...
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